are they xenon ones? you know, like the blueish whiteish colored headlights that newer cars have, and where would the cheapest place be to buy them?

HID lights are what you are referring to. If you want the brightest light output, get a 4300K kit. In HID, the higher the number DOES NOT mean a brighter light. Also, you MUST HAVE a historic or classic tag in order to run HID on ANY car not equipped from the factory. Factory HID's are auto-leveling. You will need to get yourself a 7" round composite housing that accepts a H-4 bulb. I say H-4 because they are the most common. They make a kit that utilizes a 55w ballast for even more light output. I plan on changing my kit to a kit that uses said ballast. The higher the Kelvin number, the more violet the light becomes.

I have xenon lights in my 97 firebird ta. I bought a kit from eurolights.com it came with the xenon bulbs and new glass housings to replace my stock ones w/ sealed beam technology which were dim and the light was yellow looking, the housings were not yellowed they were still clear, and really made driving at night unsafe. My new ones are very bright and the light looks very clean and blueish but they must not be to bright because no body has ever flashed their headlights at me. The street signs really pop now and they are quite beautiful actually. When i turn the brights on... yeah its bright. lights up the trees and all. YIts not the HID but when the time comes i will buy from them again for my camaro. Well i dont even know if they make a kit for the camaro, i had to e-mail them and ask for my ta, but on their cutomer page they have a pic of a 64 lincoln continental with their round headlight kit on so they probably do.

5000k halogen will be the cheapest way, such a piaa, not necessarily have to convert to an HID kit, itll give you the a whitish look, but nothing compare to for example a bmws.

those lights piss me off. unless you are in a jacked up SUV, they make you go damn near blind when you encounter a car with those lights. they might give the driver of the car they are installed on a sense of security, but they make every other driver on the road temporarily blind.

AMEN! tired of those lights come at ya and cannot see anything ahead for a few secs...
more danger to oncoming cars...

My wife's STS has them, and I like them on that car. They are automatically "hooded" for a sharp cutoff above a certain height unless high beams are on.

I think that one of the biggest problems with them is they are frequently not adjusted correctly, combined with the ever-present idiot who won't dim his lights for some reason.

Jim

those lights piss me off. unless you are in a jacked up SUV, they make you go damn near blind when you encounter a car with those lights. they might give the driver of the car they are installed on a sense of security, but they make every other driver on the road temporarily blind.

I can understand what you're saying, but anyone who simply throws in a set of lights without checking the aiming is crazy. I have NEVER had anyone flash me to tell me my lights are blinding them.

My wife's STS has them, and I like them on that car. They are automatically "hooded" for a sharp cutoff above a certain height unless high beams are on.

I think that one of the biggest problems with them is they are frequently not adjusted correctly, combined with the ever-present idiot who won't dim his lights for some reason.

Jim

The reason your lights are the way they are is because they are factory and they are auto-leveling. The next time you turn them on, watch if you are off level a bit. You will see the light actually bounce a bit as it finds level. It's actually pretty cool to watch.

5000k halogen will be the cheapest way, such a piaa, not necessarily have to convert to an HID kit, itll give you the a whitish look, but nothing compare to for example a bmws.

The lights you are referring to are no where near the light output of a true HID. The reason manufacturers throw that crap on there(5000K), which by the way is 100% false advertisement, is so people will waste their money. They do this KNOWING, once you install an electrical item, IT CANNOT BE RETURNED!!! I think it's a horrible way for a company to make money. EVERYTIME I had a customer come in and wanted to buy those crappy things, I would tell them to steer clear. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!

I can understand what you're saying, but anyone who simply throws in a set of lights without checking the aiming is crazy. I have NEVER had anyone flash me to tell me my lights are blinding them.
the aim doesn't matter- they are just flat out too bright.
the reason no on ever flashes their high beams at you is because the people you encounter are trying to look away from the blinding beam without swerving into either you or the shoulder or closing their eyes.
have someone else drive you car while you drive another car in an opposite direction just to see how others see you. then have them follow you so you can deal with the blinding light reflected at you from your mirrors. you can dim the rearview mirror on the windshield, but the mirrors out on the doors are still aimed right at your eyeballs.
those lights are no better than the idiots that think that they need aftermarket off road driving lights under their bumpers, and i think the DOT only allows them because they come standard on expensive high end cars.

AMEN! tired of those lights come at ya and cannot see anything ahead for a few secs...
more danger to oncoming cars...
do as I do I throw on the brights until they pass
pisses them off hehe.

do as I do I throw on the brights until they pass
pisses them off hehe.
sometimes it just makes them turn on their bright lights, which is even worse than the low beams- about like staring at the sun.

do as I do I throw on the brights until they pass
pisses them off hehe.

Unfortunately, your high beams are not as bright as HID's and the high beam gets soaked up by the HID's so it doesn't quite work as you think.

the aim doesn't matter- they are just flat out too bright.
the reason no on ever flashes their high beams at you is because the people you encounter are trying to look away from the blinding beam without swerving into either you or the shoulder or closing their eyes.
have someone else drive you car while you drive another car in an opposite direction just to see how others see you. then have them follow you so you can deal with the blinding light reflected at you from your mirrors. you can dim the rearview mirror on the windshield, but the mirrors out on the doors are still aimed right at your eyeballs.
those lights are no better than the idiots that think that they need aftermarket off road driving lights under their bumpers, and i think the DOT only allows them because they come standard on expensive high end cars.

I have had 1000's of cars come at me with HID's and I don't think they are any worse than any other light that is aimed properly. If they were, then the factories WOULD NOT be able to make them. ANY light is going to be bright if it's aimed at your face. Take a standard 55w low beam and aim it so it's facing oncoming traffic. Have someone drive said car at you and then say it has nothing to do with the aiming of the light. It has everything to do with aiming. The reason OEM hid's are auto-leveling is so they won't shine in the faces of oncoming traffic. Aftermarket hid's are not so EXTRA care must be taken to aim them properly.

There is a cheaper alternative that does not involve a conversion. The Sylvania Silver Star sealed beam bulbs provide a whiter and brighter light without going to the ridiculous.

I checked on Silver Stars a few years back for my '01 Lincoln, which has terrible lights. I can usually keep my highs on, and no one notices.
At that time, they had a life span on Hi Beam of about 240hrs.
I would hope they've changed by now?

Jim

If you go to a higher wattage bulb, you are going to have to upgrade your wiring. HID's actually run from a 35 watt bulb. It's the transformers that jumps the 12v in your system up to 50,000volts to light the gas and jump the gap of the bulb. In a standard bulb, the filament connects the two sides of the bulb. If you look at an HID bulb, there is actually a gap with no connection inside the glass. The glass houses the tungsten electrodes and a combination of gas and metal salts. Once the arc starts, it heats and evaporates the metal salts forming a plasma which greatly increases the light intensity and reduces its power consumption.

I have been running the silver stars for 18 months and I don't have any electrical issues with an 80 amp alternator. Drove the entire Hot Rod Power Tour this year (2650 mile 7 day round trip from the house) with the lights on most of the time and no problems. I checked the wiring at the lights and they don't even get warm. The whiter light definately helps and they are a cheap upgrade.