[V8] WAAAAAAAY off subject: NAC! not even close to Audi content, but....

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Thanks for the info.
 
One issue that I have is that I am VERY partial to the European headlight
with its sharp horizontal cutoff and 15 degree rise on the right shoulder.
This is particularly useful here in rural Maine where so many miles are on
narrow rural roads, and headllights must be dipped to meet oncoming cars,
yet the always present danger of Bambi or Bullwinkle right on the edge of
the road is a scary proposition.  The Hella's will fix that part well at
moderate cost, and I will use 80/130 or some such bulbs so that on high
beam, the illumination is forever in terms of this rural environment.
 
Of course the system will have to be relayed, and in point of fact any
system should be.  I agree that the OEM wiring is probably pretty skimpy.
 
I have found that the mounting hardware for the rectangular headlamps is
available from the Chevy parts department and isn't outrageously expensive.
BUT the service manager has a rusted out parts truck in his back yard and
given some time, a few bucks, and perhaps a six pack or two of Sam Adams, I
might just come up with all the mounting pieces necessary without going new.
Remember this truck is a 1998.
 
Even if I buy the entire works new, using aftermarket and Chevy dealer
parts, the whole front end will be ready to rock and roll for around $350 or
so....of course the labor is mine, but I used to do headlight/driving light
systems for rally cars as a hobby back around the dawn of time.  
 
I'm still shopping.  The windchill here is around zero, and the truck with
its cap on won't fit in the garage at this point.  the time when I would
turn wrenches with my knuckles blue from subfreezing temps is loooong gone,
so this might end up being a spring project.
 
I will also add that I am tempted to merely replace the original headlights
with aftermarket headlamps, higher wattage bulbs and relayed with heavier
wiring.  THEN add to them some driving lights that would be separately
relayed, with an isolated switch so that they would work only when turned on
and only through the headlight dipper.  I have some instructions someplace
for doing that with a lighting block from a Buick Regal or something like
that if I can find it.  Anyway, it isn't rocket science.  My choice of
weapons should I want to go to auxilliary lights would be Cibie 175 driving
lights.  I saw a Chevy Suburban with a set on the front end once and the
large rectangular lamps looked great, and from prior experience I know the
truck with a set of those and some decent, clear headlamps with high wattage
high beams will put out light like Yankee Stadium at midnight.  
 
That's what I ultimately want to accomplish:  the sun coming up on the back
road from Camden to Belfast.
 
Roger

-----Original Message-----
From: NIck Miller [mailto:chance9121 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 5:49 PM
To: Roger M. Woodbury
Cc: V8 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [V8] WAAAAAAAY off subject: NAC! not even close to Audi
content, but....



Comments... 

I think you may be going about it the wrong way... does this use a 9005\6
setup or the high\low in one bulb setup?

I would say the best way to do a headlight upgrade is be progressive with
it.  The very first thing I would recommend is relaying the original
headlights.  You will need to clean the oxidation off too for this to work,
but this will make the biggest difference on old lights.  Factory wiring is
small and gets old and crappy on a lot of american cars and this usually
fixes that issue.  Headlights are quite a load too and need good juice to
work right.  This will require a female plug to the OE harness feeding a
signal to a relay, which feeds power driectly off the battery to the
headlights.   The relay harness doesn't take a lot to make,  you should be
able to get these connectors at an autoparts store or online as well as good
heavy gauge wire.  I will get a nice site for showing you how to make one
shortly.

If that doesn't work for you, and you have 9005\9006 bulbs you will want to
modify your relay harness for 9011\9012 bulbs or modify the bulb bases.
Either way,  these HIR bulbs offer great light while still being
conventional halogen bulbs.  They are a significant redesign over the same
incadesant bulb that automotive lighting has been using for decades.  They
work wonderfully.

If you still aren't satisfied HID retrofits are pretty simple to do.  For
between 250 and 400 you can get everything you need to build a very nice
single projector xenon or bixenon setup, and the performance would be many
times better than an oem conversion of any sort.  I can't think of any
reason to spend money on oem halogen parts vs doing this.  The comparison is
night and day, literally.  My A8 oem hids aren't even as nice as my custom
hid setuo on my MX5 because I was able to choose the best stuff the industry
has.  Just exceptional night driving with that setup.  And with that and hir
highbeams as a quad mod, I can light up quite a bit with my highs.

Any questions please ask, I can find the required literature shortly

On Dec 29, 2011 8:21 AM, "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at fairpoint.net>
wrote:


I know a lot of you have experience with all sorts of oddball car brands, so
I thought I throw out my question regarding this odd ball car brand.

I am speaking of a certain truck that graces my driveway...one of those
relatively limited production vehicles called a Chevrolet, or for those of
you who are in the inner circle, a Chebbie.

This particular one is a 1998 (old body style) 3/4 ton 4X4.  While it has
lived its entire life in Maine, it has had relatively little winter use so
it is not rusty at all.  Most Chebbie trucks of this vintage are already
waiting compaction in the scrap yard, but not this one.

Anyway, my issue is the headlights. this truck is a relatively bare bones
version (CHeyenne), but it has the Silverado grille with the lovely
polycarbonate headlights.
Whoever ordered this thing originally spec'd it out with about every 3/4 ton
(and some 1Ton) stuff they could get, omitting some niceties like power
windows and locks...but about everything else is there, except right now,
with 120,000 miles or so, the poly headlights which were never great, are
useless.  So I am planning a serious upgrade as I find I like driving the
truck far more than I had expected and will continue to do so through this
winter anyway.

I have thought about just buffing the lenses using one of those buffing
headlight restoration kits, but that would only restore already weak
lighting to nearly new weak llighting.

I have a set of very nice driving lights that I had thought about
installing, but in order to do that, I will have to relay, double switch and
all that jazz, and I will still have useless low beams which is where a lot
of my night driving issues are with this present system.

What I think I want to do is replace the Silverado grille with a base grille
for the truck that would use large rectangular headlamps and install a set
of Hella rectangular headlamps.  Naturally, I'll have to relay the circuit
but that will be pretty simple.

The issue I am having is buying a pair of headlight mounting brackets that
will accept the rectangular headlamps in place of the polycarbonate lamps of
the Silverado grille.  I wonder if anyone here has had experience with
this...I think it is a bolt on situation, but I haven't pulled the grille
off to inspect.  I also have not been to the Chebbie dealer to see if the
brackets can be obtained from Chebbie, or if there will need to be a trip to
a wrecking yard.  I hope I don't have to replace the entire metal work that
holds the radiator in place, because if I have to do that, the driving lamp
installation becomes MUCH more attractive cost wise, of course.

Comments?

Roger
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