Strangely enough.. I think I get what you are saying... maybe.
Instead of having the 'new' stop bracket (yellow) limit the lift travel.. you're saying have it (the stop) limit the lower travel and modify the motor-to-lamp housing arm accordingly for the height ?

Not a bad idea but, it's only once in 12-22 years you have to worry about the gel bushing burning out the motors. Once repaierd... good to go. It's pretty rare the actual main drive gear grinds away.

Not a bad idea though if I'm correct in my translation of what you meant. If I'm wrong though.. blame the beer

 

I wouldn't change the design based on the chance of your motor failing...

get the rebuild kit and call it a day

you may spend less time and $$ to do that.

 

Smile.

 

is one of those a turn-signal?

and also are those projection-style driving lights? how bright are they?

 

that's it. that is what i was getting at. also, it's not just on the account of the motors going bad, but it can also reduce the amount of "headlight shake" when driving down the road.

 

yes, you could do that, but if you live where i live, rebuilds have to be ordered and i work nights.

 

I mean... why not rebuild them BEFORE they go bad?

 

I've yet to mount a turn signal. I can't decided what I want to do for one. I was thinking just a small LED cluster between the two or an LED strip above. One's a high beam free form housing (just a shiny U-shape with a bulb in the back) and the bright outer ones are actual projector housings. They're very bright. They use h9 bulbs.

High beams:


Low Beams:

I still need to adjust them. I'm lazy.

 

with my car, it has always either been good motors or bad motors...not in between point.

 

iansane... so you still have headlights in the doors, right?

 

Nope, all that light is from the lights in bumper. I got rid of all the stuff below the doors. Eventually be molding the doors into the hood.

 

make your blinker just flash the headlight...

if you are using brights, it flashes the low... and vise-versa

 

oh yeah... and I hope you never get pulled over, because those lights are illegal... sweet, but very illegal.

good stuff you got there.

can you tell us where you got the lenses, and mounting hardware and whatnot?

 

Go ask a cop if they are illegal:

Ask a cop 3GO Forum

I asked a question over there... took a while to answer.

~shrug~

 

a cop wouldn't know necessarily...

but you can find the law, I think those are too low...

not to mention, if they are over 55watts, they are illegal...

it's technically illegal for camaro owners to install four high/lows and run them all at the same time, because the combined light wattage is too much.

I don't know how that works with fog lights though, because I have 4 55watt bulbs on always at night... dunno

 

They're definately illegal. I looked up the laws regard headlight mods before I did any of it. They're not brighter than 55w, just a better bulb design (the h9).

They're illegal because they're only 12-15" off the asphalt. In WA headlights need to be at least 24" off the ground. However, with how my car is lowered anyways, the stock headlights don't meet those requirements anyways so it's a moot point. I like 'em because of the projector low beams put out an awesome beam pattern. Soon I'll be swapping in some HIDs.

 

I was thinking of doing the hid conversion, they are only $250 on ebay now...

I wonder if I used my STOCK fog enclosure if they'd be bright enough to not need my headlights...

I have the Trans Am-looking lower GFX that encloses the two fog lights. they project a needle-thin light pattern from 20ft away from a wall... I don't know how well that would work for ANYTHING.

 

Actual foglights aren't good to kick out a lot of light everywhere. They're supposed to be designed to shoot light out to the side and right in front of you. Used as headlights they don't work too well.

I'd stay away from the eBay HID "conversions" because what happens when you have a capsule go out? They you have to have one cutom rebased to fit your application. Try to find a stock setup from an acura/benz/honda/nissan/bmw/audi/etc then you can always get replacement parts.

 

those 'stock' parts cost almost twice as much as the ebay ones...

if one goes out, I'll just buy another

I'm sure the 'stock' ones are better... but what bulbs do they all use? they are all pretty much european... I wonder if they are some standard we can find an enclosure for?

 

All the "bulbs" are the same. The standard now is d2s and d2r depending on what enclosure it's in. There are older out of date versions, "d21" and some others but most are all the same. The HIDs aren't called bulbs but capsules. You may pay twice and even quadruple the amount if you go to the dealer but junkyards, forums and word of mouth you can get quite a bit cheaper ones that a quality german, tawainese made and not korean.

I'm sure you'll be fine for a few years being able to get rebased version of those capsules but do you plan on keeping the car 5+ years? If so look into the stock style, if not then save the money and go eBay.

 

What I don't know, is how the heck the HID makers can get away with making such bright lights and they are still legal on cars?

is it that TECHNICALLY the wattages are lower, therefore in the legal limit? because the luminous intensity is about 3-5 times greater than a standard 55 watt halogen...

if I had it my way, I'd just put in a 200-watt headlight bulb, and resist it down until its just bright enough to see...

I also don't like how headlights are always just two brightnesses... why not have a **** or dial to change the brightness? seems that there could be some sort of variable resistor-setup that could achieve this...

then if you REALLY needed bright lights, you could go all the way up to 200watts....

 

I just ordered headlights and parking lights for a '04 sunfire and plan to make brackets, mod the hood/bumper so they sit flush and hopefully look factory installed on my Transam.

I'm not sure what to do with the wiring because the firebird is a single high/low beam bulb vs. the sunfire with seperate high beam housing and low beam housing using two bulbs. I need to go from three wires into one bulb- to four wires into two bulbs.

I figure two of my existing wires are "hot" (one for low and one for high) and the other is a ground wire? could I just run a jumper wire or a ground wire to the chassis for my added light?

 

yup 3 wires, hi/lo/gnd

 

Mine are split up into a seperate high bulb, and low bulb. You're right, just one hot wire for high and one for low and there's only one ground. I used the swap opportunity to run all new wires directly from the battery for better and more consistent power. But yes, you'll just be adding another ground essentially.

ScrapMaker, yea--HIDs are legal only because they're measure in watts, not lumens.

I don't see how a dial would help. I'd just have mine on the brightest setting all the time, as would most people. Plus HIDs can't work like that. They only opperate on one set amount of electricity, just like florescent(sp?) house bulbs.

 

I meant have a dial with Halogen bulbs

get some 200watt or whatever, and have a restistor setup...

and you wouldn't have it on the highest setting at all times, because then it's too damned bright

it would be neat to have an automatic sensor that increased the headlight brightness depending on conditions...

 

scrapmaker, forget u ever mentioned the automatic brights idea, because it makes no sense what-so-ever....what does make sense is the dime i just spent on calling mercedes up.

 

I'll never forget!!

why wouldn't an infinite-position headlight controller be better than a TWO-position controller...?

seems like a no brainer.... the main reason for the dial is so that you can lower the brightness when you're worried about cops.

 

Why would the adjustability be needed? I'd want it at the brightest setting all the time, and just stick it in a projector housing so as not to blind other drivers. I don't see why you'd ever want to have less than the most possible light on the road when driving. Except if you're just cruising down a lit blvd or something and then just turn on the fogs.

 

so are you telling me you drive around with your lights on bright the whole time?

I'd say drive around with 70watts normally, then a **** to increase it all the way up to like 150....

150watts is extremely bright, and would not necessarily ever be needed...

eh whatever.

 

so are you telling me you drive around with your lights on bright the whole time?

I'd say drive around with 70watts normally, then a **** to increase it all the way up to like 150....

150watts is extremely bright, and would not necessarily ever be needed...

eh whatever.

 

All you need is a relay! Thats what I did with mine when I went from stock to the 4 light system! Check out my page where I explain the how to from Summits conversion kit for the very problem!

****************************************
REWIRING FOR TWO BEAM BRIGHTS
****************************************

With a bird's stock wiring system; one driving light would turn on for the brights, the other for the dims. I did not like this, so I got a kit from Summit that uses a relay to make both light for your brights.

Summit: SUM-G6219 HI-4 Light kit. The kit is only $15, plus shipping.

Note that in the kit wiring, taps, tie raps, fuses, and wire loom is provided in the kit. I'm trying to break the instructions down so you don't have to buy the kit, but it is worth it so you don't have to run to the store and buy everything separate. But if you have a relay, wiring, and experience wiring…you can do it yourself...

Here is how!
Relays wiring…
Standard relays have 4 prongs and are numbered as follows:
87: output to item
86: input (signal wire)
85: ground
30: power

Directions:
1: Mount the relay w/in 24 inches of both the battery and the rear of you headlights.
2: Attach a wire to the relay terminal 85 and ground to a grounded metal surface
3: Unplug the high beam wires from rear of headlight (in our case the 3 wire plug.)
A: Turn on headlights high beam and use a test light to determine which wire has power supplied to it...
B: Turn off headlights
C: Use a wiretap and attach a wire and connect it to the number 86 on the relay.
4: Unplug low beam... (In our case already unplugged)
A: Turn on headlights low beam and use a test light to determine which wire has power supplied to it...
B: turn off headlights
C: Use a wiretap and attach a wire and connect it to the number 87 on the relay.
5: Now attach a wire to number 30 on the relay. Run wire with a fuse (20 amp) to the battery or a suitable power source.
6: Use tie raps and electrical tape to secure the wiring and seal out moisture from connections.

For this application on a 87 firebird like mine…
Low beam (brown on our cars) goes to 87...
High beam (green on our cars) goes to 86…
Ground (connect wire to metal) goes to 85…
Power: (from battery of suitable source). You must have a 20-amp fuse on this.

 

I drive with my brights whenever possible. Why wouldn't I? I want as much light as possible so I know what's ahead of me. I don't blind other drivers though. Why would the infinite variability be needed?

150 watts isn't going to mean it's always bright. HIDs are just as bright, if not more so. They've started measuring light output not wattage now. Lumens. That's the same reason all those r*cer bulbs have to bee 100+ watt because they're painted blue and let out a lot less light.

redraif, he's talking about a whole new bulb/housing assembly. It's two separate connectors for high/low.

 

yeah I know... I was trying to explain, since I had a similar wiring issue with mine, what I did to make it work properly. I went from a single lamp with dual function (3 wires) and I went to a dual headlight system (4 wires).

I used the factory wiring and split the factory ground b/w both lamps and got everything to work fine. The only prob was that the dims went off when the brights came on. I had to use a relay to get the lows to stay on when I switched to my highs!

That was the info I was giving...how to do this! (all 4 bulbs to light on high)...to get the lights to work as they would on the Sunfire stock! Guess I skipped the simple part (split the ground) Sorry for the confusion

 

hrm, I almost never use my brights... maybe that's why I don't see if from your viewpoint...

I always feel that the brights are aimed too high...

 

Redraif-

Thank You! This info will make my night time excursions (the 4am kind) much safer. One of the reasons I decided to go with the newer sunfire lights, they should be plenty bright with clear lenses and H4's.

Now to get both high and low beams, I have the wiring supplys so I'd just need a universal type relay or? could I purchase the same relay you used seperately without buying the whole kit? Thanks again,
-ben

 

yes a simple universal relay will do the trick. In fact I still have the summit kit in my wiring kit all bagged up. I just duplicated the design to use in my car. In fact, I got a relay from the junk yard and used it. I have done this conversion on my mothers old wagon, and my dually as well! The summit kit was initially designed for the 90s trucks anyway!

 

all the kit does is upgrade the wiring and put on all headlights (in a 4 light system,) at the same time?

replace the bulbs with two-filament versions and you're all set?

 

the kit takes a system that is designed to have the brights or the dims on not both on when the brights are on and converts to a all 4 on when brights are on sys! It is just a simple relay...thats it!

 

so, does that work on firebird highs and lows? as we just have a dual fillament bulb?

 

heres something that was thought pf and made, looks kinda cool, kept it only becuase qwhen it was posted on the particular sight they wouldn't allow right clicks, so i overidded it anyhow just because i love doing the tings pope dont want. hehe. actually the idea is patented and everything so.....




shane

 

My question though is what are those lights from, where do you get just the lights, and, are they actually bright enough?

 

Well that "kit" isn't going to directly fit a bird anyways. It's an idea to base off of. In which case you can use headlights from anything. I'm using things like that in my setup from Hella. 90mm housings.

 

I knew it wouldn't fit a bird, I'm just wondering where a good place to find lights like that would be and if they would be bright enough?

 

I'm using the 90mm version. They're bright as hell because the ones I have use the h9 bulbs.

 

that exact kliot wont fit a bird, but they have a kjuit availible by the same company for our cars, just no picutre.

 

Yes it does. See the factory dual filament works just like the 90s GM trucks separate headlamp system. Only one filament is lit at a time depending on whether you have high or low beams selected. The dual filaments in the single bulb bird system just utilizes the common ground for both filaments.

In order to switch over to a dual headlight system you have to split the ground. Thus making the 3 wire system a 4 wire sys! You run the factory power wires to the power leads on the headlamp bulb, and the split gound to the grounds. I simply used the spade terminals on the foglights and inserted them into the factory headlamp prong receptical.

 

Really...that is the first I heard of that...email them and see if they can get you some pics or get you the contact info of someone who has the kit and maybe we can get pics from them! I hate to say those pics that have of the proble lights do nothing for me since I can't see the whole car. I would need to see a pic hood down from the front and 1/4 angles. Also with them lit and not to really get a feel for them!

 

at least that's a step in some direction... I'd also be curious to see what the whole car and lightpattern look like...

probably very expensive as well...

 

I just got the sunfire lights and had to do a mock up pic..


The bumper opening gives it the "pissed off fish" look, I might try to make the "mouth" a little thinner and longer hopefully it will look less fish-like and more like it has snake or bird eyes.

edit- the lights came with bulbs and say H9 on the back, now I need to find some plugs that fit these suckers and be one step closer to business.

Redraif Is there any markings or numbers on that relay you got with the kit, it would be nice just to go to the parts store and get that specific one so I can follow your directions instead of messing with a relay from the junkyard. thanks,

-Ben

 

if you're gonna do that, you're gonna need to fiberglass the edges of the car where it won't look smooth near the lights...

and uh, I'd honestly say lose that 'mouth' or whatever...

it's not straight, and you would have to do some modifications to even get air to blow onto the radiator.

it would look tight if you removed the opening, and put two circular fog openings at the bottom corners, like a sunfire, or grandam...

did you make the hood from scratch, or was it premade?

also are you thinking of side skirts and other goodies?