nugatory1

I have never been impressed with the headlights (h5) on my car. My '65 VW bus has better headlights (h4). I tried the upgraded silverstar bulbs (was unimpressed) then I thought about upgrading to h4s, but then I thought why not move up and use today's technology...

Goal of project:
1) Better light
2) No modifications to car (reversible)
3) Looks decent

Inspiration:
991



Parts used:
from retrofitsource.com (no affiliation):other:I had to mount this altogether...took a while, but at Home Depot found some roof flashing and some aluminum I had around. With a little fiddling:

and fashioned it into

which I then painted

and mounted to the h5 adjustment bucket. Turned into this:



So, with the addition of clear turn lenses and getting rid of the bumperettes, my car changed character a bit:


Some other angles (and yes that is a kegerator):



And all wired up. The cutoff is really clean.:




Conclusions:
1) MUCH better light. Night and day The brights are amazing.
2) Completely reversible - check. No modifications to the car at all. Can reverse it in ~30minutes.
3) Looks decent? Still getting used to the look. The light is good enough while driving I almost don't care what they look like, but... Get rid of the chrome by painting black? Paint the black part body color? Leave it alone?


I think if I hadn't started this a while ago I would go for the ones that 911Jetta just tried. Those look nice and simple and I would have had to make it all myself.



Can't resist posting this photo as my car is my daily driver here in Colorado. I like looking at all the perfect cars on rennlist, but I have to laugh as I walk out and see my car looking like this:

Don't worry, they don't use salt here and I washed it eventually.

Jacke2c

Love the innovation! Love the daily driver even more! How I do miss Colorado (Raised my kids in Cortez!)

NJ_93_C2

Looks like it was a fun DIY project and a great price for both headlights

RicardoD

Whoa, way cool DIY, impressive

swaini

nice job... any flickering of the interior lights?

Laker

Very nice job! Thanks for taking the time to document.

evoderby

Nice work!

Personally I think painting the currently black surrounds in silver will produce a more balanced look....when looking at the car from a human perspective it now looks a bit like a boxer peering through a pair of punched up eyes;-)

Laguna Seca

Great mod!
My humble two cents...
I would love to see the buckets painted the same color as the car.
Great pic of your dirty driver!
That's what I'm talking about!
These cars were built to be driven in all kinds of weather; not just dry twistys!

medent

Just did a quick pricing for these components at Retrofitsource and they total $520. And the clear lenses are another $38. So the total is already $558 and I haven't bought any of the metal.
How did you manage to do it all for around $375?

medent

Oops. Just went back and realized that everything was in the $295 kit. Just have to add the $38 for the lenses and a bit for the metal.

LimeyBoy

Love your ingenuity. Maybe a photoshop expert could show the silver/body color finishes to give you an idea - I love the clean look but maybe they do stand a out a little too much right now. Very cool, thanks for sharing.

PasPar2

props for taking this on!

does your car look a bit "surprised" now?

Silvertarga

Nugatory

Should you decide to make a "kit" of sorts, I ll take one

Really the reason H5s are rated in candlepower is that candles are more powerful than those!

John Rygg

Great job with the Mod . I am impressed.
I would love better lights on my 964. the black looks great when it is out of the car.
but I am on the fence if I like it on the 964. makes it a bit bug eyed. I think I would try a body color or a silver. Or maybe even a light grey ??

It could just be that i am used to a full headlight look on the 964.
But it is nice work anyway you look at it.


Would love to see how you mounted it and some more information on the roof flashing that you used.

Thanks for posting

theporscheguy

Interesting look. It never ceases to amaze me what you can do with a little sheet metal and a steady hand. The black paint is not necessarily what I would have used but its a matter of personal preference. Thanks for sharing.