Cornbreadx
09-16-2015, 07:37 AM
I figured I would put out some information about Oracle LED halo lights that I have spent a ton of time working with on my 69 Camaro.
This information applies to std or RS hideaway setups as the headlight bucket and bracket opening for both are the same.
First off, you may be looking for a cool way to accent your car. Halos are a perfect addition, but before I go further, please check with local state and city codes as some colors are forbidden when driving.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117285&stc=1
These are some red halos on my 69 when I was finishing up some changes to the car during the body restoration. They really give a cool effect, but there buyer beware, the Oracle versions of these types of lights are NOT direct bolt on application. I was under the impression that they sold these to fit older cars and had test fit them as they have a 69 displayed on their site with green halos. That couldn't be further from the truth!!
There are several styles that they sell. I am only going to touch on the SMD LED halos. These are NOT the cheap halos you can buy from crappy sites that literally put two LED lights inserted into reflective glass or plastic rings that set inside the headlamp. And trust me when I say, you will get people asking about them, stopping to take pictures, and making comments left and right. Even with my primer only paint job, I still get people stopping by to ask or take pictures. The ones pictured on my car above are Plasma LED which were an option when I purchased them (450 for the pair and they last 85,000 hours or something ridiculous like that). Here is the link to the lights if you are interested:
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/1967-81ChevyCamaroORACLEPre-Installed7SealedBeamHalo.aspx Cost is about 120.00 per.
Classic Industries also sells them if you look them up. They cost about the same.
At any rate, the lights can also be upgraded with HID system using H4 bulbs. I prefer to shop with these guys as they have quality kits available.
http://www.xtralights.com/all-products/hid-led/hid-xenon-conversion-kits
They give you three quality options to choose from and you can select your bulb temp as well. These kits are well worth the money and are easy to install into a first gen system. I'll get back to a few concerns I ran into with that upgrade.
Now... back to the other headlight issues I came across.
When I purchased my 7" sealed beam headlights, I was more than excited when they arrived. I checked them out by powering them up and everything seemed perfect! 2 weeks later when I was actually at the point that I could install them, that's when I hit a brick wall.
I will take a quick step back and suggest checking the headlight LEDs when they arrive. I am moving over to green at the moment and this one came from classic Industries with 3 LED lights that are not powering. So, be sure to check and power them to see if all LEDs are working.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117286&stc=1
The 7" sealed beams I purchased had a rear housing diameter of almost 3" WITHOUT the rubber grommet that protects the bulb and headlight from getting water in it. If you measure your headlight bucket and headlight bracket, the hole provided OER or Original GM is only 2.5". So... you will have to cut BOTH the headlight bucket and bracket. The headlight bucket wasn't as much an issue, but the bracket was a real pain. FYI - I didn't have access to a plasma cutter which would make the job simple on a restoration project. If yours are painted though, you are going to have to be a bit more careful so as not to ruin the paint - erg - plasma cutting is not an option for you.
The new ones I got from CI have a rear housing of 2.75" without the grommet. As I am swapping from std to RS Hideaway, I am looking forward to having to cut those brackets now as well.
I would suggest, to anyone doing this, that you remove enough material from the bracket and bucket to fit the headlight. For the RS hideaway bracket, it's about 1/4" to 3/8" around the entire hole of the bracket. The buckets will need to be opened up to the same diameter. If you have an all original setup, I would tell you that you need to buy a second set of OER brackets and buckets and cut those and retain your original pieces. If you get lights with larger rear housing, you will need to measure it out, but I would suggest 3" diameter should cover you with the new SMD LED Halos that are being sold by CI (which are Oracle brand of course).
Once those buckets and brackets were cut, the lights fit great. There is a small difference (or there used to be) with the Plasma LED and the SMD LED. The plasma ones come with a tiny capacitor that you need to mount close to the light. Unfortunately, they give you about 3 inches of wire which isn't enough. I had to extend the wiring to put these on and I bolted them to the back of the main bracket (not the bucket). The new ones I purchased (the SMD LED) do not have this capacitor.
Keep in mind that you will also have to contend with another set of wires that runs off the light to power the halo. I personally notched my bucket and bracket about 1/8" to compensate so the light sits correctly in the bucket and the wires do not interfere with the headlight position. I also wired these to an aircraft style toggle switch so that I can choose when I want them on or off. By doing this, you should be able to work around local state/city codes as to color options, but if you chance driving with blue or red halos, don't be surprised if you get pulled over. I kept the reds off when I was driving, but I will probably run the greens as in my state, there is no restriction on color outside of red or blue.
Grommet Problems:
The grommets they provide to put over the rear housing of the headlight are designed for std H4 bulbs. If you wish to go with a quality set of HIDs, you are going to need to modify this grommet as it will not fit over the bulb housing that you get with HID kits, especially higher quality kits. There are probably a ton of ways to approach this, but in the end, they need to be put on if ever you plan to drive in the rain. Trust me from experience... I usually don't take my car out in the rain, but once was caught in a sudden storm and there was no cover to pull under at the time. Needless to say, one of the lights filled up with about 2" of rain water and it was just annoying to have to drain it and dry it out. The reason I had no grommets on there was because when I was first trying to get this setup, I ripped both grommets trying different ways to put them on. Oracle DOES NOT sell replacements!! I am sure they are available at any local auto parts store, but to what kind you would need is beyond me. You know how it is dealing with those guys - if you have a part that isn't stock, they are clueless in most cases.
With the new set I have, I plan to make some precise incisions to get the grommet to fit around the bulb housing and will likely back that up with some gasket seal. HIDs bulbs rarely need to be changed, so this should last for quite some time before dealing with changing them out and cutting that gasket seal.
Aside from that, you shouldn't run into any other problems. Like I said above, they look awesome... and you get tons of attention. They run off of next to nill voltage so you can be at a car show and have them on and not have to worry about battery drain problems. I have run mine for at least 6 hours and no issue on voltage loss when starting. Obviously you won't want to run the HID bulbs without the car running as they are power hogs!
If anyone has questions, I will be happy to answer, and I will try to post some pics of the modifications I had to make so you can see. I am in the process of powder coating my parts, so it may take me a bit before I get those pictures up. Also, if you have other LED questions for under car lights or engine glow effects for 69, I can point you in the right direction as to suggestions you can do to make your car have that flare without going overboard.
Here is an example of some work I did with mine where I put LED strips along the underside of some spark plug wire looms I had. Also - the front grill is illuminated with LEDs as well. Can't see them too well during the day, but at night it really gives it a cool effect.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117287&stc=1
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117288&stc=1
Hope this was informative for someone looking to do these types of accents. :-)
This information applies to std or RS hideaway setups as the headlight bucket and bracket opening for both are the same.
First off, you may be looking for a cool way to accent your car. Halos are a perfect addition, but before I go further, please check with local state and city codes as some colors are forbidden when driving.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117285&stc=1
These are some red halos on my 69 when I was finishing up some changes to the car during the body restoration. They really give a cool effect, but there buyer beware, the Oracle versions of these types of lights are NOT direct bolt on application. I was under the impression that they sold these to fit older cars and had test fit them as they have a 69 displayed on their site with green halos. That couldn't be further from the truth!!
There are several styles that they sell. I am only going to touch on the SMD LED halos. These are NOT the cheap halos you can buy from crappy sites that literally put two LED lights inserted into reflective glass or plastic rings that set inside the headlamp. And trust me when I say, you will get people asking about them, stopping to take pictures, and making comments left and right. Even with my primer only paint job, I still get people stopping by to ask or take pictures. The ones pictured on my car above are Plasma LED which were an option when I purchased them (450 for the pair and they last 85,000 hours or something ridiculous like that). Here is the link to the lights if you are interested:
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/1967-81ChevyCamaroORACLEPre-Installed7SealedBeamHalo.aspx Cost is about 120.00 per.
Classic Industries also sells them if you look them up. They cost about the same.
At any rate, the lights can also be upgraded with HID system using H4 bulbs. I prefer to shop with these guys as they have quality kits available.
http://www.xtralights.com/all-products/hid-led/hid-xenon-conversion-kits
They give you three quality options to choose from and you can select your bulb temp as well. These kits are well worth the money and are easy to install into a first gen system. I'll get back to a few concerns I ran into with that upgrade.
Now... back to the other headlight issues I came across.
When I purchased my 7" sealed beam headlights, I was more than excited when they arrived. I checked them out by powering them up and everything seemed perfect! 2 weeks later when I was actually at the point that I could install them, that's when I hit a brick wall.
I will take a quick step back and suggest checking the headlight LEDs when they arrive. I am moving over to green at the moment and this one came from classic Industries with 3 LED lights that are not powering. So, be sure to check and power them to see if all LEDs are working.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117286&stc=1
The 7" sealed beams I purchased had a rear housing diameter of almost 3" WITHOUT the rubber grommet that protects the bulb and headlight from getting water in it. If you measure your headlight bucket and headlight bracket, the hole provided OER or Original GM is only 2.5". So... you will have to cut BOTH the headlight bucket and bracket. The headlight bucket wasn't as much an issue, but the bracket was a real pain. FYI - I didn't have access to a plasma cutter which would make the job simple on a restoration project. If yours are painted though, you are going to have to be a bit more careful so as not to ruin the paint - erg - plasma cutting is not an option for you.
The new ones I got from CI have a rear housing of 2.75" without the grommet. As I am swapping from std to RS Hideaway, I am looking forward to having to cut those brackets now as well.
I would suggest, to anyone doing this, that you remove enough material from the bracket and bucket to fit the headlight. For the RS hideaway bracket, it's about 1/4" to 3/8" around the entire hole of the bracket. The buckets will need to be opened up to the same diameter. If you have an all original setup, I would tell you that you need to buy a second set of OER brackets and buckets and cut those and retain your original pieces. If you get lights with larger rear housing, you will need to measure it out, but I would suggest 3" diameter should cover you with the new SMD LED Halos that are being sold by CI (which are Oracle brand of course).
Once those buckets and brackets were cut, the lights fit great. There is a small difference (or there used to be) with the Plasma LED and the SMD LED. The plasma ones come with a tiny capacitor that you need to mount close to the light. Unfortunately, they give you about 3 inches of wire which isn't enough. I had to extend the wiring to put these on and I bolted them to the back of the main bracket (not the bucket). The new ones I purchased (the SMD LED) do not have this capacitor.
Keep in mind that you will also have to contend with another set of wires that runs off the light to power the halo. I personally notched my bucket and bracket about 1/8" to compensate so the light sits correctly in the bucket and the wires do not interfere with the headlight position. I also wired these to an aircraft style toggle switch so that I can choose when I want them on or off. By doing this, you should be able to work around local state/city codes as to color options, but if you chance driving with blue or red halos, don't be surprised if you get pulled over. I kept the reds off when I was driving, but I will probably run the greens as in my state, there is no restriction on color outside of red or blue.
Grommet Problems:
The grommets they provide to put over the rear housing of the headlight are designed for std H4 bulbs. If you wish to go with a quality set of HIDs, you are going to need to modify this grommet as it will not fit over the bulb housing that you get with HID kits, especially higher quality kits. There are probably a ton of ways to approach this, but in the end, they need to be put on if ever you plan to drive in the rain. Trust me from experience... I usually don't take my car out in the rain, but once was caught in a sudden storm and there was no cover to pull under at the time. Needless to say, one of the lights filled up with about 2" of rain water and it was just annoying to have to drain it and dry it out. The reason I had no grommets on there was because when I was first trying to get this setup, I ripped both grommets trying different ways to put them on. Oracle DOES NOT sell replacements!! I am sure they are available at any local auto parts store, but to what kind you would need is beyond me. You know how it is dealing with those guys - if you have a part that isn't stock, they are clueless in most cases.
With the new set I have, I plan to make some precise incisions to get the grommet to fit around the bulb housing and will likely back that up with some gasket seal. HIDs bulbs rarely need to be changed, so this should last for quite some time before dealing with changing them out and cutting that gasket seal.
Aside from that, you shouldn't run into any other problems. Like I said above, they look awesome... and you get tons of attention. They run off of next to nill voltage so you can be at a car show and have them on and not have to worry about battery drain problems. I have run mine for at least 6 hours and no issue on voltage loss when starting. Obviously you won't want to run the HID bulbs without the car running as they are power hogs!
If anyone has questions, I will be happy to answer, and I will try to post some pics of the modifications I had to make so you can see. I am in the process of powder coating my parts, so it may take me a bit before I get those pictures up. Also, if you have other LED questions for under car lights or engine glow effects for 69, I can point you in the right direction as to suggestions you can do to make your car have that flare without going overboard.
Here is an example of some work I did with mine where I put LED strips along the underside of some spark plug wire looms I had. Also - the front grill is illuminated with LEDs as well. Can't see them too well during the day, but at night it really gives it a cool effect.
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117287&stc=1
https://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117288&stc=1
Hope this was informative for someone looking to do these types of accents. :-)