[Q] Bad Gen1 Headlights...Can I Just Use Brighter Bulbs?

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jbelcourt

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I've done a TON of research on the headlight issue, and most forums are outdated. I just found this site tonight and am extremely excited to run across an active Mark Viii forum.

I recently was given a '93 Mark Viii by my brother, who took pretty good care of it. The headlights are an obvious issue but I rarely drive at night. With the time change coming up, I'm pretty much forced to immediately take action against the horrid lighting as I'll be driving home from work when it's dark. I've looked up several solutions, including taking apart the assembly or replacing the lights with the '96 LSC HID kits....I'm not completely comfortable, nor have a seen a clearly laid out guide on manually cleaning the lenses or I'd take that route. As for the kits, it's impossible to find and when you can (I found some on e-bay) they're like $199 per side, not including the ballasts. I just can't afford that right now.

The "solution" I'm looking at is replacing the bulbs with SilverStar Ultra lights. Is this a viable band-aid solution or will the enhanced brightness just be washed out because of the lenses?

I've also searched and have been unable to find a guide for cleaning them internally but if there is one, could someone link it for me?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
Are your current lenses nice and clean, not yellowing or crappy? How is the chrome inside them? I put silver stars in my 1993 pretty good housings and there was not that big of a difference. Even with the factory HIDS in my 95 there not super but better then non HID I guess.
 
I scored a set at my local pull a part w/ good chrome inside but yellowish foggy lenses. i used this method on the outside and it made a significant difference .
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/443547-DIY-Headlight-restoration-walk-through

but i still need to bake mine apart and do the inside of the lenses which im nervous about. your best bet for temporary extra light is get a set of fog lights or sumthing and mount them behind the grill
 
Here's what mine look like (how bad do they look? This is the first Mark Viii I've personally ever seen):

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I found a "nice" set on ebay but they want $199 for the pair. I can't stomach spending $199 on a pair that will do the same thing eventually.

I always check the pull and pay junk yards around me but I've only seen a Mark Viii once. I just checked one near where my mom lives, who I happen to be going to visit today, and there's a '94 Mark Viii there. Only issue is it was dropped there on October 15th. Good chance it got picked apart quite a bit. Going to check it out later on.

As for self restoration, internally, do either of you (or anyone else) have a link to a guide?

Again, I appreciate any help. Thanks guys.

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Yours look pretty good. Brighter bulbs will definitely help. You can use some silverstars or something similar, but honestly you will be wasting your money. You need to buy a HID kit. they will be far superior to anything over the counter at the parts store. check out www.ddmtuning.com

I have DDM kits in everything I own (the ones that didn't come with factory HID's that is)
 
k9t8m said:
Yours look pretty good. Brighter bulbs will definitely help. You can use some silverstars or something similar, but honestly you will be wasting your money. You need to buy a HID kit. they will be far superior to anything over the counter at the parts store. check out www.ddmtuning.com

I have DDM kits in everything I own (the ones that didn't come with factory HID's that is)
Click to expand...

Oh wow, thanks for the information. I assumed mine were really bad because I mean I really can't see when it's dark. They're horrible lol.

I'm looking at that site. How do I know which ones I need? Do I just buy the conversion kit? Do I need to buy bulbs or brackets or anything else with the kit?
 
Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it. I'll check these out and probably order them then.

I assume it's pretty much plug and play, from what I could tell. Shouldn't be too hard of a project.
 
Your lenses don't look even "ok" to me. It's no surprise that none of the light is reaching the pavement. Go grab a headlight restoration kit at the parts store (I'm partial to Meguiar's) and see what difference $20 can make.
 
MooJohn said:
Your lenses don't look even "ok" to me. It's no surprise that none of the light is reaching the pavement. Go grab a headlight restoration kit at the parts store (I'm partial to Meguiar's) and see what difference $20 can make.
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Doing an outside lens restoration will clean that up? If so, I'll stop at the store today and do that as well as order the HID kit.
 
His lens look "ok" to me to. Not great but ok. I don't buy any kit. I buy 2000 and 1000 grit sand paper and bottle of "Plastic X?" headlight polish. I sand the lights with 1000 and soapy water couple times then sand with 2000 and soapy water couple times. Clean off between sandings. Then I take my car buffer and apply Plastic X and buff away for couple minutes. They look brand freakin new after you do this.
 
My 1993 lens which I have never polished yet.
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Factory HIDs in my 1995.
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Here is the wet/dry sand paper that can be bought at Autozone
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PlastX
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Buffer and go to town
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they need to be polished at a minimum.
and that might be enough IF the chrome is still good. but if the chrome is gone, it doesn't matter what bulb you put in there.

better housings will help a lot, and putting a 35w HID kit in it will keep the chrome good. the HIDs seem to not burn chrome like the halogens do.
 
I went ahead and picked up a Meguiar's Heavy Duty Restoration kit from Walmart for $20. I didn't have a buffer anyway so the kit made sense for me.

I'm going to clean the hell out of it tomorrow and see how it turns out. It's raining here so they have the pull and pay scrap yard closed so I can't check out the '94 sitting there I was hoping to.

After I clean and buff it, I'll post pictures. Hopefully it's pretty good. Then, if it's good, I'll order the HID conversion kit and get that in as soon as possible.

Thanks for all the tips guys.
 
yours are better then mine i think a good wetsand and buff and it will help alot. yours have the right "color" i would say mine have some yellow to them and were hazy like yours i wetsanded and polished them and it made a big difference. my problem now is the yellow and slight haze on the inside.

on another note has anyone tried making a mold and heat forming some clear lenses like this? then we would just have to figure out a chrome solution
http://tech.240sxone.com/404/how-to-make-your-own-plastic-headlight-covers/
 
Also, when you get the DDM tuning HID kits, about $30, outstanding deal by the way, do not despair that they are sent from China. They work excellent and ship fairly quick for being so far away. I will be opening up my headlights and rechroming in the near future, I will try to take pics of important steps.
 
OchoMarko said:
Also, when you get the DDM tuning HID kits, about $30, outstanding deal by the way, do not despair that they are sent from China. They work excellent and ship fairly quick for being so far away. I will be opening up my headlights and rechroming in the near future, I will try to take pics of important steps.
Click to expand...

I was wondering why shipping was estimated at $15 lol. You eased my mind on that, I'll have to order them tonight then.

Also, that would be awesome if you did that when you work on yours. I saw a thread or two of yours that had pictures and was VERY detailed, at least to me. Would likely be very informative and useful to me. Awesome.
 
There are several threads on here about "cataract surgery"! I tried baking them, cutting them, and finally just stomped on em and threw them in the trash!! Seriously, if you have the patience to remove the lenses and rechrome the inside and put them all back together the more power to you!! I found a pair at the JY that had decent chrome still on the inside and polished them up. Also there is a link here somewhere for a "work around" that will allow both low and high beams to be on at the same time when the high beam is on. Welcome to the club! Good luck!

I would never join a club that would have me as a member....Groucho Marx
 
Thanks for the welcome :) super excited to find an active Mark VIII forum.
 
Hey, you guys are AMAZING. Thanks for the suggestions!

When I first got the car, I bought some stuff I had recommended to me by a few guys at work called "Uncle Pooters", sold on eBay. It helped, because they were worse then the picture showed before.....but the Meguiar's was a whole different ball game!

Check out the before and afters! They look almost new (they look a little foggy but after everything dried they look crisp).

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Now how can I tell about the chrome inside, if it's in good shape or not?

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Looks good! From the pics it appears the chrome inside is not bad.

Google "HIR" bulbs for a brighter halogen bulb with less heat.
 
driller said:
Looks good! From the pics it appears the chrome inside is not bad.

Google "HIR" bulbs for a brighter halogen bulb with less heat.
Click to expand...

K9 recommended the DDM HID Kit, which is what I'm about to order.

On that note, I was originally going to go with the 6000k but it seems from what I'm reading the 5000k has a "brighter" look to them. What do you guys think? How do the 6000k's look? My car isn't a "looker" just yet, needs paint bad. Keep that in mind from the picture. I wouldn't want to have the nice bluish 6000k bulbs if they'll look tacky on my ugly girl.
 
VERY nice improvement! Told ya that kit was the ticket! Old halogen bulbs get more yellow and dimmer as they age so you're still not getting 100% output. I've used DDM HIDs in a number of cars all with excellent results. In fact, there's a kit on the way for my Continental right now.

Go with 5000k, or even 4500 if available, for an OEM appearance. The higher temps just result in less light on the road. The outright blue and purple bulbs are called "poverty beams" for a reason :D
 
I know I keep saying it, but thank you guys a ton for all your advice. I was about to just blow $50 on new bulbs and hope they worked. Glad I found this forum.

I got this car a few months ago and I fell in love with it. It's such a nice ride and there's so much I want to do with it. My mechanical experience is far from anyone on here, but having other people help out makes things that much more possible.

Now, time to order the kit! :)
 
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