srbigbutt Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I was thinking about going HID, but decided unless you go all out it probably wasn't worth it. Plus I'm not sure I would like the look. I would want it to look more retro. 280z force and J. Soileau pull it off nicely, but there Z's are monster hybridZ. It goes well with there cars. My lonely mostly stock Z would probably look out of place. I decided to go with John at H4Lights.com suggestion and buy Autopal E marked lenses with Narva XB3 bulbs. Should be an improvement over what I got and shouldn't hurt my pocket book when another rock busts my headlight. I will post comments when I get them installed. They should be in next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK-Z Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 You guys make it sound too hard... The main points are easy. Its the details that make it difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I was thinking about going HID, but decided unless you go all out it probably wasn't worth it. Plus I'm not sure I would like the look. I would want it to look more retro. 280z force and J. Soileau pull it off nicely, but there Z's are monster hybridZ. It goes well with there cars. My lonely mostly stock Z would probably look out of place. I decided to go with John at H4Lights.com suggestion and buy Autopal E marked lenses with Narva XB3 bulbs. Should be an improvement over what I got and shouldn't hurt my pocket book when another rock busts my headlight. I will post comments when I get them installed. They should be in next week. That's the exact set up I ran for years before I did my retro fit with all OEM car components. Just be sure to run a headlight relay kit and they will be plenty bright... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srbigbutt Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 That's the exact set up I ran for years before I did my retro fit with all OEM car components. Just be sure to run a headlight relay kit and they will be plenty bright... I hope its brighter without the need of a relay harness but i'm pretty sure I will need one as well. Do you recommend one for a 280z. Most i've seen are for a 240z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Do you recommend one for a 280z. Yes, their all 30 yr old wiring.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srbigbutt Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Installed my Autopal E marked lenses with Narva XB3 bulbs lastnight and I was definately impressed. Nice bright white light that projects pretty nicely. I can now see at night!! Not as good as the real nice HID Projectors, but probably better than those cheap ebay ones. I definately recommend anyone to talk to John at h4lights.com if they want to upgrade their stock headlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I retrofitted my D21 pickup with bi xenon HID's, using H4 retrofit housings for a Z31 (wich upgrades them to the H4 bulbs) and tossing the H4 bulbs and using a H4 type HID bulb, and I didn't have to deal with those goofy looking projector units. It was all pretty much all plug and play, and I'm going to do the same thing to my S30 (except with the round H4 retrofit housings obviously) when it is closer to getting back on the road... I'll take pictures. cheers Ryan~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I retrofitted my D21 pickup with bi xenon HID's, using H4 retrofit housings for a Z31 (wich upgrades them to the H4 bulbs) and tossing the H4 bulbs and using a H4 type HID bulb, and I didn't have to deal with those goofy looking projector units. It was all pretty much all plug and play, and I'm going to do the same thing to my S30 (except with the round H4 retrofit housings obviously) when it is closer to getting back on the road... I'll take pictures. cheers Ryan~ Why go through all that fuss for a D21? They were available with H4 aerodynamic housings factory equipped, and on higher-end models they have an HID with In-Cab filament adjustment (that little black finisher in the instrument panel left of the steering wheel and below the in-dash vent...) Can't get much more plug-n-play than factory components for the application! On an aside, John at H4 Lights would probably point out of the recall of all H4/HID conversion kits for road usage some time ago. Seems people were upset with other people being able to see better at night without getting a headache, and the DOT repealed the section allowing them for road use. Cost some distributors big money when they were caught sitting on inventory, and even more if they couldn't tell the Feds where the missing units went from their inventory. Dealing with lighting can be a serious matter. Especially if you are in Virginia... Don't even ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s30guy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 well when they speak of a wiring kit i dont think they make a kit for these old z cars. i have a 87 bmw 325i and i had some trouble with the hids i had in the driving lights and the fogs.to fix this problem i went to my local audio store and obtained speaker wire that could support the voltage that these systems put out .then simply hide all the wires and ur on your way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Ok, so it took me a little while to get the photos, but here they are as promised... Oh, and sorry for the large images... Here is the H4 housings containing the HID's in the Hardbody. H4 housing... Close-up of the HID bulbs in the H4 housing... Here is both ballasts for the drivers side... And, here is the load harness/relays/passanger side ballasts mounted and tucked away... PS: I would like to say that the bulbs work magnificantly, however I wish the housings refracted the light differently. So I may switch up to a Hella H4 housing someday... The low beams are a bit to focused, and the high beams are absolutly redicilous, projecting a beam over 20' high and well past both sides of the road. Cheers Ryan~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bens1088 Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 This is what I've done to my civic and street bike. The refracted light isn't too bad on my civic because they are pointed pretty low. Its not too bad for on coming traffic. But I feel like I've spent so much time and money into my Z, I my as well do the real conversion and get projector housings. Someone wanna make a lot of money? Come up with a decently priced projector H4 housing. I actually have hook-ups in China...group buy anyone? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z_Master Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 SO with the aftermarket housing, (non projector) no one would recommend doing the D2R bulbs with ballast? And which Ballast is everyoen running now? Still Philips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slown280z Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Oh god... What stupid ranting... Can a mod clean this thread up? Back on topic, show me so dropped in HID bulbs in crappy housing with a real HID cutoff like this: I've never seen any proponents of drop in HID bulbs post their cut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Oh god... What stupid ranting... Can a mod clean this thread up? Back on topic, show me so dropped in HID bulbs in crappy housing with a real HID cutoff like this: I've never seen any proponents of drop in HID bulbs post their cut off. I agree 100%. The thing is, there is no HID that will look like this unless you have a proper projector housing to spread the light correctly... I took this pic of mine a couple nights ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I have a question. Looking at the above light cutoffs and my mates rx8, the light beam always seems higher at the right then the left. Why is this? Is it because they are not aligned properly? Or is it meant to be like this? Cheers Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 I have a question.Looking at the above light cutoffs and my mates rx8, the light beam always seems higher at the right then the left. Why is this? Is it because they are not aligned properly? Or is it meant to be like this? Cheers Brad Yes, it's meant to be that way so that the light beam is lower on the on coming traffic side of the road. The step is higher on the side where the street signs and such are, for obvious reasons... Here is how you want to aim them (The bottom one is correct #C) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Cheers, that makes sense. I should check my mates then, I thought he had the right side higher. But maybe it was the left side that was higher (We live in Australia and drive on the left side of the road). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z_Master Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Quick question... would the drop in D2R lightbulbs and ballast be a good idea on the normal H4 housings? I'm still confused by this. I know the D2S bulbs are meant for projectors. No one has really cleared this up for me. I personally don't like the looks of projectors.. that's my opinion. So what I want to do in my car is... 1) Keep my H4 housing 2) Buy D2R lightbulbs and ballast 3) Plug in and go Advantages and disadvantages of doing this? EDIT: BTW my housings are 7" units that have H4 bulbs in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay28 Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Yes, it's meant to be that way so that the light beam is lower on the on coming traffic side of the road. The step is higher on the side where the street signs and such are, for obvious reasons... Here is how you want to aim them (The bottom one is correct #C) So for right hand drive cars the step is just on the opposite side? I'll be getting my projector lights next week and will need to line them up.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 This is why I stopped posting about my projector set up in my car. Nobody seems to care about proper set ups with HIDS/Xenons. I personally hate being blinded by cars with head lights that are not aimed right and that's why I choose to do my set up the right way..........with factory projectors, bulbs, and ballasts. There are a few aftermarket set ups for the 7" housings now but they are not cheap.....$700+! I have like $150 in my set up but I got the 350Z bulbs and ballast for free(work at dealership and we had some "headlights go bad...") I paid $65 for the FX35 projectors and $30 for the cheapo ebay housing which I chopped up and made them fit to my needs! Another $30 or so for the plastic covers used for the stock headlights that Black Dragon sells....Then there was just fiberglass, bondo and paint! For you guys that think HIDs dont need proper housings, your just kidding yourselves. There's a reason HID kits are illegal in stock housings.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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