Help me decide....

I'm trying to strike a balance between looks and functionality on my 70 duster.

One area I'm working on is lighting. I'm night blind. The sealed beam silver stars are the best bulbs I've tried in the car, but I want better.

55 watt hid is better. Bi-xenon projector is better. So I combined with jeep jk headlights to do a retrofit. But they look odd to me.

What says the hive? Is there another cut free option I am missing?

Here's what I made. Great light output, but....

[URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/duster/20160629_145725_zpsdkfcf9dt.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/duster/20160629_145730_zpspxccempw.jpg.html][/URL] [URL=http://s54.photobucket.com/user/dusterbd13/media/duster/20160629_145736_zpswjvpblao.jpg.html][/URL]

Keep or scrap? Any ideas?

COOL! Keep them!

are they 7" rounds? I've heard good things about the GE LED lights in miatas/mgbs....

They are 7 round. I haven't seen an led 7 round that doesn't look even odder.

They look fine to me.

Robbie wrote: are they 7" rounds? I've heard good things about the GE LED lights in miatas/mgbs....

I was thinking the same thing, that would give a ton of light at high efficiency, but those are unmistakably alien-looking headlights.

Can we see the entire front of the car? I'm leaning towards keep em.

They look odd to me too. Have you tried a Euro H4 setup? That should be a drop-in replacement and they throw great light.

Robbie wrote: are they 7" rounds? I've heard good things about the GE LED lights in miatas/mgbs....

I see similar a lot in jeeps. Boy they can kick out some light.

Your headlights look light headlights

Depends on what you're going for. If you're wanting to keep it all original looking, then yes, they look a bit odd. If you're not worried about originality, keep them. They look good AND, more importantly, are truly for function which makes them extra cool.

Specifically, they look very Optimus Prime IMHO, in a good way.

-Rob

The whole theme of the car is 70 trans am Mopar modernized and for the street. Hence air dam, 17 inch torque thrust wheels, stock ish body, etc. Maybe somewhere between restomod and pro-touring light.

I think I will finish the other and stare at them some more. Part of the problem is that I have had stockish headlight on it for the last 20 years I've owned it, and it's always looked similar. This is a large departure.

Would painting the whole inside black or just the shroud black help with looks at all? Also, what kelvin temp are the bulbs you're running? Running a 55w kit is going to drop the effective kelvin rating down a 'level'. Just some things to keep in mind.

5000k.

And I'm afraid blackout would make them look even stranger. Maybe a photoshop?

I would think not crashing the car at night would smooth over some minor styling issues.

Matt B wrote: I would think not crashing the car at night would smooth over some minor styling issues.

This. I think you just solved my dilemma.

Dusterbd13 wrote:

Matt B wrote: I would think not crashing the car at night would smooth over some minor styling issues.

This. I think you just solved my dilemma.

Anything that makes me enjoy driving my car more is a go. If you will drive it more because you can see at night do it. If you will drive it less because you think it makes the car look silly then don't do it.

I'm not clear on your goals. Do you want the car to look good, or do you want the driver to see well?

In reply to EvanR:

Yes. Both.

I think they look great. Lots of the high $$ cars in Hot Rod have a similar look. You nailed Resto-Mod.

I think they look good. Yes they look a little odd and modern on the car but that's not a bad thing.

always red pill.

What was the question?

Well, somebody has to be the voice of reason.....they're ugly.

Wouldn't something like a 7" Hella halogen headlight throw enough light for you to see at night? Or, if that's not enough what about adding some driving lamps that look more period correct on the car?

In reply to DeadSkunk:

That was my other plan. However, I had most of this laying around, except for the jeep housings. Those were 13 bucks.

I'm still staring at them. Haven't made up my mind yet....

Odd looking, but if you spend much time at all driving at night, I'd rank functionality over aesthetics. I vote for keep them for now. If you run out of other things to change on the car someday, maybe experiment with other styles of lights that may look more period correct but still provide adequate lighting.

I have considered lights like this for my Mini, but haven't tried them yet because I don't drive it all that much at night and I like the look of existing lights.