dork

First... THANK YOU to "dadaroo" and Daniel Stern for all ya'll's help! I really couldn't have done this without your patience(s).

Upgrading headlights, and fog lights, too… a real confusing and touchy subject. I spent almost 2 months reading, researching and corresponding with Daniel Stern, “dadaroo” (a member of this forum), and three lighting proprietors.

I was disgusted with the c5 z06’s OEM night-illumination performance; I have/had absolutely no concern for the side marker and DRL’s, but country driving and in-the-middle-of-nowhere pitch-black freeway driving proved to me that the OEM headlight/fog lamp set ups were dismal at best.

My own personal research seemed to show me that there were ‘three’ alternatives. First there was HID ‘replacements’—substituting HID bulbs in housings intended for halogen bulbs. Second, there was true HID replacements—replacing the OEM halogen bulbs and housings with HID-intended assemblies and HID bulbs. The third alternative was to replace the American OEM setup with European-coded headlight assemblies and bulbs.

The first method: cheapest, and generally acknowledged as the worst way to upgrade—replacing the halogen bulbs in their USA GM-OEM housings with HID bulbs. Halogen housings are engineered to accomodate the cast (the light’s pattern of illumination) of a halogen bulb, only. The OEM housings are specific for only halogen bulbs. HID bulbs throw the wrong light pattern from halogen housings. Several different night-time pictures convinced me that this method wouldn’t solve my problem.

The second method: a true HID ‘kit’--bulbs and housings designed for each other, intended to replace the GM OEM halogen factory issue. Not cheap; in fact, pricey. Lamentably so. Average internet cost hovered in the $500-700 range for a pair including bulbs. The price discrepancy is generally dependant on the wattage rating of the different bulb options. (bulbs I looked at ranged from 55W to 70W) Whole kits varied in price from vendor to vendor; the differences were probably ~10% for like kits (apples-to-apples comparisons including bulbs).

Three things bothered me about this “HID” option. I never found any vendor who claimed that the product was made outside of China or Taiwan. No one claimed the clear (diffraction) portion of the housing was glass.

http://giantlight.com.tw/product/65314.html Does this “Xenon” look familiar? It’s intended for 35W bulbs. Straight from Taiwan—“the quality goes in before the name goes on…” Lessee… an average cost of ~$600 less bulbs; that’s a lot of USDollars for Taiwan ‘quality’… I just couldn't do it.

Secondly, I disliked the cutoff pattern. Admittedly, I’ve never seen these HID systems in a Corvette throw light in person. Every judgment I made about the light cast from this system was made from night-time pictures I’ve seen (and magnified) from the vendor sites and internet forum posts. I couldn’t envision the very-wide and abruptly-cut low pattern of the low beam as a solution to pitch-black country driving.

The last ‘feature’ I disliked about this setup is, no one could explain the purpose of the halogen high beam bulb. When I asked, why include a halogen high beam in an HID setup, the answer I usually got was, “The halogen bulb actually sucks. You don’t need it; it’s there to make the light look like a conventional headlight, with two bulbs..”. What?? Why do I care? Of what benefit is this extra expense (to include an unnecessary halogen) if HID bulbs cast so much better than halogen? So…

To fog lights--for driving in fog, not for show… I needed real fog lamps. True fog light remedies of OEM-quality were non-existent; the only vendors offering real “fog light” upgrades offered HID bulbs only (again intended for the halogen housings). Their alternative choice was to modify halogen fog light housings (made by PIAA, Hella, et. al.) by installing HID bulbs on location, and then packaging the assemblies for sale as “PIAA-HID fog lights” or “Hella-HID fog lights”, etc. … So, in essence, you could buy the bulbs and make the swap, or if you didn’t have fog light housings to begin with, you could buy theirs with the swapped bulbs.

As I’m doing all this research (I was reading or corresponding for almost 2 hours a day for about 7 weeks), a link to an article by Daniel Stern Lighting was referred to me by one of these light vendors. Ironically, it led to long and detailed correspondence with Daniel Stern.

I dunno squat about electricity, 12V DC or 120 AC, it’s all voodoo to me. I was gonna do the install(s) myself. I had to do all the research first to be sure that I’d be comfortable (in my mind) that when I was finished, I had the systems I actually desired, and could ‘flip the (light) switch’ without dire consequences... like starting a fire. Yeah, that'd be me.

I am truly amazed that one of the forum-sponsored vendors pointed me to Daniel Stern. His website goes to great length to explain to the un-initiated novice what the differences are in lighting apparatuses, methodology, practical application, legalities, and durability. There is PLENTY to read on his website detailing proper and best methods for lighting up the road ahead.

If a forum-sponsored light vendor is willing to quote Daniel Stern as a reference, I reckon Mr. Stern’s advice is good enough for me, too, so I followed ALL of his advice…
The third method: For headlights, I used European code headlights w/H4 90/100W (halogen) bulbs. Metal housings with heavy (wow!) glass lenses of true GM OEM quality, these housings are meant for European DOT standards. (Imagine driving “the limit” at night on those portions of the Autobahn where there are NO enforced speed limits—your low beam lights have to be better than “70mph”.)

The fog lamps are also E-code, w/H3 55W bulbs. I asked Daniel Stern about the difference between Hella DE’s versus E-code fogs. He said they were essentially of the same quality, but the GM E-code lamps need no adaptation to fit in a ZO6; they’d bolt right up without fabrication. Both work with H3 55W bulbs.

In private emails over the course of the entire 7 weeks, Stern answered questions about required relays, fuses, switches, light housing construction, wire gauge thickness vs. power requirements, bulb differences (halogen vs. HID, H1-H2-H3-H4 qualities) ,etc. The only thing Stern didn’t do is give me a detailed set of installation instructions. He was general in his installation advice, but he didn’t say things like, “disconnect the driver’s side plug… look for the purple wire under the fuse box (NOOOoo!!)… etc.” His advice was instrumental in directing me towards my choices for replacement headlight and fog lamp systems.

For me the proof was in the driving. At 80mph, on low beam, I can see out to 7 seconds lead time “in the dark”—not off the reflection of the paved freeway, but by using “marker” foliage on the side of the pavement ahead, I can count just past seven “one-one thousand”s before I come up on a pre-chosen shrub or tree off to the side. Seven seconds… that’s a looong time at 80mph; ‘way enough time to stop for deer and black vehicles stopped in the dark, ahead. BEST of all, NO ONE flashes me for being too bright-- obviously, it's all in the light pattern. It looks just like the GM Service Manuals illustrate; not like the vendor or forum HID photos. Amazingly, the foreground is extremely well-lit; even on newly-paved black asphalt, I no longer strain to see shredded tire parts that are so regular in this part of the country. These lights are better than the HID’s in my 2008 Toyota. On high beam, it’s like having my bank of 4 Cibie’s that are roof-racked on my off-road F-150 4x4. Damn near like daylight.

On a lone stretch of road, I tested the fog lights. Alone, they cast well enough that I could drive 50mph through winding turns without white lights. Illegal as hell, but they seem about 50% as good as the Cibie Cesars I have on the F-150. That’s not bad; now I’m confident about driving in the fog.

Lastly, I must thank ‘dadaroo’. It was he who gave me specific "cut here" instructions all the way through. He volunteered to help me and I talked his ears off, too, with questions about electrical practices, code compliances, and installation methods and practices. He taught me how to read a schematic, where to install a fuse, etc., etc.. I bounced ideas off him that were submitted by the vendors just to confirm that their suggestions were valid and not actually a measure of profiteering.

I couldn’t have done any of this without ‘dadaroo’ and Daniel Stern.

Thank you, Gents, very much for all your help and time! (I hope someone benefits from all the reading they had to do to get here->X.)

dork

Ps. Let’s talk money… excluding the method of replacing HID bulbs into halogen housings, there are only two methods left… A set of HID projector head lights and HID fogs would have cost “about” $1150. Depending on the vendor it could swing plus or minus from ~ $1,000-$1,200. That’s pretty grim. Decent fog lamps (though not to code), but “Made In China” headlight housings, ballasts, and relays for the main illumination. I paid $906 for E-code headlights and E-code foglights, $135 for a GM E-code headlight harness, $29 for a fog light switch, $93 for 4 bulbs, and another $36 for a relay and 12 gauge wire for the fog light harness. Including $73 tax to the stealership for their OEM parts, the total came to $1198. That’s a LOT of green. On the other hand, a single Toyota HID assembly is ~$2400, so I'm pretty damn happy considering the results.

dadaroo

Reminds me of what my Dad would say. "I see said the blind man". It was fun working with Brian. What a story. Makes me want to just hide in my closet. Mr. Sam

thealien

thanks, I have dealt with Daniel Stern on lighting issues before. He knows his stuff!!

troyguitar

I ordered these, $429 for 55W HID lows and highs.

http://www.corvettemods.com/Corvette...it_p_7759.html

Dunno if they're any good as I haven't put them in yet but beats $1000 in my book.

95wht6spd

Would like to see pics of the fogs, on car, and lighting pattern. Did you use yellow bulbs?

dork

If you're saying $429 covers the cost for a set of Made-in-China/Taiwan plastic-cased HID 55W headlights, then on a linear scale, it's probably about equal in a dollar-for-quality sense.

I paid $689 total for General Motors E-code metal halogen headlight housings ($258 ea) et. al. They were labeled "Made in Sweden"; they're metal housings with glass lenses. Extra costs include the GM-OEM wiring harness adapter ($135) so I could install higher-wattage German Narva 90/100W bulbs ($38). Otherwise, I could have used the standard 55W bulbs and saved $173 off that $689--it'd been a real close call between your package and the E-code headlights, then. For the extra ~$260, I theoretically (and most likely) got better quality, and almost double the light output. My reasoning was, if one of best-recognized light vendors on this forum posts links to Daniel Stern's website knowledge base and recommends him as an authority on automotive lighting, then I should take Stern as a recommended authority. I'm fortunate; although steep, the cost of Stern's recommended equipment wasn't beyond my consideration. He doesn't seem one to compromise; he strikes me as unbending and rigid in his standards for quality, and I liked that, so I did what he said. I was gonna be in it deep (as you say, at least $429); so an additional 30% for "optimum" headlighting seemed like good insurance. Whether it's better than an HID system, I dunno, but I'm certainly very pleased with it. One thing that "definitely seems" (howzat for a contradiction??) to be unique about the E-code headlights... these are Right-Hand lights. (there are Left-Hand lights for English-side-of-the-road" driving--a. k. a. "LH Rule") The 'tall' side of the light cast is on the right side of the image on both head lights. They're weird; they look like this:

It's prolly why no one high-beams me from the head-on lane.

At the earliest, I'll have them up in about 2 weeks; I leave on a trip tomorrow morning.

The E-code fog lamps come with clear lenses. Following Daniel Stern's advice, I used Dupli-Color Yellow paint to coat the lenses, and then cleared them with Dupli-Color Clear. The coatings seemed to hold up well; I couldn't scratch the dried coating with a fingernail (and I tried), so hopefully, behind the screen mesh of the z06 grill, the lenses won't get weathered too badly.

Painting was the recommended option; it allowed me to use the best-recommended bulb. (It's clear.) There are other bulbs out there that are tinted yellow, and although DSL sells them, he recommended the painting procedure to allow for better (clear) bulbs. "Better", as in amount of light and durability of the bulb itself.

95wht6spd

Interesting, I would think the paint would block most of the light.

Joe_A

Could you provide part numbers ?
Any Pictures ?

Thank You

Vetteman Jack

Thanks for the detailed review. Can you post the link to Daniel Stern's web site?

Joe_A

Here is the link
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

dork

I know ya’ll want pics, but I’ll be away from the car for a couple weeks. The paint is quite translucent. When I was finished, it looked OEM, and the degree of tint resembled my Cibie Cesars.

For parts, the best lamp prices I found were through this website:

http://www.oegmparts.com/

I can’t remember the order of the procedure, but you’ll chose your “local” dealership site, punch in your parts numbers, arrange for shipment to that specified dealer, pay by internet to OEGM, your parts will be shipped in about 3 days, and the local dealer will notifiy you and you can pick up the parts wherever you’d designated.

My dealer was 60 miles away. There are several closer Chevy and GMC dealers, but none of them were in the OEGM network.

The E-code head lights were:
16524063 driver’s E-code headlamp housing w/H4 55W bulb
16524064 passenger’s E-code headlamp housing w/H4 55W bulb

They’re $258.07 each, so that’s the price to beat for new OEM. If you use another source for these headlights BE SURE YOU’RE ORDERING RH LIGHTS. I doubt that a website would transpose parts numbers with their E-code lights, but just in case, this is a warning:

There are two different sets of “E-code” lights—lights for England and Japan (Left Hand Rule [of the road]) and “everywhere else” (which is Right Hand [rule of the road]). The light patterns thrown by these housings make a BIG difference because they are asymmetrical; they’re neither like HID nor US-halogen patterns. LH lights in the USA will definitely get you ticketed and you’ll probably be forced to replace them.

If you upgrade to 90/100W H4 bulbs, you’ll need to buy an adapter harness. I got mine here:
http://www.pfyc.com/VT1003.html

Choose “High Wattage Harness Only (Add $75.00)” and the total for that will be $134.99

For 90/100W H4’s, I bought the German-made Narva H4 90/100W bulbs from Daniel Stern Lighting. I didn’t shop around. I figured for all the time he spent helping me, I’d pay his published list price--$21 each
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/p.../products.html
(If you happen to need his advice, he was always prompt and very detailed in his replies to me; I’d respectfully suggest that you ask him for a “labor fee”. That’s what I did. After 7 weeks of correspondence [maybe 10-12 emails—typing his answers would have taken me at least 2 hr minimum @ 60wpm], he charged me a whole $26.)

For E-code fog lamps, http://www.oegmparts.com/ again.
10274295 driver lamp including bracket and 35W bulbs
10274296 pass lamp including bracket and 35W bulbs
These fog lamp housings were $175 each.

They’re entirely metal and glass; I think, steel. The lenses are surprisingly “OEM” thick. (I was surprised at the overall quality of all the E-code light housings—my first impression was, “this is how our stuff was made in the 50’s”.)

No GM-OEM wiring harness adapter is available for the fog lights, and the US-OEM fog light harness is insufficient for bulbs rated higher than 27W.
To get ‘full use’ out of the E-code foglights, one should use H3 55W bulbs. Daniel Stern recommended Narva Rangepower+50’s--$16 each. To use 55W bulbs, you’ll have to build your own harness or buy one. PIAA offers one (part# 34085--$29) that they claim is good enough to 85W. I used the relay only and built my own harness (with NO previous experience in soldering). Solder, with properly-sized connectors, then heat-shrink some tubing over every joint to insure they’re waterproof.

I used the Stern-recommended standard of 12-gauge wire throughout. I understand that most aftermarket fog light harnesses are made “overseas” and are usually constructed of the thinner 16 and 18 gauge wire. I had a local electrician friend show me face-to-face how to set up the wiring and relay, and I just built according to instructions. His advice was identical to that PIAA wiring harness. We eliminated the PIAA fog light switch. (‘dadaroo’s’ advice was right on about that—we just cut it out of the circuit completely)
Most electrical tables will show that the wire lengths that I needed vs. the amps I expected required 16-18 gauge wiring. Two people stressed that I should ‘overbuild’—Daniel Stern, and my electrician friend. He’s a helicopter mechanic; his experience was that long-term heat and vibration would make thinner wire brittle and possibly too weak for “decades” of “constant” use.
For an extra $15 and a couple hours, I did what they said, even knowing that fog-light use would be minimal (but ‘crucial’ when actually required).

Lastly, I bought a GM-OEM double switch to replace the single switch in the z06. Z’s don’t have fog lights. Even in a US car, the wiring in a Z is set up for export… up to the fog light switch. You can install dual foglight/trunk-release switch in the single OEM- opening and the switch will have power; it just won’t have fog lights to light up. I bought my switch off eBay.

12135155- fog lamp & trunk release switch

eBay cost was $29. Sourced from gmpartsdirect.com, the price is $100.

When you R&R the switch assembly without doing anything else, turning on the headlights will light both switch buttons. Pressing the fog lamp button will illuminate the yellow “on” indicator, proving the z06 has power to that point.

From there, you’ll need to install a harness for the lights themselves since the Z doesn’t have one at all. I dunno about “base” Corvettes; if they do have harnesses, that’ll work for 27W bulbs, but if you’re going E-code, then you’ll want to upgrade the fog light harness and relay for the optimum 55W bulb.

There are several instructive threads on fog lamp installations. DO NOT seek out and cut a purple wire under the engine bay fuse box. Instead, buy a 10amp fuse tap and tap the #6 slot through the top of the fuse box. #6 is the foglamp switch fuse (you’ll need two 10 amp fuses now—one for the original fog/trunk switch power and one for your harness)

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...ier=32416_0_0_

You’ll have to cut openings in the fuse box cover to accommodate the protruding fuse and wiring, but it beats the hell out of splicing into one of the three 20-gauge purple wires (underneath the fuse box) with a 12 gauge wire.

Jim Taylor

Several years ago, I swapped to the European housings but didn't think or know about using higher wattage bulbs. The housing swap by itself doesn't improve things much. I'm glad you discovered the trick to make them work for you. I just installed a HID set up from Radioflyer Innovations. It is a fantastic option for others wishing to upgrade their lighting.

http://shop.radioflyerinnovations.co...lights-015.htm

Joe_A

Thank You for the additional Details

JohnnyB

I was thinking of doing this upgrade about 10 years ago and never got around to it. The E-Code lenses were only $80 each back then
I don't drive it enough to justify the current prices.

Thanks for the excellent write up. Can't wait for the pics.

dork

I haven't forgotten about this thread and the promise I made for pictures. I've tried twice to take night-time photos, but I haven't had the exposure set correctly on the camera either time, and the pictures are much darker than what I actually see.

I won't have a chance to take photos again until Friday.

dadaroo

Hey good buddy. Get the best pictures you can and if not happy email them to me and I can Photoshop the brightness and contrast for you to where you think they best represent the light. If you have a bridge you could stop under and get some one to take an overhead shot that would be the best angle in my opinion.

dork

Well, rats... it's gonna have to wait til Tuesday night. But I'm gonna get pics up, I promise.

Joe_A

Looks like you put in a new Harness with relays for the Highbeam and Lowbeam circuit and the existing headlight connections plug into the new harness. How does this affect the headlight door operation... I thought there had to be a draw to cause the lights to raise. Pluging into the HighVoltage harness just turns on the relays which are not a lot of draw and the lights are directly powered by the battery. Any issues with the up and down operation.

dork

Yes, I installed a new harness with its' own relays; they did splice into the existing headlight connections. I don't understand why you'd think there'd be extra draw required to raise the lights; nothing changed there--the same modules and motors raise the lights as they did before the modification. I've had no issues whatsoever; after 4hr of night driving I checked the wiring and it seemed cool to the touch. There's no sign of scorching (no smell either) when I inspected the alterations in the daylight.

dork

I'm posting these photos for the few folks who might be interested in E-code headlights and E-code fog light patterns. They are admittedly expensive, maybe moreso than some of the "HID/projector" alternatives out there. I think they cast a more complete and softer image of the frontal view.

My pictures are terrible. I used a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 with automatic features; there are no options for manual adjustments. The best I could do was bracket photo my exposures; I set the bracket option for 3 successive photos for -1, 0, and +1. There's no way to tell how many seconds are alloted for each value; it's not listed anywhere. Only the +1 photos were of any value. All the other -1 and 0 shots were so dark even the lights didn't show at all. These were all shot after 930 pm CST, on Su, M, and Tuesday. (I kept going back to get images that better approximated what I actually see, as I learned how to use the camera.) Focal shutter setting is permanently set at 2.8. I've been told that that severely restricts the ability of the camera to provide depth of field to the image, so I brought a laser rangefinder with me to measure distances.

The numbers I quote may seem fantastic and unbelievable, but they are what I note; maybe the only proof I have are the reflective lane markers in the last photo (the markers are the long "flourescently bright" lines in the freeway shot). Each second marker measures a full second-plus in time to traverse at 70 mph... that works out to at least 102 ft/sec. (so the distance to the bridge railings are at least 100 yd away--if not 133yd; that image then, can give the reader a visual cue to the distances covered in my photos, depth of field lacking because of my choice of camera or not)

magnify the picture to "see what I saw"... at least, it looks closer to what I saw than the pictures I took:
1) Expand the browser to full size and view the pictures at night with your room lights out.
2) Choose a picture by clicking on it, then click the "+" sign in the upper right corner of the picture to show how much more illumination is actually in the photograph itself.


This is a picture of fog lights only. The reflector under the mailbox (on the right side) is 127yd away from the steering wheel.


Low beams only (although this and the next road picture have a yellow tint with the headlights, I think it's a product of the cloud cover and overcast; the fog lights are off here, and don't work with high beams on anyway) You might be able to make out the second telephone pole on the left side. It's at 144 yards. You'll see it clearly in the next picture.


High beams only; the third telephone pole on the left is 240 yards away. I was able to focus on an illuminated tree on the left side at 277 yards, but it's hardly visible in this picture (and almost on the horizon; the one "in the middle of the road" and over the crest is at 343 yards. It can be seen illuminated in the full picture)

I took the next 3 pictures to show how much can be seen when there are only a few objects to reflect the light from the sides. On the left is a cleared open pasture, about 3 feet above the road. On the right, it slopes down gently for about 100 feet until trees parallel the road.


Fog lights only. The telephone pole on the right side is at 129 yards.


Low beams only.


High beams only. The stop sign on the right beyond the telephone pole is at 247 yards, and the sign beyond that in the middle is at 345 yards. It's too bad the camera isn't very good. You can barely make out that the ground between the signs is illuminated; the full-sized picture shows that the left gully beyond the stop sign at 247yards does reflect the light well. (It might be easier to see with your room lights out; but this is as good as my pics get.)

The next two pics are the only ones that survive from my first attempt to take pictures. All I want to show is that the headlights in either mode are certainly sufficient to illuminate dark asphalt. This portion of the road was laid down three months ago; it hasn't had time to fade yet. You can see in the high-beam shot that the bleached asphalt in the far background is a stark contrast to the darkness of the fresh pitch. (you can see the yellow stripe down the middle in that shot)




This freeway photo also shows how well the light casts on fresh asphalt; that's important for finding shredded treads from 18-wheelers at night down here, and in time to avoid them at freeway speeds. (this blacktop is the 'newly' laid western portion of 98, between 59 and 49 in southern Mississippi; actually, it's probably about 6-7 months old but still dark, as you can see from the gullies on the sides of the road) I'm told this is as good as my camera shoots 'sports' shots--shutter speed is very quick and set at F2.8, so there's hardly any light shown. I include the picture because the highway markers can be used to calculate what light is visible in the photo. I place a ruler across the bright rail reflectors to eliminate those reflectors... counting every second marker, I think I see a minimum of 3.5-4 seconds (or about 350-400 ft of asphalt) illuminated in this picture. In real life, it's about 30% better.



I apologize if those eager for photos are disappointed. This is as good as I'll ever do. Some folks may hold the position that I'm only hopin' and wishin' my pictures are justification for my post (and purchase). It doesn't matter; deer, tire treads, and especially skunks are easily seen now at the speed limit on the freeway. Guess how much I'm pleased to have missed a skunk. Yup, I've missed two since I've had the lights in.

Thanks again to Daniel Stern. He pretty much condemns everything else except E-codes, and though my pics can't speak well for me, I'm pleased beyond doubting my purchases. For them betting for better than "third world" quality, I hope you'll take my recommendation to listen to Stern and read him thoroughly.