I was checking out the autoopticks conversion kit for my 94's, and I decited to do a search on good 9006 bulbs for the kit.

After seeing many false advertisements, I found a guy who was taking 9005 bulbs and dremeling off the nub on the inside, and then putting it back in his (civic???) but they compared that to some of the new Xenon bulbs. The difference was amazing. If you look at a lumens chart for various bulbs, you'll see that even a 85w 9006 bulb can't touch a stock 65w 9005.

Now, Mr Cheapa** says, well why screw with the conversion kit, if I just buy two H4314 (Or whatever the high beams are) file the nub down on them, and put those where the low beams go. I figure I'd have to aim it a little lower, but I still figure you'd have a much better view of the road.

Anybody try this, have any thoughts? I don't expect it to be HID quality or anything, but if it's going to beat the Autooptiks conversion kit + good 85w 9006 bulbs, then I'd rather go the cheap route.

 

Been there, done that. (on my first camaro) It looks slightly better than the low beams, but the beam pattern seems to be off (too much glare not enough illumination of the road).

You can see what it will be like by simply unplugging your low beam harnesses, and then turning on your high beams. If you were gonna put better bulbs in them though, they will look alot better, but still may not light up the road where u need it.

Speaking from past experience, if all you care about is appearance, and you do mainly city driving, it's a good idea (especially with higher wattage bulbs) but if you care about illumination, or drive in the suburbs etc... (less street lights and more 2-way traffic in the dark) then I would stay away from this plan because by the time u aim them so that you don't get flashed, they will be pointed like fog lights.

 

Doh! Thanks for the heads-up.

I do mostly dark driving, and I'm more concerned about a longer lit distance. (In other words, if I can "see adiquatly" 100 feet (I don't know what the real distance is, but for number's sake) I'd like to see 150 feet.

Besides wanting the impossible

Anybody else know of a good (Non HID, read: cheap) way to increase the illuminated distance?

Silicone in a 85-watt 9006 bulb in a stock housing, or get the Autooptiks housing, and put in a 85 watt 9006?

I see that a reference 9006 has 850-1150 lumens (Nominal spec is 1000lm). I've seen some 85-watt 9006's that run 1358lm.
http://autooptiks.com/matrix.html (Astra Clear, 80w)

Or, I could get DOT legal 9006's that run at 51w that put out 1090lm...
http://www.autolamps-online.com/images/wpe2D.gif


I think too many people are concerned about the light "look" and go by the Kelvin rating, which really doesn't mean you see any better. After all, if the light is DOT spec, and runs 51w, it puts out a nominal 1000lm, but after it passes through the blue tint (To filter out other colors, to create a higher *Kelvin rating), the lumens drop off to a scary, barely legal 860lm.
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/bulbs/blue/bad/

I'm not trying to bash HID-lookalight's, I think blue is cool too, but wanted to forwarn you guys about what my **** research has shown me

Back to my Silicone-in-rambling

Does anybody have a how-to guide for doing that? Do you just heat the housing with a torch to get the old one out? Or just yank the SOB? I'd be afraid to distort the housing or crack the glass with the heat.

Thanks for listening to be babble

 

I think u are really onto sumthin there with the Lumens Ratings.
I suppose you could get the 2400 lumens bulbs (the ONLY ones on that list I would bother with), but that sounds like it would blind people.. Although HID's are insanely bright, the color temp makes them more pleasing to the eye. which I think makes them legal.

I was concerned about BOTH illumination and color temp, so I went with 100W 5000k bulbs. My reasoning is that, I need to aim the lights where they can light up the road.

Interestingly, my 5000k bulbs look perfect white during the day, and then at night they get that really cool bluish HID tint. MUCH MUCH different than the store bought Xenon bulbs, Sylvania Cool Blue... etc.. etc..

Oh yeah, back to my reasoning... so I don't wanna blind people, and I want better illumination than stock. So i got:

1) Clear housings to efficiently use the output of the bulbs.

2) 100W 5000k Bulbs for appearances and illumination. Yes ALMOST ANYTHING will light up better than the stock 55w bulbs... but if u get a tint to the bulb, you can and SHOULD go higher wattage to compensate. Otherwise, like u said u are actually gettin DIMMER= NOT SAFE.

 

Cool, thanks for the insight

When you say you got clear housings, does that mean you went with the autooptiks kit?

Also, what particular lights did you get, and where did you get them. (They're 9006 bulbs right?)

I'm liking the sound of your setup.

Oh, one last thing, does the 100w bulbs heat up the housings/wires any noticeable amount. at 100w you're passing almost double the current.

Or did you do a relay/direct-to-battery approach? (To get higher voltage to the bulbs)

 

Hey Man,

pureng is running Hella Free Form housings (FF75's) in his car with H7 bulbs, but he knows a heck of a lot of stuff about all this. I just ordered some housings similar to the AutoOptiks style, but hopefully better. I get them today or tomorrow, so I will let you know...be watching for this thread. I have heard a lot of bad stuff on the AutoOptiks housings, so maybe the ones I ordered will be better, but we shall see. If they aren't the quality I want, then I am going to get the Hella FF's and stuff like pt did .

I do have the same question though on the wiring situation, and what all he did there...The 9006's are the low beam bulbs, and the 9005's are the high beams...the kit in that other thread that I ordered comes with some bulbs in it, so we'll see how they are too. I should have it installed Sat. afternoon, and I'll try to get to a PC and post on them, but it may be Monday...

Hope this helps you out a little. Headlights have been brought up on here a lot lately, I do a lot of dark driving as well, so that's one of my main concerns.

 

I went with the Hella Free Form Kit as mentioned above. The kit is NOT cheap, but the good part is that it is perfectly sealed from the elements., and yet bulb changing is relatively easy. Plus if u DO want to go with HID's in the future (I DO) I can still get the HID in H7 setup (right now I am running H7 100w 5000k bulbs)

No, they are actually H7. On an added note, PLEASE do not use the bulbs the hella kit comes with. They are 55w and are NOT adequate in my opinion.

ok.. hee hee, The only setup I had which heated these housings up bad was the H4 100+90 w bulbs I had (show only) They heated up like a furnace, because I modified them to run BOTH fliments at once off the low beams

THIS I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend. I have seen it in action but haven't purchased it yet, because to tell you the truth I must be an idiot. The kits are only like $20, and with the kit you should put out a more consistent, better illumination. I have to go write that down so I remember to order it

 

Hey man,
Just a heads up on the autooptiks housings. They come with a sticker which warns you to modify the stock brackets to fit the housings. If you DON'T dremel, or widen them, eventually the housings will crack. Also, if u get creative, there may be ways to modify the autooptiks housings so that they keep out moisture better and align correctly. So if u like the look, you may be able to work with them... I jus never got the chance because one of mine cracked and the other one exploded a bulb cuz it got moisture in it, and so the housing was ****ed....

 

Thanks pu12en12g

Sounds like the upgrade path is:

[Really Cheap]
Stock lights
Headlight Relay Kit

[Cheap]
Silicone in a new 85w 9006 bulb
Headlight Relay Kit

[Mid]
AutoOptiks kit, with some good machining to the brackets
Some 85w 9006 Bulbs
Headlight relay kit

[Great]
Your Hella or Brent's PIAA conversion kit
100w H7 bulbs
Headlight relay kit

[Best]
Your Hella Kit
HID H7's
Headlight Relay Kit


Just a few more ?'s on the autooptiks kit (Sorry)
The grinding part is cool, I can handle that, but when you saw they have crappy sealing, where do you see them leaking? Where the light goes into the housing, or at the front, where the glass is bonded to the frame?

Your setup rocks, but for right now, I'm looking at a cheaper option, hence either the autooptiks, or just saying screw it, and siliconing-in a better bulb.

Thanks for all your help man. I saw pics of your ride on your website, Nice I got the same wheels, but mine are 16x8's and are sliver.

 

The sealing problem is where the light goes into the housing on the back. There is no gasket/grommet/rubber seal so they are not sealed from moisture/rain.

Also the tab that clicks in to hold them is like a paperclip, and doesn't really align the bulb in the middle where it should. It kinda presses it off to one side slightly.

Then again, I am very picky I don't want my headlights shutting down if i am caught in the rain

And the upgrade path sounds exactly right. Crystal Clear housings AND HID's ? ? It's GONNA BE INSANE LOOKING I need to get a raise

 

Oh except if u get any TINT at all to the bulb, just skip the 85w and get 100w bulbs, with a headlight relay. You will be:

 

Damn straight, Me too

Thanks for the info. If I run across any cheap headlight relay kit's during my quest for the light I'll post em here for ya.

 

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showp...ectGroup_ID=31



40A SPDT Automotive-Grade Bosch Relays......$1.79 each
Dual 5-post pre-wired mounting post (for two relays).......$1.90


Just wanted to save members a few bucks

 

Thanks Jeff, now I can start the search for brighter/higher wattage lights...that place looks like a good resource...bookmarked. Thanks!

 

No problem, Funny thing, I might be doing the silicone thing sooner than I thought -- Just had another blow out last night in my Fiancee's Z.

Parts Express really rocks, if you're into anything electronic, they got it. I'm talking they even got belts for your VCR

They are also a big DIY audio place, they sell really nice high end drivers Vifa, ScanSpeak, Eminence, etc...

Anyways, yeah for about $5 you can have the same relay set others charge $35-50 for