Started a little somethin

95mark8newyork

95mark8newyork

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Went to the junkyard yesterday and picked up a set of headlights off a 93 mark. Pretty decent shape, a lot of yellowing and the chromes pretty much shot. Decided to cut them open, re chrome them and get an HID kit. This is gonna be for my dads 95 mark. The guy at the junkyard gave me the whole header panel with the headlights, so if anyones interested in it I'll post some pics of it and make me an offer. As of now I have one headlight apart, I took like 2-4 hours and make the lens clear. Goin today to get some chrome reflective tape, silicone sealant and meguiars plastX compound. Should be a good project, I'll try to take some pictures if I remember. He wants an HID Kit that will be white, not blue, so 6000k is good right? Hopefully I'll get some pictures up, hardest thing so far was making the lens go from brown to clear lol. Anybody use high heat chrome paint like people use to paint things chrome on the inside of their motor? Was thinking of trying that and if that didn't work just use the chrome brite or w/e it's called?
 
I have 6000K and they are white. I also used chrome rocker panel tape from AZ. It's been on for about 6 months now and still looks new and 90% of my driving is at night. No problems here and there nice and bright, I can see good at night now.
 
I bought a 6000K 35 watt HID and the light was actually too blue for me. I now am using a 5000K 50 watt HID kit and it's super white and bright!

Just my experience.....
 
Sounds good guys, picked up a few cans of rustoleum metallic silver paint its reflective. Ill give it a shot with one light to try
 
Id say the Chrome tape will be more reflective than the paint..it dulls out as it dries. Try sanding the lenses with 1000-1500 grit sand paper first then go back and buff it with the compound.
 
Any tips on getting the lens off the housing? I tried the "baking" method on a junk light a couple years ago (came off one of my parts cars that was vandalized before I got it and the headlights were pretty scraped up), and, long story short, that was an epic fail. I kept taking the light out every few minutes, but the tabs never softened up, and after a just a couple more minutes of putting it back in, the actual housing and lens started to melt. I wasn't too upset because it was a junk light and I was just trying my hand at it in case I wanted to do it on a good light at a later time, but it would be nice to know a more effective technique or to get a few tips.
 
6000K is definitely the way to go here is mine:

2012-10-21_04-15-49_420.jpg


Blurry pic is blurry but you can see that they are white

2012-10-21_04-15-57_639.jpg



2012-12-02_17-13-24_344.jpg


they do look a tad blue in this pic but they are truly bright white
 
Put em in at 325 for like 10 mins, check every five. Use a knife to seperate the lens from the actual housing, PITA !!!Gonna try the paint well see how it goes
 
Also, the 50W HID systems tend to "shift" the color chart over the 35W systems. For instance, the 6000K 50W system will output light about the same color as a 5000K 35W system.
 
Just do it the right way with the chrome rocker panel tape. Make templates with regular paper first, then cut your chrome. Works and looks fantastic. My headlights were fantastic up until I hit a deer. Drove the car for a year with the refinished headlights and they were bright as hell with an HID kit in them. I took my refractors out though.
 
NetKeym said:
Also, the 50W HID systems tend to "shift" the color chart over the 35W systems. For instance, the 6000K 50W system will output light about the same color as a 5000K 35W system.
Click to expand...

Not in my experience, well at least not the DDM HID kits. Got 6K with 55 watts all because everyone kept saying it shifts the color. Needless to say, I ended up getting 4500K (55w) for the factory look.
 
mark0101 said:
Not in my experience, well at least not the DDM HID kits. Got 6K with 55 watts all because everyone kept saying it shifts the color. Needless to say, I ended up getting 4500K (55w) for the factory look.
Click to expand...

That's what the company told me, it's prolly all a matter of interpretation. I have the 5000K 55W kit and it looks great to me!
 
The 6000k hids I've seen look pretty blue to me, id say 4300k-5000k would be the whitest bulb you can get..mine are 4300k which are a crisp white..even the pic makes them look slightly blue but they really are white.

IMAG0752.jpg


IMAG0754.jpg


IMAG0758.jpg
 
95mark8newyork said:
Put em in at 325 for like 10 mins, check every five. Use a knife to seperate the lens from the actual housing, PITA !!!Gonna try the paint well see how it goes
Click to expand...

Sounds like what I did... or attempted to do, but it's been so long, I can't remember what temp I baked it on. Maybe it was too high. Like I said, I was putting it in at 5-10 minutes at a time, and it went from not being softened at all to starting to melt the next time I checked. If I ever come across the other headlight off that car (assuming I didn't trash it at some point, cause I know it's junk), I might try it again. Thanks!

EDIT: Getting back on topic, I don't have any experience with any color temps lower than 8000k, which is going to be way too blue for what you're wanting. If anyone wants to see what a '96 LSC with stock HID lows and 8000k highs looks like, I'll try to get some pics in the next few days whenever I'm at my parents' house. My mom had me install HID highs on her car recently (deer are pretty bad around here and she worries about her night vision). I got her on the computer and showed her the color chart and tried to talk her into something in the 4300-6000k range to be brighter and better match her lows, but she wanted the bluer 8000k's. Honestly, from a distance of a few feet or better, it does look good, in my opinion, but if you get up close you can obviously see the there are two different colors and the 8000k's make the factory HID's look yellow (kind of similar to when it was factory and the HID's made the high-beam halogens look yellow). Like I said, if anyone wants to see a pic, I can provide one in the next few days.
 
gen 1 lights

I found the best way to cut the lights is with the new vibrating tool. I used the round blade and it was perfect. I used it on my 2'nd set and it made the job easier, and it cut straight lines. Go slow so you dont melt the plastic. Leave the diverter in unless you want to light up trees,houses, and everything but the road. Get Chrome Brite not rocker panel tape. Side by side it's much briter It takes about 2 rolls +. The tape only bends one way, so you have to make a lot of little pieces. I gave them a light coat of clear to seal the tape alittle and still looks good after a year,running standard bulbs. I just installed an HID kit,nice all plug in. Hope it does'nt melt the housings. 8000K,75 watt Have'nt tried them on the road but against the garage wall they seem as good as my 98. If the yellow is'nt too baked into the plastic it will buff out with polishing compound Good luck TONYyyy

Gen 1 HDLT.jpg


GEN 1 HDLT 2.jpg
 
ONLYTONY said:
I found the best way to cut the lights is with the new vibrating tool. I used the round blade and it was perfect. I used it on my 2'nd set and it made the job easier, and it cut straight lines. Go slow so you dont melt the plastic. Leave the diverter in unless you want to light up trees,houses, and everything but the road. Get Chrome Brite not rocker panel tape. Side by side it's much briter It takes about 2 rolls +. The tape only bends one way, so you have to make a lot of little pieces. I gave them a light coat of clear to seal the tape alittle and still looks good after a year,running standard bulbs. I just installed an HID kit,nice all plug in. Hope it does'nt melt the housings. 8000K,75 watt Have'nt tried them on the road but against the garage wall they seem as good as my 98. If the yellow is'nt too baked into the plastic it will buff out with polishing compound Good luck TONYyyy
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! :Beer I might just have to try that next time I try to mess with some housings. I do have a a couple pairs of gen-I non-LSC headlights lying around, but I haven't wanted to mess with them because both pair are in good condition (no damage; some yellowing on one pair, though, and the other pair is in "good" condition- not too yellow, but definitely not NEW either), and I didn't want to risk melting them in the oven like I did the last light I messed with.
 
Thanks, ill see if pep boys by me has it so I dont have to wait for this to come
 
Gonna get an HID Kit from DDM once I'm done too. Is this right? Will the Hi Beams still work or should I just get the 35W, 9005/HB3/5000K for the lows, and maybe something brighter for the high's? Is the highbeam the same bulb as the low beam?

35W
9005/HB3
5000K
 
highs and lows are the same.
35w is plenty. don't need the 55s.
9005 bulbs.
run halogens in the highs. imo HIDs take too long to light to be useful for high beams.
 
So I can just buy the hid kit for the Lows, leave the regular halogen bulbs in the Highs and still be able to use the high's if ever needed? My dad's not gonna want something non functional on his car, need both to be usable.
 
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