G50 JDM Headlights Please advise

[Heath]

Okay, so shortly after purchasing my Q I got some JDM headlights for it. I never got around to putting them in. Well now I'm forced to. I took a big rock in the drivers side headlight so its got a huge hole in it.

I just have the houseings. None of the electrical equipment. I believe that the connectors are different than the ones I have now aren't they, don't I need different bulbs and such? Any chance of HID? I've tried searching but came up with nothing helpfull... I also checked the how to and again nothing.

If anyone knows of threads that might help can you please post a link for me?

Thanks...

Heath

[DrewQ45]

Are these clear lens or something? Pics please. You'd be the first 90-93 I've heard of to have any headlights other than stock.

[Heath]

They're OEM, just from Japan... Three is a pic floating around here on NICO of them, let me do some poking around again...

[Heath]

You can see them here... Mine look like the top ones...

zerothread?id=210256

[DrewQ45]

They seem pretty much like the US headlamps. What made you purchase them over domestic used given the connector differences?

[maxnix]

Be aware that since they are designed for a drive on the left country, the beam kick-up will blind oncoming drivers in a drive on the right country.

[Q451990]

I believe they use a dual filament style bulb in the outside portion. Not sure on the inside one... maybe a daytime running light? Maybe some of our mates from down under with JDM imports can tell you?



Heath

[Ozzie]

I can answer all your questions

The inner lights, closest to the "belt buckle" take H3C bulbs(single filament).These spread the light wide, but close to the car, to help see the sides of the road better.The main light takes H4 bulbs(dual filament for lo/hi beam)Search ebay and you will see plenty of HID kits for the H4.I just picked up a set of HC3 bulbs yesterday from ebay for $0.01!!!

You may have to re-wire your bulb sockets to put on H4 ones(I believe the US ones use 9006 bulbs?? Someone else will have to confirm this)

EDIT: If need be, I can hack a couple of H4 sockets and wiring off of any local car and mail them to you, then all you have to do is cut off your US sockets and then solder the H4's onto your harness


Modified by ozzie! at 4:42 AM 4/4/2007

[Heath]

I can answer all your questions

The inner lights, closest to the "belt buckle" take H3C bulbs(single filament).These spread the light wide, but close to the car, to help see the sides of the road better.The main light takes H4 bulbs(dual filament for lo/hi beam)Search ebay and you will see plenty of HID kits for the H4.I just picked up a set of HC3 bulbs yesterday from ebay for $0.01!!!

You may have to re-wire your bulb sockets to put on H4 ones(I believe the US ones use 9006 bulbs?? Someone else will have to confirm this)

EDIT: If need be, I can hack a couple of H4 sockets and wiring off of any local car and mail them to you, then all you have to do is cut off your US sockets and then solder the H4's onto your harness



Modified by ozzie! at 4:42 AM 4/4/2007

Ozzie, you are the man... This is EXACTLY the info I needed... I was figuring you guys had the same lenses down under... I'll see if I can get the harnesses here in the states, but if not we'll figure something out... I can send you some cash for the parts, shipping and a couple pints of your beverage of choice...

Thanks,

Heath

[Ozzie]

Email address is in my profile. If you need me to organise those H4 looms, drop me a line there. I am guessing you will source the bulbs locally, or from ebay. Otherwise, I can organise those too.

[Heath]

Email address is in my profile. If you need me to organise those H4 looms, drop me a line there. I am guessing you will source the bulbs locally, or from ebay. Otherwise, I can organise those too.

Yeah, I'll poke around here and see what I can find. I've been looking at e-bay too and they have bulb from cheap to REALLY spendy... Amazing the difference in price... On top of that they have HID conversions for about $250... I wonder if that would be worth it...

[Ozzie]

I'm going HID in the near future.....If you can wait, I can be the guinea pig. So that way, you will know if it's worthwhile or not, without spending your own money to find out yourself.

[Heath]

Hmmm... Depending on how long that takes you I might just wait for that... LOL...

[Heath]

ozzie, I'm going to go and check my local auto parts store this weekend for any H3 and H4 bulbs... I've seen some HID kits on ebay for them too, but my first concern is just getting it wired up and working so I have a headlight again...

[Ozzie]

I realised a couple days ago, that you may not need the "H3C" bulbs, because on a JDM car, they are wired seperate, and have their own switch.Are your inner bulbs used as high beams?The pic showing the 2 pin H3C is to suit my car, but you may only need a single wire type bulb, but with the same base fitting....

Can you post some pics of your headlight wiring harness, and point out what each connector's job is?Your harness may have small oval plugs for the main beam, instead of the square ones like the picture I posted.If that's the case, I believe a 9006 bulb will fit the headlamp, and have the correct connector on the back to suit your harness (I'm just guessing ATM, if you can post some pics, it may help)

Otherwise, you can take the headlamp into the store, and show them what you need. Then drag them out to your car and show them the wiring harness on your car for the headlights. If they know their job well enough, they should be able to direct you to the correct bulb fitment.

[Heath]

Ozzie... I have an update...

Okay, FINALLY got around to getting this done... The inners (closest to the belt buckle) were actually still in the housings... They look like the H3C's that you posted up... I have yet to try and source a wire harness for those... The outers are a 9003/H4 (same thing I believe)... I found those here locally and on e-bay to be readily available... The plug for those I also was able to locate on e-bay, however I'm still trying to search for a plug and play adaptor so I don't have to cut if possible...

In my housings there is also a third light for a much smaller bulb... Looks like a small 5w bulb looks like a turn light basically... What does that bulb do on your car??? Is it a colored bulb for turn signal or what????

Did you get your HID conversion done yet??? I'm still looking at that as a solution too... Looks like around $200 for HID conversion off of e-bay...

Thanks...

[qship96]

that little bulb,usually 5 watts or less,is what is called a "city light" and should be a clear bulb-it activates with the parking lamps "on" position of the switch and is intended to make the headlamp assembly glow softly to help others see you when driving in semi-daylight { dusk,dawn} very popular{mandatory?} in some european countries that ban headlamp usage in their well lit citys during these conditions.

[mxr662]

Looks like around $200 for HID conversion off of e-bay...

Here is an interesting article on hid conversion. http://www.danielsternlighting....html

[Heath]

Thanks, I was wondering if that was what it was for... I remember they were a really popular mod for import kids back in the mid 90's... I almost did it... They would usually use a colored bulb though, not just white...

I was thinking about wiring it to the blinker, but maybe I shouldn't...

[Ozzie]

Nah, keep it as a parker bulb....change them over for these.....http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PAIR-T1...wItemThe 5 LED setup spreads the light nicely, so it's viewable at all angles, and looks sweet in cool white....

Oh yeah, no HID yet, cause I lost my job recently......

[Heath]

Hey I like that idea... Those look sweet...

Sorry about the job man, that sucks... Especially when you want to do stuff to your car...

Well I may have found a way to use an H3 bulb instead of an H3C bulb... Figured out the wiring part of it anyway... Just gotta see if they'll fit in the hole now... If not I'll be paying out the wazoo for some of those bulbs too.. Damn this is getting to be an expensive mod and I'm not even really doing it voluntarily!!! Hopefully I'll be happy with the outcome though... I'm thinking I might just go with some silverstar H4's for now and worry about the HID's later... Still haven't found a source for an H3C wiring harness yet though... I'm still poking around for one of those... UGH...

Nah, keep it as a parker bulb....change them over for these.....http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PAIR-T1...wItemThe 5 LED setup spreads the light nicely, so it's viewable at all angles, and looks sweet in cool white....

Oh yeah, no HID yet, cause I lost my job recently......

[Ozzie]

Nah, keep it as a parker bulb....change them over for these.....http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PAIR-T1...wItemThe 5 LED setup spreads the light nicely, so it's viewable at all angles, and looks sweet in cool white....

......as shown in this crappy video

[Heath]

Well they're in... For right now I'm running some Silver Stars for the H4/9003's... The high beams there were still some good H3C's in there so I won't buy those until these ones die or I go HID (If I still go HID)... We were going to change those to H3's but couldn't find a suitable ground on the bulb itself to wire to... We have the city lights hooked up with the parking lights... All in all she looks pretty damn sweet!!!

The sockets for the ball in sockets are broken out on both of the lights... To bad its not like the US ones where you can replace them... These are molded into the housing... So I'm still trying to think of a solution for that...

Thanks for all your help ozzie... BTW, when you do go HID you need to let me know how that turns out!!!

[Ozzie]

The H3C's aren't high beams.......

They are focussed very near the front of the car, not for distance.

To get a proper hi-beam, you need to use dual filament H4 bulbs in the main housing.When you activate the hi-beams, the secondary filament will light, and will shine at a higher angle, to give greater visibly lit distance.

If you have wired the H3C's to act as high beams, you are going to have to undo your work, and wire the high beam power to the H4 bulb.

Refer to the pics i posted earlier to wire them correctly.

Good luck!

[Heath]

We've wired them so that the H4 switches to high as well... So the H4 runs low beams, then when I hit the highs the H4 bumps up and the HC3's come on too...

[Ozzie]

Cool. That sounds like a good setup.I like having the H3C's available on the separate switch, as they are good "running" lights.

But your setup sounds fine.

How's the opposite side "kick up" of light affecting you?Got any high beam flashes from other motorists yet?Find it harder to see the signs on the side of the road?

[Heath]

Cool. That sounds like a good setup.I like having the H3C's available on the separate switch, as they are good "running" lights.

But your setup sounds fine.

How's the opposite side "kick up" of light affecting you?Got any high beam flashes from other motorists yet?Find it harder to see the signs on the side of the road?

that left side kick has me a little concerned, I wasn't aware of that when I bought them... We'll have to see how it does... I haven't driven her at night yet...

So with your H3C lights are they on a seperate swith from the factory??? If so can you show me some pic??? That sounds like a cool way to wire them too... I could use them as daytime running lights...

[Ozzie]

So with your H3C lights are they on a seperate swith from the factory??? If so can you show me some pic??? That sounds like a cool way to wire them too... I could use them as daytime running lights...

In the video......

......as shown in this crappy video

[q45vh]

oh is there anything i can do to blackhouse the headlamps??? i would like to paint the front headlamps housing black!! is it possible?? or do i jus clean out the front headlamps?? thanx!!