Headlights

[sportfish1]

Has anyone looked into replacing the stock headlights on the Gen II with the newer clear lenses. I understand that one factory model will fit except that it is too deep.

 

[DeaconBlue]

The clear lense units from a '95 LX or SE models will NOT fit in a Gen II SHO. From what I have been told they are even worse than the stock Gen II SHO / Sable head lamps.

------------------
95 MTX
with a few mods

 

[RI-SHO]

Originally posted by DeaconBlue:
The clear lense units from a '95 LX or SE models will NOT fit in a Gen II SHO. From what I have been told they are even worse than the stock Gen II SHO / Sable head lamps.

But they look betta in the sun

!!

------------------
Click To See My Modified 1993 MTX SHO

 

[herman]

Just a quick note to you guys who want a challenging $2000 headlight project. Have a look here http://hanker.tripod.com/headlights.htmat this site</a>. Yes, it has HID. Yes, its based on projector lights. Yes, it has integrated turn lights. No, it cannot be bought in any store. Its at least a 200h custom job to do, now that I have engineered it. No, its not possible to make a plastic mold out of it. It would need a total redesign. And finally, its not on the car per April 2002. How can you learn more about upgrading automotive lighting? Go to http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/Automotove headlight FAQ</A>

herman
95ATX

<small>[ April 18, 2002, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: herman ]</small>

 

[Deaks2]

herman:
Just a quick note to you guys who want a challenging $2000 headlight project. Have a look here </A HREF="http://hanker.tripod.com/headlights.htm">at this site</a>. Yes, it has HID. Yes, its based on projector lights. Yes, it has integrated turn lights. No, it cannot be bought in any store. Its at least a 200h custom job to do, now that I have engineered it. No, its not possible to make a plastic mold out of it. It would need a total redesign. And finally, its not on the car per April 2002. How can you learn more about upgrading automotive lighting? Go to http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/Automotove headlight FAQ</A>

herman
95ATX

Do you have plans to make the finished product availible for purchase? I am certain that several people on this site would be very interested in either an exact duplicate or a version running with regular halogens.

DOM

 

[herman]

No, I will not be making more of them based on these reasons:

1. Design has to be redone. The design have to match whatever is possible to get into a mold, not whats practical for me. I wasent aware of limitations when I made my design. Plastic molding is an art and I am just a Unix tech guy.

2. Costwise, just having 1 bracket for the headlight made in mold costs 1500 - 8000 dollars, then comes the front glass that will end up about the same, so unless you can make at least maybe 4-500 units, they will end up close to $1000 for a pair of Halogen type, instead of $350 that evryone knows you can get a pair for more volume car like Civic, Mustang, etc....

If you work in the plastic industry, well.....then thats another story... but who does???

 

[jcostantino]

Herman, how hard would it be for someone to gut the 9007 bulb section of some gen 2 headlights and insert a 6.5x4 or similar H4 sealed beam unit? It's something that I've been considering but don't know if it's worth it or not. I suppose the hardest parts would be mounting the glass in the existing lenses and sheeting over the front of the lens with clear polycarb.

I really don't care about having HID or not, I'd just rather not have indistinct splotches of light in front of me... every time I'm in a car with H4 bulbs, I'm jealous...

Jeff

 

[ChrisR]

Herman, I think it was you who replied to my topic on the Phillips site forum. Anyway, I think I'm going to go with the audi projectors, I already have some extra lights and stuff, so hopefully I can get something to work.

Thanks.

 

[herman]

Jeff, how to glue in 6.5x4" unit H4 based from Hella/Cibie/Marchal(Valeo) is described on my site (link is on prevoius post) as well. Yes, light output will be much better if combined with quality relay harness and use of 55W Philips Vision Plus bulb on a genII. Gen I can utilize the even more efficient 8x6" units. The cosmetically "bucket" look headlights found on earlier Camoros is unavoiadable. It is a drag at high speeds. Transparent plastic welds with lexan (polycarb) sheet is not possible.

Herman
95ATX

<small>[ April 18, 2002, 08:39 AM: Message edited by: herman ]</small>

 

[jcostantino]

Herman, you don't think that 1/16" polycarb could be formed over the headlights and somehow glued in place? I don't know how long lexan can widthstand the elements but I've seen some pretty old 2 liter bottles that have been out in the sun for quite a while and they seem to resist UV fairly well.

I'll have to look into this a little further.. the H4 retrofit lens's are fairly cheap, it's just finding a somewhat usable headlight to "operate" on. The worst part would be trying to reseal the front of the lens after the old material was removed and the second worst would be to mount and aim the retrofit light.

Jeff

 

[herman]

Stock front plastic lens is around 3/16 inch (5mm). Windpressure at high speeds can get as high as 80kg (190lbs), and if the wind contains water or other obstecales, the pressure gets higher. I would go up in thickness. Standard house window grade Lexan sheets are somewhat treated against UV rays, but thats not the biggest concerns. The biggest concern is scratch resistance: House walls do not get torpeded daily by sand, rocks, nor chemicals. For this there is xpel and is described in detail on the http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/Automotive Lighting FAQ</A>.

As I mentioned before, you would need 100% transparent plastic welder to be able to do this nice cosmetically. And neither me, nor my Plastic Supply Shop has been able to locate such a product, so seems between lexan shield and headlight would look cream white. It will be strong enough, but cosmethically, well... in my opinion t would look too tacky. You could cover up the seems with a flat black paint. But then agian... we are getting further into the tacky dept.

<small>[ April 20, 2002, 11:10 PM: Message edited by: herman ]</small>

 

[Dave Ladely]

Lexan is vulnerable to yellowing when exposed to UV. I sprayed my light housings with Dura Tuff, a very hard urethane clear with lots of UV inhibitors, used in marine work to protect epoxy, etc. I think Imron clear may work well as it is also very hard. So far, I have not had a problem with pitting even when driving in the desert with wind blowing.
JF Manufacturing, of LA, is coming out with a 9007 HID bulb which will have lo & hi beams; they use a heavy duty ballast which has dual voltages, seems like a good solution. They will produce about 4 times as much light as stock while using less than half the amps. Have to be sure to aim them correctly. None of these have blue or "lavender" tint; they have white light. Not yellowish, but not really that noticeable from stock color, though , which is a good thing.
dave in Seattle

 

[jcostantino]

Well... I got a headlight assembly on order and I should see it next monday (maybe friday) to find out where I go from here.. Found a H4 retrofit with city light sockets as well which I should be able to shove in there

Looking at the picture of the H4 lens, it looks like all I (theoretically) have to do is make a flat base aginst the back of the light to mount the new lens on. Hardest part will be removing the lens material from the stock light and adding a sheet of polycarb to it. I'll cross that bridge after I mount the H4 housing.

Jeff (warming up the Dremol..)

 

[kaoticSHO]

I saw that site before, very nice...I emailed about doing it and never heard anything back so I just went out and purchased the PIAA 930 HID setup for $1500 and now I can burn retinas.

wink

 

[ChrisR]

kaoticSHO:
...I just went out and purchased the PIAA 930 HID setup for $1500 and now I can burn retinas.
wink

$1500!! eek! Dizamn! I hope you could see about 4 miles with those babies. Got any pictures?

 

[kaoticSHO]

www.picturetrail.com/kaoticsho

I don't really have too many of just the lights, I'll take some more. They are truly bright and when you turn them off, you feel cheated by the lack of light.

 

[jcostantino]

need as much light as you can get with a bored out supercharged SHO... lol

Jeff