Custom Angel Eye Headlights

[95GT]

OK. Now, I've had an Idea for a while on what I'd like to do.
I am wondering if there are and LED rings (not sure what size) To put in my headlight housing around the lowbeam bulb and a smaller one around the highbeam bulb, giving it the Angel Eye look. I haven't found any companies that make them for Fourth Gen. GA's.
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/7765/angeleye9lv.jpg
I'm sorry, it's a little gruesome, I made it on Paint, but it's the basic Idea.

Maybe I'd do that on the back, also...
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6227/brakelight4uu.jpg
That turned out worse than I thought it would...
Any thoughts? Any ideas or help would be apprecieated.

[Gagt518]

I know that APC sells LED halo rings that go around the main bulb

[Big Joe]

You can get the actuall rings at a bunch of places. I've even seen people make custom rings. The problem has always been the 92-95 headlight cover isnt clear.

[RickHigginsHtbr]

ccfl rings FTW, if you want a real small one for the other ring, hunt for ccfl comp fans that have two rings. i think the rings i put in the fogs in mine might be bigger than what your looking for.

[ephiny526]

i've seen people use the acrylic curtain rods to make angel eyes

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by Big Joe
The problem has always been the 92-95 headlight cover isnt clear.

Yes. I've seen them done before on a 92-95. Even pressed up against the lens, part of the effect is lost by the type of lens - it comes out with a fuzzy "frosted" look. If the halo isn't against the lens, I doubt you'll see the shape of it at all.

Originally posted by ephiny526
i've seen people use the acrylic curtain rods to make angel eyes

Yup... acrylic + dremel is the common do-it-yourself method.

[95GT]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
Yes. I've seen them done before on a 92-95. Even pressed up against the lens, part of the effect is lost by the type of lens - it comes out with a fuzzy "frosted" look. If the halo isn't against the lens, I doubt you'll see the shape of it at all.
Isn't there headlight restoration kits out there? I wonder if they work. But then again, the lenses have the reflectors or whatever they are (on the surface) that might cloud it.

[95GT]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
ccfl rings FTW, if you want a real small one for the other ring, hunt for ccfl comp fans that have two rings. i think the rings i put in the fogs in mine might be bigger than what your looking for.
I actually got the Idea from your signiture picture, that's the look I was going for.

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 95GT
Isn't there headlight restoration kits out there? I wonder if they work. But then again, the lenses have the reflectors or whatever they are (on the surface) that might cloud it.

I mean that actual lens pattern, assuming a headlight lens in good condition. If the lens is worn ("sandblast" effect) then this will be even worse.

[95GT]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
I mean that actual lens pattern, assuming a headlight lens in good condition. If the lens is worn ("sandblast" effect) then this will be even worse.
is there any way to polish that out, or remove it in any way, in essence making them clear?

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 95GT
is there any way to polish that out, or remove it in any way, in essence making them clear?

Yes, but it will require lots of work... need to sand off all the lens texture from the inside, then fine sand and polish to make clear again. At that point the headlights will have an unacceptable beam pattern - the existing reflector/bulb combo will not work in this configuration, so you'd need to retrofit some projector lenses within the housing to control the beam pattern. But the good news - this would be the proper way to prep a 92-95 for HID's.

[95GT]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
Yes, but it will require lots of work... need to sand off all the lens texture from the inside, then fine sand and polish to make clear again. At that point the headlights will have an unacceptable beam pattern - the existing reflector/bulb combo will not work in this configuration, so you'd need to retrofit some projector lenses within the housing to control the beam pattern. But the good news - this would be the proper way to prep a 92-95 for HID's.
Are there any HID's for the 92-95, or would that have to be custom?

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 95GT
Are there any HID's for the 92-95, or would that have to be custom?

You would need to use an HID kit that uses bulbs that match what the projector housings used in your custom setup require.

There are HID bulbs that will physically fit the 92-95 housings, but once again the type of lens hinders this idea - the beam pattern would be undesirable. (aka blinding, aka the "pull me over" beam pattern)

[95GT]

Originally posted by Matt95GT
You would need to use an HID kit that uses bulbs that match what the projector housings used in your custom setup require.

There are HID bulbs that will physically fit the 92-95 housings, but once again the type of lens hinders this idea - the beam pattern would be undesirable. (aka blinding, aka the "pull me over" beam pattern)
So would it be possible to find a set of driving lights, like seprate aux. lights and attach them inside the housing?
this is getting interesting

[95GT]

Optronix(low-end lights) makes a set of driving lights, they're about 3-1/2" diameter, H-3 bulb... Would that work if I gutted the headlight housing and mounted it in there, possibly replacing the H-3 bulb with a DOT approved one?

[RickHigginsHtbr]

if you were to retro those H3's in, chances are if you aim them the lowest they can go, you'll still be blinding people... unless you custom make a cutoff sheild for it. Basically you'd be taking the hard way into making your own projectors.

[Big Joe]

Originally posted by RickHigginsHtbr
Basically you'd be taking the hard way into making your own projectors.

Nothing will be easy with the stock set-up on 92-95 grand ams

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 95GT
So would it be possible to find a set of driving lights, like seprate aux. lights and attach them inside the housing?
this is getting interesting

Yes possibly, but that's not what I'm talking about. For HID use, you'll need to fiberglass in something like this...
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m206/TheRFS/tsx2.jpg

Projector housings for HID's will have a mask on the inside that will control the beam pattern. (it looks like a narrow "bandit's mask") Other aux "driving lights" will be blinding.

[95GT]

I'm just trying to get ideas around for lights for my 95 GT. The info is helping out alot.
what would be easiest? The projector housing, or the aux. lights?

[Matt95GT]

Same, although the HID internals (like in my pic above) may be easier to mount/integrate into the housing. For the effort, I wouldn't bother with some cheap driving lights... especially when the outcome may be worse than the stock lighting/pattern.

[03grandam]

These are the homeade acrilic ones i made, not bad and easy to do. Sooner or later i wanna do the same thing to my headlights. Im sure you can use any color but i went with blue.
First one is semi dark and 2nd one is total dark.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h247/03grandam/IMG_00055.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h247/03grandam/IMG_0006.jpg

[95GT]

so where could I get a set of HID's?
then I'd just mount them into the housing? wire them into the harness for the headlights for the stock lights.

[95GT]

Originally posted by 03grandam
These are the homeade acrilic ones i made, not bad and easy to do. Sooner or later i wanna do the same thing to my headlights. Im sure you can use any color but i went with blue.
First one is semi dark and 2nd one is total dark.
That looks pretty BA. So it was actually easy to do? It seems like it'd be tedious.

[RickHigginsHtbr]

Originally posted by 95GT
so where could I get a set of HID's?
then I'd just mount them into the housing? wire them into the harness for the headlights for the stock lights.

i got mine out of a BMW E46... they're kinda big and require a lot of modification, so try to find somethin smaller :)

[03grandam]

Originally posted by 95GT
That looks pretty BA. So it was actually easy to do? It seems like it'd be tedious.

This is a great how-to.http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56470 Thanks to redgrandam2003 (Mike).

[95GT]

Now, to the taillights...
So I could do the angel eyes for the taillights, how would I wire those? I'd want them to light up with the taillights and the brake lights... would that damage the LEDs? Or could they handle that?
I'd have to wire them in with the light wires.

[SBUBandit]

The patterns in the lens on that type of headlight are called fresnel patches, and like Matt said, without those the headlight beam will go everywhere except where you want it. You wouldn't want to polish them out, although it sure would look better if they were clear

[95GT]

The Angel eyes didn't turn out, so I'm going to put led's in my foglamps. http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7065/picture009ph1.jpg
the pass. side foglamp housing is messed up, and the bulb melted a hole in it. So instead of buying a new bulb, I bought leds.

[Gagt518]

at least you tryed:thumbup:

[95GT]

Originally posted by gagt518
at least you tryed:thumbup:
yeah. But I'll have more pictures of the lamps up later.