Thread: Quick headlight question

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I am familiar with the 35 vs. 36 headlights. I hadn't really remembered about some of these newer kits being less convex shape to them. Do the regular halogen reflectors have a similar shape to the stock 35 ones? In other words when doing just a halogen convertion are people able to use stock trim rings?

I am now leaning towards doing the halogen conversion with or without turn signals built in, but doing the sealed beam/LED turn signal kit is getting pricey with the sealed beam conversion kit on top of the $175 reflectors. I am going to a car show this weekend so I'll stop by the vendors and see what they have as well as take a closer look at some cars.

Thanks Bob...If I had not stopped by here first I would have ordered the ones w/ LEDs and I would have probably been boxing them back up to send back.

So after all this talk about sealed beam conversions and after buying the Vintique kit I was looking through old parts preparing to reintall some things and I decided to take a look at the old headlights. The first thing that caught my attention was "sealed beam" on the lense. Then looking at the rest of it it looked like I may already have a sealed beam conversion. Keep in mind that during this discussion I did not have access to the old headlights and it has been about 4 years since I last looked at them. Bob or anyone else, could you confirm what I have here? Thanks!

Yup, that would be very similar to the one I first showed on this thread. Just remember, we're laughing WITH you, not at you...............

it's ok, you can laugh at me . I just remembered that the bucket had not been modifed in a permanent way (like I thought it would have been) and...well you know what they say when you assume..

I would still have the problem of the trim rings so I'll just use the headlights I bought and keep these stashed away to maybe use another time.

Thanks!

Ok so after actually opening the box for the Vintique halogen reflector conversion kit I ordered, I realize it does not include lenses (it does not say it does on the site, my mistake ) and they want $42 for those. At that point I'm in $140 and I may as well get the kit with the LED turn signals for $175 now that I know I have a sealed beam conversion already anyway .

So what I need to know or at least feel better about before I order is whether or not the LED kit posted in the first post in this thread will fit with my stock trim rings? Bob- you have me thinking about whether or not I would need new trim rings. If I do I will just order the lenses for the kit I have and be done with it. I called Yogi's and they did not know..

What you call the filler ring in the last post I believe you referred to as the retainer ring earlier in this thread if you are talking about the same piece than I think you are right that that ring takes up the space between the lense and the trim ring (looking at it from the front). If I have the right image in my head I can see that black ring being visable when its all together. Is that what you mean at the end of you post when you say if you don't mind that look? That is not ideal, but something I could probably live with. The whole sealed beam assembly that was on there did not fit that great at all really. I need to see if I can adjust it (probably further into the bucket) so that the trim ring is more centered around the lense. I hadn't even thought of the inner diameter of the trim rings being too large so I will have to measure that this weekend.

All that said, what I was trying to ask in my last post was not about the diameter, but the curve of the trim rings vs. the curve of the lense. It seems like some of the newer lenses are very flat while the ring curves out more and may not contact the newer aftermarket lense. Am I making sense with that? I think this came up a bit earlier in the thread. I realize you may not actually know that answer to that not being familiar with this particular kit with the LED turn signals, but you have given such great responses to this point I figured I would give it a shot or maybe drag someone in with first hand experiense with this kit

Thank you!

Yes, you've got the idea on the filler/retainer ring. I agree, you may have to play with the pieces some to get them to fit neatly. As for the black color you can go other ways on finish. If you're going with polished stainless original bezels then you could have those rings chrome plated. If you're going to paint the bezels body color, then the rings would almost disappear painted likewise. Or similar concepts whatever other ideas you might have.

As for the curvature match up I'm a little lost on what your concern is. Here's a picture of one of my '36 headlights. In this case the lense is very curved and the bezel sort of flat. That sounds like the opposite of what you're describing, but '35 is different. Maybe a picture of what you're concerned about would help.