Monte Carlo/Impala Project Headlights Review/Tips/Fixxes ETC
04-27-2010, 09:59 PM
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Monte Carlo/Impala Project Headlights Review/Tips/Fixxes ETC Ok, so this is my little review on the Monte Carlo / Impala Projector headlights..I always see a bunch of people asking stuff about them..And I remember when I was interested in buying them, I couldn't really find too much info on them, so im typing this up.
So first things first...I bought my set of projector headlights from www.dashzracing.com I recommend buying from there because out of all the places I've seen them for sale, this is the only place to offer a warranty, or a lifetime warranty for a little extra cash. Shouldn't be needed but is definitly nice to have if you're that type of person. The box I received was probably 3 foot wide 2 foot tall, and the headlight assemblies are in seperate boxxes. The origin of these headlights if Taiwan..Which in manufacturing terms means it's better than Made in China, but not exactly as good as Made in Japan..The manufacturer is obviously, a Taiwanese company called Eagle Eyes.
FIRST(This is in bold for a reason) do these things...Ok so..
-FirstInspect the adjustment screws. It will be on the top back corner of each headlights assembly, it is a silver allen wrench screw. Easiest way to test it is to simply get the right size allen wrench, stick it in there, and turn it several clicks each way. If it works, you're good to go. If it doesn't stop right here and send them back. Theres really no real fix to this if the screw is jacked up, so just contact the seller and state the item is defective.
-Second Inspect the weather stripping..Not the sealant around the assembly(that's next) but the actual piece of rubber around the outside. My passenger side had the stripping pretty much coming off..I superglued it back on..This will help with fit and finish in the end.
-Third Lastly, inspect the sealant that is inbetween the two pieces of the headlight assembly. It will be a black gooish like substance. Make sure it is completely around, or inbetween the two pieces. Here is a personal suggestion..I thought mine looked good at first, but it ended up being done pretty badly..I went to VA for my Annual training with the Marines for 2 weeks, came back and the headlight assembly was literally full of water, could barely see through the thing. To prevent this, I recommend buying silicon adhesive sealant. I bought a 3 oz tube made by Loctite..It cost 2.89 at Lowe's and was easily enough to cover both headlights 4 times over. Buy this, and then fill in and go over the space between the two pieces of the assembly. This will not only keep out water, but help hold the two pieces together.
After you've done all these, and it's all good to go, you're good to start installing them.
installation. Installation was extremely simple. Simply remove the stock headlights assemblies completely, including wiring. Then wire up the existing wires to the new assembly. For the CCFL Rings you will have actually splice the wiring into your cars wiring harness. Pretty easy to do, but take time to make sure your wiring the right wires to the correct spots. I recommend soldering and then using shrink wrap to cover the wires or doing what I did, I used the twist clamps(forgot what they are called) to connect the two wires then covered the rest with electrical tape. As long as the connection is covered everything should be good.
Lighting These projectors use H3s for the lowbeams, and H1s for the highs. H3s and H1s are both foglight bulbs, so HIDs will be needed. With the stock halogen bulbs that are included, the light output is pathetic. Im running H3 HIDs that I purchased from www.ddmtuning.com. They were 29.99 and come with a lifetime warranty, definitly recommend that, really cant beat the price. Anyways, with the HIDs light out put is not bad. It is alot farther and alot brighter than my 01 Monte Carlo SS, which had Silvania Silverstars 9006, Which is a much larger bulb.
Choosing HIDs When looking at HIDs, youll notice they come in 35w and 55w outputs..Obviously, the 55w will be much brighter. However, I recommend going with 35w HIDs. I do not have any personal experience to back this up, but I have read many accounts of people running 55w HIDs on newer cars, and the power is just too much stress on their stock wiring harness. I believe you could upgrade your wiring harness to remedy this problem, but personally I don't know, I just went 35w to be safe. Also, you will find there are different "temperatures". 4300K will be pretty much pure white(Anything below 4300k will be yellowish)..6000k will be mostly white, with a very very slight hint of blue, and 8000k will be blue, and 12000k is very blue.
HID Installation HID installation is also a very easy job. Very straight forward, just hook up the correct sockets to the correct sockets. One thing to be careful is where you place the ballast. I placed mine going inward from each headlight..On top of the bumper bar(not sure what this part of the frame would be called). It's somewhat hard to get to, but its protected from water(The ballasts are waterproof but i'd rather keep it as dry as possible) and can't really fall off anywhere.
Aiming One thing you really gotta be careful with HIDs and projector headlights, is aiming them. I've got mine so they end probably..Im just guessing about 75 feet in front of my car. First time I had them aimed way to high, and the second i left my street the first 4 people who passed me on the other side all flashed there high beams, lol..Honestly not too much to say here except just make sure its not too high, best way to test this is just drive around, and if you get alot of flashes adjust it lower. One last thing, the left beam will be lower than the right. It's not defective or anything, this is called a "kickup". The left side is lower to keep the light out of oncoming traffics eyes, while the right side is a little higher to light up down the road and traffic signs. I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I had no idea when I installed mine so I thought I would include this.
Fixxes
Moisture after installation If you find youre headlight has very little moisture on it within the first few days of installation, you're okay, it should go away. The directions state that "this phenomenom is natural" and it is, it will go away within 3-4 days.
Moisture after several weeks I had this problem myself, so this is how I went about fixxing it. Take the headlight out of your car, unhook it all completely, and remove the bulbs(I actually didn't take out the bulbs but its probably a good idea too). If possible, let the lights sit out in the sun. This will cause the moisture to evaporate out of the headlights. To speed up this assembly you can also use a hairdryer. Make sure all the moisture is out, and apply some of the Silicone adhesive sealant i mentioned earlier in the review. Make sure all gaps are covered(I just went over everything twice to be safe). This will keep out any moisture. 3 dollar fix, and I haven't had any moisture since.
Also, make sure your grommit on your HID wiring isn't hanging out as well.
Bad fit and Finish after a while This is from the crappy original sealant melting from heat of the engine..It weakens, and melts slightly, and the two pieces of the headlight assemply will come apart. This is from heat coming from the engine, and will mostly cause this problem after longer drives and long exposure to heat from the engine. I had this problem as well, and would notice the corners of my headlight would start to stick out from the car. Simple fix, just use the exact same Loctite Silicone Adhesive Sealant I mentioned twice so far. Not only will it seal up, but when it hardens it will act like a glue and will keep the pieces from pulling apart. I used it and havent had this problem again.
Angel Eyes(CCFL) rings are out not exactly a common problem, but not exactly rare either..The inverters for the angel eyes are known to go bad sometimes..You will know this because 1, these angel eyes are not on at all, or 2, they are only on sometimes at random times. This is probably the hardest thing to fix, as you will have to buy new inverters, and cut out the old ones, then replace them with the new ones you bought. I have seen people buy inverters that are made buy a manufacturer, and use those(normally with bad luck)..and I have also seen 2 accounts of people buying these, http://www.elwirepros.com/halo-inverter.html , and having success. They are not manufacturer made, but have an aluminum waterproof case, and are made by a company that specializes in this type of wiring/lighting..Not to mention they are 4.50 a piece which is not bad by any means. I have had my headlights for about a month and a half now, and they are still running on the stock inverters, with no problems as of yet.
Overall If you like 'em, go ahead and buy them. You'll see alot of people complaining about what a bitch they are too keep working, and how the moisture is a bitch to get rid of, but if youre willing to take 30 mins and do all these fixxes you shouldn't have any problems for the duration of you using them. I'm very pleased with my set, Personally I couldn't stand the look of the stock headlights, and really liked how the projectors looked, so I got them. Alot of people will say that they look OEM, and I agree..Which really just means that they look like they should have come with the car, the lights just "flow" with the rest of the car I guess, lol. The lights cost around 300, which is kind of pricey, but right along where it sould be in terms of pricing for aftermarket projector headlights. But yeah, If you like them, buy them. You might have some small problems, but theyre all easy to fix and cheap as well.
So first things first...I bought my set of projector headlights from www.dashzracing.com I recommend buying from there because out of all the places I've seen them for sale, this is the only place to offer a warranty, or a lifetime warranty for a little extra cash. Shouldn't be needed but is definitly nice to have if you're that type of person. The box I received was probably 3 foot wide 2 foot tall, and the headlight assemblies are in seperate boxxes. The origin of these headlights if Taiwan..Which in manufacturing terms means it's better than Made in China, but not exactly as good as Made in Japan..The manufacturer is obviously, a Taiwanese company called Eagle Eyes.
FIRST(This is in bold for a reason) do these things...Ok so..
-FirstInspect the adjustment screws. It will be on the top back corner of each headlights assembly, it is a silver allen wrench screw. Easiest way to test it is to simply get the right size allen wrench, stick it in there, and turn it several clicks each way. If it works, you're good to go. If it doesn't stop right here and send them back. Theres really no real fix to this if the screw is jacked up, so just contact the seller and state the item is defective.
-Second Inspect the weather stripping..Not the sealant around the assembly(that's next) but the actual piece of rubber around the outside. My passenger side had the stripping pretty much coming off..I superglued it back on..This will help with fit and finish in the end.
-Third Lastly, inspect the sealant that is inbetween the two pieces of the headlight assembly. It will be a black gooish like substance. Make sure it is completely around, or inbetween the two pieces. Here is a personal suggestion..I thought mine looked good at first, but it ended up being done pretty badly..I went to VA for my Annual training with the Marines for 2 weeks, came back and the headlight assembly was literally full of water, could barely see through the thing. To prevent this, I recommend buying silicon adhesive sealant. I bought a 3 oz tube made by Loctite..It cost 2.89 at Lowe's and was easily enough to cover both headlights 4 times over. Buy this, and then fill in and go over the space between the two pieces of the assembly. This will not only keep out water, but help hold the two pieces together.
After you've done all these, and it's all good to go, you're good to start installing them.
installation. Installation was extremely simple. Simply remove the stock headlights assemblies completely, including wiring. Then wire up the existing wires to the new assembly. For the CCFL Rings you will have actually splice the wiring into your cars wiring harness. Pretty easy to do, but take time to make sure your wiring the right wires to the correct spots. I recommend soldering and then using shrink wrap to cover the wires or doing what I did, I used the twist clamps(forgot what they are called) to connect the two wires then covered the rest with electrical tape. As long as the connection is covered everything should be good.
Lighting These projectors use H3s for the lowbeams, and H1s for the highs. H3s and H1s are both foglight bulbs, so HIDs will be needed. With the stock halogen bulbs that are included, the light output is pathetic. Im running H3 HIDs that I purchased from www.ddmtuning.com. They were 29.99 and come with a lifetime warranty, definitly recommend that, really cant beat the price. Anyways, with the HIDs light out put is not bad. It is alot farther and alot brighter than my 01 Monte Carlo SS, which had Silvania Silverstars 9006, Which is a much larger bulb.
Choosing HIDs When looking at HIDs, youll notice they come in 35w and 55w outputs..Obviously, the 55w will be much brighter. However, I recommend going with 35w HIDs. I do not have any personal experience to back this up, but I have read many accounts of people running 55w HIDs on newer cars, and the power is just too much stress on their stock wiring harness. I believe you could upgrade your wiring harness to remedy this problem, but personally I don't know, I just went 35w to be safe. Also, you will find there are different "temperatures". 4300K will be pretty much pure white(Anything below 4300k will be yellowish)..6000k will be mostly white, with a very very slight hint of blue, and 8000k will be blue, and 12000k is very blue.
HID Installation HID installation is also a very easy job. Very straight forward, just hook up the correct sockets to the correct sockets. One thing to be careful is where you place the ballast. I placed mine going inward from each headlight..On top of the bumper bar(not sure what this part of the frame would be called). It's somewhat hard to get to, but its protected from water(The ballasts are waterproof but i'd rather keep it as dry as possible) and can't really fall off anywhere.
Aiming One thing you really gotta be careful with HIDs and projector headlights, is aiming them. I've got mine so they end probably..Im just guessing about 75 feet in front of my car. First time I had them aimed way to high, and the second i left my street the first 4 people who passed me on the other side all flashed there high beams, lol..Honestly not too much to say here except just make sure its not too high, best way to test this is just drive around, and if you get alot of flashes adjust it lower. One last thing, the left beam will be lower than the right. It's not defective or anything, this is called a "kickup". The left side is lower to keep the light out of oncoming traffics eyes, while the right side is a little higher to light up down the road and traffic signs. I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I had no idea when I installed mine so I thought I would include this.
Fixxes
Moisture after installation If you find youre headlight has very little moisture on it within the first few days of installation, you're okay, it should go away. The directions state that "this phenomenom is natural" and it is, it will go away within 3-4 days.
Moisture after several weeks I had this problem myself, so this is how I went about fixxing it. Take the headlight out of your car, unhook it all completely, and remove the bulbs(I actually didn't take out the bulbs but its probably a good idea too). If possible, let the lights sit out in the sun. This will cause the moisture to evaporate out of the headlights. To speed up this assembly you can also use a hairdryer. Make sure all the moisture is out, and apply some of the Silicone adhesive sealant i mentioned earlier in the review. Make sure all gaps are covered(I just went over everything twice to be safe). This will keep out any moisture. 3 dollar fix, and I haven't had any moisture since.
Also, make sure your grommit on your HID wiring isn't hanging out as well.
Bad fit and Finish after a while This is from the crappy original sealant melting from heat of the engine..It weakens, and melts slightly, and the two pieces of the headlight assemply will come apart. This is from heat coming from the engine, and will mostly cause this problem after longer drives and long exposure to heat from the engine. I had this problem as well, and would notice the corners of my headlight would start to stick out from the car. Simple fix, just use the exact same Loctite Silicone Adhesive Sealant I mentioned twice so far. Not only will it seal up, but when it hardens it will act like a glue and will keep the pieces from pulling apart. I used it and havent had this problem again.
Angel Eyes(CCFL) rings are out not exactly a common problem, but not exactly rare either..The inverters for the angel eyes are known to go bad sometimes..You will know this because 1, these angel eyes are not on at all, or 2, they are only on sometimes at random times. This is probably the hardest thing to fix, as you will have to buy new inverters, and cut out the old ones, then replace them with the new ones you bought. I have seen people buy inverters that are made buy a manufacturer, and use those(normally with bad luck)..and I have also seen 2 accounts of people buying these, http://www.elwirepros.com/halo-inverter.html , and having success. They are not manufacturer made, but have an aluminum waterproof case, and are made by a company that specializes in this type of wiring/lighting..Not to mention they are 4.50 a piece which is not bad by any means. I have had my headlights for about a month and a half now, and they are still running on the stock inverters, with no problems as of yet.
Overall If you like 'em, go ahead and buy them. You'll see alot of people complaining about what a bitch they are too keep working, and how the moisture is a bitch to get rid of, but if youre willing to take 30 mins and do all these fixxes you shouldn't have any problems for the duration of you using them. I'm very pleased with my set, Personally I couldn't stand the look of the stock headlights, and really liked how the projectors looked, so I got them. Alot of people will say that they look OEM, and I agree..Which really just means that they look like they should have come with the car, the lights just "flow" with the rest of the car I guess, lol. The lights cost around 300, which is kind of pricey, but right along where it sould be in terms of pricing for aftermarket projector headlights. But yeah, If you like them, buy them. You might have some small problems, but theyre all easy to fix and cheap as well.
Last edited by Model16; 04-27-2010 at 10:04 PM.
04-27-2010, 10:12 PM
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Heres some pics of mine after install.
After HID installation, this gives a pretty good representation of the color of the light you would see if you went 6000k.
The light pattern emitted from the projectors..Here it looks like all the light is concentrated in the middle..It's really more even then shown here, but this gives you a decent idea of how the light pattern will look. You can also see how the left side is slightly lower than the right.
After HID installation, this gives a pretty good representation of the color of the light you would see if you went 6000k.
The light pattern emitted from the projectors..Here it looks like all the light is concentrated in the middle..It's really more even then shown here, but this gives you a decent idea of how the light pattern will look. You can also see how the left side is slightly lower than the right.
04-28-2010, 12:05 AM
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Great info. I love my projectors and HID's. I strongly recommend getting the projectors when using HID's as the stock housing tend to blind oncoming traffic more. The projectors force the light downward and gives you a nice clean cutoff line.
FYI: I dropped my projectors off at AAC to get the housing painted body color. The CCFL were starting to act up, so I'm getting them removed and replaced with LED's. I'll post some pics when I get them back.
FYI: I dropped my projectors off at AAC to get the housing painted body color. The CCFL were starting to act up, so I'm getting them removed and replaced with LED's. I'll post some pics when I get them back.
04-28-2010, 05:45 PM
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Is it just me or do these headlights seem to be of inferior quality? Leaking seals, moisture, problems with the ccfl, bad adjustment screws, poor fitment...Is there a better quality built option?
Last edited by 2006 Silver Monte SS; 04-28-2010 at 05:51 PM.
04-28-2010, 08:01 PM
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I bought Anzo headlights from AutoAnything but they are still made by Eagle Eyes. With these you didn't have to do any splicing they plugged into the factory wiring harness. I didn't like them and ended up returning them
One thing I did notice though, that plastic part that the adjustment screw is attached to can be turned toward the center of the car then you can pull the assembly in or out to adjust the beam. But then you have a spot where water can get in.
One thing I did notice though, that plastic part that the adjustment screw is attached to can be turned toward the center of the car then you can pull the assembly in or out to adjust the beam. But then you have a spot where water can get in.
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04-28-2010, 08:52 PM
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10-22-2010, 02:02 PM
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Help! Ok, so i just bought these http://www.xtralights.com/06-08cherv...ctorspair.aspx and for some reason my halos dont waNt to stay on at all! help please i have no idea where to even start...
10-22-2010, 08:01 PM
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Good write up! I was going to look into buying these after the headers. I am now questioning whether to buy these because of the aforementioned problems. Has everyone on here had problems with these types of headlights? Also, I just bought my HID's for my car... Is there another set that takes the H11 HID's? I do not want to spend more money on more lights...
