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H.I.D.'s in a W-Body?


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Posted

yeah....thats the same place i was looking...and i've heard that is a VERY good place to get them from!!

Posted

My HID bulbs were the EXACT same length as halogens. I compared them by lining up the mounting tabs and they were perfect. I wouldn't worry about them fitting in the miniquads because I know you can put 9006/5 halogens in there without a problem. 8)

Posted

Sorry, didn't see this thread till today.

I have all the answers. :lol:

 

I put real HIDs in my 94 Cutlass convertible too. The bulbs are weak in the used kit I bought, but that's beside the point.

 

Here's what you need to know:

1. There is no easy place to mount the ballasts. Not enough room in the engine compartment, PLUS it's not good to put ballasts in there where there's all that heat anyway. I removed all the lights and removed the entire headlight header panel. After doing that, there will be plenty of room to mount the ballasts. The header panel has a ton of screws, but actually can be removed in less than 15-minutes. The tricky ones are the ones you have to get to from under the car, but a long extension on a ratchet makes that an easy job.

2. You have to be VERY careful what kit you buy. The HID bulbs I put in my 89 were genuine name-brand (Philips) D2R bulbs that had been grinded on and rebased to fit a 9006 housing. The problem is that when you put 9006 bulbs in the miniquad sealed housing, it's actually held in with that O-ring on the neck which fits nice and tight. A rebased name-brand bulb will NOT have that neck and therefore, would not fit in the miniquad lamp. Your only option is to buy a cheap Chinese or Korean 9006 HID replacement bulb which DOES have the neck and O-ring. They would then fit snugly into the sealed housing just like your Silverstars.

3. Miniquads put so little light out on the road, I highly doubt you'll have glare problems. HID won't improve your beam pattern, it'll just make your existing beam brighter.

4. I highly recommend building or buying a headlight relay kit that bypasses the headlight switch. Although HIDs use much less power (only 35W each), they consume something like 20A for a split second when turned on. Over time, I think this brief power surge can be hard on the wiring, especially at the firewall connector.

 

I'll make a Cardomain page for the 94 in the near future and put the pics of the install on it. I won't bother with beam pattern pics until I get new bulbs.

Posted

ok....so you're saying the PHILLIPS bulbs from xenondepot prolly wont work...even thought they are designed to REPLACE the 9006?...hmmm...you're '94 VERT had mini quads then, RIGHT?...did you have any problem with length?...and which brand did you use?...AND...the xenon depot comes with the relay's so you don't mess up you're factory wiring...

Posted

Yes, that's right, from pics it looks like the Philips bulbs from Xenondepot won't work at all. They are custom bases that have the flat locking part that would fit a real 9006 housing, but since the miniquad sealed beam was never designed to use a replacable capsule, it has no place for the flat part to twist and lock into. We need that neck part with O-ring so it can be pressure-fit into the sealed beam housing. All rebased name-brand bulbs and even the Xenondepot bulbs which have a completely custom molded base are lacking this neck. The only real HID bulbs I've seen with this neck are generic no-name Chinese/Korean bulbs.

Yup, my 94 vert has miniquads.

No, length is not a problem.

I used a brand called LUMINARC. It came with real OSRAM LUMINARC ballasts, but used Korean generic 9006 bulbs. The Korean company just called the whole kit name "LUMINARC" even though the ballasts are the only part made by OSRAM.

 

Here are a few pics to show what I'm talking about. This is the generic Korean bulb and the arrow points to the neck that has the blue O-ring on it.

hidbulb.jpg

 

The bulb stays in the housing because the neck gets press-fit into the hole in the back.

IMG_0657.jpg

 

Without that neck part, the bulb can't stay in.

Posted

so, did you silicone the HID bulbs into you're mini quads then?...also, what was *K of you're bulbs?...do you have any nighttime pics of the HID's in the mini-quads?...and, do they do that really cool blue to white when you turn them on!?... :lol:

Posted

I think I might have used silicone, although it's not really needed since the bulbs fit very snugly into the housing. They are 6000K bulbs and are a lot more blue than the 4100K I put in the 89.

No pics, because I need to replace them... they are too dim because they're real old. One of them has even color shifted to a sort of yellowish greenish blue color.

 

Yeah, HIDs do that blue to white color change when they warm up.

Posted

well...let me just ask...HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THEM?...cause if they need replaced, and they havent been in very long...thats kinda poopy... :roll:

Posted

Hey Terry, how much of a difference did the Silverstars make over the original lamps in the mini-quads? If you noticed even a slight improvement, I think it would be worth it for me to slap some in the MQ's on my 'Prix. Man, I never really bought into the whole "mini-quads suck" hype until I actually bought a car with them. Now I'm a believer, mini-quads do suck the meat missle (except for when the lows stay on with the highs, that ain't so bad.)

Posted

well....they are much clearer and have a bluish tint to em...they are ALRIGHT...but, they are a bit pricey!...(why am i bitchin about price?...i'm considering HID's...lOl..)...but, anywayz...i can tell you that my FOG/DRIVING lights are brighter then my low beams..lOl... :wink:

Posted
well...let me just ask...HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THEM?...cause if they need replaced, and they havent been in very long...thats kinda poopy... :roll:

 

Well, they were bad when I bought them. Bought them used on Ebay, mainly for the OSRAM ballasts but they came with bulbs so I decided to use them.

Posted

ohhh...ok...i see...are you gonna replace the blubs soon?...cause i'd like to see some pix of those bad boyz in the mini-quads...it seems that you're the only one BRAVE ENOUGH to try it!!!... :lol:...AND for that... :worship:...you should POST some more pix of the swap though... :wink:

Posted

do you have any more pix from the SWAP!?...i'm really curious now...and, i was also thinkin...since i'm silicone gluing my bulbs into the MQ's anywayz...why couldnt i just use any HID bulb with a 9006 base?... :?

Posted

If you use a crapload of silicone it might stay, but it would be very difficult to center it. Plus, I think even with a crapload of silicone, I don't think it would stay in all that well. Which install pics would you like to see?

Posted

well...i'd like to see EXACTLY where you mounted you're ballasts...if you have pics of that...i'd really like to see a pic of them in the mini quads...even if it isnt THAT GOOD...and...i dunno...i just wanna see some pix for inspiration, and information... 8)

Posted

hey...i also forgot to ask you if you get FLASHED for you're HID's?....in either of you're cutty's... :?:

Posted

I'll post some pics maybe tomorrow at work when I have some time.

 

No beam pattern pics yet because I don't have a flat empty wall.

 

Nah, the 94 is too dim to get flashed and the 89 is aimed too low.

Posted

thanx for the pics...NOW HURRY UP AND GET NEW BULBS AND TAKE PIX!!!...AND A VID OF THEM IGNITING!!!! :lol: :wink:

Posted

ok...today i was browsing around on xenondepot.com and found this pic:

 

xenondepotbulbs.gif

 

NOW...that is a pic of their REBASED bulbs and the 2 on the lower right appear to be 9005-9006 bulbs...and THEY have the neck and the o ring...so...i'm thinkin that those SHOULD WORK!?...what do ya think!?...or is there still an issue of length!?... :?

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