1g headlight conversion

[eoseitz]

Has anybody ever seen the ebay conversion kits installed? I found a set on there for pretty cheap. Didn't know if you could get the bright blue lights for them or not. If anyone wants to take a look I'll include the link.

eBay Motors: 6"x4" HALO DIAMOND CUT CONVERSION HEADLIGHT H4656 H4666 (item 350150551117 end time Feb-06-09 19:10:03 PST)

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I've got some on my car that I bought at autozone about 5 years ago w/silverstars in them. Be careful on the wiring. I got mine backwards and the Highs are Lows and the Lows are Highs..... Still need to correct that.

 

[NightFox88]

If there anything like the conversion kit that I bought for my saturn ended up being peices of shit, the lows were too dim and you couldnt see the road and the high's were about that brightness of lows on a normal saturn....but you gotta be careful of the people who sell cheap shit.

 

[z24frank]

I think I might give it a try.

 

[steve]

Those housings look like junk.

Try looking at:
eBay Motors: 165mm H4656 H4666 H4 EURO HEADLIGHTS WITH CITY LIGHTS (item 330296112039 end time Jan-20-09 22:23:14 PST)

eBay Motors: 165mm H4656 H4 EURO CONVERSION HEADLIGHTS (item 330297769008 end time Jan-29-09 22:30:35 PST)

eBay Motors: 165mm H4656 H4 HID EURO DIAMOND HEADLIGHTS SET (item 230154656437 end time Feb-10-09 22:09:22 PST)

 

[BacknBlack92ESi]

I agree with Steve. Look into something like he stated. Wont be disapointed.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

The ones I have look just like the last link Steve posted.

 

[steve]

And how they work for you? It seems like a lot of people say they are going to make the H4 swap but few if any actually report back on the quality of both the housings and light pattern.

I'm tempted to buy both types of housing and compare but it never gets that high on my priority list.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

They are definitely an improvement over the stock sealed beams. Like I said earlier, I wired them backwards due to the lack of information on the wiring of these and when the high beam indicator is on the low beams are active and vice versa for the high beams. And the fog lights come on with the high beams.

Get a quality bulb not those crappy blue xenon whatever bulbs. Just get a good set of Sylvania SilverStars and it will look and function great.

Steve, do you happen to know the proper way to wire these? I think I just need to swap two wires but I'm not sure.

 

[steve]

Pin 1 Red High beam
Pin 2 Red/White Low beam
Pin 3 Red/Blue Common.

ECE 165mm Rectangular Headlamp Wiring Guide

In that diagram they call the common terminal ground but we run a common hot to the headlights and switch the ground side with the column switch.

When I finally do mine I will use a set of relays to do the switching.

 

[AndrewD5418]

And how they work for you? It seems like a lot of people say they are going to make the H4 swap but few if any actually report back on the quality of both the housings and light pattern.

I'm tempted to buy both types of housing and compare but it never gets that high on my priority list.

I just bought the ecode version of the autopals. The glass has the pattern. I've heard that one's the best one to go with. I'll post up pics of it once I get it. Or since you're somewhat close you might be able to see em next time I'm in gurnee.

 

[AndrewD5418]

Here are my pics of the ecode version, the autopals with the "euro style"

Sylvania is on the left, ecode on the right.
Simple Gallery

It's not that great of a camera and not that great of a background to take pics of headlights with, but it'll still show how much better they are. Also, this is with the car off. If the car were on they would be about 20% brighter.

I think HID with these housings wont lok that bad. These really have a sharp cutoff for what they are.

 

[steve]

Thanks for those.

I ordered a set of both the H4 ECode and the H4 Freeform housings and I'll do some pattern and output measurements to try and gather some quantitative data. I guess I should order a couple sets of bulbs to test too. I have some regular Halogen sealed beams and some Silverstar sealed beam bulbs to use a a baseline.

 

[AndrewD5418]

I'm currently making a relay harness as well so I can run some high wattage bulbs.

 

[steve]

Let's have some fun.

I've got a plan (that doesn't include sitting outside at 1am) but how would you measure the light pattern and output? I'm not planning on installing them in the car for testing to eliminate some variables but let see what ideas others have.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

Here's my try:

Build a wood box just big enough to slide the light fixture in. Use an old trim ring to hold the assembly in place. Make sure you affix the box to something sturdy so that you don't change the angle on it while changing out lights. Then, wire up the light to a car battery. Shine the beam onto a piece of paper hanging from the ceiling at 5, 10, and 15 ft away and trace the pattern onto the paper at each distance. Use multiple sheets, one for each assembly and light combination. Then you can figure out how to do the math on how to figure out how far it will project the pattern by how far the height drops for each distance of paper.

I don't really know how I would test the light output though. Other than measuring the heat that comes off of it. But that's not scientific.

 

[AndrewD5418]

I'd just get a table outside and sit them side by side at the end of the table the distance apart from each other they would on the car. Take a picture. Do the other set load em up in photochop and compare.

 

[steve]

My plan is to mount the headlight on a stand pointing at a paper target and take a pictures with a common exposure of the back side of the target showing the light shining through, measuring the actual peak levels on the other side to calibrate the exposures. The distance will be based on some initial tests so see how big the target needs to be and the space I have to work with. The voltage will be regulated.

 

[miniturbo23]

Looks like some work but shouldnt be too hard to get hids for it now.. if it comes down to just changing bulbs get the nokya stage 2 bulbs I put those on my girls Galant h3 bulbs and it is almost as if they were HIDs.. I have the 12k hids on my talon and my 1st gen I just changed the front end so i wouldnt have to deal with flip ups. But keep up the good work!

 

[EGuenther]

So there are two options for an H4 conversion, the typical Halogen housing and the Projector housing, right? What are the pro's and con's of both? If I want to do an HID conversion, would the projector housing be alright? I know that HID's in a Halogen housing is not proper because there is no cut-off, right?

 

[steve]

The two I'm looking at are the traditional E-code housing where the pattern is formed by the front lens with a simple parabolic reflector and the newer E-code free form housings where the beam pattern is formed by the complex reflector surface and they have a flat clear lens. I haven't seen any non-ricer quality projector housings except for custom built conversions.

 

[steve]

I guess I'm speculating a bit on if the free form housing are really e-code. I'll have to check and see if they are stamped.

 

[tsi1991awd]

I did a tech article on 1g HID conversion...if you werent doing HIDs it could still pertain to your wiring and such.

 

[EGuenther]

Isn't an HID kit in a Halogen housing a 'bad' thing, because there is no cut off and the light shines upwards as well, into oncoming traffic's eye's? I thought this was the reason to use a projector housing. I remember reading a discussion(more like an argument) about this, some people were complaining that the way you did yours, they would be 'blinded' by the lights when in oncoming traffic. Personally I wouldn't care because I took the plastic attaches to the pop up cover off so more light will shine through when my pop ups are down, which is how I always have them, set to brights(stock bulbs).

 

[AndrewD5418]

I did a tech article on 1g HID conversion...if you werent doing HIDs it could still pertain to your wiring and such.

Glaretastic.