I have a 70 Cutlass CV and I am interested in repalcing my headlights for safety & asthetic reasons. Has anyone upgraded their lighting to the halo styled (angel eyes) headlights?? Im looking for any advice, tips or feedback in regards to doing this mod. Thanks in advance. Check out the link for some classic car photos w/the Halo light upgrade.
http://haloheadlights.co/

 

You said for safety and the best upgrade for safety is to upgrade to HID headlights. I plan to use two Cibie 5 inch headlights with replaceable H4 bulbs and a kit sold on ebay for about 180. That is the best option for safety 55w HID lights. My van and daily driver are already converted and it takes about 1 hour to do the conversion. Normal HID lights are 35W the 55W are brighter. It doesn't get any safer than HID lights on an old muscle car. The cibie headlights are heavy leaded and dissipate the light and dont blind opposing traffic.

Lee

 

For aesthetics, don't want my Olds looking like a BMW at night. Just my opinion and it's your car.

For improved lighting, most old cars have already had the original sealed beams replaced with halogen bubs over time but worth checking. I like Lee's input to go up to the next level. Did you have to upgrade the factory wiring, add relays or make other electrical changes?

 

I havent done anything as of yet. Im just checking out different options but Im sure I would need to do some wiring upgrade...relays. Thanks for the feedback. By the way those headlights are on the American made (GM) Chevrolet Camaro too

 

I will do a little headlight lesson because it fits this thread well. Hopefully other will read this thread.

So first for our restored cars we only have the choice of the original headlights for our cars. New T3s are expensive and still available on ebay for considerable money. Top cars will go with this option. Next is reproduction T3 headlights acceptable and you don't loose points for using them. Finally used are the option for most. Pitting and fogging/fading of the lens are the main problems with used but they work if you pick and choose. It is helpful to seal the used lights with epoxy because any crack in the insulation and they will blow.

Next option is the halogen sealed lights. Much better lighting with the same amperage draw on the system 55w and they look fine in a driver or weekend show car.

The third option is the one I like best and that is halogen with a replaceable bulb. These are made by cibie, hella, and others for mostly foreign applications but the are direct bolt in for our cars. The premium vintage versions are expensive and use much more lead and glass bars to dissipate the light (no beam like you can see with your original headlights). You can choose the bulb wattage for these lights up to 100w draw per light. This is not recommended but I use a 55W draw=120W of light bulb in mine. This preserves the original wiring and does not overload the switch or wiring. In the early days I actually ran a 100w bulb in the high beam and luckily didnt fry the harness. Piaa and others make the bulbs with multiple output.

Final and best option is the new HID system conversions. They are inexpensive and you get what you pay for. If you want to spend $75 you can get a complete set from China. I use a set sold on ebay for $180 with lifetime guarantee and made in Germany. So with the HID lights you get to choose 35W or 55W. All modern cars have 35W systems. The 55W are new and brighter. So if you want to have a light contest with a mercedes you will win with the 55w system. I also run on both of my cars an extra driving fog combination light upgraded to 55w HID for the driving and 80=160 for the fog (heavy duty PIAA wire harness added). So I am never in a dark place without adequate lighting and just use the headlights most of the time. With dual HID on the high beam and the HID driving lights I can look like an airplane landing.

LED headlight are not legal in most areas and are decoration. The new technology LED is crazy bright and soon will be the standard in lighting but not yet.

Ask questions because I have learned most of the lighting information over the years trying to be able to see on dark roads at night.

Lee



The HID kit comes with two ballasts that need to be mounted a simple wire harness that connects to the battery and one of the connectors plugs into one of the original light plugs from the car. I have not investigated it yet but have replaceable bulb lights on my VC now.

 

Below are some pictures of the Halo Lights installed on a classic vehicle

 

JMO but I think they'd look out of place on a classic unless it is heavily resto-modded.

 

Keep in mind that the reflector/lens is different for HID than Halogen. Buy the right conversion for the type of bulb you want to use. Otherwise, your HIDs will scatter far too widely.

 

I have a 72 cutlass with standard non-halogen headlights, what exactly do I need (brand) to upgrade to HID? There are lots of "kits" but nothing that I am finding translates to 1972 cutlass this is the lens(?) and bulb kid that fits and will not burn up the wiring in what I have.

 

As Lee said above, you need to go with a set from one of the recognized European brands, such as Cibie or Hella (and NOT an eBay knock-off), which will be very expensive.
The cheap Chinese ones won't work right and you'd be better off with a set of Wagner halogens.

- Eric

 

I have Hella's installed on two cars and very satisfied with the difference in light output vs. OEM lights. Installation is quick and easy.

 

I have original T3s in my car - they are so dim sometimes I just drive around with the brights on and no one even flashes at me.

I'm wondering about an upgrade but really like having the T3s, finally broke down and replaced the original starter with a powermaster, there's something to be said about the convenience and safety of upgraded components

 

Steven, I am the same way, if it breaks, I upgrade (been trying to break this 350 rocket to justify a 455 but can't get it done). Can anyone recommend a good supplier for Hella? - Alex

 

Alex
I bought mine from J C Whitney on line. The lens on the Hella are "Euro" type vs T3's 1956 sealed beam tech specs.The safety addition of the new lights is like night and day.

 

JC Whitney "do not carry". So a random place has asked what kind of bulb and guess that it is a T3?

 

Go back to J C Whitney...type Hella in the search box..at all Hella items look for HELLA VISION PLUS CONVERSION HEADLAMPS ...and pick #14067g round.

 

I believe those are halogen, which are not HID - right?

 

Oddball,

Where do you get HID lens?

 

You are correct.......

 

i did the HID conversion, also $180 on ebay. easy install, after 2 years still working perfectly!! awesome upgrade....halo's say BMW to me. HID's i think fit better as a modification to hot rods/classic cars, IMO.

it makes people looks twice when they see the HID's coming at them but then hear and see a 40+ year old gas guzzler cruise by, LOL

 

I am sure everything is alredy thrown away, but is it possible to say exactly what HID kit you got? Did it include the lenses and the bulbs or did you already have the lenses. I contacted Hella directly (because I just like saying "Hella") and Hella responded that they do not make a 72 Cut. Best that I could find is lenses in one place (which are for halogen and not the HID special lenses that oddball talked about) that allow you to place either halogen or HID bulbs. Then I found on ebay 27,352 kids for HID bulb kits with ballasts, etc. I have not found anything that had lenses and the HID bulbs with a 55w application. Also curious if anyone did anything with their parking lights.

 

Also, can you attach a pic of the front of your car so I could see what it looks like? Thanks - Alex

 

Try these:

http://www.duckworksav.com/personals...echLights.html

http://www.aps-supply.com/e-Catalogu...0/prod_id/122/

http://duckworksav.com/Upgrades.html

- Eric

 

OK, love the concept of having aircraft landing lights on the 442, and I guess a 55w HID is a 55w HID (and that is street legal), but is that really just going to pop into the nosecone of the oldsmobile rocket? And I guess that it does do away with the need for high beam/low beam. Is that what is on your pink panther?

 

I hate the look of the diffuser over the bulb on a classic car. I searched high and low for stock looking headlights that take the H4 conversion and I found them on eBay. They are the good ones too.

I have the bulbs too, but with the plug for the lows being rated at 35watts, I didn't want to take the chance putting the 55watt bulb in place so I'm waiting until I can afford the HID's for the car to install them. I want to buy all 4 at the same time.

I wouldn't go any higher than a 35w kit. 55w kits cost more money and IMHO could damage the headlight wiring anyway, so it's kinda a double whammy.

IDK about the round headlights, but for us guys running H4656 sqaure headlights, the H4 bulb is NOT a plug and play set-up. The ground and low beam prongs are in different spots on the bulbs. You could rewire the stock wiring, or buy the relay kit for it from Summit Racing, but I'd rather buy a dircet fit kit. See the diagram below for what I mean.

I found a web site called www.blindingHID.com and they have kits listed for your 1970. It's not under Cutlass, but all the cars of the day used 5006 for the lows and 5001 for the highs. Total plug and play kit and I'm planning on buying the HID's from them. I almost bought them last night, but I opted for the dash cap instead feeling that was more of a want/need than the HID's which are more of a want at this point.

No matter where you buy the HID's, you want to be sure that the base of the bulb is metal and not plastic. Stick with the 35 watt set-up, and as for color, 4300K would be a bright headlight, but you could pick up Silverstars and be at 4200K for less money. I'm either going to get 6000K or 8000K for my Delta, not sure yet

 

OK - Found the site and they sell "sealed to composite conversion" (don't see a picture, but guess these are the actual lenses) and also badmouth the ebay kits. Of concern is the following disclaimer which makes me wonder if the high beams dimming time.

Pros:
- Cool light colors: we offer HID headlight kits in 5 colors, from crystal white to violet
- Less energy: the HID xenon bulbs use up to 30% less power than the halogen bulbs
- Durability: typically, xenon bulbs last longer than halogen bulbs (if good quality)
Cons:
- Legal situation: we stress again that all HID light kits sold on this site are for off-road use only. HID lights are fine in general and are used by all car manufacturers in new cars. What makes the HID conversion kits illegal is that the halogen headlamps are not designed to cut-off the HID light properly, and hence, there is a danger of blinding the oncoming traffic.

 

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d54a62a0.jpg

I need to take when at night to show how they look then, I'll try to take one soon and post it.

 

Suweet car. Lights look great - 55w or 35w? And how is the dimming time that the disclaimer is talking about? No big deal? And do you know the exact kit?

 

I already have the composite headlights, so that's not a concern for me

 

They should all be about the same brightness, though there are different colors available. The distinction is in the lens and the reflector, and how they work together to focus the light.

The only lights that are street legal in the US are ones that have "DOT" ("Department of Transportation") molded into the lens (in Europe, it's generally "DIN" ["Deutsches Institut für Normung" or "German Standards Institute"], and, I believe, an additional letter combo for the EU certifying agency).
If they do no say "DOT," then they are not legal. Period.
If you care about legality, you shouldn't be messing with your headlights in the first place.

Airplane landing lights DEFINITELY fall into the category of "NOT street legal."

Yes. The bulb format (PAR-46) is the same.

No. These would be for the high beam bulbs ONLY.

Do you really want to blind all oncoming drivers?

Nope, though I am considering it.

I've had a pair of Cibie H1 high beams with 130W bulbs in my Chevelle since the eighties (got 'em at a flea market for $10), and, MAN, those things are flamethrowers (and, No, they're not "legal" - In fact, they have very flat faces and are very obviously not original).
Someone comes at me with their brights on and I tap the highbeam switch, and you would be AMAZED at how fast they dim those puppies .

- Eric

 

seems like your just trying to rain on everyone's parade here.....if you don't like HID's that's fine, but don't be trying to scare people out of using them by threatening that they are illegal. true, they must say DOT to be "legal", and the kit i bought does. however, there are plenty of people out there running "illegal" lights, accessories, exhaust, etc. nobody seems to be stopping them. they risk a ticket at worst, yes, but i would say less than 20% of violators actually ever get caught. it's like running tint that's too dark, it's the risk you take, alot of people do it.

if you aim them correctly, they do not blind on-coming drivers. also, you said yourself, they are all the same brightness but different colors. so how does a color change all of a sudden blind people?? it's not the color or the brightness, it's how they are aimed.

the HID low beams provide a better clearer field of view, which is why 99.99% of new cars have them....cuz they are BETTER and last LONGER.

i don't remember the exact kit number i bought, but it came with 6000K HID LOW BEAM bulbs and reflector housings, Xenon COOL BLUE HIGH BEAM bulbs and reflector housings, HID ballasts, & wiring harness.

i'm not sure what the "dimming" thing you are talking about...i know when you first turn them on they take a good minute or two to fully warm up.

 

It's what I live for.

Seems like you're not paying attention.

If you notice, I posted Goliardi's quote to indicate that I was responding to his inaccurate statement.

And as far as parades go, Johnny Law would be more than happy to rain on yours if you blind him with a set of crappy eBay knockoff headlights.


I like HIDs just fine. I was just enjoying a properly designed and constructed set while driving home in one of my BMWs tonight.
I was also tempted to run a guy off the road who came at me with crappy headlights.

Yes, but that just starts a discussion about the general decline of modern society.
I'm a motorcyclist, but I've got to tell you, if I could get away with it, I'd string a cable across the road and decapitate every Harley rider blasting through my town "saving lives" with his illegal pipes at all hours of the day and night, in spite of the signs the town paid to erect asking them to please respect their neighbors.


Not true. There is no way to aim airplane landing lights so they don't blind oncoming drivers, any more than there is to aim stock highbeams so they don't.

Ummmm... Where did I say that the color blinds people?
Perhaps you should review, then rejoin the group.

True, properly designed HID lights are BETTER and last LONGER, Cuz.
However, most of the garbage passed off on eBay is neither, and for that reason is illegal on street-driven cars.

"Dimming" is what civilized people do to their highbeams when oncoming traffic approaches, or when they approach slower traffic. It means reducing the brightness of your lights, so as not to blind other drivers, which is both unsafe and rude.
It can also refer to the process by which certain posters can reduce the quality of a forum discussion by their mere presence.

- Eric

 

If you go to my posts above I was just trying to present some lighting options. If I had chosen the 35w hid 5000k replacement option my lights would be like all the factory lights. I did not and have a brighter system than most. The original sealed beam lights on our old cars are terrible and in my opinion unsafe. So if you go stock, halogen or hid that is a safety choice. The cibie lights I am choosing with a hid upgrade will blind no one and I will be safer driving my car at night. I did not intend on solving world hunger in this post. Lee

 

I agree, as I said in my first post:
"As Lee said above, you need to go with a set from one of the recognized European brands, such as Cibie or Hella (and NOT an eBay knock-off), which will be very expensive.
The cheap Chinese ones won't work right and you'd be better off with a set of Wagner halogens. "

- Eric

 

I disagree completely with the catch all statement that anything on Ebay for headlights is bad.
I have bought H4 conversion kits off ebay and they are leaps and bounds in improvement over stock T3 housings.

This is the set I have on my 442, and I'll never 2nd guess putting them on. Huge improvement.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-3-4-H5001-...ht_2619wt_1392

Mind you I haven't done the headlight relay modification on this car yet to
improve it even more because I didn't see it as necessary after installation.
Hey!!!! Someone did their proper research!!! Good man.

HID headlights are badass, yes. I have had them on my car and Hayabusa since 2005.
Unfortunately, most "kits" are not produced with the PROPER projector housings.
They are sold with Halogen style housings, and those are ILLEGAL and bad for oncoming drivers.

I haven't seen any kits for HID's on here that have the proper projector lens or
add on to block the top half of the bulb from blinding oncoming traffic.

 

Read this post and you'll understand what I'm talking about with the aid of pictures to understand.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums...ml#post2031348

GOOD HID projection
Notice the perfect horizontal cutoff of the light.


BAD HID projection due to incorrect Halogen housings.
Most kits you see posted will give you an end result like this, and it's illegal and ignorant.

 

With all the work you've done on your car, Aces, you seem to be a careful and responsible guy, so I will take your word that those headlights work well, and will even consider buying a set for myself (the price is right).

If these are truly good headlights, I will fall back on my general statement that I would avoid Chinese-made non-brand-name eBay crap, but make an exception for this particular product. The trouble is that you really can't tell what you're getting, unless somebody like you, who has used them before, can vouch for them.

I the case of these particular lights, I would normally be concerned because nowhere in the description does the seller say anything about the brand of the lights (other than "These lights are made by an ISO-9001 manufacturer, who is in lighting business for over 35 years.", but they are photographed with a Hella box in the background, which is deceptive (since Hella was founded in 1899, the company making the lights, with "over 35 years" experience, is probably not them).

Either way, of course, this does not say anything about HID lighting, of which it is even harder to find high quality examples on eBay, and which are generally quite expensive when found.

- Eric

 

I do appreciate the vote of confidence there Eric.

I research things to death, and I try to make as informed a decision as I can with anything that goes on my car.
Usually I'm forking out big $$$ for high end stuff, but these are definitely a bargain.

They are a very good increase in lighting over factory style housings.
I almost forked out for the Hella or Cibie's but discovered these instead saving a small fortune.

My car is green, (and I'm Irish) and I've been salivating to put neon green halo's inside my housings for effect.
I just think it would look wicked with the lights off, and just the halo's on at dusk.
TO each their own obviously, but I dig it.

 

Just curious, would it be really noticeable when you look at the front of the car if you did the low beams but not the high?

 

So, Aces, my question is, how are the focus and the cutoff?

I would imagine you have driven everything from OEM sealed beams to generic halogens to modern-car halogens and HIDs, so you have some points of comparison.
Personally, I find the OEM lights a bit dim, but feel fine driving with run-of-the-mill sealed-beam halogens. I like the fancier lights better, but I don't get nervous driving with the older ones, so long as all the connections are good and they're getting enough juice.

Do the lights you recommended stay out of oncoming drivers' eyes on low-beam?

Thanks,

- Eric