Hey guys, I have been thinking of putting some HID's in an H4 conversion housing but recently read that they are not compatible. Honestly I'm not sure why, could anyone shed some light on the subject? Has anyone successfully run HID lamps on a 3rdgen Firebird with H4 hoursings or projector housings? How is low beam/high beam handled since you only have two housings?

Also, anyone had any luck with the HID conversions you see on eBay? They are reasonably priced, but I'd like to hear some reviews if anyone has experience.

Thanks.

 

Honestly I'd go with a stock style setup from one of the big name manufacturers. That way, in a couple years when a ballast goes out or a capsule breaks you can source a replacement fairly easily.

Your best bet from what I've dug up would be to retro a bixenon style projector into one of those "crystal cut" h4 lenses. Basically take those h4 lenses, a 3.5" hole saw and cut open the backside to slide the projector into. It won't be snazzy, low and streamlined like I tried with the hella housings but you'll have awesome cut off, nice white light and a large aftermarket. I think the best lense/ballast/capsule combo came in I believe the e46's.

Hey, this is a side thought but since swapping to the c5 wagon wheels I've noticed a lot more 'tracking' on the road which obviously is explained by the larger contact patch but there is a looseness that I feel now that I think the fluffy 50 series sidewalls used to absorb. There is a little play in the steering wheel back and forth driving down the road. I remember you messing around with the ragjoint, steering box and crap. Did you experience this? What'd you do to cure it?

EDIT: Oh yeah, check out http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/ I've learned a lot there. Tons of retrofits.

 

Cool, thanks for the link. I have debated back and forth but I am 99% sure I want to keep the popups and just make something work so I can see where I am going and not die.

I HATED the steering my car had, at times it would be all over the road (you are going to get tracking problems with wider tires no matter what) but it was tough to control because everything was so loose. My car now has a new steering box and no rag joint (I made a steering shaft with billet u-joints from Flaming River, of course you could just make or buy a spacer to eliminate yours). I still think it needs tie rods. We didn't take any serious corners in the 5 minutes you rode in my car but from what I've experienced it steers pretty well.

I would just get under your car and look for anything that is loose in the steering components and check the rag joint. Also, even my new steering box has a little tiny bit of play, I guess that's just how it goes.

 

Yeah, since the new paint the popups have kind of grown on me. I think I just like the fact they aren't the older style 6054 big ol' bug eye bulbs.

Was your box a parts store reman or a 'performance built' one from some aftermarket company? You used a 4thgen steering shaft though, right? I seem to remember you having to cut it down a bit. There was a thread on here awhile ago about using a ujoint from an astro or something. Is it a rebuildable type thing or just a replacable?

Yeah, I need to just start playing with the 'play' in the front. Problem is, none of my friends want to work on my car when I do. Which is all the time. Damn.

Your car would look hotter than it aleady does with HIDs. And that's hard. Tell ya what. You make a 4666 replacement with bixenon projectors retro'd in them and I'll pay ya for them. I'll even take your first prototype so you can make a second, even better pair for your bird. See what kind of sacrifices I'm willing to make?

I :heart: HID.

 

I heard that recently too, but I guess I'll find out because I had already bought the kit when I heard that and I didn't get any it wouldn't work either since ledgauges.com had pictures of the HID beam using Hella H4 housings and it looked fine to me.

 

Ha, way to butter me up. Yeah, I could probably make something, I'm crafty like that. So Bixenon is a high and a low beam in one bulb/housing?
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Well, that's what I was planning on doing, buying the Hella housings. Plus I see that there are D2R bulbs on the market which are supposedly meant for non-projector housings. I am cornfused I guess.

 

Yeah, bixenon is just a high/low capable setup. And the projectors are just sex. I'm not sure about the free-form HID housings but the projector ones use a little 'shade' thing that flips up and down to expose the entire beam in high beam mode.

The real issue with the h4 setups is the diffused outer lense. Ironically, from what I've seen, the Hella and more expensive housings have the proper diffusers on the front glass to spread normal h4 light even and give you that ramp up on the passanger side (on US spec models) whereas the cheap ones have no diffusers and are 'crystal cut'. Those diffusers are what are going to cause glare and blind other drivers with an HID capsule.

And from what I understand you'll want a D2s bulb. The D2r is an older design from when HIDs first came out. A lot more uncommon and probably costlier to replace later on.

I wouldn't even waste time on a non projector housing. The after-effects and beam pattern are just too uncertain. At least when I was looking at them last year. I'm not sure what's been done since then. There aren't too many vehicles with free form HIDs and it's a big expense to put down and not get the best light output.

 

I got my HIDs installed today and they work great in my eBay housings. They're MUCH brighter than the cheapo H4 bulbs that came with them, I had the housings pointing up with those and the light wouldn't shine far enough but I moved these way down and the light shines about perfect and as far as I know I didn't blind anyone since no one flashed their brights so I may move have them point the light a little further out. I had a nice beam on the garage door when I was adjusting them too. I highly recommend LEDgauges.com for their kits.

 

anyone have pictures? im runnin h4's with a wiring kit just curious to what they look like with the rectangle housing

 

http://firehawk.jonbroomfield.com/hidinfo/

Found a retro of the Hella projectors I was using in an ls1 bird.

 

Anyone know the part number for these HELLA housings?

 

You can buy those housings through ledgauges.com if you want them.

 

I was just trying to get the item number so I could source them out a little cheaper than $150 USD per pair. Ive searched on HELLAs online catalogs and cant find them. I deal with a few suppliers at work((work for AUDI/VW))and none can find a listing for them. Thanks for the suggestion .

Kris

 

Actually I think I just found them. http://www.rallylights.com/hella/165mm_lo.asp correct me if I am wrong but for housing with regulat H4 halogen it looks to be part # HL21100