As far as I know nobody has installed HID's on a Reatta. The main reason is the limited clearance between the back of the headlight prong plug and the headlight frame/cowl support. It's pretty tight so a LOW PROFILE H4 headlight housing & HID bulb assembly is critical. That's where ya'all come in. Anyone have any experience in installing low profile HID lights where there was minimal space? Do they even make low profile HID bulb assemblies? By the way, I know there may be other options like projectors, etc....but HID's are cheap and give you a lot of bang for the buck. I have them on my 86 GT and I really love them! (aiming is SO important though)
Lastly, I have a few pics of my headlights in the up and down position but need someone to post for me. If you can help post please PM me your email address. Thanks, KIt
Well you NEED projectors with your headlights or the light will scatter and you will blind everyone else on the road. The reason nobody has done them is because its a grown up type car and grown ups own them. If you want to look cool just throw HID in the housings but I really hope your unsuccessful to be honest because you dont know anything about automotive lighting as proven by the fact you just threw HID into your fiero and could care less about blinding people with those. I dont care how well they are aimed, your blinding people with your chinese ebay HID kit.
That is not true. It all depends on the HID capsules you use. The cheap china ones will scatter but if you buy quality capsules they work quite well. I have HIDs in my Cavi. On low beam I never get flashed and the light pattern is the same as with my halogen bulbs except brighter. Now my highs are another story...LOL
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Originally posted by turboguy327:
Well you NEED projectors with your headlights or the light will scatter and you will blind everyone else on the road. The reason nobody has done them is because its a grown up type car and grown ups own them. If you want to look cool just throw HID in the housings but I really hope your unsuccessful to be honest because you dont know anything about automotive lighting as proven by the fact you just threw HID into your fiero and could care less about blinding people with those. I dont care how well they are aimed, your blinding people with your chinese ebay HID kit.
[This message has been edited by chester (edited 10-11-2012).]
That is not true. It all depends on the HID capsules you use. The cheap china ones will scatter but if you buy quality capsules they work quite well. I have HIDs in my Cavi. On low beam I never get flashed and the light pattern is the same as with my halogen bulbs except brighter. Now my highs are another story...LOL
I find that very hard to believe as there are no high quality HID bulbs in anything other than OEM hid sizes. They are all made in china. I dont care where you got them. Most people dont flash hid in reflector like your because people dont get it or something. I spotlight people like you with my 90 watt bixenon high beams. And hid in that old reatta will scatter light everywhere. The only thing you can do to help scatter/glare is a casper sheild.
Believe what you want. I'm not here to argue the point with you and I don't think that was the initial intention of the post. The capsules I have are ceramic based 35Watt and made in Japan, but then you know where I got my stuff too.
So casper shields will help with his conversion? That’s good to know. Only informative thing you posted so far...and hey, maybe that’s why my lights don't scatter or glare - because the shields are built into the housing.
This is not my first set of HIDS.
And 90 Watt bixeons? LOL, so they are standard bulbs at 90 watts? Nice. Been there done that. Be sure to keep checking your sockets and wires as they will melt eventually.
Have a good one...LOL
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Originally posted by turboguy327:
I find that very hard to believe as there are no high quality HID bulbs in anything other than OEM hid sizes. They are all made in china. I dont care where you got them. Most people dont flash hid in reflector like your because people dont get it or something. I spotlight people like you with my 90 watt bixenon high beams. And hid in that old reatta will scatter light everywhere. The only thing you can do to help scatter/glare is a casper sheild.
Not standard. Boosted ballasts when i choose them to be when the high beams are on. They are OEM philips bulbs with boosted bosch ballasts. I havent seen any setups come with casper shields but I dont shop ebay for hid stuff. I use OEM stuff so I dont blind people. All my vehicles have retrofits done. Its the only way to do HID the right way on a car that didnt come with it.
Well you NEED projectors with your headlights or the light will scatter and you will blind everyone else on the road. The reason nobody has done them is because its a grown up type car and grown ups own them. If you want to look cool just throw HID in the housings but I really hope your unsuccessful to be honest because you dont know anything about automotive lighting as proven by the fact you just threw HID into your fiero and could care less about blinding people with those. I dont care how well they are aimed, your blinding people with your chinese ebay HID kit.
Wow...your comments are a little strong but I do appreciate the constructive criticism. I dont profess to be an HID/lighting expert but like many other Fiero people I wanted to make something better on my Fiero. In this case I wanted better lighting so I decided to try HID's. I certainly agree that aiming is all important and that there probably is some scattering but to minimize this I felt it was all important to buy quality headlight housings so I bought some Hella E-Code lights. I also made sure that I properly aimed the headlights. To this day I have not had ONE person flash their hi beams in protest. And yes, I realize that HID's are not legal on older cars such as Fiero's. But then again, so are no front plates but you generally never get pulled over for that. On to your comments: I would like to point out that despite what you said my desire is purely better lighting and not to "look cool". Lastly, since you really hope I'm unsuccessful at this project, I would like to ask you not to reply/add to my thread. Thanks, Kit
[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 10-11-2012).]
I agree with you, if the option is available a retrofit would be the way to go - but that’s not always an option. So you do the best you can. And out of one side of your mouth you talk about blinding people by a poorly designed kit install then out of the other side you say that you blind people like that ON PURPOSE with a modded 90Watt high beam HID setup? That’s like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it? LOL. And here I thought you were an honorable citizen looking out for the well being of others...LOL
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Originally posted by turboguy327:
Not standard. Boosted ballasts when i choose them to be when the high beams are on. They are OEM philips bulbs with boosted bosch ballasts. I havent seen any setups come with casper shields but I dont shop ebay for hid stuff. I use OEM stuff so I dont blind people. All my vehicles have retrofits done. Its the only way to do HID the right way on a car that didnt come with it.
You can retrofit 7x6 housings easily for under 300 bucks. And I use the boosted high beams for people with glare kits like the OP is talking about. Not for regular driving. If there is room for a light bulb there is room for a retrofit. Thats really the only obstacle you would face in any car.
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Originally posted by chester:
I agree with you, if the option is available a retrofit would be the way to go - but that’s not always an option. So you do the best you can. And out of one side of your mouth you talk about blinding people by a poorly designed kit install then out of the other side you say that you blind people like that ON PURPOSE with a modded 90Watt high beam HID setup? That’s like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it? LOL. And here I thought you were an honorable citizen looking out for the well being of others...LOL
[This message has been edited by turboguy327 (edited 10-12-2012).]
Under 300 bucks for everything you will need. Get new housings off ebay that can be opened easily and use matchbox projectors and there ya go.
OK, I did look at the site you linked and I am open to this idea. Can you please explain more about the housings? What do you mean by ones that open up easily? They are not one-piece? The Hella's certainly are not. As a reminder, regardless of what lights I choose there is a strict limited clearance issue on these Reatta's at the back of the headlight housing plug area. Kit
OK, I did look at the site you linked and I am open to this idea. Can you please explain more about the housings? What do you mean by ones that open up easily? They are not one-piece? The Hella's certainly are not. As a reminder, regardless of what lights I choose there is a strict limited clearance issue on these Reatta's at the back of the headlight housing plug area. Kit
These are the projectors you will want for the limited space. They stick out about an inch. You need housings that allow the lens to be seperated from the housing so the projector can be installed. Search my name, I did a little walkthrough on my 5th gen camaro that will give you an idea of involvement.
Ok, I looked at Evilbay for two piece housings but found none. Can you point me to some? By the way, I assume they have to be plastic and not glass, correct? Also, I checked your link on the Matchbox projectors and I thought I read that they recommend these particular projectors as driving or fog lights. These will be my only lighting source. Reatta's already have accessory driving/fog lights and I never use them. By the way, I don't mind going bigger on the projectors...I'm more concerned on the clearance on the finished product. But, whatever I do decide to go with I'll be stuck with and will have to make them work.
[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 10-14-2012).]
You can use the H1 mini projectors but they stick out a little more. Ive always just found housings that are plastic and can have a H4 bulb installed in it. I think even the fiero store sells them.
