Need Projector Headlights for 99 civic

Hey guys...

I just got my McCulloch 6000k kit and im lovin life. Its soooo bright and beautiful. However, i think everybody else on the road hates me because it's so glaring. I put the kit in the stock housing (i know...its a no-no), but i could never go back to halogen. ANYWAYS...i have been lookin at projector headlight kits on ebay and have found basically 2 different kinds for my 99 Civic SI: The halo ring'ed kind with clear projectors, and the TYC projectors (i prefer these). The halos are cheaper and its a plug and play installation, which leads me to believe that i can use my H4 McCulloch kit in these with no adapters. However, I have heard good things about the TYC headlights. My concern with these is that my HID kit wont fit in them.

So my questions are...

Which ones will fit my HID kit?
If it doesnt fit (TYC), can i get an adapter so it can fit?
Which ones are better in quality?
Which ones will give me the fine beam output like in bimmers, S2000's, etc?

Thanks for the help...
Ryan

come on....nobody knows?

Both Projectors should use 2 differnt signal Filament bulbs, one for High Beam (usually 9005 or H1) and One for low beam(usually H3 in most projectors). H4 bulbs are Dual Filament bulbs. A daul filament bulb like this will have the wrong connectors and be the wrong size...it won't either one.

Both the TYC and the Halos are "plug and play," meaning they have a plug that plugs into the stock socket. From there, the wiring for the different high and low beam projectors is inside the Headlight housing. Basically you put the bulbs in, hook up the wiring harness and plug in the socket. You'll also have to connect the Halos to the parking light circut with Halos.

To sumerize this, BOTH the Halos and TYC's are "plug and play," and NEITHER will work with your H4 HIDS. In fact, NO projectors will work with H4 HIDS. As I said, H4 bulb are Dual Filament (same bulb is High and Low beam) and Projectors are Signal Filament (2 different bulbs, one for high beam and one for low beam).

Both should fit fine, seeing as they are both made for your car. The TYC ones likely will be of higher qaulity and likely won't leak or fog up as much (TYC guarentee their lighting products are "leakproof"). If you get the Halo's, play it safe and run a good bead of Silicon around the outside seams of the headlight housing.

Thanks for that information.....it is really helpful. OK, i am sold on the TYC projectors. However, you said that my H4 kit would not fit in either the halo's or the TYC. You also mentioned that the H4 bulbs were "dual filament". This is true for my OEM bulbs, but on real HID kits, the bulbs are completely different. You cannot have a hi/low in one bulb...they are separate (or there is one xenon bulb and one halogen bulb on the same "bulb base").
http://www.plexus-designs.com/images/H4hilowbulb.jpg

The pic below is a pic of the "low beam" only. as you can see, it is definitely not dual filament:
http://www.plexus-designs.com/images/bulb1.jpg
This is the bulb that i have...."low beam" only.....So it is feasible that it could fit.

So in lieu of this, is there a way that i can get an adapter for the H4 low beam to fit in the TYC projection housing???

Thanks,
Ryan

bThanks for that information.....it is really helpful. OK, i am sold on the TYC projectors. However, you said that my H4 kit would not fit in either the halo's or the TYC. You also mentioned that the H4 bulbs were "dual filament". This is true for my OEM bulbs, but on real HID kits, the bulbs are completely different. You cannot have a hi/low in one bulb...they are separate (or there is one xenon bulb and one halogen bulb on the same "bulb base").
http://www.plexus-designs.com/images/H4hilowbulb.jpg

The pic below is a pic of the "low beam" only. as you can see, it is definitely not dual filament:
http://www.plexus-designs.com/images/bulb1.jpg
This is the bulb that i have...."low beam" only.....So it is feasible that it could fit.

So in lieu of this, is there a way that i can get an adapter for the H4 low beam to fit in the TYC projection housing???

Thanks,
Ryan

Again...NOOO!!!! If the projecotrs take an H3, H1, 9005, etc...IT WILL NOT FIT!! If you have an H4 bulb, HID or not, it WILL NOT FIT in NON-H4 HOUSING!!!.

H3 bulbs are small, about the size of the Halogon bulb on the top picture. H1's are about the same size. 9005's are bigger, but ALL have COMPETLY DIFFERENT connectors on the bulbs. They ALL connect to the wiring in a different manner. Sorry to burst your bubble, but H4 HID bulbs won't fit in the projectors unless they take an H4 sytle bulb. Go to the store, and look @ or buy a cheap pair of H1, H3, and 9005 bulbs. Look at their size and the way the connect to the harness and wiring. You'll see what I mean with the bulbs.

H1, H3, and 9005 bulbs are ALL single filament bulbs and NONE of these bulbs are interchangable. Dispite the fact they are all single filament bulbs, they are of different sizes and connect to the harness and wiring differently. It's the same with an H4. It's a different size and connects to the harness and wires differently.

Just buy an H3 size HID bulb... you dont have to buy a whole new kit... just buy the HID bulb itself.

You might be able to modify it to fit... I was thinking about this and it might work. I'm not in your situation, so I havent gotten into too much detail with measurements and all that. All I know is the H3s are alot shorter and smaller than H4s. So if you make a mount on the back of the projector housing, to hold the H4 HID bulb further back, it might work. The mount/adaptor has to set the H4 size HID bulb back enough to compensate for the difference in size. This might work... but I wouldnt try it. I'd just spend a little extra and buy an H3 HID bulb.

I wouldn't mess around with trying to jury rig an apadpter to get the H4's to work. They are much bigger than H3's. Basically, in the pic you provided, the big bulb is an H4 size length and the little bulb bulb in an H3. H3 bulbs are very small!!! A good chunk of the H4 would be outside of the housing. I know some HID bulbs can run $200 a pop, I've seen them cheaper before too though, like $80-100. Don't know how good those brands where, don't even remember the name of those ones.

Really? I didnt think HID bulbs would cost that much. I figure, its not the ballast, or wiring or any of that good stuff.. its just the bulb itself. And if the entire kit is $300, then the bulbs should be only a fraction. Either way, I wouldnt ghetto rig it either... I was just sharing an off the wall idea I had one day. I wouldnt recomend it though.

Yeah, that H3 high beam HID thing looks weird!

Really? I didnt think HID bulbs would cost that much. I figure, its not the ballast, or wiring or any of that good stuff.. its just the bulb itself. And if the entire kit is $300, then the bulbs should be only a fraction. Either way, I wouldnt ghetto rig it either... I was just sharing an off the wall idea I had one day. I wouldnt recomend it though.

Yeah, that H3 high beam HID thing looks weird!

Yeah, I've seen a lot of "overpeiced" IMO HID bulbs. I realize the price of the bulbs IS naturally higher, but still. One of the reasons I never did an HID conversion and have always stuck with tried and true PIAA Super Plasmas (though the thought of HIDs has crossed my mind before, LOL).

Yeah, that H3 high beam thing looks weird, but it's a good illusration of the size difference between the 2 bulbs, H4 and H3. Big size difference. You know though, it amazes me a tiny little bulb like an H3 can throw out so much light.

those pics i posted were not of any H3.....They are both H4! One is just a high beam model, and the other is a low beam ONLY model. They are the same length. So waht you guys are telling me is that the length of the H4 real HID bulb differs from that of the length of the H3 real HID bulb? I know the halogen H4's and H3's differ BIGtime.....but i thought the only difference in real HID bulbs were the bases.....not lengths. Shows how much i know....

those pics i posted were not of any H3.....They are both H4! One is just a high beam model, and the other is a low beam ONLY model. They are the same length. So waht you guys are telling me is that the length of the H4 real HID bulb differs from that of the length of the H3 real HID bulb? I know the halogen H4's and H3's differ BIGtime.....but i thought the only difference in real HID bulbs were the bases.....not lengths. Shows how much i know....

I know they are both H4 Bulbs you showed. What I was saying is that the small blue bulb on the H4 HID bulb, which is basically a H3 bulb attached to the H4 HID bulb for the purpose of giving it a high beam. I was saying that the litte blue bulb attached the the left side of the H4 HID bulb, that is what an H3 bulb looks like. That is an H3 bulbs approx SIZE, The size of the little blue bulb. The H3 HID bulb may look different, but the size can't differ too much length wise, because it still needs to fit inside the housing size typical to H3 bulbs.

That makes sense. Well, my next question is...if i have an H4 6000k McCulloch kit right now, do i have to buy the same bulbs (just in H1 style to fit H1 projection housing) and by same McCulloch Manufacturer? Or could i buy phillips bulbs and different Temperature? Or get new temperature and get McCulloch only? I guess my question is.....What is compatible with my kit?

Thanks,

The bulb is what controls the color temp. You buy a different color temp bulb, kelvin wise, and the color temp will change, so thats fine to do there when buying new bubls. As for do you have to buy the same manufacturer bulb, I would assume that has to do with what connections the manufacturers use to go from ballist/ignitor to the bulb. I don't know if they use a standard connection for the various HID bulbs or not. If the connections are the same you should be okay. I'll try and do some research if I have time.