Bob86ZZ4

Some of you are aware we are putting a light weight race hood (Melrose T-Tops) on my son's (Eric, a.k.a. GitErDun) '87. The hood can't mount the heavy roll up head lights. I'm thinking we might be able to fabricate a bracket or plate of some sort to mount a small d.o.t. headlight into the bumper area where the driving lights/turn signals are now (he wants to be able to drive the car on the street). The '94 Pontiac Grand Prix's have very small headlights that look like they might fit. You don't need high beams, just low beams. We've removed the stock turn signals/driving lights. They are plastic with a metal tab on each end to mount them. Looks like we could fab up a piece of aluminum to replicate the stock mounts and attach the small headlights to. A small l.e.d. turn signal wouldn't be hard to attach to it either. Anybody have any input on this? Am I not thinking clearly (as my wife says is very common for me)? It looks like the Sylvania replacement sealed beam light for the '94 Grand Prix is 50mm X 135mm. I just went out and measured the height of that opening and it's well over 50mm (I set my caliper at 50mm and held it up there and it's got lots of room on either side). Thanks.

c4cruiser

Most states have minumum height requirements for headlamps as they have for maximum heights. You may want to check your state laws first to see if headlamps that are only 15-16" off the ground are legal.

Headlights require some level of height to properly illuminate the road. The angle of the beam determines in part how far down the road the light output goes.

Adding an LED turn signal lamp will cause issues with the rate at which the turn signals flash. The OEM flasher is designed to work on a specific resistance based o nthe number of lamps on the circuit (in the case of the 87, there are 3 bulbs). Take one away and the remaining bulbs will flash much faster. You would have to replace the existing flasher with an electronic versionor a HD flasher.

They don't cost a lot but the flasher is a PITA to get to. It's up under the passenger side of the dash behind the knee bolster.

Bob86ZZ4

I've read through the state laws in MN regarding lighting pretty extensively. They don't have a height listing for standard low beams (or high beams, but they don't even require high beams). So I think we're okay with the height thing. I know about the flasher. We both converted our Vettes last year to l.e.d. tailights and had to replace the flasher with the electronic one to make them flash. So, we're good to go there now.

StealthLT4

Another option is to fabricate something like the Breathless non-flip-up headlights. A member here posted a thread a while ago about making his own for MUCH cheaper than the $1,000 Breathless lights, and looked almost identical. That would provide good lighting, in the stock placement, but will be much lighter than flip-ups.

Bob86ZZ4

That's a thought. We are not looking at those kits because they are so darn expensive. Any idea who might have done that? Or link to a thread? I did some searching but couldn't find anything.

Hotred94

A number of guys are looking at putting HID lights into the existing fog light housing (see the Harryscarlot thread here and in the General section). That may be bright enough to suit your needs without changing the housing. I realize the fog light housing is made to fan out the light and aim it down but you could work with that.

redrose

back/day, relocated the headlites into a c3 grille..."normal" slight dips in the road that were non-issue with stock height lights were sudden death as the beams were blocked by the road...like having the lights turned "off"...urban use only, maybe -- open road, not.

BAM92

back/day we used to put slopenoses on our Porsche 911's. The cheaper kits we used sometimes had non pop up lights so we had to put them in the bumper. I think they were from Chevy pickups. Small rectangular lights that fit and looked great. We used the low and highs too.

StealthLT4

Man, I can't find it either. I know I saw one about a DIY headlight that someone was making on the cheap, but I searched for about 20 min...nothing. Hopefully someone remembers it and chimes in.

redrose

made these from flat alum sheet and 'homie depot' lexan...fixed units would be much simpler than these 'flips'...just did a street rod with the "little" 94 pont granprix headlite assy and those are really easy, get the complete assy with the small steel mounting frame from the 'donor'

Bob86ZZ4

I'd worry about putting a h.i.d. in the stock driving light spot. Those plastic lenses are likely to melt I would think.

Good idea about finding the complete mounting from a '94 Grand Prix at the junk yard. I got some sheet aluminum and am about to start cutting it to replicate the original plastic housing. I'm thinking I can cut a hole for the G.P. light and just secure it into the metal with some silicone maybe? Or fab up some clips and screw them through the plate. Silicone on the back side wouldn't be seen.

We're not looking for anything bright to go open road racing at night with here. Just something to be able to drive the car legally at night with.

Hotred94

[QUOTE=Bob86ZZ4;1564794268]I'd worry about putting a h.i.d. in the stock driving light spot. Those plastic lenses are likely to melt I would think.

Heat come from watts, HID lights only use 35 watts, same as stock, but put out much more light.

ZBRA

If you are junk yard hunting, the 92-97 Cutlass Supreme 2-door has the same headlights as the 92-96 Grand Prix. Also, the 93-97 Camaro uses those same headlights too. The olds turn signals may work best for you:



The headlights themselves are available at any parts store, as they are a sealed beam unit. I don't remember the part numbers.

GS348

The Snakeskinner vette used the Grand Prix headlights to save weight. You may be able to use the search function to find it, I saw this posted about a year ago....Very Cool, always wanted to do this....Good luck

redrose

the Camo's use the same bulbs but the mounting brackets are not easily transplanted vs the pont g-p mountings (havn't peeked at an olds tho)

pont g-p assy's

hexane

Very interesting thread! I'd love the idea of fabbing up fixed headlights without paying for the BP costs.

1996man

i guess the ultimate setup would be to put the grand prix/camaro headlights in the stock running lgiht/fog light location and then install an HID kit for a non fixed beam setup. i was considering an HID setup for my regular fog light bulbs but depending on the luck you have i may go this route instead

Harryscarlot

also check old sunbirds, and early to mid 90s chevy truck. the 80's sunbird if I recall had pop up headlights with those small headlights.

1996man

any one know what number sealed beam unit those are? the ones out of a grand prix or camaro?

User Name

go to www.rallylights.com and check out there lights