Easiest and cheapest headlight upgrade?

T

tim_kido

New Member
Aug 29, 2007
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Seattle
Hi all,

I just got a 1986.5 Mark III Supra and wanted to upgrade the headlight because the standard H6054 is so dim the light's barely usable. I'm wondering what's the cheapest, easiest and most effective upgrade I can do?

So far I have found 2 options, 1) upgrade to a Sylvania Xtra Vision or 2) Get a conversion kit so the light housing will take an interchanable lightbulb like a H4.

Advantage of going with 1) is it is easy, you just swap out the original and with no modification you'll get 30% increase in light output. Disadvantage is that it's only 30%

2) method has the advantage of a significant light increase, especially with the H4 bulbs (anyone know of any legal issue with using H4? If so, any alternative bulbs?) but the disadvantage is that I have to do some sort of rewiring to make sure that the high voltage and current wouldn't fry the original wireing.

Suggestions? Which way should I go?


thanks


Tim
 
HIDPLANET

HIDPLANET

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May 5, 2006
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www.hidplanet.com
He said easiest and cheapest.
You will have to replace the headlamp itself because those old ones even when brand new perform poorly. Get the Hella E-Code which replace it with a H4 housing with very good results. The key here is the "E-Code" headlights, not their DOT version.
 
CRE

CRE

7M-GE + MAFT Pro + T = :D
Oct 24, 2005
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True... so why not start with the inexpensive part first? Besides, no one brough it up. ;)
 
AF1JZ

AF1JZ

Almost civilian status...
Jun 26, 2006
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Cheapest/easiest would be to just replace the stock ones with brand new stock ones. I have the sylvania silverstars in mine and they light up the road great without having to do the re-wire or anything.


Best option like they said would be to get a set of Hella H4 conversion e-code with a 4300K HID kit.
 
suprabad

suprabad

Coitus Non Circum
Jul 12, 2005
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Down Like A Clown Charley Brown
Does the headlight re-wire make that much of a difference?

I'm running sylvania silverstars, which work pretty well, but I'd gladly do the rewire if it's going to make a noticable difference. I've considered it, but didn't know if it was worth the trouble.
 
pb92supraturbo

pb92supraturbo

FTG & the IRL!
Aug 20, 2005
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Yes! I tested at the bulb connector and saw a bit over a 1 volt increase compared to the stock harness bulb connector. Combine that with Hella e-codes, 55/100w bulbs, and you've got vastly improved lighting.

suprabad said:
Does the headlight re-wire make that much of a difference?

I'm running sylvania silverstars, which work pretty well, but I'd gladly do the rewire if it's going to make a noticable difference. I've considered it, but didn't know if it was worth the trouble.
Click to expand...
 
T

tim_kido

New Member
Aug 29, 2007
12
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Seattle
Thanks alot for all the great input guys, really appreciate it. Got a few follow up question after reading all your responses:

1) There are quite a few who mentioned SilverStar as the drop in replacement of choice but isn't XtraVision suppose to provide more light output than SilverStar? From what I understand, the N/A version of Silver Star is nothing but a blue tint and hence it actually takes away some of the light output even though the light itself may look whiter with that HID look.

2) Looks like I'm going the conversion kit route. Can anyone suggest which conversion kit should I get? As in what brand and where to get it? What bulb give the best result (maximum light output and throw) and which online retailer sellers sells high quality rewireing harness for the conversion(i.e. with the correct connectors for all the parts so all I do is plug n go)?

3) Are the H4 conversion kits on eBay any good? The reflectors look nice and shiny, looks like they are very good at reflecting lights onto the road but they do have plastic lenses and I'm wondering how will that affect performance down the road, will they become blurry as the plastic ages?



thanks

Tim
 
bowsercake

bowsercake

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Aug 24, 2005
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Hella, Bosch, Cibie H4 housings are all good. The E-Code headlights have a different, cleaner pattern than the DOT version. But the DOT H4 housings will still look better. You do not need to put HID bulbs in them. In fact, I think halogen looks better than HID. This is especially true when the HID is not used with a projector.
 
Poodles

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
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Hella E-code

there is another brand that I can't think of right now that's really good, but they're meant for right hand drive cars, so the flare is on the wrong side!

- normal bulbs will plug right into the stock harness with an H4 conversion
- a rewire isn't going to be plug and play so far as I've seen
 
turbogate

turbogate

Life is Boost
May 18, 2005
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With the Hella E-codes, how high of a bulb wattage can we go without worrying about stock harness burning etc. I think stock is 60/55W? could we go 100/55W for example with stock harness?

Thanks

Poodles said:
Hella E-code

there is another brand that I can't think of right now that's really good, but they're meant for right hand drive cars, so the flare is on the wrong side!

- normal bulbs will plug right into the stock harness with an H4 conversion
- a rewire isn't going to be plug and play so far as I've seen
Click to expand...
 
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