Robby

Just got home from work (and playing around a little)- it's 2:00AM- I just got my first drive in my car (at night) since I got it back from my mechanic- I got the headlight kit that Iceshark made up for everyone- the wiring, H4 headlights (Cibie's w/90/100w bulbs) and adj voltage reg (although it did NOT get installed- my mech was afraid of some of the hoses might not go back on correctly- they are old, and he didn't want me to be w/out a car for the next week or two- he just left for vacation). ANYWAY- I AM IMPRESSED! I don't know what voltage I'm getting to them via the BAD-*** wiring kit, but I swear, it seems like I'm throwing out at least twice the light! The high's HAVE to be throwing spots out over a 1/4 mile at least! It's really amazing- the light is whiter as opposed to the yellowish tint of the factory sealed beams, and they illuminate the sides SOOOO much better- it's really AMAZING! I can't wait to get the voltage reg on there to get the rest of the power...

SOOOO, to those of you who are trying to decide on whether or not to get in on this next run- DO IT! For those of you who are missing out- MAN, that's rough- you really SHOULD go for it, unless you do absolutely NO night driving at all. It still amazes me how people will spend SOOO much $$$ on basic bolt-on's to add power, many of them complete rip-offs, but won't throw a little cash towards their lights to correct their old, out-dated crap- anyway, if you're considering it, you WONT REGRET IT!!!

THANKS A LOT ICESHARK, FOR DOING THIS FOR US- I REALLY APPRECIATE IT- YOU HAVE REALLY BEEN ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME THROUGH FOR ME W/THIS CAR- I mean when it comes to selling me something that is SUPPOSED to improve something on it, I just feel like I've been ripped off so many times, but this is one time that helps to make up for it all...

Thanks again...
Robby

IceShark

Glad you are happy with them Robby.

18 guys signed up for this harness run. Due to supplier order levels I had to buy enough key supplies for 25 kits ... so 7 slots are open.

You might want to check the headlight aiming the shop did. A standard practice is to have a declination rate of 3" per 25 feet. Do a little geometry and you can see the beam hot spot is going to be intersecting the pavement pretty quick with our low cars.

I usually put in a full tank of gasoline and aim about 0 declination to down a tad. You don't want it up at all (blind other drivers) but you don't need to aim them down so sharply. Your beams will be lighting up well over a quarter mile when aimed right. And this is easy to do yourself because of the sharp and well defined cutoff of the E-Code low beam in these Cibies.

ribs

I second everything robby says. All though I don't want to drive my 951 more than a couple of miles from my house for fear that the ball joint will let go, I am still truely amazed at how intense the light cannons sticking out of the front of my car are for the short drives I go on. Nothing short of HID lights impress me now, besides this kit. How many candle power are the 90/100W bulbs, anyways?

IceShark

Ribs, you never sent me your voltage. But my guess is on low/dipped beam you are well over 2000 lumens, HID arc lamp reflectors are somewhere around 2800 lumens. Standard lights are supposed to be 1000 lumens, *IF* they get all the electricity they are supposed to. Then we have the lens design. There has been a bit of thought in Cibies, and it is crystal glass, not plastic.

When you flip to high/main, you are likely at or over 3600 lumens. Spank any HID arc setup as even projectors are ~ 3200 lumens. Then we have lens design to consider.

Bottom line is you got a lot of bang for your buck.

Mike B

I can't testify to Iceshark being the "God of Light" yet, as I still have to put the puppies in...I can state that Iceshark is he "God of Headlight Wirig Kits"...

This mother is seriously built...It dosen't get any better than this...Personally I'm glad I sprung for the wiring kit...Outstanding quality... <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Peckster

I want a set too. I'll see if I have any money left over when I'm finished getting my leaky headers and turbo pipes worked out. <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

That's the problem with my car. It costs too much keeping it on the road to be able to pay for the nice-to-haves.

Deepice

IceShark what do I need to do to get a slot?

IceShark

Deepice, Just tell me if you want the "Full Boat" kit or only a portion of it. Send me an E-mail & I will shoot you my address to send an $100 deposit to.

"Full Boat" is the pair of Cibie lenses, (4) 90/100 watt Phillips/Narva H4 bulbs (you want a spare set as they are hard to find on short notice and will cost a small fortune), adjustable voltage regulator w/h brushes & the wiring harness. Then packing, shipping & insurance. Total is $341.50 in USA and $344.50 to Canada. Don't ask me why it costs 3 bucks more to ship next door to Canada (I'm in Minnesota), talk to FedEx.

Six slots are still open on the wiring harness, which is the key to make it all work.

EDIT: Only 4 left now, Sunday.

Then sit back and curse about Frog workers and how they never work while we wait for the Cibie lenses. I'm building all the harness' now and will have everything ready to go when the lenses get in.

Peckster, better send me $100 to hold a wiring harness. I don't know when I'll be building these again and this is the heart and soul of the upgrade.

wraydan@msn.com

mac944

Oh yeah, I'll second the God of Light nomination...Dan is the man. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

ribs

[quote]Originally posted by IceShark:
<strong>Ribs, you never sent me your voltage. But my guess is on low/dipped beam you are well over 2000 lumens, HID arc lamp reflectors are somewhere around 2800 lumens. Standard lights are supposed to be 1000 lumens, *IF* they get all the electricity they are supposed to. Then we have the lens design. There has been a bit of thought in Cibies, and it is crystal glass, not plastic.

When you flip to high/main, you are likely at or over 3600 lumens. Spank any HID arc setup as even projectors are ~ 3200 lumens. Then we have lens design to consider.

Bottom line is you got a lot of bang for your buck.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Dan,

My roommate's '81 corolla took a crap on him (battery dies and won't hold a charge) so I'm goint to help him try to figure out if his alternator is working...I'm going to "borrow" my dad's voltage tester (he has never used it anyways...I'll probably just end up ganking it) so I'll be able to test voltage on the lights.

Oh...another strange but welcome side effect of installing IceShark's wiring kit...it fixed a bunch of my weird electrical problems. My gauges no longer dance with voltage drop/hits of the subwoofer and everything seems to operate better/faster (power windows even sped up 20 or 30 %). I think its due to the nuclear proof 4 gauge block ground included in the kit. Why is it that in every car I have ever been in with power windows the driver's side window operates faster than the passenger's side window?

Robby

When driving home from work a few hours ago, I noticed several things:

1: when I turn the on, the voltage drops several tenths on the factory gauge- I'm sitting b/t ~12.1 and ~12.3 now when teh car's running, as opposed to ~12.3 and ~12.5. I need to get that voltage reg installed...

2: The "line" of light on the lows (upper cut-off) seems to move (wobble) a little bit- at least on the driver's side- I'm thinking the driver's side might be looose(?), but didn't check it yet...

3: I was behind some people on a back road I took- for the fun of it When we got to a stop sign, they stopped for a second (I'd been pushing them a little, so I thought they were wanting to start something)- the passenger opened the door and held an arm up, motioning me forward- there were two lanes there and I was directly behind them as I was about to turn left, like they were. I cautiously pulled up beside them, on the right, and paused- he shut the door- the windows were up- so I drove on around and went on- I had gotten up about a mile ahead (I left them WAAAAAY back) and stopped in a closed gas station and waited for them- I had decided to ask a "question"- they went by, as I flicked my lights- I KNEW they recognized me- I sped up (QUICKLY) to catch them (they appeared to be running, maybe thinking I was going to mess with THEM) and they stopped on the entrance ramp to the interstate. When I pulled up beside them (we both rolled down our windows) I asked- "was I blinding you guys back there a few minutes ago, or something? Is that why you motioned me around?" There answer (there were at least 3 of them) was an emphatic "YES!" I apologized, saying that I didn't mean to "ride" their "asses" and telling them I had just gotten some new headlights, and showed them (just in case it was still in question) my high beams two or three times- they said they couldn't believe how much I was lighting up the inside of their car w/my lows and that they thought I was running my highs like an *******, and that if I had been a few feeet further back, it MIGHT not have bothered them as much- I apologized again, trying to keep from laughing, and went on- I guess I'll have to watch that in the future....

At any rate, I think they need to be angled a little bit more- I had 1/2 a tank, but I think the driver side drops a little too fast although it goes pretty much straight ahead- it's definately lower than the passenger side. I want to bring them up a hair and make the driver side match, and I'll definately have to watch were I point them...

SOOOO, how do I measure the voltage myself Iceman? Where, I mean?

Also, they flickered just the tiniest bit when going over some hard bumps- what could be casuing this now? They aren't flickering at all like they did before, so something helped...

Anyway, thanks again....

Hans

The lights are terrific, have been using them for some 10 years already
The lights also fit in the Golf/Passat/Audi range.
Just one warning on these 90/100 lights:
The lamp will get bloody hot when the car is stopped. You can actually fry an egg on the lense.
So be sure you have metal reflectors in there. No, I am not going to tell what the cost was to obtain this knowlege...

Thank God the 944 was designed in the pre-plastic decennium...
TakeCare

IceShark

Yes Ribs, your general electrical system got a great benefit from the supplemental grounding in the headlight kit. I don't know exactly where the choke point is in the 944 body/frame, but it is sure there.

Robby, you have a long list there. Yes, I think you need to check if everything is screwed in tight for this wobble effect. Should not be happening. Also recheck the aim as sounds like you are pointing high. Ben S. also had this happen the first time he tried to aim. Put in a full tank of gasoline and have ~ your weight in the driver's seat.

You have a typo in your message but I assume you ment to say that voltage drops ~ 0.2 volts when you turn on the lights. That is normal as you just added about an 18 amp draw (including your running lights). Your dash voltage gauge may be inaccurate as you should be up towards 14.0 volts if everything is OK and it is cool out, say 75F. Is your cooling hose to the alternator there and in good shape? If missing or has holes in it, this can cause low voltage problems.

To measure the delivered voltage you are going to have to take the headlights halfway out so you can get at the rear end. With them burning you want to stick the voltmeter's probes in and touch the legs of the bulb & take your reading. you could also stick the probes into the rear of the plug and contact the terminals. If you look at my wiring into the headlight plug, brown is ground, black is low beam and red is high beam. I want you getting ~ 13.9v to the bulbs.

Hans, most everyone getting my kit is also getting the Cibies. They are first class glass lens and metal reflector so can take the heat .... and you are right, they get hotter than a pistol running 90/100 watters. Also, the wiring into the headlight plug is via #10 gauge (5.26mm square) so it soaks off and dissipates a lot of the heat.

There is no way you can run this setup with plastic composite lenses, you would melt them. Also the cheaper glass headlights sold on E-Bay and such will usually crap out when subjected to this duty. "You get what you pay for" certainly applies in this case.

Hans

Iceshark: Your kit looks realy perfect.
If i did not had one already, I would have wanted one of yours.

The reference I made above was intended as an warning for those speedy guys that intend to install the kit on the (newer) VW/Audi/BMW/MERC's with plastic reflectors.
One of my colleges at work did this to his 2 year old GM/Opel and had to replace 2 complete lighting units, cost: US$ 220,-- each.
The all metal design fo the 944/968 can have the heat with either Bosch, Hella or Cibie lenzes.
TakeCare

nickhance

How much is the "full boat" kit?