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Headlights??

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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 09:47 AM
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Default Headlights??

Looking to brighten up the headlights on my '86. Has anyone added led's or something like that to give you more light down the road? If so, what and where and how much?
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Pres712
Looking to brighten up the headlights on my '86. Has anyone added led's or something like that to give you more light down the road? If so, what and where and how much?
I've installed http://www.riceperformanceproducts.com/index.html.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ht-system.html

Last edited by winstonc; Apr 9, 2018 at 12:03 PM.
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 12:28 PM
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Incandescent bulbs dim over time, maybe just new headlights will do the job if the ones you have are really old.

On a different note, I seem to recall someone once mentioning that the original headlights in vettes were plastic for weight reason, where now a days they are glass and heavier.

Seems to make sense to ease weight on the opening mechanism, does anyone know if that is true or not?
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 12:29 PM
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Many have gone over to LED 5x7 housings. I have, intent with the cheaper array style ones. They work, but the beam pattern is not great, no real cutoff, just a spotlight style. I got them for like 30 bucks for the pair though, the ones that are closer to 80 a pair seem to be much better, i will eventually upgrade to those.
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Pres712
Looking to brighten up the headlights on my '86. Has anyone added led's or something like that to give you more light down the road? If so, what and where and how much?
Before you go exotic, you might try the Hella H4 rectangular headlight conversions. They have much better beam control than the stock lights and are genuine "plug and play". If you need even more light, high power H4 bulbs are available and you can upgrade the bulb wiring to accommodate the brighter bulbs. They would be non-DOT however.
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 01:41 PM
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I'm running Genssi GEN-7X6-PRO-BLK from ebay. They are literally night and day no pun intended haha. Took me about 20 minutes to install them.

Here the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/7X6-32W-LED...72.m2749.l2649
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 01:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 1984Z51auto
Before you go exotic, you might try the Hella H4 rectangular headlight conversions. They have much better beam control than the stock lights and are genuine "plug and play". If you need even more light, high power H4 bulbs are available and you can upgrade the bulb wiring to accommodate the brighter bulbs. They would be non-DOT however.
I bought these,
Amazon Amazon
, world of difference. Not as bright as the LED but you can always change the bulbs to higher power if you want to flirt with the law.
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by twichy2011
I'm running Genssi GEN-7X6-PRO-BLK from ebay. They are literally night and day no pun intended haha. Took me about 20 minutes to install them.

Here the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/7X6-32W-LED...72.m2749.l2649
How is the beam pattern?
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by cdm747
I bought these, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1, world of difference. Not as bright as the LED but you can always change the bulbs to higher power if you want to flirt with the law.
I did the same recently. Even with the standard bulbs they come with, they are worlds better than the sealed beams the cars come with. I was going to go with the JW Speaker LED's, but didn't want to spend that much money when the car isn't even my daily driver. Plus I'm weird in that I'd like to keep the car somewhat period correct, or at the very least look it. Anyway, very happy with these lights. 2nd best halogens I've ever had, and I've had 9+ cars and around 5 motorcycles in my lifetime, all halogen. Only my RAM Promaster City van has better halogens, but not by much.
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 02:22 PM
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Originally Posted by JimLentz
How is the beam pattern?
The beam pattern is pretty nice. I can send some pics when I get home tonight.

Connor
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Old Apr 10, 2018 | 06:04 PM
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Originally Posted by twichy2011
The beam pattern is pretty nice. I can send some pics when I get home tonight.

Connor
please do. I want to upgrade my headlights

hopefully by the weekend
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Old Apr 10, 2018 | 10:57 PM
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 01:45 AM
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Originally Posted by twichy2011
holy ****. wow

ill post pics of mine. gonna go to my usual alley for some headlight adjusting. (has a perfectly smooth white wall where I can align them )and maybe a spirited run or 2
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 02:49 AM
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Originally Posted by bac22
Incandescent bulbs dim over time, maybe just new headlights will do the job if the ones you have are really old.

On a different note, I seem to recall someone once mentioning that the original headlights in vettes were plastic for weight reason, where now a days they are glass and heavier.

Seems to make sense to ease weight on the opening mechanism, does anyone know if that is true or not?
This is true. They are plastic. Here in the UK, I swopped to glass lights with a more focussed lens (also L.H. dipping for driving on the "wrong" side of the road). I fitted high output Halogen H4's, and the difference is like night and day, plus they look stock. I've had no trouble yet with the opening mechanism.
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 03:15 AM
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Quick pic
will adjust more and I need to install my fog lights
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by 1984Z51auto
Before you go exotic, you might try the Hella H4 rectangular headlight conversions. They have much better beam control than the stock lights and are genuine "plug and play". If you need even more light, high power H4 bulbs are available and you can upgrade the bulb wiring to accommodate the brighter bulbs. They would be non-DOT however.
I did this conversion a couple of years ago and it was just outstanding. I see everything around me without blinding oncoming vehicles.
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 08:07 PM
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Originally Posted by 1984Z51auto
Before you go exotic, you might try the Hella H4 rectangular headlight conversions. They have much better beam control than the stock lights and are genuine "plug and play". If you need even more light, high power H4 bulbs are available and you can upgrade the bulb wiring to accommodate the brighter bulbs. They would be non-DOT however.
Thx - Just ordered them (Ebay $79.00 free ship), hope to install by next weekend.
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