Everything is back together now. It seams that the bulbs I took out where standard sylvania with production codes of jan 03 02 on the pass. side and jan 29 96 on the drivers side. Turns out the drivers side unit was pulled from a 96 and it appears to be the factory bulb, from 14 years ago. 
I shall update after I get it out for a night drive.
Just a heads up- On my old '98 Eclipse (so the materials are related) I did the polish trick. It lasted 3 months then foged again. Then I polished and put some clear coat on the outside of the lenses, that lasted untill it got really cold and the paint flaked off, and fogged immediately. I then polished and intalled Lamin-X. That did the trick. I suggest you do the same, it will last much longer.
Or just polish em every three months...
Oh, and I did Silverstars. They lasted a year, but the difference was noticable, and I felt ok replacing them. I used the white bulbs, obviously blue ones reduce light output, so...
basically the idea of those "brighter, but cheaper" lamps is that they wire them to be compatable with a lower voltage.. and then make them run 12+volts through them. It makes them REALLY bright, but with a short lifespan
Thanks for posing that question, my 2000 Neon has the headlight output slightly below that of a lit match due to clouding. I was considering the "Ebay Upgrade" but may consider an alternative (80/100 bulbs and a good polishing).
I also have a set of big honkin' Bosch old school rally lights...hmmm...
In reply to BobOfTheFuture:
If they go back to a fogged mess shortly I'm just going to order some OE replacements. Looks like $60-$85 for a set shipped.
As I originally posted, the assemblies as a whole are in BAD shape and fogged lenses is only part of it.
I'm not entirely sure what is wrong with the Sylvania Silverstars; I got one for an older motorcycle because I wasn't happy with the headlight output at night. Low side lasted a few days, high side lasted a couple days. Exchanged the bulb at the store I got it at, new one lasted about the same and I got to ride home in the dark one night.
I liked the light it produced, nice and white, but that was a hassle and I went with a bulb from a motorcycle shop afterwards and had no more problems until I sold the bike six months later.
pres589 wrote: I'm not entirely sure what is wrong with the Sylvania Silverstars; I got one for an older motorcycle because I wasn't happy with the headlight output at night. Low side lasted a few days, high side lasted a couple days. Exchanged the bulb at the store I got it at, new one lasted about the same and I got to ride home in the dark one night. I liked the light it produced, nice and white, but that was a hassle and I went with a bulb from a motorcycle shop afterwards and had no more problems until I sold the bike six months later.
I usually run these in the Celica, because it takes a sealed beam H6054 and i haven't done the E-Code H4 conversion yet, and the Silverstars are pretty much the best thing i can get.
I haven't had longevity problems... i usually get 2-3 years out of a pair.
it makes sense that it would die a quick death on a motorcycle.
the headlight is ALWAYS on when the bike is running.
Bikes vibrate.. between their low cylinder count and high output (per CC) and low mass to dampen the vibrations.. they vibrate a lot. Some more than others.
The headlight is attached to the forks, a moving part of the suspension that not only goes up and down, but side to side.
A lit lamp is VERY fragile. If you took a standard home incandescent and shook it while it, it will go out. The Filament is WHITE hot and is generally busy vapourising itself to oblivion, give it a good shake or lots of vibration, it's "just below liquid" state will break
"white hot" lamps like the silverstars are actually running at a high voltage than recommended to get that sort of white lights. This puts them closer to that liquid state than regular lamps.
Night driving is much better now. Now to wait and see how long my lenses stay clear
pres589 wrote: I'm not entirely sure what is wrong with the Sylvania Silverstars;
Look at their specs. 50 hours for the high beam filament, 150 for the low beam filament. They are not designed to last long.
You make a very bright bulb when you have an undersized filament that burns extra hot because of it's diminutive size. They just don't survive long.
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