Hello,

I have your typical 4dr Honda Accord 2000 and I had a small accident where I damaged one of my head lights. Instead of replacing them for the same ones, I was thinkin of getting a nice set of Halo Projector Lights, such as these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...QrdZ1

The problem is that I'm not very experienced with cars. The only modification I made was installing a new radio (all by myself, im so proud ). I wanted to know if in inexperienced (but fairly intelligent) person would be install those headlights by himself?

Any tips and recommendations appreciated

 

I'll get this discussion off by stating that you'll be disappointed with the lamp performance of MOST "Projector" manufacturers. The one exception that I can offer to that statement are those manufactured by TYC Inc; the only sets I know of that are D.O.T. approved for Street use.

http://www.racerwheel.com/rt100421.html

There will be others who will post advocating Projector retro-fits, but unless you're good doing fabrication; you might want to keep your options open.

P

 

Hmm, thank you for your insight.

Could you tell me what you mean by poor preformance? Is the light not going to be bright, or it just wont look nice? Whats the difference between the two?

The price tag tilts me thoward the head lights I found on ebay... but I obviously dont want to buy something that wont preform right.

Also, will the installation of either pair of the headlights be easy? I'm imagining just couple screws and reconnecting cables... am I right?

 

It not only has to do with the optics (or the lack of) which control the light pattern dispersal out in front of the car. The second involves the amount (brightness) of the light projected.
What we've seen on the "Cheaper" Halo Projectors is a lack of a clean / defined anti-glare cut-off and a difussed beam. Combined with desperate HID upgrades, many have ended up with headlamps with hideous glare problems for oncomming drivers.
I actually had a salesman at racerwheel admit most projectors were for show only (with the exception of the TYC units)

P

 

My car definatelly is not for show, so preformance is crucial. Your last post convinced me more thoward the more expensive yet better pair.

Now, do you think I will be able to instal them myself, or should I seek professional help?

 

Front Numper Detail:
http://www.hondaautomotivepart...UMPER

Front headlamp Detail:
https://www.hondapartsdeals.co...B++08

It appears to be pretty straight-forward with just two fasteners underneith which might require removing the front bumper; along with the other obvious stuff.

It does require the front bumper cover be taken off to gain access.

P

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Group A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

go pick up a haynes book </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by P_Adams &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'll get this discussion off by stating that you'll be disappointed with the lamp performance of MOST "Projector" manufacturers. The one exception that I can offer to that statement are those manufactured by TYC Inc; the only sets I know of that are D.O.T. approved for Street use.

http://www.racerwheel.com/rt100421.html

There will be others who will post advocating Projector retro-fits, but unless you're good doing fabrication; you might want to keep your options open.

P</TD></TR></TABLE>

You will be surprised that most if not all ebay angel eye jdm style headlights are DOT SAE approved. The link provided shows the TYC headlights that uses H1 bulbs, still poorer output than stock.

OEM is the best, unless you want to retrofit a set of OEM HID Projectors.

 

Thank you all for you input. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for the schematics of the bumper and the headlight, those will be helpfull

Twice already someone mentioned that someting is not "DOT SAE" approved in their posts. What does it mean exactly? Will a cop stop me or its just the SAY organization thinks that its a poor quality product?

I was actually not happy with the original lamps that I got with my honda. The light was yellowish and not bright at all. Is there maybe something else beside the projector lamps that I could try that would give me a nice bright white light and slightly cooler look to my car?

 

I just put some Sylvania Silverstar headlights on my car and I love them! Very bright, white light that almost looks slightly blue on the road. Compared to the OEM bulbs, they look like HID's. I recommend them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thepain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Twice already someone mentioned that someting is not "DOT SAE" approved in their posts. What does it mean exactly? Will a cop stop me or its just the SAY organization thinks that its a poor quality product?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I said that they are DOT SAE legal, which means that though the light output is worse than OEM they are still street legal.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slats &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just put some Sylvania Silverstar headlights on my car and I love them! Very bright, white light that almost looks slightly blue on the road. Compared to the OEM bulbs, they look like HID's. I recommend them. </TD></TR></TABLE>

They may look similar to OEM head on, as far as color, but there is no comparisong the the amount of light [lumen], beam pattern width, etc.

 

Ohh, thanks for the clarification. I cant imagine anything dimmer than my current lights driving on the road

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thepain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ohh, thanks for the clarification. I cant imagine anything dimmer than my current lights driving on the road </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I hear you, but the H1 or H3 bulbs that you will be getting aren't brighter than the OEM 9006 bulbs. If you really want more light and on a budget, then use the money you were going to spend on a set of headlights on smoe better bulbs. Stay away from HID kits.