Improve my lighting.
 

Hey guys, I have a 1999 Superhawk and I need to improve my lighting. The biggest part of my problem is that the reflector inside my headlight is trash. About half of the shiny coating has come off. mostly on the bottom, so my low beam is currently brighter than the high. Obviously I could just buy a new headlight assembly and a new bulb, but I got to thinking that if I were going to experiment with modifying, maybe I should try first on a trash headlight. Since my reflector is junk, most any drop in LED is going to suck just as bad. What I was considering is getting a stand alone LED light like this:
7inch 70W Round CREE LED Spot Driving Light Work Offroad 4WD Ute ATV Boat Lamp | eBay
and somehow cutting the back of the headlight housing to fit. This does not seem to be the most elegant solution, and has it's own problems when it comes to hi-lo and oncoming traffic being blinded.
One other Idea I had is to coat the inside with lightstrip like this:
16 4ft 5M Warm White 5630 SMD 300LED Waterproof IP65 Flexible Strip Light 12V60W | eBay
and wire some of them to high and some to low, but I don't think I get the distance lighting.

So, here I am looking for ideas, and I have pretty much a clean slate to work with. Remember the rule of Stupid ideas. If it is Stupid, but it works, it isn't stupid...

No, it's still stupid. I could weld my wheels on if I stripped/broke a lug, but it's still stupid even though it works.

Why not take it apart and add one or two HID projectors? You could remove the reflective coating and paint the backing black.

I see OE headlights in good used condition on ebay for under 100 bucks all the time.

Like this.

Attachment 21504
Attachment 21505

Okay that looks awesome, don't misunderstand my comment about stupid, think of it as a poorly placed to Signature rather than an invitation for stupid comments.

Back to that headlight though, that is awesome. I don't think I'm opposed to hid, I was just more thinking that led was the new hotness. But mostly I just want to be able to see at night.

I see that as an opportunity to spend a hundred bucks on replacing something that I already have and still being in the dark versus taking that same hundred bucks and putting it towards improving what I have...

Sorry, I was under the impression your current light was damaged by the reflective coating coming off. I wasn't aware that it was not working for you even when new.

I don't think LEDs are there yet. They might be cool for turn signals and taillights, but their jobs are very different than a headlight. HID is a great option for a headlight if you are moving away from stock setup.

James

You are correct, my stock headlight reflector is junk, and I need to do something with it. However, even in the best of times, my stock headlight has never been more than what I considered adequate (barely). I guess my attempt at a brief reply on my phone failed...

It seems that since I need to replace or repair my headlight anyway, I can go back to stock, which is easiest but was never particularly bright, or I can improve with LED/HID/something else. I would dearly love to have a much brighter solution out front.

If your reflector is failing, then buy a HID from https://www.theretrofitsource.com/ It is not that expensive and very easy to do. It is almost plug & play. There are installations done on this forum. All you need to do is use the search function. Pretty much any question you have, you can ask in the search bar and get an answer.

Here's a couple of pics of what is going on.
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Attachment 21498

Do they sell replacement reflectors? If the reflective layer is bubbling or pealing and failing, a replacement bulb, be it HID or conventional or LED, will not fix the main issue here.

I say replace it or do the projector mod.