What follows is a review of the projector headlight conversion that you see all over Ebay.

I saw somebody else on the forum make this conversion and I had lots of questions. So I decided to buy some myself to satisfy my curiosity.

I want better lighting. Who doesn't?
Plus, let's be honest, sealed beam headlights aren't going to be around forever, so the conversion makes sense and may be inevitable.
That, and the projecttion headlight on my 2006 Xterra and 2004 minivan are superb - especially compared to the sealed beams on the Fiero.

The kit that I found is inexpensive - about a $30 investment, including the shipping. Not a bad deal. I figured it was a no-brainer since they were so affordable.

After about a week, they arrived as a pair with the new bulbs installed.
The black housing is made of tough plastic or aluminum (can't quite tell) and the front is made of glass - an important consideration since projector bulbs run much hotter.
They came with new connectors - something you MUST install since they are rated to handle the hotter temperatures that will melt the stock connectors.
Inside the glass is also a blue-tinted bulb that is supposed to be a "city light". These little bulbs have their own wiring and I can only assume they are meant to add color to the light beams and/or provide a cool look when the main lights are turned off. Either way, they seemed "ricey" (read: stupid and not needed) and are a moot point on a car with pop-up headlights. I didn't wire these silly things up.



After installing one of the lights, I took the car out for some comparison photography. It had just rained, so it was a little hard to see the lights on the street. But as you can see, there are distinct differences that stand out immediately.
Firstly, the projector bulbs are brighter - as you can see in these photos. BUT, that doesn't mean that you can see better with them, as I will explain in a second.



Notice in the second photo how, towards the bottom of the photo, the road is not covered in light by the projector bulb as much as the sealed beam.
That's because of the lousy light pattern these things throw.

This is better demonstrated in this photo:


Notice, in particular, the grass on either side of the pavement. The sealed beam shows much better detail and covers more distance - hands down.
Also notice the lousy light pattern the projector bulbs put out. It is all over the place. (!)
The high-beams are even worse. When activated, they put out less light than the "regular" mode. Believe it or not, it is far easier to see without the high-beams on.

CONCLUSION
Personally, I don't care for them. They look cool on the car and they give off a different light that makes the car stand out, but it is not a "better" light.
Most importantly, they don't increase visibility at all as far as I can tell. I will drive with them for a few weeks and see if I end up getting used to them, but I highly doubt it.

I am even considering putting better projector bulbs in there since I am sure these are cheap ones, but I don't expect that to solve the lousy light pattern they throw since that is mainly dictated by the reflector, not the bulb.
All in all, I think I may just reinstall the sealed beams.

[This message has been edited by Ayrow (edited 03-16-2008).]

I liked your review and it was informative. However, the first thought that came to mind was you get what you pay for. I have seen these cheapy kits on eBay and many a times I have wanted to snag a set myself. Friends have switched to the HID projection headlights and had wonderful results yet they paid well into the 100 dollar region for their kits. The crappy pattern you are talking about is the backing behind the bulb. The more expensive kits have a much smoother backing more designed to direct the light instead of spreading it all over the place. Props to you for giving it a shot though, you just saved me the time and money from making the same mistake.

Nice review, Thanks. + to you

Keep the houseings and get a 70 ish $ HID kit and install those bulbs maybe? That was my original plan but ive taken a liking to the flush mounted lights lately very informative thank you! +

Pull up to a wall and lets see the cutoff

I would try to retro fit a projector from a BMW or a Acura TSX... Maxima guys are always upgrading to these as the output is great and have very nice beam patterns

------------------

By:Custom2M4
in process-12" front brakes using '88 calipers and '88 brakes in rear
'88 rear suspension, Held adjustable links solid mounted
3400 bottom end, 2.8 Falconer Race heads, 60-1 BB turbo, A/W IC, truleo manifold, FOCOA headers/custom crosover,Haltech E6K ecu
To have 29psi

For real projector headlights you should not see the bulb easily, like these. and should also not be able to see the reflector at all, just the front lense.

Although these were way more expensive as theye are hid projectors from a Cadillac XLR.





This is an output picture, note the sharp cutoff compared to even halogen reflectors,
This is why projectors are a must, to reduce glare

------------------
1988 Fiero GT

quote Originally posted by Coinage: Pull up to a wall and lets see the cutoff

It is funny you should mention this. To make certain that the bulbs were aimed correctly, I did indeed pull up to a wall so I could make any adjustments so they were even. The pattern in the "projector" bulb was so poor, I could not find a reference or center location in the beam so that I could aim them. It was just scattered all over the wall.
The really scary thing is that I am probably blinding oncoming traffic too.

A while back, someone here swapped in a set of "Truck-Lite" brand light housings and they were a big improvement over the stock sealed beam lights. They have a high quality glass lens/chromed aluminum reflector and are made for commercial applications.
http://www.truck-lite.com/w...ctId=32507&langId=-1

Ayrow, thanks for sharing your experience with those eBay lights- you saved me the headache of ordering some and getting pissed when they turned out to be crappy.

They aren't projectors... I own them. It is a plastic lense suspended by two metal rods. There is no cutoff pattern, leave that to true HID kits. I may throw an HID kit in mine to see how it looks, but its a projector look, not a projector housing.

quote Originally posted by Mr.PBody: They aren't projectors......, but its a projector look, not a projector housing.

Yup...Couldn't have said it better myself.

:-)

Finally found a retailer for the Truck-Lite housings. They are out of stock until the end of the month A little pricey compared to the eBay lights, but I would think the quality would be better-
http://www.levineautoparts.com/27009headlamp.html

quote Originally posted by Cooter: Finally found a retailer for the Truck-Lite housings. They are out of stock until the end of the month A little pricey compared to the eBay lights, but I would think the quality would be better- http://www.levineautoparts.com/27009headlamp.html

I just took them out and reinstalled new sealed beams back in there (Silverstars). What a difference!

Oh well,.... it was a fun try that didn't end up costing a ton of money. Hopefully my effort prevented someone else from making the same mistake.

quote Originally posted by Ayrow: Hopefully my effort prevented someone else from making the same mistake.

It did because I had looked at the same ones and thought about getting them. You can always put them back on eBay and get some of your money back

I hate it when someone installs those kits because they are actually a housing and a light that don't belong together. The HID style bulb needs the rest of the lensing to make it work. Otherwise you can't see as well and you destroy on coming traffic's ability to see when they meet you. And when they can't see the road due to your glare they end up hitting you. So why risk it? This demo shows you just hoe bad that glare is.

I've posted this before on PFF. If you are concerned about low cost and lighting performance rather than bling, the Hella H79567 is an exact (plug & play) replacement for the stock Fiero rectangular sealed beams. They will cost you about $85 a pair, including the H4 halogen high/low beam bulbs ... a very good value. They're what I have installed on my Formula right now.

Here is a baseline low beam photo for comparison ... the Fiero's OEM Delco H6054 headlight, a rectangular 65/35 watt (h/l) halogen sealed beam lamp (rated ~800 lumens):




Here is a comparison photo of the Hella H79567's low beam pattern (55 w, ~1200 lumens), taken under identical conditions:



Note that these are ECE (European) spec headlights, which means that they are not DOT compliant. Hella does offer a similar model that is DOT compliant, but I don't think the lighting it provides is quite as good. The ECE version is legal in Canada, but not in the U.S.; however it is unlikely that anybody will ever notice the slight difference.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-18-2008).]

I've been playing email tag with Don at Levine Automotive for the past couple of days. I'm gonna go ahead and order a set of the Truck-Lite lamps and we will all see what they look like. The 2 lamps + shipping will be around $100. Considering some sealed beams are around $40 each, the extra $$$ for a serviceable housing is worth it in the long run. Who knows, maybe an HID kit is in the future Anyway, he also said they also have some non-DOT compliant lamps available if you wanted to go that route.

[This message has been edited by Cooter (edited 03-19-2008).]

.

[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 04-14-2009).]

I like the pattern on those Hella ECE spec headlights. Could you post a pic of what the housing looks like in the Fiero?
(wish the ECE pattern were legal in the U.S. )

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: One comment on lights with very sharply defined edges to their patterns: They suck!

It's generally not a problem if they're aimed properly ... which they often are not ... but the problem is exacerbated by the DOT-legal headlight mounting height on many trucks and SUVs. It's for these reasons that the ECE standards mandate different down angles for different mounting heights (DOT specifies the same down angle for all mounting heights), and also require that any car with HID headlights have some kind of auto-leveling mechanism to help compensate for varying vehicle loading.

quote Originally posted by Austrian Import: Could you post a pic of what the housing looks like in the Fiero?

I don't have a picture, but externally they are virtually identical to the OEM H6054 sealed beams ... truly a plug-and-play replacement. (There is a rubber seal that covers the bulb end of the housing, and it is a tight fit in the Fiero buckets ... but it WILL fit without any modifications.) I really prefer something like this that can be returned to stock configuration at any time in just a few minutes.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-20-2008).]