HID Headlights?

TTLSX418

Amateur Racer
Apr 23, 2013
108
0
0
Baton Rouge, La
hmm I did not know that. I would just splice into the power wire on the low beam and run it to the 12v trigger of the HID harness. They also make HID bulbs with a HID and incandescent bulb on the same bulb base.

Might be something you could look into. An HID kit for that specific type of bulb would come with provisions to be able to keep the incandescent filament functional in the low beam headlight.
 

Wagon Master

Amateur Racer
Thread starter
Feb 16, 2012
125
1
0
New Jersey
As promised, here are the headlights on the garage door. Keep in mind that these are the 4k incandescents that came with the hedlight housings.

It will probably be a few weeks before I buy the HID's as this week we go on vacation and I have a couple of business trips after that.

So it looks like to me that the pattern is not a european pattern, but more like a standard pattern similar that would have come from the seal beams. Which is fine by me. We'll see what it looks like when I get the HID's in.

2013-07-08_21-29-25_471_zps3d79992c.jpg
 

Wagon Master

Amateur Racer
Thread starter
Feb 16, 2012
125
1
0
New Jersey
There would be a distinct horizontal cut off line in the light pattern.

Do a Google image search on "european headlight pattern" and you'll see what I mean.

My Pontiac G8 has it as well as my daughter's 2000 Corolla.
 

TTLSX418

Amateur Racer
Apr 23, 2013
108
0
0
Baton Rouge, La
I didn't know a projector cut-off was referred to as a european pattern. Have you ever disassembled a projector to see why they have such a crisp cut off line? There is literally a piece of metal that blocks half the light output, thus flipping the light to the bottom of the projector, creating that razor sharp line.

You won't get a razor sharp line like that with anything other than a projector. So if that's what you're looking for you need to look into retro-fitting a projector into those housings. The best kind of cut-off line you are going to get with stock-type diamond cut replacements is what you have. Which is pretty good imo.

Below is the diagram on the break down of a projector lens. You'll see the piece that I'm talking about. Only headlights that use the HID for highs and lows have the solenoid. On vehicle with separate headlights the solenoid is not connected to the shield.

projectordiagram_zpsefe8cef6.png
 

Wagon Master

Amateur Racer
Thread starter
Feb 16, 2012
125
1
0
New Jersey
No, I never had a reason to take apart a projector headlight. That's cool the way they do that though...

I really don't care if the diamond headlights I bought have the 'european' pattern or not. When I bought them, I thought I read some where that they were going to have them. I guess I got confused with something else I read around the same time. I fine with the pattern it gives out. It's still much better than the original sealed beams. :)

My daughters 2000 Corolla has that cut off line in the pattern, and she has composite headlights (no projector) with incandescent H4 bulbs, so I don't think that pattern is just limited to HID's. The G8 does have projector HID's though.
 

TTLSX418

Amateur Racer
Apr 23, 2013
108
0
0
Baton Rouge, La
The pattern itself? No, it can be emulated fairly easily. However it won't have the same crisp cut off line that a projector has. It may look similar, but putting the cut-off line of an incandescent bulb next to a projector will yield a noticeable difference.
 

Wagon Master

Amateur Racer
Thread starter
Feb 16, 2012
125
1
0
New Jersey
True, it's not as a crisp of a line as the pattern on the G8, but it is closer to that pattern then any of my other cars.
 

TTLSX418

Amateur Racer
Apr 23, 2013
108
0
0
Baton Rouge, La
I have thought about doing a projector retro-fit into the headlights on my 81. I just think that it will take away from how the older cars are supposed to look.
 

JBreu

Frequent Racer
Jan 31, 2010
321
0
0
Livonia. New York
So what would be the best set, true plug and play to get ?
 

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