this bracket needs one more brace to be complete but is pretty sturdy as is head on shot is hard to get everything in focus lol the 500's fill in below and to the side of the 700's quite nicely.
Wow that is awsome... Lightbar ontop for more? eheh You will have the brightest STI around... EDIT... you probly do...
yea im agreeing with deride. you could probably use a few more..like 7 or 8 i see some gaps on your front clip. but seriously though it kinda looks cool
do you really notice any difference with the 500's?? You are just adding light on top of already bright light...
looks good. no picture of what the road looks like with them all on? I hope that those new ones arnt going to get hit by snow banks and break.
no they are very noticeable because the center 4 are aimed to supplement the high beams and the 500's basically fill in under and to the side - they are primarily aimed for peripheral visibility at medium distance I didn't have a good spot to photograph coverage. I'll take shots at the next ice race (or if don't go I'll go find a long road with no street lights) the brackets are designed to rotate under impact (which is why I'm debating whether or not to add a second bracket off the bumper beam).
this is also why I left quite a bit of extra wiring :biggrin: still need to get that in some wire loom
Next i would be looking at some serious wiring and a new alternator. You are probably drawing close to 45 amps of current. Or start converting them to HID. Russ
My Sentra will pwn you. Six FF1000s, two pencils with 130W each, two driving with 130W each, two driving with HID... and a 158A (bench tested) alternator and Optima blue top to drive them all.
yes this is a concern - when you say 45A, you are refering to the 6 55w hellas + the factory lights I assume? any local places that can re-wind my alternator for more current or where I can buy a bolt on HO alt? I found this site http://www.2kracing.com/product_info.php/cPath/21_112_1266/products_id/2650 - wrx the same fit as sti? I demand pictures! :yumyum::yumyum:
Yikes. For that cost, I'd seriously consider just getting 3 cheap-ass HID conversion kits. That'd bring the power consumption down and boost the light output too (the beam patterns wouldn't be perfect, but they would be bright as hell). But yeah, that alternator should bolt right on. Right now I could show you photos of the lights, the bar stock for the lightbar, the alternator, the battery, the battery relocation kit, and the car, but not photos of them all together. Because they're not.
any recommendations for cheap ass HID conversion kits? or are they all about the same? btw, which pencils do you have?
No particular recommendation. The cheapies are all about the same. Biggest thing I'v heard about all of them is that the ballasts are prone to vibration damage, so either find a good way to absorb some shocks when you mount them, or some people have been taking the ballasts apart and filling them with electrical potting material (typically like a non-conductive epoxy that you pour in and let set. I can find more details if you'd like). My HIDs are real Hellas. The pencils are Hella FF1000s, like the other lights, just in the pencil beam pattern. I have two of the pencil beams left for sale, btw. And I would sell the HIDs, but they cost a wee bit more.
Carl, yes, I figured 10 55w bulbs. (6 driving lights, 2 low beam and 2 high beam) Get in on the CB light Gb next time one takes place. I have 3-4 of their kits and they work damn good. Better than some of the $260+ dollar kits, and I think those kits go for $130. Next Gb he puts together, i will be picking up another kit or 2. Russ
I work with 3M for my engineering senior design and have access to a variety of viscoelastic damping foil and foam so I might try that for isolating the ballasts. I'm also familiar with potting electrical components which isn't a bad idea either. quick ebay search reveals that cheap ass hid kits are...very cheap lol suspiciously cheap:laugh:
There are a couple guys on here that really like the X-5 kits I will find a link but IIRC they are around $180 or so a kit.
are the HID lowbeams on the sti equivalent to 55w? I guess I have never looked into their wattage or how much current they draw
No. The output of the ballasts should be 35W (each), the total draw will be somewhat higher than that, depending on the efficiency of the ballasts, but I would imagine it's less than 55W (but I might be wrong). Edit: looked at my hellas, they only list output wattage, no indication of total current or power draw. Edit 2: The Hella Gen3 ballast (like mine) draws 42W. The ballast used in the STi is (if what I read is correct) made by Matsu****a (aka Panasonic). The Germans may have the edge in the HID area, but I'd bet not by much, so it's probably right in that 42W range. Maybe assume 45W to be safe.
thanks, I did some quick searching and couldn't find any useful specs of the stock sti ballasts. oh well. maybe my spring break project will be to get all my relays, fuses and wiring organized into one oem looking box and start doing an HID conversion to at least the top 700ff's
Thanks! found a cheaper HO alt but not 100% sure if it will fit http://www.maniacelectricmotors.com/11058hiamp.html
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty certain that you can swap alternators on subarus like legos, like a lot of the other stuff, in which case, that would fit fine. And that's not a bad price at all. I paid about that for my 125A (spec) Maxima alternator (which benched at 158A), but I have to adapt it to fit the Sentra (mostly just swapping pulleys and adapting the wiring harness and running a new heavier power cable and ground).
Oh, one other little piece of advice. Don't overlamp the 500s, no matter how tempting it may be. Even 85W bulbs will eventually cause the housing to crack from the heat. I know this from painful direct experience.
^ROFL! A blind man could see with that many Hella's!:laugh: Nice chop Ted! Btw carl:wavey:...looks good and cool idea to go with rotating ones!
