DarkSouljur

Hey I got my first car a couple months ago. 2002 civic sedan, it's silver and has a spoiler.

So far I've:

Tinted the windows
Got a faceplate for it
Ordered 2 pairs of kicker ks650 speakers

Im New to all this and was thinking about getting halo projectors, just had a couple of questions,

Where is the best place to buy them? (link would help)
Will they lower the brightness of my lights (if I don't get HID)?
Do they have high and low beam?
are the bulbs (H1 and H3) replaceable, and where can I buy bulbs?

I know these are probably stupid questions, but like I said I'm new and I really want to learn.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Ebay ebay ebay....
thats if u wanna save some money

Get HID's they're worth it with projectors
not much point in hibeam lowbeam with HIDs

Oh....dont rice out a sedan....cos at the end of the day....its still a sedan :3

Btw i thought 7th gens had H4 bulbs....-shrugs-

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Aftermarket projectors usually use h1 or h3 bulbs, one for high (reflector), one for low (projector) beams. OEM size is H4

sam68

iTrader: (2)

Yeah if your going to do it do it right which means projectors all the way. HID lights in halo's = less light and light all over the place which also might get you a ticket. Go to the retrofit store and read up on there they have kits that will bolt right in to your stock lights and if you want to mod them into Halo's it can be done but is a lot more work.

DarkSouljur

So you're saying that HID's are only low beam? Didn't know that ... what happens when you turn on the highbeams though? :S
Definately not trying to rice out my car, just a couple things to make it look nicer.

Are H1 and H3 bulbs better or worse than H4?

01civiclx94

Are H1 and H3 bulbs better or worse than H4?
No there is no better or worse. The only difference is the size. Usually the H4 has high and low beam built it. H7 and H1 usually is only one beam

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Some HID's are Single beam
H4 is a Hi/Low beam
because in our 7th gen stock headlights, we only have space for 1 bulb

I dont think we have an adapter for two bulbs since our adapter is 3 prong (pos, pos, neg) 1 for high beam, 1 for low
But im pretty sure u can get an aftermarket adapter to plug in

There is no "Better" bulbs between sizes, sizes are just for vehicle fitment
Bulb brands may vary in quality though

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

i believe it was recommendable to change the projector lenses, not sure for which OEM, when using HID. search around, there have been lots of the same questions previously.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

not just the lenses, but the projector assembly itself. For an OEM headlight, you can use pretty much anything your creative mind will allow you to install cleanly with proper aiming.

sup_mario

Good luck on that man. Hope it will be alright. lol

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Ah, yes, now i remember. I did not bother for the stock ones since i installed the projectors without asking here beforehand... OP is still safe, i guess.

DarkSouljur

Okay guys, like i said, i'm new. An explanation or what a projector lens is (realy quick and what does OEM mean, that would help a lot

(again, sorry for being so noob ... but i really want to learn!)

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

OEM - original Equipment Manufacturer or something similar, so not aftermarket, but parts approved by the manufacturer.
If you go the route of retrofitting your stock headlights, don't worry on the lenses or projector assembly. to explain, they are the lenses in front of the light, and they give the light spread pattern. Most aftermarket projector spreads too much the light, while OEM will concentrate the light to the ground in front of you (this is called cut-off line. See some of the posts from gearbox in several threads around here, he posted sevveral pictures of the illumination given by his headlights and enough information to fill out a book.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

I mean, I've done HIDs in halogen projectors.. Ran with that setup for 5 years, actually. I cracked the headlights open, took the projector assemblies out, adjusted the focal point on the lens by making spacers out of sheet metal (cut up aluminum can, actually.. lol) in order to get as sharp a cutoff as I could (the projector lens needed to come off it's base by about ¼" to get that cutoff), and aimed them correctly. The light output, although decent, was narrow, marginally extending outwards past the width of my car, but I had no problems on the road either seeing signs or pissing people off. I've had more problems pissing people off while driving my buddy's E46 M3 around with his HID setup.

Once I bought the retrofit off of electric130 and put it all together, the light output immensely improved.

sam68

iTrader: (2)

I just did mine a few months back and did a lot of research (reading) on the subject. I think by far the easiest way to get a nice retrofit that you dont have to do a lot of crazy stuff to make it work is to just buy a kit from the retrofit source this one to be exact http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...59af3543357532. It installs in your stock headlamps with one nut no modding anything and your lights aim with the stock adjusters because it bolts right into the stock reflector. This kit takes about 2 to 3 hours total to put in and is super easy comes with a harness everything you need. I would call them to order just tell them what you have and they will get the right harness and everything for you. Keep in mind also I did this in a 7th gen so not sure if it will work in a 6th gen thats why you need to call them but in the meantime poke around on their web site there is a ton of great info and pictures that will explain what we are talking about.

DarkSouljur

thanks sdaidoji for the help. Another thing ... what is a retrofit? i've seen the term a couple times here but no clue what that means

And thanks for the link sam i'll check it out.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

It's when you take an HID projector and install it into a headlight that was equipped with either a halogen reflector or halogen projector, in order to give a true HID light output. Retrofits often require a lot of creativity to make work properly and retain an OEM look

DarkSouljur

Another quick question. You guys told me that H1, H2, H3, H4, etc. are the SIZE of the bulbs. Does that mean they don't affect the brightness?

Because if i'm looking at halo projectors that say low beam and high beam both use H1 bulbs, does that mean they will be the same brightness? :S

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Not so much the size of the bulb itself, but the bracket of the bulb

Think of it...as a 2 prong, or 3 prong power plug
a US power plug vs Euro power plug vs China power plug

Hi/Low will be the same brightness if you get same temperature

Low beam will be in projector, so that light will be more focused, hi beam will be in chrome reflector so the light will be more widespread (seamingly higher output)

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

one way or the other, give up on the projector halos and get a retrofit kit HID for your car is what all of us are telling you.

sam68

iTrader: (2)

X2 without a projector/retrofit kit your stock headlights are going to throw out more light then just popping a HID bulb in your stock headlamps & worse in a aftermarket halo style headlamp. Without a projector HID bulb will throw light everywhere and not look as bright as stock bulb, so do it right or leave it stock.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

yup, the projector is better than my old beaten-up stock ones, but i understand that the stock ones are still better than the projectors i have now - it's too late for me, not for the OP to do it right.

DarkSouljur

Where can i get it retrofitted (or do i have to do it myself? Because i have no experience ...) and how much more is it going to cost me?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

If you get someone else to do it, it can cost a lot.. upwards of $500 bucks for everything.. and that's kinda lowballing it. That was the main reason I didn't go with a retro until I found someone selling their's, and I only needed a couple parts of it, and that still ran me $225 shipped.

If you search around, you can find DIY guides and get an idea of what goes into retrofitting.

sam68

iTrader: (2)

Do it yourself. Seriously retrofit source kit is so easy a caveman can do it.

DarkSouljur

I know nothing about retrofitting :P so i dunno i might just get regular halo's. Is there really that big of a difference?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

oh yea.. HUGE difference in light output.


Top beam is the "modified" halogen projector (changed focal point of the lens to get a nice cutoff)
Bottom beam is the HID retrofit

edit: I'm sure if you gather all the necessary parts and find someone and you ask them nicely (with a bit of monetary incentive), they'd do a retro for you.. That way you could possibly get it done for less than $500 bucks. A lot of the cost comes from the parts needed, a major culprit is when they include an OEM ballast and quality D2S bulb, which that alone can run you 200-300 bucks. I've gotten away with using a DDM tuning digital ballast with their D2S bulb (which both have a lifetime guarantee), and that ran me.. 65 bucks-ish?

edit, take 2: You can get an HID projector from the retrofitsource.com for as little as $135 for a pair (morimoto mini), and those utilize an H1 HID bulb (runs you $55 + shipping for the most expensive h1-sized HID kit DDMtuning.com sells - 55W digital h1 size), nab a set of projectors off ebay for $150, give or take a bit, and find out how much someone would charge you for the labor, and you got yourself a (possibly) less than $500 retrofit.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

can you just stop being lazy and start reading around like we have been telling you to do?!?

DarkSouljur

So is retrofitting basically replacing the projector itself with one that is HID ready?

Are these the ones i should be looking at?

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...04e016b5e24c1d

With this bulb at 55W?

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

What colour should i be getting? Because if HIDs are illegal i don't want to be pulled over -.-

lazlong

Is your dad ever gonna get rid of those old CRTs? lol