Wheel Stander

I have a 92 with stock factory headlights. They are absolutely terrible. From what I have read, it sounds like HID lights may be the answer so I bought a conversion kit. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with what I received. The lenses and housing are both made from plastic, and the diamond-cut design uses some sort of junky metal reflective device which is anything but secure inside the lens. Also, the required wiring looks complicated and time consuming to install.

I've been told that HID fog lights are a much easier install and will provide much brighter lighting directly in front of the car. That would help, but I'm still going to need upgraded headlights to see better at distance. This is where I need advice. A number of vendors sell Hella style units that use either halogen or xenon bulbs. The Hellas are less expensive and much easier to install than the HIDs, but I'm not sure if they will solve my problem. Please let me know if they will be a worthwhile improvement over my original sealed-beam bulbs and, if so, which Hellas I should buy. THANKS!!!

WVZR-1

Your '92 should have had "plastic" H6054P units when new and yes the plastics were terrible. I believe I'd buy a pair of glass newer H6054 and see if that might satisfy your needs. The C4 was never great but I believe most are happy with the glass sealed beams.

You could consider adding relays to the system and increasing the voltage from the something less than 12V likely to something much closer to the 14V output of the charging system. That really lights things up. If you buy anything make sure you're buying E-code lamps and NOT China product.

Amazon I believe mentions high quality India product and mentions NOT CHINA in their offering. They don't mention E-code but they're also supplied "less bulb" and they're not sealed. That could maybe be a nuisance.

Here's a Daniel Stern relay solution. I've seen people do this on "other than C4" lighting and it might be an interesting adventure. Not very much to accomplish the project and it's certainly not expensive if you source your parts wisely.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...ys/relays.html

It would be interesting maybe to just measure the actual voltage at the lamps now at maybe 2000 RPM. The alternator should be charging and the battery should be at whatever it's functional state is presently.

All newer production OE systems using replaceable bulbs use high and low beam relays for just this reason, to improve the lighting intensity.

Here's the Amazon offering:

ANTI VENOM

HID lamp retrofits are possibly illegal. It seems to be a gray area to me. I got tired of researching and just installed true projector HID's in my other car. Personally I'm not a fan of the "cut-off". Some areas cops look for HID retros, and other places don't seem to care as long as you aren't blinding people by putting HID bulbs in a reflector housing. Good luck!

c4cruiser

Some years ago when I had a '92 vert, I installed a set of Hella conversion lamps. These were made of glass and they were a huge improvement over stock 6054 lamps. I used H4 Xenon bulb that were something like 100/90W and I never had a problem with fuses or wiring.
Neither the Hella or CIBIE conversion lamps are sealed but like the Amazon link, they come with a very good rubber gasket and they will not leak.

The OEM "fog" lights are really useless in that they are plastic and sealed. Adding any type of bulb that will generate more heat than stock bulbs can easily melt the units. They are a real PITA to remove as the front fascia has to come off. And once the face of the lens becomes dull from road grit, they have to come off to be re-polished. Frankly, I would just ignor them and look for quality headlamp systems.

WVZR-1

You could imagine then how much more efficient they would be with 14V or near that powering them!

smdorsey

Thought about HIDS for awhile. Just installed Silverstar headlights and 50W fogs. Dramatic improvement at a 1/3rd of the cost.

Stay Frosty!
Stephen

BigT2

I have been using the Hella e-code with Silverstar bulbs for about a year now and is a major improvement over the stock sealed beams.

T

Wheel Stander

Thanks for the heads-up. I read the stuff on Daniel Stern's website. It was VERY informative ... a bit too technical for me, but still good stuff. Based on what I read, I'm going to install Hella crystal lead glass lens with the OSRAM SilverStar bulbs. It should be a MAJOR improvement (which really shouldn't be hard to achieve). If you or anyone else is interested, some of the products that Stern recommends can be found here ... http://www.candlepowerinc.com/

I don't know whether their prices are the best, but they do have a very good selection of high-end automotive lighting products.

HAPPY MOTORING ...

gerardvg

Yes HID headlights are very nice with a lot more light however they are for cars with projector headlights, due to the fact many have fitted hi/lo's to H4 lights and not adjusted the headlights afterwards they got a bad name with Police on the lookout.

The other issue i have come accross is the failure rate, over a year i went through 2 ballasts and 2 hid globes and finally the hi/lo swithing relay went. I went back to H4 lights but with 100watt low beam and 140watt high beam, a step down i know but HID will let you down with failures.

My sister has a car that is almost 2 years old with HID lights standard and is forever having ballasts and HID globes replaced, yes they are really great but reliabillity is lacking..

Silver96ce

Two years ago I installed Silverstar sealed beam headlights. Improvement was enough I skipped the Hella conversion. It was easy and cheap compared to the alternatives. I also got them on sale and only paid $25.00 for the two of them (I haven't seen that special since).

I just checked and (as long as the prices are the same in your area), if you have an Advance Auto near you, you can get two of them for $34.99 plus tax if you buy online and pick up in store. Enter "TRT30" in the promo code line.

TBSS/85vette

I did the same conversion in the spring using the Silverstar Ultra bulbs. Being able to see down the road is fantastic.

mcm95403

I use the Hella e-codes as well, but I use 80w/100 Xenon bulbs instead. Very nice white, bright light and rarely need the high beams.

Wheel Stander

I contacted Daniel Stern earlier this week. He was very helpful. When he realized that I wasn't anxious to try my hand at upgrading the stock wiring on my C4, he recommended Cibie headlamps and Narva+50 bulbs which should be here in a couple of days. Once I complete the install, I'll post an update about the quality of lighting this stuff gives me. Stern says it will be a MAJOR improvement over my stock sealed beams.

DinoBob

I have the original headlamps in my '86. They are absolutely awful. I appreciate the thread, the Silverstars sound like my solution.

1993C4LT1

Anyone have pics of Helle E-codes with HID bulbs in them?

Cliff Harris

I saw a thread a few years ago on swapping in HID headlights. The author recommended buying TWO kits to have spare parts to replace the ones that blew out.

I have the Silverstars in my car. HID kit sitting on the bench. I did a bench test and was not impressed by the light output. I think I should have gone with the projector version (love them on my C6).

Wheel Stander

What lenses do you plan to use or are you sticking with sealed beams?

WVZR-1

Are you doing the 14V relay upgrade also or just the lamps? If your lamps are the original 'plastic' I believe you'll be thrilled!

Wheel Stander

Just the lamps, no electrical system upgrade.