Upgrades for Sh***y '91 Olds Custom Cruiser stock headlights

Discussion in 'General Automotive Tech' started by smparr, Oct 26, 2022.

  1. smparr

    smparr Member

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    I've been working nights more lately and noticed, as my wife puts it, that my stuck headlights suck. Is there a better lens that I can put on the car? I do not want to convert to HIDs or LEDs. I just was hoping to find a better lens or brighter standard bulb that could help. It just seems like the light just disperses quickly even on high beam. It's a '91 OCC with factory headlights and the old halogen sealed beams on our '90 OCC and '70 98LS seem brighter. Thanks.
     
  2. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    First, polish the lenses, if they are plastic, and I think they are. Second, check your headligh aim. Third, spend the extra lucre for Sylvania Silver Star bulbs. They make a big difference. Fourth, if you wear glasses for distance, always wear them for driving at night, the extra sharpening of your vision will help immensely. At least, it helps me a lot. And I'm driving a '79 Ranchero or an '89 Colony Park, and both use rectangular bulbs.
     
  3. Krash Kadillak

    Krash Kadillak Well-Known Member

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  4. Wagonrodder

    Wagonrodder Well-Known Member

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    Are replacement lenses available? from my experiences thats your best bet...ive been down the polish the lenses road too many times..after going to all that effort the cloudiness returns again after a month or so making it a reoccurring ritual...but granted it does make a short term improvement...the sylvania bulbs Andrew mentioned are great..
     
  5. Doghead

    Doghead Well-Known Member

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    There is lacquer available of which is packaged with a better set of headlight-polishing sponges, abrasive stickers and compound. It's supposed to keep the polishing job lasting longer.
    The best preventative measure would be to garage the vehicle. If that's not possible, it would be best to park the vehicle with its rear end pointing towards direct sunlight.
    I used to wonder why nobody ever got rich, through casting duplicates in glass. But then, car manufacturers keep changing styles and owners tend to replace their vehicles too often for glass-casting to be worth the effort
    Dulled plastic headlights act sort of like cararacts on older eyeballs. They won't pinpoint for aiming. The horizontal ribbing on the following make it look plastickish. But I can't be certain:

    [​IMG]

    If your state has mandatory inspection legislation, that would suck, when OEM parts are no longer available. I had to get a set of Made in Taiwans for my Audi wagon, just to get past inspection, before getting rid of it. Originals were still available. But at a much higher cost.
    Sooner or later, even China won't bother for the few existing vehicles of this kind. In which case, you'd have to convert it over to a traditional quadruple headlamp set-up
    If you hand-polish these, you're wasting your time and material. Always use a motorized buffer wheel
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2023
  6. wagonman76

    wagonman76 Well-Known Member

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    What I’ve done on my 96 Jeep XJ and a 91 Geo Tracker, is install a headlight relay harness. I’ve gotten them off EBay for like $20. Eliminates any losses through the headlight switch and wiring, and gives the headlights full voltage directly from the battery. Both vehicles were a noticeable improvement. No cutting into factory wiring. I used silicone grease on all the sockets and connectors to keep them from corroding.
     
  7. Grizz

    Grizz Are we there yet???

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    Those trackers are great little off road machines
     
    wagonman76 likes this.

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