This is a long post, bear with me.... I'm excited, lol

As anyone that owns a firebird, our headlights suck………a lot. One of the first things I did when I purchased this car was buying LMC replacements and HIDs, within days after installing them I hated them. Everything sucked about them, other than they looked nice when not lit which serves no purpose for us. Like a lot of other people on here that wanted better lighting, I bought some plates and a set of low beam Hellas. While you either love or hate the look, you can argue their performance. I HATED the big-*** step on them and drove me nuts, not to mention I had to point them further down than needed to due to the step hitting the passenger side mirror on the car in front of you. I also decided to try some Bosch H4 replacement headlights but the glare sucked and had to aim them down almost as far as LMC’s. I also attempted to retrofit microprojectors in them, but decided against it. All of these trials lead me to this …

I don’t know if anyone has tried to find sealed projectors, but they’re a bitch and especially something that would actually be the right dimensions for our cars. To add extra difficultly to my search they also had to be bi-xenon (high/low) so I could safely run a quad high/low setup on my WS6. Well….I did find some that were sealed AND ideal dimensions AND bi-xenon AND almost half the price of a pair of Hellas we've been using! The only thing I couldn’t confirm was the mounting spots for them, but they had some adjustability so I took a chance and luck was apparently on my side because they even fit on the Hella adapter plates with the only thing that needs to be done is drill 4 new holes. I took the liberty to draw up the locations of the new holes, to scale, in CAD (at bottom of OP) so if someone wanted to upgrade it’d be cake.

At this point I initially was going to start a thread, but made myself wait until I got a 2nd set of projectors because I wanted to show off my quad high/low beam setup plus the Harley-Davidson fog lights that I discovered how to retrofit last year.  I’m beyond happy with my lighting setup now! Of course there are better projectors out there, but they’re not sealed and we have to deal with the hand we were dealt.

I actually considered keeping this discovery to myself and possibly become a sponsor on LS1Tech. Then get some plates made with appropriate holes, Chinese HID kits and sell them with a pair of new bi-xenon projectors and make some extra money for my “kit”. Hell unlike other companies, no doubt I’d sell just parts of my “kit” to help out people that wanted to save money and already had plates or HIDs. BUT out of the handful of stuff (especially LED oriented) I’ve created while a member of LS1Tech and probably could have sold or even started a small business, that’s not my style and plus I have a Superlite SLC due in next month that will be taking up all my spare time. Honestly, I think it’s better for people to be able to buy themselves and in the end save a ton of money in the process. To sum it up, if you have OEM lighting, if you went for the cheapest of the cheap you could do quad bi-xenon headlights for our cars for barely over $200 for everything ($42/set projectors, $16/set H11 HID kit, $50/set Hella plates from forum member and make your own Y-adapter for dual ballasts) or half of that if you just want 2 headlights. Compare that to kits you can buy, major savings for just a little bit of wiring work. For anyone interested, personally I am running dual Morimoto HID kits with Chinese H11 bulbs and made my own Y-adapter for dual ballasts.

I also should mention that even though the picture on AliExpress shows these do have a step, as you can see mine do not. At first I was kind of mad, but after thinking about it I’m kind of glad they don’t because it allows me to aim them a little higher than if they did have a step. There also seems to be enough stray light that all the road side signs still illuminate. Shipping time from China to my door is right at 3 weeks from when order was placed.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Taoc...745860639.html

 

 

And another thread of yours that I've bookmarked.

How would you feel about running only a pair of these lights? I currently have an LT1 Trans Am with H4 conversions that are 'okay' but obviously not great. Seem like a nice alternative.

 

First the Harley fogs, now these?! Thanks for thinking of this stuff.

Those put out an impressive amount of light

 

So without a protective lens, wouldn't the projector be subjected to small rocks, debris that would chip the projector? PM sent.

 

I'm always glad to help, it's exciting for me to find something new on these cars that hasn't been discovered yet.

While they're no doubt 1000x better than OEM or OEM style non-sealed I can't yet comment on exact how good they are on the roads when driving but seem about on par with the Hellas. I've only aligned them and driven around my neighborhood, but I plan to take the car to work Monday so I'll definitely get to see how they are on the road. I also will get better pictures since it started sprinkling last night when I was aligning them so I was rushing. I also think I can probably aim them a little higher as well.

One thing I forgot to mention was they also make a 3" version of these projectors as well but they're a tad longer and wasn't confident they'd fit. Also think may have to modify the opening of the plates possibly. I think I found someone that has the 3" versions and he offered to give me real dimensions on them so I'll keep this thread updated if there's an even better solution.

As far as not having a cover like the BLS lights, I don't think anyone needs to worry about it. They're only exposed for a little bit since we are bless with pop up lights and even at that how often do you hear about our OEM or non sealed lights ever getting damaged by rocks? IMO I think the covers do add a nice touch but are more for asthetics than damage control.

@02TransAm/Batmobile I'll reply to your PM in a bit. Got an easy solution.

 

Infinite -- Nice Find on the Projectors !

I also appreciate the Harley Fogs you brought to our community last year. In fact, I'm looking at adding those fogs to my FireHawk soon.

On the "sealed" projectors:

I would expect that even a 35W HID bulb would generate enough heat within this "closed" design to cause reflector damage in the bowl area after only minimal use. This is why you generally see "open" Lens / reflector bowls in almost all of the major manufacturers designs.

The "open" design allows the units to dissipate the large amount of thermal energy produced by the HID bulbs. I would certainly not try a 55 Watt Ballast/bulb in these closed units. ( YIKES ! )

Perhaps, after many hours of use, you can report back on any observed reflector bowl blistering and/or burning with this "closed" design you are using?

I'm sure that many on the forum would be curious about the long-term use and possible reflector / bowl damage in this "closed" design.

There are several AliExpress "Open" Bi-Xenon projectors that offer similar illuminance BUT with internal Hi/Lo shields and proper LHD cutoff patterns. You may want to look at these other projectors for your use rather than the closed design you shared today.

I have recently been spending a lot of time reading various HID forums to see what is presently available and to learn all I can about this technology. I am finding that one of the major and well-respected suppliers of HID kits, Ballasts and Bulbs is using Chinese products that are often simply repackaged to show a more desirable name brand.

You are on to something in suggesting a way that forum members could find very GOOD performing Chinese units and adapting then for use in our cars. This can provide very significant savings, when compared to commercially-available units, and yet also provide very similar illuminance, cut-off patterns and longevity.

The trick is... finding the "Right" Projectors, Ballasts and bulbs, as many ( not all ) of the Chinese units are vastly inferior to name-brand offerings.

I look forward to additional testing and results that you provide.

Thanks for your work in this area !

#139

 

That's more or less the problem, it's very hard to find any sealed projector that will work with our cars.....kind of one those things you take what you can get. They do have an internal high and low shields so I'd guess they're considered "open" projectors. The only thing they're missing is the LHD or RHD "step", but I don't mind not having one. Makes it way easier to align plus can aim them a tad higher than if they did since you don't have to worry about the higher end of the step hitting the passenger side mirror on the vehicle in front of you. It took alot more effort to find these than I expected, but what's the fun if it's too easy, lol. I'm sure they possibly could be others I didn't come across yet that could work (like the 3" version).

I definitely plan to report back any results, good or bad. In fact, I'm running Morimoto 35w (inside lights) and 55w (outside lights), so I'll be testing both wattages. For anyone that doesn't know, I guess you could almost say Morimoto is the gold standard for a lot of retrofitters. Honestly, I'm not very concerned with it, I've always ran 55w in projectors and, so far anyways, I haven't noticed any degrading light output yet. Reason being is if you were to run halogen bulbs in them, you'd be running 55w anyways so putting off the same amount of heat. They are China projectors so the quality of the internal chrome may not be the best, but I'll be finding out! But you're right, anyone reading this it likely is a safer route to use 35w. IMO there's not a huge difference in light output between 35w and 55w.

 

Are you able to reuse the inner plastic headlight bezel with your new set-up? Nice work!!

 

I should be able to since it fits with the Hellas, but I haven't put mine on yet since I was adjusting them. I'll do it today tho

 

Any chance to have the mounting template scanned in so it can be printed out?


Asking for a lazy friend lol.

 

It's there, last picture. Line up the existing holes to mark for new holes, the rest of the template isn't 100% accurate, just ballpark because it wasn't my work.

 

Put the shrouds on the headlights yesterday and snapped some pictures. I also had a few minutes on the way to work on some back roads and stopped for a few real pictures.

Driving with these things is exactly how I wanted. They're freaking awesome and IMO don't compare to OEM, LMC, Bosch and Hella lights. I couldn't be happier with the real world drive and output. They are a little foreground heavy, but was really surprised about the distance. I was hoping to come across some lifted or leveled trucks that don't adjust their lights and always blind me, but didn't come across any....maybe next time.















Forgot about pictures with my high beams so took these quickly right before a corner



With fog lights off

 

Infinite reality at it again! lol

Look great man

 

Very nice find, that looks amazing!! You are the man!

 

Awesome, great stuff! Thanks for sharing. I cannot wait to get new lights on my car.

 

Really thinking about this hard. I did the Harley fog light mod the second I found it. But being I am very dumb, I could use a entire write up how to like on the fog lights. Also am very curious on the 3 in ones. Also what lumens rating did ya order.

 

Well, my time with my high beams was VERY short lived but did enjoy them while I had them so I won't be able to comment on their lifespan.

Last wednesday, it rained pretty good over here and I left early to make sure I made it home... Needless to say I never made it home, least while driving my car. I was in water up to the bottom of the ground effects (measured 6") and water got sucked into the engine. I didn't feel like I had anything to worry about, but obviously I was wrong. My guess is some truck kicked up a big wake and how it happened. I watched countless cars and things like 350Z's going through same water. I had it towed back home, pulled plugs, drained oil, vacuumed water out of intake. Oil looked good and only rear plugs were slightly damp, so my expectations were high... I turned it over by hand and each rear cylinder dumped out water as well as 5 pieces of cast aluminum. I can't find where this metal came from, but has to be the block. It was considered totaled yesterday and will get hauled off later this week.

Thankfully I had $100 comp deductible which saved my *** for sure, so now off to find something else. As smart as it'd be to get a truck, I can't bring myself to buying one. I want something to be fun to drive while building the Superlite SLC and not on the busa. An old truck isn't it that much fun, lol. Likely will end up in a C5 to stay in my price range since the SLC will keep eating my money and I need somethign that's paid off.
Plus it will be something a little different to learn on as well.

I think the worse part of all of this is after the quad lights, I was FINALLY content with the car and how it sat, looked, etc... and then this happened, lol.

 

omg dude that sucks!!! But why not buy the car back and just swap in a new engine? This happened to a friend of mine a few years back. Though they didn't total his car out and he got a nice check to replace the engine. I wouldn't just let them cube it.

Can I buy your fog light brackets off you before they tow it away lol? If you want to sell off anything else before it goes I would be interested.

But most of all, sorry for your loss. I totaled one of these myself and it was the worst day ever.

 

Thanks man. It sucks, but it is looking like it'll work out though I won't have a car. I won't buy it back since the SLC will be delivered in the next few weeks and I'll be completely focused on building it.

I'd say yes, but they took pictures and I actually know the fogs was an "option" so don't want to raise any red flags. I am pulling the headlights out and putting the Bosch to replace the projectors. Also pulling HIDs, LEDs bulbs, remote start, radar detector, sub, amp and whatever else that wasn't factored into the price. Gotta leave my headunit, but I'll get another one with a later android version so that's okay.