Headlight

[secondchance]

while surfing the ebay I noticed quite a few HIDs that would fit our Zs at around $80. So, I did a quick research and found the following:

1. A lot of people who bought these $80 jobs wern't too happy. Especially the diamond cut lense seems to create bothersome patterns. Also, excessive glare was another reason for complaint. Generally these lights seems to be better at show than the actual performance.
2. True HID bulbs generate light by arcing between the anode and cathode through xenon gas - no fillament. Most of these aftermarket bulbs are fillament bulbs with xenon gas - not a true HID.
3. Xenon bulbs light generation is different from fillament bulb. Meaning lense/reflector assembly designed for conventional halogen bulbs (fillament type) does not perform correct w/ xenon bulbs. Xenon bulbs require lense/reflector designed specifically for xenon bulb to perform and produce desired light pattern.
4.At least one manufacturer, namely Sylvania, has developed and sell H6054/6052 headlights engineered properly under the model name "Xenarc". These set of lights currently sell for $588.

Having gone through the research I decided not to bother with $80 ebay specials and also decided I have higher priority modifications - no way spend $588 for headlights.

Eventually I ordered a set of Silverstar H6054CB (cool blue). It's not blue like 6000K+ HIDs but certainly a lot whiter than the Wagner halogens that were on the car. Yellow verses whiter was very evident looking at the light as well as the light thrown on the road. And, yes, the new set is a lot brighter (could be due to the age of lights replaced).

At $36 a pair, definately worth it.

Anyone looking to buy NCRS correct factory original Wagner headlights?:cheers:

[GOLDCYLON]

Good write up. I went with the Silverstars for about a year which are a lot brighter than stock. Still not happy I went with the Hella housings that use the H4s blub. Then with 120W Xenon H4 blubs. (Happy) I tried the HID foglight upgrade which I liked when they worked. The problem I had was one foglight wanted to be dominant at the expense of the other. I tried mutiple grounding points and could not resolve the issue. 9 times out of 10 the lights would never come on together. I ended up sending the kit back for a refund. :cheers:

[-=Jeff=-]

GC where did you get that kit from ( so I know where to avoid)

[GOLDCYLON]

GC where did you get that kit from ( so I know where to avoid)

Corvettehid.com And your mileage may vary ;)

[secondchance]

Cyclone,

You did the right thing choosing Hella housing. I understand that they make optically correct housing. Actually I thought about using the Hella housing and H4 HID.

It is interesting that your HID driving lights were fighting each other. My understanding is that the factorydriving light is 34 watt bulb. Silverstar 893s are 50 watts.An article I ran into claims that the factory wiring should support 15 amps (engineers like safety factor built in with plenty margin) which should support 50 watts.
http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_info/C4/C4%20Driving%20Lights.pdf

FYI. Early C4s had the driving light ground through the headlights. These cars (like my 84) the driving lights would not come on while the headlight switch was not on. I know Zr-1s, driving lights can be turned on with the light switch on parking light position - meaning the ground is not through the headlight. This allows for HID conversion easier from what I understand.

[GOLDCYLON]

Yep thats why I tried 4 or five different grounding points. No matter what I did the result was the same. Some folks have had success but I sure the hell did not. When they worked together I loved them but I was convinced I may have had a ballast problem or??? I tried multiple bulbs, Higher fuses etc. They could not get along. Also the HID bulbs are very long. The models I had once you got them into the foglight housings were scraping the backside of the foglight lens which was un-nerving and a damn tight fit. I ended going back to the orginal bulbs. GC

[pantera1683]

I bought a cheap ebay HID foglight kit a year ago and haven't had any problems with it.

[GOLDCYLON]

I bought a cheap ebay HID foglight kit a year ago and haven't had any problems with it.

Seller name and can you walk me through the install procedure. I want to see if its the same? For all I know I had a weak ballst. :cheers:

[pantera1683]

Seller name and can you walk me through the install procedure. I want to see if its the same? For all I know I had a weak ballst. :cheers:

The seller's name is philipsxenon and the kit was a universal one. Try item number 360242794900. There is a good how to for the installation on the CF.

[GOLDCYLON]

The seller's name is philipsxenon and the kit was a universal one. Try item number 360242794900. There is a good how to for the installation on the CF.


Awesome is it really a German made kit? :cheers:

[pantera1683]

Awesome is it really a German made kit? :cheers:

From what I remember it is, I haven't thought about it since June. IMHO since I installed it almost a year ago and use my fogs almost every day and they have worked without any problems I suspect the kit wasn't made in China :-D.

[GOLDCYLON]

From what I remember it is, I haven't thought about it since June. IMHO since I installed it almost a year ago and use my fogs almost every day and they have worked without any problems I suspect the kit wasn't made in China :-D.


Thats surprising well im going to give it a try. Thanks for taking the time. Its a useful mod.

[ZR1Vette]

I went with the Sylvania Silverstar for the headlights and was pleased with the improvement over OEM. Also, installed HOEN Xenonmatch bulbs for the driving/fog lights...BIG improvement over OEM.

[Hog]

I have found that the Silverstars are brighter than OEM, but they seem to have decreased longevity.

peace
Hog

[secondchance]

Hmmm... Thanks for sharing your info. Driving lights are my next to-do item.

[secondchance]

I went with the Sylvania Silverstar for the headlights and was pleased with the improvement over OEM. Also, installed HOEN Xenonmatch bulbs for the driving/fog lights...BIG improvement over OEM.

Can you share the model # and where you sredred from?
Did you increase the fuse amp?

[ZR1Vette]

Can you share the model # and where you sredred from?
Did you increase the fuse amp?

Ooops... mis-spoke... used the HOEN fog bulbs in the C6. I installed the SilverStar 880ST for the ZR-1 driving lights. My comment stills stand over improvement in the driving lights. Got both the SilverStar headlights and the driving light bulbs thru PartAmerica.com.

Fuse remains OEM

[secondchance]

The seller's name is philipsxenon and the kit was a universal one. Try item number 360242794900. There is a good how to for the installation on the CF.

Is this H4 bulbs for the headlights? Minus the housing?

[secondchance]

Ooops... mis-spoke... used the HOEN fog bulbs in the C6. I installed the SilverStar 880ST for the ZR-1 driving lights. My comment stills stand over improvement in the driving lights. Got both the SilverStar headlights and the driving light bulbs thru PartAmerica.com.

Fuse remains OEM

Thank you.

[ZR1Vette]

Headlight bulbs>>


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b79/MRBLU/CIMG2822.jpg

[tomtom72]

Ooops... mis-spoke... used the HOEN fog bulbs in the C6. I installed the SilverStar 880ST for the ZR-1 driving lights. My comment stills stand over improvement in the driving lights. Got both the SilverStar headlights and the driving light bulbs thru PartAmerica.com.

Fuse remains OEM

:cheers: Yes. Thank you for the info! :mrgreen:

[-=Jeff=-]

sorry to dig up an older thread but curious how Panteras HID Fog light kit is holding up..

Also GC did you install the kit Pantera recommended?

[GOLDCYLON]

sorry to dig up an older thread but curious how Panteras HID Fog light kit is holding up..

Also GC did you install the kit Pantera recommended?

No I did not the Engine rebuild took priority but a HeadlightHID may or may not be occuring at the same time if Bill/Greg have the time. Right now getting me up and running again is the priority. Cam timing started yesterday.

[RHanselman]

No I did not the Engine rebuild took priority but a HeadlightHID may or may not be occuring at the same time if Bill/Greg have the time. Right now getting me up and running again is the priority. Cam timing started yesterday.

Wheres your car getting the work done?

[GOLDCYLON]

Wheres your car getting the work done?


Bill B's garage. I should have her 1 April

[RHanselman]

Good deal... Bill and I are going to design a stand alone oiling system for my rear mount turbos...

I have some Silver Stars sitting in my garage. I may install the this weekend... I need to look into the driving light options. They can be a big help on my other cars but not so much on the Z's...

Btw - i use to live in Glendale in the Aerohead area...

[XfireZ51]

So what's the recommendation for upgrading the fog lamps. In Chicago, its possible to drive w just those since we have quite a bit of light at night but I'd like something brighter than stock, which is marginal at best.

Also, wonder how Ccmano is doing with his setup. I think Hans converted to HID fogs and driving lamps.

Good thread on HIDs
http://forums.**********.com/c4-tech-performance/2816191-c4-corvette-headlight-options-a-must-read-for-c4-drivers.html

Then there's this option:

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg526/jmassalone/P1000134.jpg

at http://www.riceperformanceproducts.com/

This one looks like it would take some weight off front end and your wallet. $850

[pantera1683]

My HID Fogs haven't skipped a beat in the 1 1/2 to 2 years that I have had them on. I rarely use my headlights at night, just the HID fogs and they still work great.

[-=Jeff=-]

My HID Fogs haven't skipped a beat in the 1 1/2 to 2 years that I have had them on. I rarely use my headlights at night, just the HID fogs and they still work great.

What brand are they? the eBay seller you bought from no longer seems to sell them..

[GOLDCYLON]

Good deal... Bill and I are going to design a stand alone oiling system for my rear mount turbos...

I have some Silver Stars sitting in my garage. I may install the this weekend... I need to look into the driving light options. They can be a big help on my other cars but not so much on the Z's...

Btw - i use to live in Glendale in the Aerohead area...


Thats were I live Ron you must have been stationed at Luke AFB for a while :cheers:

[tomtom72]

Okay, in the vein of follow ups.....the silverstar head lights are glass, not plastic like the OEM headlights. They are a great inexpensive improvement over the OE halogen plastic lights, but they may cause accelerated failure of the bushings in the actuators. JAFWIW. :o

Also, a compromise & a cheap one at that is the use of the 885 bulbs in place of the 880 OE fog light bulbs. We have a "how to" over at the NetReg site that is linked in to the C4 "how to" from that other forum.

One of my fog light bulbs burned out so I bought the 880 silverstar bulbs and they were actually less light output than the bulbs that I took out. I should have actually noted the old bulb's part number, but I didn't bother!:o So that's why I looked at our links at home base. I haven't tried the car since I put the 885's in as my test is a wall at the back of my rented garage space. I'll be going out today so I'll check them & report back.

:cheers:
Tom

[XfireZ51]

So is the 885 the bulb to use IF the ZR is > 90? My understanding is that there is a difference between 90 and other MYrs.

[-=Jeff=-]

So is the 885 the bulb to use IF the ZR is > 90? My understanding is that there is a difference between 90 and other MYrs.

no 885 is for 90.. you need a right angle connector.. like the 896

881, 886, 889, 894, 896, 898

[VetteMed]

Just got back from a drive with my Hella housings and Osram H4 bulbs, I'm still impressed each time, compared to the stock lighting!

[GOLDCYLON]

Just got back from a drive with my Hella housings and Osram H4 bulbs, I'm still impressed each time, compared to the stock lighting!


Yep thats what im running

[XfireZ51]

I just installed a set of Hella "knockoffs" or off brands that =Jeff= has used
along w H4 bulbs. Haven't tried them yet but has to be better than the SB lamps I took out.