HID Conversion

HID 7” round HID headlight kit

Lighting is an excellent area to invest in. You can spend less than $100 and replace your interior and exterior bulbs with LEDs, and still have enough for a set of HID headlights. Trading old sealed beams for HIDs is a phenomenal upgrade—literally twice the beam brightness with less draw on the electrical system.

Headlight conversion kits are available everywhere, but before you buy, decide if you want a brand new aftermarket set or a retrofit from an OEM vehicle. OEM ballasts are often higher quality than the budget kits found on eBay or Amazon.

Headlight bucket - needed 3 new notches

New notch cut on the left, original on the right

Turbo Camaro received a set of 4300K H4 HIDs. The kit included 7” round glass projection headlights and 35-watt Duratec ballasts. We chose 4300K for a “super white” look, avoiding the blue or yellow tones. Be sure to research your ballast options and verify that the kit supports both high and low beams. Turbo Camaro has been running these Duratec ballasts since 2012 without issue.

The only snag was the 7” enclosure fitting into the stock Camaro headlight bucket. The factory bucket has three notches that correspond to three “lumps” on a standard sealed beam. The new HID housings had lumps in different spots. To keep the light correctly oriented (keeping the beam pattern level), we had to cut and press three new notches into the metal buckets. It’s an unexpected mod, but much better than shaving the lumps off the light and letting it rattle around in the housing.

Freshly installed HID headlight kit

The only advantage to sealed beams is price and availability. However, the HID upgrade provides a night-and-day difference in visibility. If you ever drive at night, this should be at the top of your list.