CaliChevyLover

my friend is doing most of the work putting these together, i supplied the parts and stuff.

when i get them back i will do the necessary mods on the car

www.theretrofitsource.com: parts

projectors: $200
ebay h4 housings: $10 (thats why those are crap lol. only used as a mounting surface)
bulbs, ballasts, wiring etc brings total of parts to about 400

paying him 85 for labor of vacuuforming and mounting, etc

my motivation:

- stock sealed beams: horrible imo, very dim and horrible beam pattern
-silverstar sealed beams: better than stock with brightness, but still not a very even beam pattern
-ebay h4 conversions (with halogens): PURE garbage, horrible beam pattern and poor construction (where else can you buy headlamps for 5-10 bucks lol)
-ebay h4 conversions (with plain hids): waste of light and money, blind everyone with glareand still horrible beam pattern
-ebay h4 conversions (with bi-xenon hids): decent improvement on glare, but still not good enough beam spread
-hella e-code h4 conversions (with silverstar ULTRA h4 bulbs): best setup besides a retrofit imo. What I am running in the car now. beam pattern has "flare ups" on the side which are great for lighting up road signs and obstacles far down the road. cutoff is sharp and imo comparable to late model halogen reflector output. not dot though, tuned for european specs. light beam spreads out wider further down the road, rather than starting to spread out right next to the car.
-hella e-code h4 conversions (with bi-xenon hids: same kit I used in the ebay housings): hid light completely changed the beam pattern and made it useless and blinding. further proof that hid light is not made for and should not be used in halogen designed housings.

I have run ALL these setups in my car, that is all my observations and opinions.


this is a very intense project. not a one day thing, i joined www.hidplanet.com to learn about retrofitting and it wasnt until a year later that i was ready to start this.

slim ballasts:

custom bracketing:

custom bracketing:

vacuum-forming a shroud:

"chrome" bezel:

Shroud painted silver:


will update when on the car.

montesscamaro

this is gonna be sweet i need to see what this is going to look like!!!!!

CaliChevyLover

thank you!

RED_DRAGON_85

awesome

iansane

iTrader: (1)

That vacuum forming looks homemade? How is that done? I love HID retros.

CaliChevyLover

my friend made a vacuum form table.

he made a how to:

http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=43649

6SIX6

iTrader: (35)

thanks for the info as i friend of mine had an extra set of stealth projector lenses kickin around and hes determinded to put them in my car over the winter. I really want to see the final look for sure as id like to do the same as the stock lights are just garbage

CaliChevyLover

are they hid or halogen projectors?

6SIX6

iTrader: (35)

they are projector lense's im sure of it. Hes gonna do the same thing as you did with the custom housing. Hes go it in his head and i just said to him go ahead so he took my extra headlight valance and is doing it when he gets a chance. Hes a tool and die guy so hes always up for a challenge in making something custom. I just like what you are doing so i can help him out with ideas on how to do it if he asks.

86IROCcloner

WOW!!! Man you have to get those on your car! That's such a good idea

rybread11

Yeah, that does look like it will be really cool. I've looked around the web at things people have written about all the halogen and ebay lights and everything else and there just doesn't seem to be a perfect answer to upgrading your lights with absloutly no hassles/problems except for silverstars of course. When your finished you should make a kit and sell it. I'm curiouse if anyone knows what lights the guy with the blue camaro who widend his rear fenders and put the lsx in his car used. I remember them looking like some sort of aftermarket projecter but I never looked into it or asked. He built a really nice car though.

smokefan

deff sweet looking. i want a set

CaliChevyLover

this is def. a do it yourself type project, can't really make kits for it

Spike-Z

iTrader: (4)

Any finished pics?

thenjoshsays

iTrader: (1)

Pics of a finished product?? You aren't planning on making any more, are you?

OS3Fleming

iTrader: (2)

I will take 4? Give me a price.

CaliChevyLover

wow, neither my friend or I have touched these in a long time.shooting for saturday. sorry, not reproducing these.

91camarosRS

iTrader: (5)

please dont say you will not make more lol find someone who will?

thenjoshsays

iTrader: (1)

Not to hi-jack the thread, but I actually am planning on making a kit for these. Still a while out, but you can PM me if interested.

BleachStang

wow looks nice bro.

CaliChevyLover

ugh. haven't had time to mess with these alot...doing other maitenance/mods to the car. need to reseal the lenses...gonna try epoxy this time..and do alot more cutting on the headlight buckets

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

Any updates?