My stock headlights (Zenki) are horrendous, what do you think about these?

[Mangudai]

That said, I've been looking around a bit and these seem like they would be great replacements.Osram Night Breaker H4 (http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=111) and Philips Vision Plus H4 (http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=45). What do you guys think?



Thanks.


edit: My bad I don't mean S14a but rather I have a Zenki.

[ThatGuy]

Kouki lights are typically cleaner than than Zenki's. What exactly is wrong with yours?

Even if there is something wrong with them, bulbs won't fix the lights.

[projectRDM]

Mike's going to come in here and kill you.

I'll start though. A headlight bulb absolutely cannot put off 90% more light output without increasing the wattage. Period. It's an advertising ploy that companies have used for years, a 55watt bulb will produce no more output than any other 55watt bulb. The color may be different, but that doesn't mean anything.

Best bet is to sand the lens and get them back to OE spec, when they're brand new the S14 headlights are fine, yours are probably worn, yellowed, and hazed up which blocks the light output.

[Mangudai]

YOur probably right, it is a bit yellowed. Its so bad sometimes when im driving on a road where your right next to oncoming traffic I can barely see in front of me or see the ground in front of me well for that matter.

[Brian]

They sell pretty cheap HID kits that plug right in.
They are bright and look so good.


Look into it.

:)

[ThatGuy]

I didn't think the Kouki Lights yellowed, since they're glass. :confused:

[Mangudai]

They sell pretty cheap HID kits that plug right in.
They are bright and look so good.


Look into it.

:)


I'm not that guy. I looked at these specifically because owners of various other vehicles claimed to have good results with them, not because of the manufacturer's claims. Retrofitted HID's are ideal but right now they're just not an option and for safety reasons I want to improve my headlight output. I see now...I shouldn't have put S14a, I mistook that for meaning S14 Zenki.

[Future240]

Get euro glass headlights, and retrofit HID's into them.

[ThatGuy]

.I shouldn't have put S14a, I mistook that for meaning S14 Zenki.

Ahhhh, ok.

I can fix that for you.

To clear up the confusion:
By Nissan's definition, S14a = S14 After Change a.k.a. The '97 and '98 S14.

Go with the German Glass Headlights. They're sexy for a Zenki.

[Mangudai]

Get euro glass headlights, and retrofit HID's into them.


That's pointless. I cant remember the exact term but they aren't "clear" so that wouldn't work properly.

[Future240]

Okay, try clear zenki's headlights, might have to do some searching but there is a thread on here about it.

[ixfxi]

Mike's going to come in here and kill you.

I'll start though. A headlight bulb absolutely cannot put off 90% more light output without increasing the wattage. Period. It's an advertising ploy that companies have used for years, a 55watt bulb will produce no more output than any other 55watt bulb. The color may be different, but that doesn't mean anything.

Best bet is to sand the lens and get them back to OE spec, when they're brand new the S14 headlights are fine, yours are probably worn, yellowed, and hazed up which blocks the light output.

Close, but not exactly, Russ.

HIR bulbs are patented and use a special coating to create more light. Certain bulbs use a slight mixture of xenon gas to allow the filament to burn hotter. You are correct to an extent, there are no miracles with any of these bulbs really.. HIR has got to be one of the best improvements to-date with halogen lighting that I know of, but its only available as replacement for 2 types of bulbs. In regards to the 95-96 headlights, they can be used on the US-spec plastic headlight (high beam) but cannot be used, unfortunately, on the 95-96 EU-spec headlights.

I've said it a million times, if you own an S14 the 97-98 headlight will ultimately have the most potential. I am currently building a new bi-xenon version of this light, it will be highly modified.. much like everything else I've fabricated. Details will be posted on my the clearcorners website once complete.

And no, dont bother sanding down your headlights to restore them. Once the protective UV-coating is gone, the headlights will always return back to yellow after X amount of UV-exposure.

ps: I hear the nightbreaker bulbs are fairly good. I've had one here for months to do some testing with but never got around to it, too busy with bigger and better things at the moment. If you get more light out of them, dont be surprised if they dont last as long. Its the case for all performance bulbs.

Mike / ClearCorners.Com

[Future240]

Ahhhh, ok.

I can fix that for you.

To clear up the confusion:
By Nissan's definition, S14a = S14 After Change a.k.a. The '97 and '98 S14.

Go with the German Glass Headlights. They're sexy for a Zenki.
:duh: German that's what I meant to say.

Pic for reference
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/greeneyez03/0728081747a.jpg




Thread for reference http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/224097-zenki-hid-questions.html

[Prok0]

:duh: German that's what I meant to say.

Pic for reference
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/greeneyez03/0728081747a.jpg




Thread for reference http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/224097-zenki-hid-questions.html

Those arent german glass, those are clear plastic covers.
German glass still have the fluting.

Reference:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Prok0/yuki/Picture043.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Prok0/New2.jpg

[fliprayzin240sx]

Crappy Yellowing 15 yr old headlight lenses thats been cleaned up that turned yellow again after 2 weeks:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/PA310053.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/P7080138.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/P7080132.jpg

Supermade clear lenses with Acura TSX HIDs:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/IMG_3299.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/IMG_3270.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/IMG_3294.jpg
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/IMG_3295.jpg

[Mangudai]

Fluting! That's the word I was looking for.

Ahhhh, ok.

I can fix that for you.

To clear up the confusion:
By Nissan's definition, S14a = S14 After Change a.k.a. The '97 and '98 S14.

Go with the German Glass Headlights. They're sexy for a Zenki.


Ohhh ok I see now. Yea I think im going that route.




Crappy Yellowing 15 yr old headlight lenses thats been cleaned up that turned yellow again after 2 weeksDamn two weeks? Yea German lights it is.




http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/greeneyez03/0728081747a.jpg


Now that doesn't look bad at all, I like it. But others like the TSX HID retrofit you posted I just cant do.

[Future240]

^I'm sure you could pay someone to do it for you

[Mangudai]

^I'm sure you could pay someone to do it for you


I don't mean it like that, its just to me it looks terrible. But the picture I quoted from you I think that one looks great.

[Future240]

^i agree on it looking terrible, the clear plastic covers I mistook for german headlights look best IMO as well.

[JRas]

And no, dont bother sanding down your headlights to restore them. Once the protective UV-coating is gone, the headlights will always return back to yellow after X amount of UV-exposure.

Mike / ClearCorners.Com

couldn't you just sand them down, than put on a few layers of clear coat?

[bl3ujay07]

yellow headlight = meguiars "plastic x". Works like a charm. i use it for my s13 headlight and tailights everytime i wash. also used it on my brothers old beat up headlights, and it looks almost new.

[S14Driftr91]

wet sad the lenses using 500g and then finish with a 1500g, polish and buff. did it to mine and they came out amazing

[Mangudai]

yellow headlight = meguiars "plastic x". Works like a charm. i use it for my s13 headlight and tailights everytime i wash. also used it on my brothers old beat up headlights, and it looks almost new.

Funny you should say that because originally this is what I was going to use. How long does it last and how much yellow did it take off initially?

[Gnnr]

http://zilvia.net/f/chat/104459-those-zenki-lovers-bad-headlights-teaser-pic.html

[Brian]

Hey... I didn't say anything about retrofitting HID projectors.

Just get a plug and play kit.

I got mine from JRT lighting.

[ZX88]

spend the money and get the nice glass ones. imo makes the car look 100 times better.

[Big Mikey]

Polish it using BlueMagic Headlight Lense Restorer. There's no need to sand. Use it like your waxing a car but only on the headlights lense. This lasts quite a while.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/galleries/2008/thumbs/vrt-7998-bluemagic_001-7998.jpg

[Mangudai]

Polish it using BlueMagic Headlight Lense Restorer. There's no need to sand. Use it like your waxing a car but only on the headlights lense. This lasts quite a while.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/galleries/2008/thumbs/vrt-7998-bluemagic_001-7998.jpg


Oh, I already bought PlastiX. I saw that on the shelf when I went to AAP but went with PlastiX instead as Ive heard good things from them so I applied it yesterday night. It did a really good job so tonight im going to drive around and see how much of a different there is with the light output. This is just to hold me over till I order the German headlights.

[Zen S14]

The German headlights require slight rewiring for the highbeam because the bulbs are different. The only problem I encountered with the German Headlights is the height adjustment rod tend to break if your car is setup with stiff suspension. Pretty annoying as they broke on both headlights I have so that manually adjusting them is harder and the low beam lense vibrates over rough pavement.

The German headlights do not work with HID retrofit and will produce two intensely bright spots and very poor cutoff. A custom shield can be made for the bulbs to reduce the effect but it still looks scattered. The fluting is on the lense so there is nothing you can do about the distribution of the beam. That being said I like the beam pattern better than the US headlights when running regular bulbs.

Would be nice if I could get the wiring for the electronic height adjustment as it is designed for it.

[Mangudai]

The German headlights require slight rewiring for the highbeam because the bulbs are different. The only problem I encountered with the German Headlights is the height adjustment rod tend to break if your car is setup with stiff suspension. Pretty annoying as they broke on both headlights I have so that manually adjusting them is harder and the low beam lense vibrates over rough pavement.

The German headlights do not work with HID retrofit and will produce two intensely bright spots and very poor cutoff. A custom shield can be made for the bulbs to reduce the effect but it still looks scattered. The fluting is on the lense so there is nothing you can do about the distribution of the beam. That being said I like the beam pattern better than the US headlights when running regular bulbs.

Would be nice if I could get the wiring for the electronic height adjustment as it is designed for it.


No doubt, I'm thinking...German headlights x Relay x Upgraded harness x Higher watt bulbs.

[KOUKIboy]

^^ U should ask DUFFMAN how he did his, he has German glass headlights and 12k HIDs and it looks tight.

[Pacman]

Lenzsaver. The dude came out to my shop to do a demo on one of the shuttle vans. Made the yellow lense look damned close to new. I'm gonna pick one up when I get my next paycheck. Use a drill to make the repair. Takes about an hour if that for both headlights. Check it out.

[Mangudai]

I noticed one of my headlights went bad and went to take it off today. For the life of me I cant seat the bulb back on properly. Getting the boot of is the easy part but even then the bulb is latched in I guess and you can move it around easily? This really cant be that hard but its not seating properly, what am i doing wrong?

edit nvm apparently you have to pull a clip back..neglected to do that.

[Mangudai]

^^ U should ask DUFFMAN how he did his, he has German glass headlights and 12k HIDs and it looks tight.


Really? That still sounds a bit off but I'll look into it.


btw: what bulbs do our corner lights use?

[ixfxi]

...........................w5w

[Mangudai]

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure. Curious, why don't you guys offer a retrofit service for the Zenki?

[shanes14]

cheap alternative. wetsand the headlights with 400 grit until all the yellow is off, then clearcoat them. they stay until you hit enough rocks for all of it to chip off. better than waxing cuz waxing lasts a month, cheaper than buying new ones.

[s14xman]

if you really want to buy the euro here ya go:
S14 Euro Headlights (http://jspec.com/s14eurhead.html)

[OBEEWON]

Listen to Brian. Spend $100 and drop a plug in HID kit, and clean your lenses.

It took me 5 min to put my HIDs in.

I love you Mike don't kill me.

[Mangudai]

Is that some kind of joke why would I use an HID kit.

[jspeedm]

Would be nice if I could get the wiring for the electronic height adjustment as it is designed for it.

it's not that hard to figure out. it took me about 4 hours to figure out the wiring and make a harness. they work perfectly.

[95 maxima se]

:duh: German that's what I meant to say.

Pic for reference
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c365/greeneyez03/0728081747a.jpg




Thread for reference http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/224097-zenki-hid-questions.html
where can i buy these clear headlights

[r6_240sx]

I believe those are the Final Konnexion. I could be wrong though don't know my zenki parts too well.

[hOngsterr]

just ask jspeedm he has
glass headlights,
super cleanns,

[Mangudai]

Well since this thread was brought back up again I guess I;ll ask my question again..is there any difference between retrofitting(one being better than the other?) USDM headlights and the German headlights?

[landins13]

bulbs wont fix your problem

[jspeedm]

Well since this thread was brought back up again I guess I;ll ask my question again..is there any difference between retrofitting(one being better than the other?) USDM headlights and the German headlights?

if you're going to retrofit projectors on either one, you should put clear lenses on. so dont waste money on glass if you're goind to get rid of it. if you just want to put on hids get the glass. they look 10x better than usdm plastic.

[rsibley22]

i sanded my headlights and they came out WAY better the way to do it is start with 600 grit if they are really bad then go to 800 then 1000 then 3000 grit and use water with all the sanding then use a polishing compound to clean everything up at least this is how we do it at my dads shop but in the end my headlights can still barely reach the other side of the street lol

[r6_240sx]

If it's out in the sun often, they're gonna yellow out again.

Like ixfxi said, once they yellow the protective coating is gone. So you're going to need some uv protection by either clear coating, waxing or both...