duowing

Alright, so after doing some searching I found LWW recommending a set of the Cibie 7" Lenses, as well as a set of the 100/55w Narva H4 bulbs from http://www.danielsternlighting.com/p.../products.html I sent an e-mail to them, inquiring about purchase.

It's either that or I'm thinking about attempting to follow the Projector Retrofit writeup, I don't know if one is drastically different from the other or not, other than the do it yourself method, are there any other kits for retrofitting projectors into a Z?

NismoPick

Not really... no one has made a set "prototype" or kit. There's only a handful of 280zx's w/ projectors...

duowing

I think I'm going to look into these, as LWW seemed to really rave over them in the threads I read, plus it would be nice to have headlights where I can set them, and just swap out the bulbs when they die.

I may pick up a cheap set of ebay lights though to do a projector swap.

Niku-Sama

if you want projectors get those cheepo projector look alikes, theyre cheaper than any thing else i have seen and you atleast get a lens to get you started for the hackin up

Sweets

Those cheap projector look alikes are fake. Dont waste your money on anything like that. Why dont you just get the msr lights from msa, along with a good hid bulb conversion with a halogen high beam. The msr headlights have a hood, so you wont get vety much glare (if any). That will get you really powerful headlights, for under $300.

NismoPick

HID bulbs are actually QUITE a bit more expensive than normal halogen or sealed beam headlights. Hopefully they are on ebay when you need them.

Also... remember that HIDs / projectors don't have "high-beams" by themselves. And "legally" to pass safety you need your brights. I keep a spare set of headlights still in the mounts for inspection day.

Cheap = Crap. Most of us don't like crap.

snwbrderphat540

ive thought about this for a while, and what type of bulbe do our cars use? cuase i figured get a headlight set that uses that same bulb, get the injectors out, and then one of the EBAY HID conversions for that type of bulb and then you have a plug and play HID setup to just find a good way to mount on your car. i thought an HID direct plug n play conversion for our cars would sell huge, i was thinking about making some and perhaps using the headlight bucket covers and they can be painted to match the car with just a recessed section for the HID/projector mount. or just leave that section clear and mount the projectors behind the covers and just close up to the glas make it a small housing in there and just paint match around the section.

duowing

I meant for the lenses that I was looking at, you're still basically using a Halogen bulb, and these lenses are the type that allow you to remove the bulb and swap in a new bulb, like a lot of newer cars so it would be much easier when the headlight burns out.

From what I can tell the only thing those ebay HID kits are good for are the Lens. They don't come with the projector HID bulb, it looks like a regular Halogen bulb. You'd need the ballast and crap. So you'd be better off finding a real conversion kit for one of the newer cars that uses the same style headlights as the Z.

NismoPick

Ah roger that... I gotcha now.

Sweets

Here is what you need to buy.

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/EA29/33-2068

and

a hid (h4 size bulb) conversion that a friend of mine sells for $150. THEY HAVE A HALOGEN HIGH BEAM BUILT IN BASICALLY STUCK TO THE SIDE OF THE HID BULB!!!
They are fantastic quality. And 100% plug and play.

I will be getting the above setup for my car in a couple weeks. So if you can wait until I get the kit... I can make a writeup for it.

NismoPick

And what will you be using for the projector lens and cut off plate?

snwbrderphat540

WRONG dowing, the ebay HID conversions are AMAZING. i bought one for my Z32 when i had it. ballasts and HID bulb all included. they were a GREAT purchase i was VERY VERY happy so was all the other 5 people on here that bought it when we all discussed it about 2 years ago.

NismoPick

^^^ it obviously depends on the product & who's selling it. There are a lot of cheap crappy HID kits out there cuz everyone wants HID but doesn't want to fork out the $$$... so people make cheap versions.

Who did you buy yours from? I got my bulbs & ballasts from a BMW 540i.

snwbrderphat540

i got the guy on this forum in links and in my FAV's i think. he's still selling them today. and for even cheaper than back then. same product to we compared it when darkman got his set just last week. look in the Z32 section we posted about it just recently. easy to find. i believe it was smart4cars

duowing

The kits on ebay, show a regular style Halogen H4 bulb, with no ballasts. The Z32 ones may be different though. My plan is to convert over, to at least nicer Halogen Bulbs, then eventually do a HID/Projector swap. I'd use the nicer Halogen Style Lenses and stuff for a while, then when I go HID I'd swap the nicer Halogen set over to my 280Z and put the projectors in my ZX. You'd have to see if they have a projector lens/cutoff kit for a newer vehicle that used that 6042 or whatever style round headlight.

snwbrderphat540

he sells all types. your just being concieted. lol. H4's even etc. do you really want a link so i can shut you up? ill show you i swear ill show you.

duowing

sure. Show me one for the 280ZX that has ballasts and stuff and I'd buy one.

EDIT:
Ok here's a common one I find: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-D...spagenameZWDVW

This is just an H4 conversion, but here looks like a realistic one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-N...spagenameZWDVW

Actually I'd have to buy both of those, seeing as I'd need the one to do an H4 conversion, and then the other to actually run the HID bulbs. Most of them claim HID, but are generally halogen bulbs.

snwbrderphat540

i said use them to make it work. i never said **** about there being one for the ZX cause our headlights are wierd and dont have projectors.

here's the thread: https://www.zdriver.com/forums/showt...light=HID+Ebay


here the store: http://stores.ebay.com/Smart4Cars

Sweets

What makes you think that I would need a projector? A high intensity discarge bulb is the same as a halogen, except for it has no paint on the front to reduce glare, they produce uber more lumens, have no filiment, and they take time to warm up.

Sure it is probably more efficient to have a projector lens with an hid bulb. But a better bang for the buck is putting hid bubls in a non projector h4 housing. Preferably with an internal light hood to reduce glare.

And what is a cutoff plate?

snwbrderphat540

because it will dispurse WAY to much of the light without a projector so it would be very unfocused AND would blind every driver on the road

duowing

So really, I'd have to buy an H4 retrofit kit, then get an H4 HID Conversion Kit. The H4 retrofit kit would be beneficial on it's own.

Ok the smart4cars kits look like they're relatively cheap, what would you do about the lens? Would basically any H4 kit work?

snwbrderphat540

meh, id say after all this, just steal some bimmer headlights with ballasts from the J-yard and do it for free. just hardwire a connector from the original headlights to the ballasts. now i want to go to the j-yards. lol.

Sweets

If you say so.

We will all see the end result when I get the conversion done. Glare or no glare.

snwbrderphat540

im telling you, you need projector housings.


its like taking the laser diode out of the laser housing, loose's all its focus and effectivness.

duowing

Like you said, steal everything from a BMW or something, then just grab some H4 conversion kit from ebay, and fit the projector in via the writeup.