86 951 Driver

I know how to use relays and thicker wiring, but is that all that helps the lighting. I am saying that is all that the Iceshark kit does is upgrade the wiring and the lenses help direct the light. I was thinking of hooking up some relays and some thicker wiring along with some lenses like these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT minus the blue ricer bulbs. I would put some good 90/100 watt bulbs in them. Would that help the lighting at all or would it just be a waste of time? I am very good with this kind of stuff. I have upgraded many of my bikes to better lighting with some relays. I just wanted to know if I could get similair results from making a harness myslef? Thanks in advance.

83na944

Yea, it's all about the thick wire and good connectors. The objective is to supply as much voltage to the bulbs as possible.

I considered doing the same thing, but decided that I didn't have time to do it, so I bought the kit from IceShark. Honestly, I was amazed at the quality. Every detail was just perfect. Great connectors, huge wire, relays and fuse holders in rubber cases, and the wires are in a fiberglass sheath. I bet you couldn't even find a source for the parts he uses.

v944god

Well I was thinking the same thing awhile back, but your going to end up burning up the wiring harness when your outputting that much power.

Iceshark provides everything, and from the pictures I've seen it's a big *** difference.

86 951 Driver

I am going to put my own kit together because this is going on a $500 car. I am not going to spend as much on the headlight as the car was bought for.

Danno

I went with the Cibie headlights with 90/100w bulbs from IceShark first. Yes, it was a noticable difference compared to the stock headlights. Then I spent about 10 hours wiring up my own harness from the alternator to relays with fuses to drive the headlights, high-beams, fog- and driving-lights. I had originally thought I could've done it in 2 hours, but noooooh! Making a harness with fibreglass sheathing, crimped and soldered connectors, shrink-wrapped end and all takes quite a lot of time. Once I finished that job, it made way, way bigger difference in light output than swapping headlights and bults. Probably twice as big of a difference as bulbs alone. If I had really known that it would've taken me 10-hours to make a harness, I would've gone straight for the ones IceShark makes to begin with. They're worth it and I wouldn't even bother considering ANY headlight upgrades unless you're doing the harness at the same time too.

Tb311

I got the Iceshark headlight and battery cable kit and even though I havent installed them yet, I must say they are really high quality and they come with everthing you need to install it.

IceShark

Those headlight lenses on E-Bay are junk compared to good world class lenses. This is really a case where you get what you pay for. While it is uncertain exactly what you are buying in that auction, I'm pretty sure you couldn't hope to run a 90/100 watt bulb in them. And I'm not talking about glaring other drivers, those lenses are made out of plastic and will melt into a blob.

A $500 car. Are you going to throw it away when the tires wear out ?

If you want to have good light you can get a fair part of the way there, depending on your wiring, with quality lenses and bulbs that will cost you about 125 clams. Then to get the rest of the way you have to rewire, replace the voltage regulator, etc. You can certainly do it yourself but it will take some time as Danno noted and you will probably have a hard time finding the parts to do a one off production that will last. So you can do it with cheap parts but they will be degrading and you will lose the voltage you want to keep light output up.

I guess the bottom line is if you go cheap you will kick yourself in the end and wonder what you were thinking.

skene

I was thinking of doing the same thing when I first got my car. I ended up getting similar looking lenses from a friend for cheap. They've got a glass front and a decent horizontal cutoff, and haven't melted or had any problems with 90/100's in them. Just make sure they're glass, not plastic.

As for wireing I'm the same as you, I've rewired a bunch of my bikes and thought of doing it myself. I started looking into it, but decided to go with IceShark's kit in the end. Definetly a wise move. I got the whole thing, voltage regulator and all, installed in one night, and the quality of his kit is amazing. I say go with his wireing.

Yabo

Not to kill business.. but I got the middle kit from iceshark.. which doesn't involve wiring.. and it is hella bright compared to stock. But hey.. thats just me.

IceShark

Devon, you did a smart thing going with good lenses and bulbs. Not everyone wants or can afford to go the rewiring route. Quality lenses and bulbs make a big difference over the stock sealed beams as you have seen. And if you ever decide to rewire you have great lenses that you can use in the new setup rather than tossing them and starting over from scratch.

Andrew, one of the problems is you are never sure what sort of lenses you are getting when you go off-brand until you actually get them and try them out. So Neon Driver would be taking a big crap shoot on those E-Bay lenses. I know one guy that got that brand of lens off Flea-Bay and the reflector was plastic and he melted it in rather short order ... I think he was using 80/100 H4 bulbs. And the first set of bulbs that came with the lenses had some sort of contamination on them, probably from the blue coating, and started smoking black crap all over the inside of the lens. It wasn't the best purchase he ever made.

86 951 Driver

Iceshark I don't want to make you mad by trying to make my own harness. I am not going to throw the car away when it needs new tires but by that time the car will be in better shape then it is now. Iceshark I know you do great work I have seen the quality and have had a good expierence with the bulbs that you sent. I was just looking for a cheaper way to get better light output from the 924S. Iceshark what would you do. Would you upgrade the harness and keep the stock lenses or maybe get some Sylanvania Silverstars or would you upgrade the lenses with your cibie's and new 55/65 watts bulbs? I can not afford this upgrade all together at one time. I know on my bikes that I usually upgrade to a halogen blub but I use the sylanvania silverstars and light output is great. It is plenty bright for at night. That is why I am asking all these questions. I usually drive a neon not a Porsche. Thanks once again for all the comments.

Ben Z.

neon- I bought some Hella H4s and some bulbs from some company called Southern Off-roading or something. It was recomended by somebody on the mailing lists back in summer of '02. I've did a search but couldn't come up with it. Anybody have any ideas? Anyways, they were the genuine article and were priced about half as much as anywhere else. Easily a 100% improvement over stock. The 100W high beams will light up my entire front yard, and it's a big yard! I've kept putting off getting the Iceshark wiring kit, but plan to in the near future, I'll make sure I take before and after pics with my H4s and with my stock lenses just to see what kind of difference better wiring makes.

Sorry for the rambling, I guess the message is to try some H4s.

EDIT: The first few sentences are really helpful, huh? Sorry.

F18Rep

These headlight threads are such spin zones.... I wired in relays and 100 watt bulbs & lens (that were actually recommended by someone here) and got great results. This is one of the easier mods/changes to make. I did it on a sunday afternoon. My old Porsche lights work as well as my BMW or wife's Honda. sheessh...

IceShark

Oh, come on Neon. You are not going to make me mad over this discussion. One thing many people don't understand is I don't do this lighting and wiring as a real business. It is a supplement to help Porsche people out, not rip them off.

What would I do in your situation? Get the Cibies and the quality bulbs. Then, if you want at a later date, you can rewire. Don't get the Sylvania SilverStars. It is a DOT lens and so-so bulb. Not worth the money as it is mostly marketing hype. Those SilverStar H4 bulbs cost around $25 each and are similar to the parent Osram's BiLux bulb, but not as good.

That is what I would suggest whether you buy the fixings from me or not. You won't have the brightest lights around until you rewire but you will get 40% or so the way there.

These discussions regarding improved lighting %es can be twisted all around. You will get a big + when you go to something like Cibie. Plus good bulbs. Then the next step is wiring. Just look at MTMs headlight pictures. I had nothing to do with that and only found out when he posted to Rennlist. The results say all that is needed.

Mike B

Something to consider is if you sell, or scrap, the car you can always put the old lights back in and keep the Cibies for your next ride.