Low rise headlights, Vader, Hella or something alike

Here's a link to Kirk Evans offerings. About $875 dollars.
http://www.amerisportindustries.com/products
This link is about the most inexpensive i have been able to find. Just under $600 dollars. http://www.saccrestorations.net/dphl71000.html
Let us know what you end up going with, and take pictures. This upgrade is almost top on my list also. Good luck

I installed the Kit that Scott sells at SACC Restorations. Good kit went in easy. Looks good and works well. I also installed the Headlight controler from Pantera Electronics. The two together make for a great set up.

I have the Vadar 4x6. Did them 20 years ago. I personally like the look better then the quads.

Here's the link: http://web1.wavelinx.net/tmitch/pparts.htm

I'm with PanteraDoug... I have the Vader 4x6 inch Lights, and I like the look better also! But hey, each to there own! What ever works for you.

I have the Vader II hella lights.
Kirk at Amerisports also talked about some new low profile headlights that they would come up with. Think he said something about oval lights?
Here is a image of mine from Vader racing:

Super nice thing with the ones that we offer is the install time. Not only can you install them with the buckets on the car, but some people have installed them in just over an hour!

Chris
http://www.saccrestorations.net

Thanks to all...

Nice with so many options...

Maybe i should order one of each...

Michael

I'd like to get some of these as well, they both look very similar? The vader ones appear to open a little lower in height, is that right? But the quad ones appear to look a little better being more vertical (side profile) vs angled back on the vader? All in all the vaders look better front on and lower opening?

Comparison picture... Ours could be adjusted to match the Vader opening height but it wouldn't look correct, in my opinion since it would expose the inner side of the fender like the Vader ones do... Oh, and did I mention, ours are $400.00 less expensive!!!

If you buy a 13 inch brake kit you might just get a free set of headlights!

It is true that there are differences in each companies kit but to me when the lights are on and the doors are up there isn't a lot of detail anyone is going to notice. Particularly if you black everything out on the bucket.

I like the black Pantera. I think the angle of the picture makes the bucket look higher but the round units have to be all the same +/-. The rectangular may have a lower opening.

I got mine because 1) at the time it was the only kit available and 2) it reminded me of the Ford GT40s. It definitely gives the car a significantly different look, as do the quads.

There are H4 85/100 watt bulbs in mine. I find them more then sufficient to melt the bumper of the car in front of me. Lenses are Carillo's.

On mine the highest part of the bucket is exactly 6" open. 5-3/8" at the low side. By Comparison the stock 7" round lamp is 10" at the highest point. So you might be able to make comparison based upon that if everyone will state the heights of the units of theirs?

I would say that compared to the new quads, mine are a little crude by comparison. Just powder coated stamped steel. I would say at $500 they are pricey considering exactly what you get in the kit.

Just trying to add helpful information to the discussion.

I think the Vadar picture shows the perspective pretty well so I added it here.

On the Vadar kits you do not see the inside of the fenders. That is closed.

Those SACC lights look pretty cool for the price. I've had Vaders for about 8 years. I think they are lower rise (horizontal) when fully open. They were a simple install and have worked flawlessly ever since. You can see them on my car here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ndex=35&feature=plcp

Since we are discussing it. I may as well add my 2 cents in here. To me the rectangular lights look dated. Sorry no offense intended this is just MY opinion. The quads look more modern. and stylish. I like that the SACC kit finishes off the bottom of the bucket so that you cant see into the fender. Sometimes I just like leaving the lights up because they are nice to look at. I painted mine to match the car looks fantastic. IMO

I see there is different opinions about witch is the best I think the vader lights look more agressive with the angle simular to the front of the car. It is also lower. measured at the center is rises only 4". that means the top of the bucket sits level with the road. But that is my opinion.
As for the little hole where you can see the inner fender, I must say I never thought of it before you guys mentioned it.
When it comes to the cost: SACC deliver both US, and ECE (European) versions at a very reasonable price.

quote:

I think the vader lights look more agressive with the angle simular to the front of the car

As I said earlier. Our kit could be adjusted to the same opening height if you don't care about seeing into the inner part of the fender...

quote:

Originally posted by ItalFord:
Since we are discussing it. I may as well add my 2 cents in here. To me the rectangular lights look dated. Sorry no offense intended this is just MY opinion. The quads look more modern. and stylish. I like that the SACC kit finishes off the bottom of the bucket so that you cant see into the fender. Sometimes I just like leaving the lights up because they are nice to look at. I painted mine to match the car looks fantastic. IMO

I would use the phrase, more period correct, and no offense taken. I agree.

I think it all depends on how you perceive your own car. I don't perceive it as a modern car at all. I think of it as a period performance car.

Why would you want your 67 Mustang to look ultra modern? Why is the Pantera different then that?

This actually made me think of a scene from "Two and a half men".

Charlie has a rash on his...um...private parts. He shows it to the MD and the doctor asks, "have you been doing something different with it?" Charlie replys, "yes, I've been dying out the grey hairs".

In a little shock, the doctor replies in his east Indian accent, "in my country, you can put a tuxedo on a goat...but it's still a goat".

I agree with being period correct. If that's the case we should not modify our lights at all. I have another analogy the is amusing. I can always tell when a hot rod was built by the parts / styling it uses. Many of the hot rods 40 fords etc used rectangular lights. Probably looked cool then. The quads look cool now. Who know maybe in 10 years they too will be dated.

Is the Pantera a Hot Rod? Hum? Some are for sure. I won't go back to the original lights. It slows the cars top speed down more?

quote:

Why would you want your 67 Mustang to look ultra modern? Why is the Pantera different then that?

Because the look of a Pantera is timeless. The look of a 67 Mustang is not.

A 67 Mustang looks like a 1967 vehicle. A Pantera is timeless. I have had people think my car is a modern car. Many times they can't believe it is almost 40 years old...

Frankly, I just don't agree. I own two Shelby Mustangs as well as the Pantera. The Pantera has no special dispensation from anything.

I've had people tell me they liked my Camaro in reference to it.

How many of those people would know your car was built with a Ford engine rather then a Chevy Z06? I wonder?

My car is by no means a car that could be judged in Concourse. With any Pantera that would be one difficult if not impossible task I am convinced. In many ways the Pantera shows timeless styling but to deny it has some dated thinking is like a bald guy flipping over the last strands of hair on to his bald dome and thinking no one noticed.
Trust me...they noticed.

I for one have no problem in accepting the fact that both I and the car are from another era and have gotten over the idea that I'm going to have a hot foursome with some 20 year olds that are younger then my daughter. I'm stuck on the idea of a hot two some with a hot 50 year old who likes a sexy red Italian something sports car? Anything else is just icing on the cake...so to speak?

What exactly is wrong with being tyrannosaurus rex? After all it was the ultimate bad ass? So much that the line just ended there and the designers went on to something else starting with a clean sheet of paper.

Gotta go now. I smell some raw Chevy meat I need to go tear up?

I agree with Scott. Yes, it is a dated car, but it does have timeless qualities.

quote:

Frankly, I just don't agree. I own two Shelby Mustangs as well as the Pantera. The Pantera has no special dispensation from anything.

I've had people tell me they liked my Camaro in reference to it.

How many of those people would know your car was built with a Ford engine rather then a Chevy Z06? I wonder?

My car is by no means a car that could be judged in Concourse. With any Pantera that would be one difficult if not impossible task I am convinced. In many ways the Pantera shows timeless styling but to deny it has some dated thinking is like a bald guy flipping over the last strands of hair on to his bald dome and thinking no one noticed.
Trust me...they noticed.

I for one have no problem in accepting the fact that both I and the car are from another era and have gotten over the idea that I'm going to have a hot foursome with some 20 year olds that are younger then my daughter. I'm stuck on the idea of a hot two some with a hot 50 year old who likes a sexy red Italian something sports car? Anything else is just icing on the cake...so to speak?

What exactly is wrong with being tyrannosaurus rex? After all it was the ultimate bad ass? So much that the line just ended there and the designers went on to something else starting with a clean sheet of paper.

Gotta go now. I smell some raw Chevy meat I need to go tear up?

I'm shocked you disagreed.

I have great respect for the Pantera design for its time, but I can not see that the original 7" headlights fit the car in any way!
The Pantera is in my opinion designed with the headlights down. Periodicly correct or not, the only reason to keep the 7" is if you have an 100% original car, an intend to keep it original.
Since there is so many alternatives around,It is obviously that I am not the only one.
I guess in California you do not drive with the headlights up much? But here in Norway we have to drive with lights on all day.

quote:

Originally posted by Tunnelport492:
I have great respect for the Pantera design for its time, but I can not see that the original 7" headlights fit the car in any way!
The Pantera is in my opinion designed with the headlights down. Periodicly correct or not, the only reason to keep the 7" is if you have an 100% original car, an intend to keep it original.
Since there is so many alternatives around,It is obviously that I am not the only one.
I guess in California you do not drive with the headlights up much? But here in Norway we have to drive with lights on all day.

Well, never been to Norway, so I'll take your word on it. If you have no Sun, do you have roads and air?

The original headlights are for sure strange at the least. The only thing stranger is the passenger seat that is only capable of accommodating the Hunchback of Notre Dame...maybe?

The new quads are at least a 1000% improvement but I'll bet that even in Norway you have the lights on when the buckets are up? So who is going to see them unless you wear welders goggles?

I remeasured and mine are 5-5/8" high opened. What are the others? I've heard no comments from any of the vendors on that dimension?

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:

quote:

Originally posted by Tunnelport492:
But here in Norway we have to drive with lights on all day.

Well, never been to Norway, so I'll take your word on it. If you have no Sun, do you have roads and air?

The original headlights are for sure strange at the least. The only thing stranger is the passenger seat that is only capable of accommodating the Hunchback of Notre Dame...maybe?

The new quads are at least a 1000% improvement but I'll bet that even in Norway you have the lights on when the buckets are up? So who is going to see them unless you wear welders goggles?

I remeasured and mine are 5-5/8" high opened. What are the others? I've heard no comments from any of the vendors on that dimension?

We have Sun,air, and even roads here in Norway to. There is a law saying that we have to have driving lights, even if the sun is shining.
The Hella lamps in the Vader quads is 90mm, so the lowest possible have to be appr. 4" (center bucket) SACC and Amerisport have the same lights, but is a little higher (1/2"?)

Actually, the Amerisport 90mm light conversion is about 5" tall, fully extended. The new 60mm cat-eye quad system is about 3-3/4" tall. Kirk is now selling the new cat-eye quad system. Kirk's kits include a fiberglass bezel face that can have the light adjustment holes plugged or filled if so desired.

I have seen an Amerisport and a SACC conversion kit. I have not seen the Vader system other than the pics in this thread.

Corey

Are we talking about headlights?

What wattages are the various kits? How good are the projected patterns?

To me, that is most important.

I would prefer the open ht be low.
I would prefer the kit be "affordable."

But most important would be how well do they light the road?

Anyone have experiences with more than one system?

thanks,

FWIW here's my take;

We need to differentiate between Vader 1 (the early rectangular style) and Vader II ( a quad eye system)

I have the Vader 1 on my GT5 and an early pair of Kirk's quad eye on my '74. The Vader 1 are lower opening than Kirk's quads. The new Vader II quad eye are 4" high open, the lowest of any of the quad's full stop. That is because Ted modifies the 90mm Hella light units to sit higher in the housing. Yes you can adjust other vendors to be the same but at the same time half the light output will be in your inner fender.

The quad's light the road better and I modified them with a relay so that all four lights are on with high beam operation. With all the HID kits available now, I think either set could provide as much light as you need.

I have nothing against any of the vendors offerings, but look at two cars side by side one with low profile (Ted's) and one with the 'others' and you won't believe how 1" completely changes the look of the car IMO. Attached Ted's stock photo.

The crux is you pay for that 1", no getting away from the cost and value of the SACC units. I am not sure what the housing is fabricated from on the SACC units. Kirk's housing is a composite, Ted's billet aluminum.

Some time ago I asked Kirk if it was possible to make lights with the new 60mm Hella units as I think that would suit the GT5 better and have lower profile. He said the light unit housing was not much smaller than the 90mm units. But it sounds like he is making them now and that the statement was true if they are 3-3/4" compared to Ted's 4" with a 90mm. If that is true then it comes down to look and any beam loss with the smaller unit, although I think they were HID as standard to compensate.

If I had to drive all day with my headlights raised I'd be looking for an alternative solution with daytime running lights hid behind the front grille or under the bumper.


Julian

pics of Kirk Evans' cat eye headlights.
Alex, 5555

MEASUREMENTS

DIFFERENT ANGLE

The Pantera is a timeless design IMO.

Z06, if you change yours to be as flat as the vaders, what's then the difference between the products (except price)? Will the lenses be above the body on yours, or will some of them light up the inner fenders? Pictures?

It looks to me like the Vaders will also light the enter part of the Fender as designed.

I will adjust mine as low as I can go and see how it looks. Once I do that I will post pictures and opening height. BUT, I do not like the look of being able to see inside the fender. It just looks unfinished to me.

I was toying around with a redesign on mine if there was enough of a demand. To be honest, the only design that I think looks like it came from the factory is Kirk's and mine. No offense to others, just my opinion...

And to answer an earlier question, the SACC bezels are made from steel and powder coated a satin black.

So to summarise, the vaders open 4" high, how high do the sacc ones open as they sell now? And what are these cateye ones? Are they a different brand again?

I want to purchase some real soon and need to decide, I also hate the originals when they are up, I try to get my Pantera home into the garage before it gets too dark, coz I don't want people to see those massive frog eyes, would be nice not to have to worry about that anymore haha!

6018 has a set of Amerisport head lights, I'm quite satisfied with them.

Now Scott, if you're thinking of a re-design and want to go as radical as possible,
take a look at the headlights on Ralph Sanchez's Pantera
Ralph I hope you don't mind that I've posted a pic of your ride.

quote:

Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:
Now Scott, if you're thinking of a re-design and want to go as radical as possible,
take a look at the headlights on Ralph Sanchez's Pantera
Ralph I hope you don't mind that I've posted a pic of your ride.

Looks Sleepy!

Ron

quote:

Originally posted by Cowboy from Hell:
Now Scott, if you're thinking of a re-design and want to go as radical as possible,
take a look at the headlights on Ralph Sanchez's Pantera
Ralph I hope you don't mind that I've posted a pic of your ride.

...or two rows of these horizontally?

Kirk Evans told me that his cat-eye quad system uses new Hella 60mm lights that supposedly meet DOT and ECE requirements, for anyone who's interested. The 60mm lights are supposedly better lights than the 90mm units, but I'm hearing that second-hand. He was selling them in December for a reduced intro price...

All three companies offering kits are great to work with.

Hi all,

The original 90mm Cat eye Quads pictured below released in February of 2006 are still produced to order and remain the highs quality best finishing design available. Pantera details are very important and every AmeriSport product I've designed, proto-typed, tooled and build in house reflects the highes level of quality construction, fit and finish as do our original quad lights.

The new AmeriSport 60mm quads are called the Cat Eye Squints. They use Hella 60MM DOT and ECE compliant bulbs with a similar mounting and separate composite trim system utilized on the original 90mm quad lights. The new design open 3.75" making them the lowest opening Pantera lights currently available to the public. The new trim bezel has an oval opening which gives them a unique close-up appearance also hiding a large trim ring surrounding the Hella 60mm parabolic lens unlike the Hella 90mm bulbs which have no visible trim.

I am releasing the new design for 845.00 on special through March for 695.00. Some new design pictures will be posted later tonight along with some comparison shots of our 90mm to the 60mm.

Thank you

Kirk