rayjay

I am not satisfied with the stock headlights on my '87 Vert and want to make a change. I had an '86 GMC Caballero (El Camino with lock washers) which also used a similar 4 light setup. I went through various headlights ending up with lights that used H4 hi/lo's and H1 hi's, with dual bulb fog/driving lights to fill in long range and cornering lighting. It was good but I was never really satisfied with the setup except when all the lights were on, which was not something you could do except when driving on a deserted road.

So here is my question, what is the best headlight system for driving? By system I mean headlights plus any additional driving/cornering lights needed to make it safe to drive down the road. I am not worried about fabrication or cost requirements within reason, but do not want to end up with a cobbled rallye or off-road look with accessory lights sticking out alll over the place. My goal is to end up with a good driving gentlelman's hot rod on the order of MRIROC's.

Thanks, rj

Mad Myche

I do not have any experience with the quad rectangular (4656/4651) headlight systems yet, but this is what I have learned from doing the conversion on dual-headlight (6054) systems in the past.

This is scheduled to be my first upgrade to my Camaro.

#1 Not all E-Code lamps are the same, brand actually does matter. My preference was always to use Cibie, who unfortunately no longer makes the lamps for the quad setup anymore. From what I have read the Bosch system is the best. I have not sourced these lamps yet and have not gotten any further information. Hella also makes these lamps but my opinion on their dual lamp system was that the "beam separation" between low and high was too great; if the low beams were right on then the high beams were too high. There are many cheesy made in China lamps that are nowhere near up to snuff, especially with over-wattage bulbs

#2 Bypass the factory wiring. The OEMs generally skimped on this wiring and it is a long run from power to fuses to headlamp switch to dimmer switch and off to the headlights. In the past I have kept the factory wiring in place but ran a parallel 12 guage cable and new sockets to the lamps. This was connected to a pair of relays (1 for high, 1 for low) and a 10 guage cable to the battery. The difference with the standard halogen lamps was noticable on its own, and with larger bulbs it was huge. I used a "Bosch" type relay originally used for Oldsmobile fog lights, which had dual 87 outputs.

#3 Bulbs. Stick with white light. Blue only appears brighter due to glare and the fact that the human eye responds differently to it. The glare is due to a higher refraction angle (think Pink Floyd / Dark Side of the Moon) and the eye response is best demonstrated by the local police-- the blue lights only have a third of the broightness of the red

6SIX6

iTrader: (35)

You could do E36 headlights if your not afraid to mod the car. I did it as I do all my driving at night and what a difference as I can see now. HID low beams and halos

Mad Myche

I read the E36 retrofit, nice quality of build there. I do a light of night driving as well; just not ready for slicing/dicing the car yet

rayjay

Thank you to everyone who replied so far. I'm torn between the E36 and C1500 conversions as both are available with HID projector low beams. I will probably add some cornering lights as I live in a fairly heavily wooded area with (nice) twisty roads. It's nice to have a lot of light to the sides to see deer and other critters, including joggers, that seem to like to tempt death on dark roadways.

rj

skirb88bird

I would also like to do a headlight conversion on my 88 firebird. It has the flip-out one piece glass headlights. Is there any option out there that will allow me to place LED bulbs in the proper size glass enclosure? I DO NOT want HID headlights. They look terrible in my opinion. Any help?

Mad Myche

IIRC the FBird uses H6054; I used Cibie H4 replacements that I sourced from Daniel Stern Lighting in both my Fiero and Jeep. No complaints about the lighting from them and would gladly recommend.
I have not been impressed with the LED headlamps as of yet

skirb88bird

I'd like a look comparable to a Cadillac Escalade's headlamps circa 2004. Those northstar led's. I know that might be unreasonable but that is the exact type of light I am looking for. If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be much obliged. I might be ok with that Cibie kit if I can get a white light and not a blue or purplish tint.

I did some research and I'm guessing 6000k hid's would be my best bet.

Trevmust

i distrust websites like daniel sterns... I googled the Bosch ones he claims to sell and they are non existant on google...

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

sylvania silverstars.

Trevmust

how is that relevant.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Because they are headlamps.....for automobiles!

Trevmust

sealed beams and bulbs don't count...

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Camaros use sealed beam headlamps!!
And my replies are for the OP!

Ron U.S.M.C.

Sylvania SilverStars
Traditional looking high performance bulbs .

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...romWhere=Brand

High Beam Headlight Bulb
Part Number:H4651

SilverStar, the brighter and whiter light from the leading supplier of automotive lighting. Up to 35% brighter, up to 30% more downroad visibility and up to 35% more sideroad visibility.

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Part Images

Trevmust

sylvanias are pretty much the same brightness as the oem ones...

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Wrong.

Trevmust

not wrong

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

wrong again!! & with that im out....boring.

Trevmust

my car had them and i almost routinely killed pedestrians

Ron U.S.M.C.

The only reason I posted my SilverStar reply is because I recently drove a 89 Camaro with them to my sisters house. Perfect road to really get a feel for them. OK, my lamps are old and faded but this was something different. Bright and white without being overpowering to on coming traffic. Of course you have to know how to adjust them to get the effect you want.
I think they are perfect for those that want a traditional looking bulb.
Im sorry if it did not fit into your thread.

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Trevmust

they were in the middle of the ****ing road, and my headlights were too ****ing dim to see them. so kiss my *** ******.

onthedownlow

iTrader: (4)

I am using SilverStars and all I can say is they are amazing. Plenty of brightness.

Mad Myche

I will be reviewing various brands of the various 4x6 e-code halogens tomorrow from Carello, Cibie, Hella, Marchal and Bosch; all NOS. The Marchals are a little out of my price range at 150 each.

I have already selected Osram (not Philips) Silverstars as the bulbs. Was planning on putting them in tomorrow as well but I get to fix my gf's garage door instead

Mad Myche

Did get the Bosch lamps today, and utilized my gf's freshly fixed garage door to get them preliminary set for correct height; they came with bulbs so I didn't get the Silverstar 2.0s at this time; and an extra set of wiring adapters so I can make up new harnesses. Noticeably better lighting pattern but really couldn't try them out due to driving into a tornado warning.

Mad Myche

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Trevmust

Are there part numbers for those ? And are they one solid piece? Or can you take them apart?

TPeye

Something else to consider when upgrading your headlights is the wiring that is powering them. I used a relay to power mine directly off the battery. A full explanation is available here http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html

Mad Myche

Bosch PN 0301709800-730
Why would you want to take them apart?
If you want to just experiment I would get some cheap ebay or jcwhitney crap with clear glass lenses. You don't want lens based optics if you are going to play with projectors.

Relay based harness is in the works, I have 2 dual-87 relays coming Hella H41510171 and I already have the 12/3 cable made up

Termn8r

Here's mine. Blue Halos with HIDs. I like them.

Trevmust

well with HID\s you need projectors apparently.

rs_gera

You don't need them
They sell other housings with out projectors