Headlight bulbs

micah_jones

Registered User
Ok, money is tight, but I am going to be getting new bulbs for my headlights. I want to get highs, lows, and fog lights. I am on a very tight budget, should I just get Halogen bulbs, or are the Xenon EBay special lights any better than plain halogen? Budget is about 35-40 bucks for all 3 sets of bulbs. (I know, I am cheap) I can either get EBay Xenon bulbs, or halogen bulbs. Which do you guys recommend?
 
Ok, money is tight, but I am going to be getting new bulbs for my headlights. I want to get highs, lows, and fog lights. I am on a very tight budget, should I just get Halogen bulbs, or are the Xenon EBay special lights any better than plain halogen? Budget is about 35-40 bucks for all 3 sets of bulbs. (I know, I am cheap) I can either get EBay Xenon bulbs, or halogen bulbs. Which do you guys recommend?

if you're on a tight budget then why even go out and buy 3 sets of lights ?

are they all working like they should ? i'd leave them alone if they all work

what are the condition on your headlights lenses ? are they cloudy and discolored ?

i wouldn't invest money in new lights if the lenses are still crappy looking.
 
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if you're on a tight budget then why even go out and buy 3 sets of lights ?

are they all working like they should ? i'd leave them alone if they all work

what are the condition on your headlights lenses ? are they cloudy and discolored ?

i would invest money in new lights if the lenses are still crappy looking.

Lenses need cleaning, can you buy them, or do you have to buy the whole housing? I dont have 150 bucks or more to drop on headlight housings. I just want brighter lights to be honest, I drive on backroads a lot with lots of animals and the stock lights suck.
 
Lenses need cleaning, can you buy them, or do you have to buy the whole housing? I dont have 150 bucks or more to drop on headlight housings. I just want brighter lights to be honest, I drive on backroads a lot with lots of animals and the stock lights suck.

Have to buy the whole headlight. I've seen em on eBay for $150-$200 for both.

I would just buy a set of brights. since they point higher I think they'd be better for spotting animals.

Get a set of silverstars 9005.
 
Have to buy the whole headlight. I've seen em on eBay for $150-$200 for both.

I would just buy a set of brights. since they point higher I think they'd be better for spotting animals.

Get a set of silverstars 9005.

Those are the ones that are sold at Wal-Mart right? For like 40 bucks a pair?
 
Seems as though you are talking about the bulbs and thunderkid84 is talking about the headlight housings themselves.

I would try cleaning up your headlight housings if I were you before I purchased any sort of bulbs. If they're extremely cloudy or yellowed, no matter what bulb you use yur results will continue to be minimal.

Do a search, there are several ways to clean the lenses without much more than you mention invested.

-Tim
 
Seems as though you are talking about the bulbs and thunderkid84 is talking about the headlight housings themselves.

I would try cleaning up your headlight housings if I were you before I purchased any sort of bulbs. If they're extremely cloudy or yellowed, no matter what bulb you use yur results will continue to be minimal.

Do a search, there are several ways to clean the lenses without much more than you mention invested.

-Tim

How hard is it to take them apart to clean the inside? I would just clean them, but it seems like they would be sealed right? Which would mean I would have to reseal them?
 
How hard is it to take them apart to clean the inside? I would just clean them, but it seems like they would be sealed right? Which would mean I would have to reseal them?

I've taken a few headlight housing apart by baking them in my oven (no joke) on like 350. This allows the glue to free up some without melting the housings....once the lense is off you can remove the yellow glue and then work on polishing the lenses.

I've always resealed mine with clear silicone with good results.

-Tim
 
I've taken a few headlight housing apart by baking them in my oven (no joke) on like 350. This allows the glue to free up some without melting the housings....once the lense is off you can remove the yellow glue and then work on polishing the lenses.

I've always resealed mine with clear silicone with good results.

-Tim

How dirty is the inside typically? I scrubbed the outside briefly with some Comet cleaner, and that seemed to help a bit, but they are still bad looking. Is it possible to get them clear without cracking them apart?
 
where i work (wal-mart), we do headlight restorations. we charge $40 and guarantee them for 3 years if i am not mistaken.. or you can buy a kit for $20 and do it yourself.
we had a 97 tbird come in and the lights were kinda yellow and cloudy. when we were finished with them they were nice and clear.
i need to do the lights that tim sold me, just havent had the time with having to go to school mon-thurs and work fri-sun.
if i get them done soon i will post some before and after pics.
 
where i work (wal-mart), we do headlight restorations. we charge $40 and guarantee them for 3 years if i am not mistaken.. or you can buy a kit for $20 and do it yourself.
we had a 97 tbird come in and the lights were kinda yellow and cloudy. when we were finished with them they were nice and clear.
i need to do the lights that tim sold me, just havent had the time with having to go to school mon-thurs and work fri-sun.
if i get them done soon i will post some before and after pics.

I dont think my Wal-Mart does that, or is it something they all do? I might just do that...
 
All these kits are is rubbing compound. A couple different grits and a polishing wheel. You can get good results with some elbow grease and toothpaste. Just take a bit. Start with a more aggressive compound and work your way to the finer stuff. If after doing the outside of your lenses, they're still not bright enough, then try opening them up.
 
here is the kit we use. our actually comes in a small box though.
it cost about $17 at the store.
contains 2 different grades of sandpaper( 1000 and 2000 grit)
a polishing compound then a sealer.
here is the site of the product http://www.myheadlight.com/

it actually works pretty good, but it takes longer to do the sanding part than they say it does.
 
here is the kit we use. our actually comes in a small box though.
it cost about $17 at the store.
contains 2 different grades of sandpaper( 1000 and 2000 grit)
a polishing compound then a sealer.
here is the site of the product http://www.myheadlight.com/

it actually works pretty good, but it takes longer to do the sanding part than they say it does.

We sell the same kit at Advance Auto for about 20 bucks. I opened one up and used it on a junkyard headlight for a display I set up in the store. It worked really well, and is the kit I recommend. We have 5 or 6 other kits for sale too, but this one is the only one that also has a sealer in it to seal it once you have completed the polishing.

Bonus for this month too at Advance, all the Silverstar twin packs are on sale for $31.99, and Silverstar Ultra bulbs are I think $41.99.
 
I have a wiring harness for both of my T-Birds from Competition Limited - http://www.compltd.com/ - along with the harness, I purchased OEM Ford headlamp shells for the SC and the LX then installed 80w bulbs for the low beams and 100w bulbs for the high beams.

I'm not sure if the OEM headlamp shells are still available for the SC. I've used aftermarket shells on my SC and my son's '94 LX, only to have that metal part inside the shell come unglued and float around.

What Competition Limited sells is worth the money on a dark night.

eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 LX sport
 
I used that kit, too, and it did give pretty good results. It has been less than a year, though, and they do look somewhat cloudy again. So your mileage may vary.

For the headlights, I would recommend that you just buy the Sylvania XtraVision bulbs ... not the Silverstars. They give just as much light output; the only difference is the color of the light and the 100% markup on the Silverstars! So you might get a little better color definition with the Silverstars, but they really aren't brighter. The Silverstars also will probably not last as long. (This is because they "overdrive" the bulb to get light output beyond the rated limit, then the light passes through the tinted bulb, which shifts the color by blocking some of the light in the yellow-orange-red spectrum ... which brings the total light output "to the road" back down to the rated limit. So it might output 120% as much light as the XtraVision internally ... but only 100% as much gets out of the bulb!)
 
if you have access to a rotary buffer you can achieve great results.
al you need is:

some heavy duty degreaser ( $2)
2000 grit sand paper ( $1 )
1/16 o 1/32 rubbing compound ($5 @local body shop)


wet the lens a bit then using the degreaser as a lubricant use the sand paper on the lens, you will instantly see how the yellow stuff starts to fall of , , go easy on the sand paper.

then clean and dry the lens , put some rubbing compount in the lens and distribute it evenly all over the surface , start removing it using the lowest speed on you buffer, repeat this step if neccesary.

clean them again with a rag and remove any rubbing compound left.

step back and look at you rejuvenated headligths.
 
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