DerrickC

I am preparing to take my new (and first) vette, home from Denver to central texas this week and am a littel concerned about long stretches of empty dark roads and the somewhat poor output of the lamps in my new 1990 C4.
I am considering going ahead and picking up a set of silverstars for the drive home. Most of the threads talk about the increased weight of the glass versus the plastic stockers.
Is the weight a real concern on wear and tear for the motors?
Should I get the silverstars, which I can pick up and install tomorrow or order a set of plastic H4 conversion lenses at and hope they come in, in time to install?

Thanks,
Derrick

ynk1121

I've had silverstars in mine for a few years now with no problems. If the motor or something wears out or breaks then I'll fix it. Headlight motor parts are a lot cheaper than getting into an accident from not being able to see. Congratulations on the new ride. Post some pics when you get it home.

Daddy J

Congratulations on your new Corvette!!

Plastic Headlights came stock on the 95+ and are much lighter than the glass ones. Two plastic units appear to weigh less than one glass unit. I replaced my glass ones with the plastic units and they open much faster so I'm assuming this means a lot less strain on the motor/mechanism. The light output is good and appears the same as the glass. I've been using the plastic with no problems. Unlike the glass, plastic does fade a bit over time.

The plastic headlights were/are made by Wagner and the bar code number is 427223 56054 . Model : Plastic Halogen HP6054

They are available thru NAPA autoparts.
They're about $22.00 each

You can go either way - glass or plastic. Glass does put more strain on the mechanism I think, but like ynk1121 says one can live with that. It's up to you. I just wanted to give you a local source reference on the plastic ones if you decide to go that way as they can be hard to find if you don't know where to look and have the correct part number.
Have a great trip home. Be careful if you run into wet weather as, depending on the tires, Corvettes can be a little "squirrelly" in the rain

bob howard

Had the plastic units when I bought the 96. the light output was not as I expected, maybe they were scratched. Changed to Hella H4, night and day !!! These units are available on the auction site, among other places. Went with the standard bulbs, no "off road" bubs. Good luck with you C4 !!!Regards, Bob

rocco16

Which is more important, possible increased wear on some gears, or being able to see at night?

Get the H4 units. By the way, I've never seen H4 housings made of plastic.


Larry
code5coupe

__________
not easily impressed....

c4cruiser

The SilverStars will be a great improvement over the stock halogen lamps. Euro-style lamps like Hella's or CIBIE's with H4 bulbs are an even greater improvment over the SilverStars. The H4 bulb will not cause any problems with the stock wiring or relays.

As long as the headlamp gears and motors are in good shape, the glass Euro type lamp housing will not be a big problem. Even though these unit are glass, there is not really a lot of weight difference. The later C4's used a different type of gear material (stronger) and should stand up to the extra weight.

But if you are leaving within a week, I would install the SilverStar units now and look into the Hella units later. One important thing you should do is to align the new lamps once you install them. You can have the best lights available, but if they aren't aligned properly, they won't do a lot of good.

Fast Doc

I agree.

I replaced the stock, lousy plastic units with high end Hellas and excellent halogen bulbs, 80/85 watts, IIRC.

The lights open and close the same and I can see now.

Worth the money, especially with winter and short days right around the corner.

DerrickC

Thanks for all the input.
I went ahead and installed the silverstars today, I aould not be sure that I could get the hella's in time to get them installed. And seeing at night is the important part.

The H4 conversion seems to be the way to go for the long term though, particularly after pulling out the lamps today, even if the lighting was not significantly better, the greater simplicity of just swapping bulbs would probably be worth it.

thanks again for all the help.
Pics of my new ride to come, when get back to Texas.

Derrick

Fast Doc

Have a good safe ride and enjoy.

Hotred94

Considering the size of the headlight motors, it's hard to believe that glass headlights would bother them. There, I said it! It's really the gears and bushings that are the problem. I've had glass for almost two years now with no problem. H4 euro is the final solution.

Well, there is HID.

floridaZ

I have HID bulbs in my Z. Much brighter than regular bulbs. Provides alot of light so they are pretty nice to have.

Goldcylon

I enjoy my silverstars!!

runner140*

I drive seven days a week using my headlights. Always searching for the best and have been thru several combinations. Settled with plastic headlights with Hella H-4 bulbs. Wow!

94ZR1

Where can you get these?

shakedown067

I got mine at autozone. Pilot housings, and silverstar H-4 bulbs. They light up the road well!