This post is not intended to walk you through on how to retrofit your JDM headlights to make them "DOT-compliant". I wish that I documented the process but it was iterative and time consuming. The purpose of this post is to show that it can be done but passing really depends on your state's rules and specific inspector. I am more than willing to explain what I did.

Living on Oahu with a modified car can be difficult because we have an annual safety inspection. There are certain modifications (lowering, body lift, etc) that require an additional one-time inspection to obtain a Reconstruction (Recon) permit. A lot of people have been avoiding Recon by returning their car to stock for the annual safety inspection or getting an inspection hook up. Recently, a new electronic system (includes taking a pic of car) has been implemented making it harder for people to get hook ups.

The reason I was not able to get a legit safety inspection/Recon was because of my JDM front. I was able to modify the JDM bumper cover to accept the USDM bumper reinforcement and foam but the non-DOT compliant headlights have always been a problem. With the electronic system in service, I had to surrender my license plates and take my car off the road. I had to tow my car to autocrosses instead of driving it.

Several months ago, I began piecing together the parts required to make my JDM headlights "DOT-compliant". This includes changing out the low/high beam and corner lamp.

I used the following components to make them "DOT-compliant":

JDM DC2 non-HID headlights, ~$200 (market value)
Hella Micro DE Premium Low Beam Module - 12V, 009071081 lists for ~110 ea., $94.70 ea. on Amazon
Hella Micro DE Premium High Beam Module, 009486001 lists for ~$105 ea.
OEM 1992-1995 Honda Civic Coupe/HB Corner Lamps 33300-SR3-A02 (RH), 33350-SR3-A02 (LH), lists for ~$30 ea.

Unfortunately, the parts aren't cheap and you will be paying well over $700 if you are starting from scratch.

I would have opted for the HID versions of the low beams but Recon does not allow converting to HID unless the car was originally equipped with HIDs.

I wasn't able to find an appropriately sized DOT-compliant fog light to replace the OEM JDM one. There really is no difference in beam pattern. I ended up disabling the fog light by covering the housing lens with vinyl and removing the bulb. When I actually got the car inspected, the inspector said that they do not inspect for DOT-compliance on fog lights since they are not subject to the applicable FMVSS and are considered ancillary lighting. I ended up peeling off the vinyl and reinstalling the bulbs.

A big discrepancy that I found with the Hella headlights is that their website swapped the description of their headlights. If you look at my pics, the small diameter housing projector is the low beam and the large diameter housing projector is the high beam. If you look at the Hella site, they say that the small diameter (80.2 mm) headlight is the high beam and that the large diameter (95.2 mm) headlight is the low beam. That would have been perfect since I could place the low beam outboard and high beam inboard per Section 7.5(d)(2) of 49 CFR 571.108. I had to swap the position of the low and high beam due to packaging constraints. My state is only concerned with the headlights themselves being DOT-compliant so it was not an issue. Your state laws/inspector may say otherwise....or they may not even know.

I hope that someone can improve upon my efforts to make a true DOT-compliant version of the JDM DC2 Integra headlight; specifically, swapping the low/high beam positions and finding a DOT compliant fog light that fits.

The results aren't as aesthetically pleasing as the JDM headlights due to the addition of an amber corner lens and substitution of a projector for the reflector high beam.


The lens design and curvature of the EG corner lamp is near spot-on with the JDM DC2 corner lamp. If you look real close, you can see the "DOT" embossed on the corner lamp.


Lights on


Top view


Close up of "DOT" on lens


Close up of "DOT" on lens


Close up of "DOT" on lens (light on)

 

damn that's insane with hawaii, didn't realize they have strict rules on modifying cars.

I take it if you had JDM or UKDM tail lights they would fail you also for not being DOT compliant?

 

I don't think the tail lights are looked in to as far as DOT standards go as the headlights and front end are.

 

Same, I always thought Hawaii was less strict then stateside. Can't you guys legally tint your front windshield?

As strict as California is about modifications I hope they never adopt this process.

 

Is there an actual improvement in beam pattern, light output or did you run hid previously?

 

It isn't as bad as it sounds. Most people are still able to get hook ups while others get Recon and then modify their cars afterwards.

As PaulMc said, tails aren't scrutinized as much as the headlights unless they don't look stock. As far as I know, the JDMs look the same as USDM but lack the side parking light. The inspectors don't require you to turn the lights on so they won't be able to tell or probably wouldn't notice even if they were on. For the UKDM lights, you aren't required to have amber on your tail lights so they would "pass" visually.

For a long time you couldn't but you can now. I think the limit is 70%.

I had the OEM JDM HIDs previously so I don't know how my current setup compares to the non-HID headlights. Although it is pretty obvious, I can say that the HID pattern is more crisp than the Hella headlights I put in.

One thing to note is that the OEM JDM HID headlight assemblies are very heavy. I measured them to be 11 lbs each. I found another post saying that they weigh 16-18 lbs and that seems more correct. The non-HID headlight weighs about 8 lbs according to my scale.