So I convinced my sister to get me some projector headlights for Xmas/Bday (4 days apart). I did use the search function and found some posts. From a few hours of reading it seems that the best two (not saying much since they all appear to be cheaply made) are the Spyder Projectors from ebay and the http://www.dashzracing.com/97-03-pontiac-grand-prix Halo LED Projector headlights from Dash racing, but can also be found cheaper on ebay.

I would like people who have had either please chime in on the current condition and ownership experience.

Also my two biggest concerns are, how well they are sealed? Do they have any condensation build up over time?

How durable they are? Any broken tabs or adjustment screws? Any early pitting on the plastic lenses, or opaqueness?

I am not so much worried about the bounce, because I plan on using weather stripping to keep hem better clamped between the hood and the headlight mounts.

Light output is complete shit for the 04+ projectors. If you want decent light output in an 04+ you pretty much have to go with a custom retrofit.

_________________

Anyone here make and sells projector retrofits for the 97-03 Grand Prix? I live in NYC right in the middle of the city and street park my car. I need something that is plug and play for those reasons.

04+? No. and as stated there is no projectors for the GP you can buy that will be nice the great ones are made, the ebay ones will overall look nice but you will get more light output from 3 candles. LOL

Just get HID in the headlights and fog lights for now if not already done

_________________

Why are you 2 saying 04+ when he posted 97-03 headlights and even said 97-03?
I rock these on the lady friend's 97. Third Gen Spyder style's (made by Sonar) from Ebay for like 210 bucks shipped.
Zero bounce with weatherstripping and rubber washers on the mounting brackets, 5000K HID's from DDM, and they are quite nice for cheap projectors and don't have hot spots and have a decent cut off so oncoming motorists aren't blinded. A full out retro is still better, but I'm quite happy with these.

As for my experience with them over the past 2 years...
No condensation buildup. There's very rarely a couple droplets (after monsoon rainfall) but they evaporate within a couple minutes of driving.
Still clear as the day I put them on. I did wax them very heavily and do occasionally hit them with some wax from time to time to make sure they have some UV protection. Also, no real pitting that I've noticed. There's rock chips in the hood though
Brackets are pretty flimsy, but I've had the headlights on and off the car at least 2 dozen times and never once broke a mounting bracket or adjustment bolt.

I'm going to smack you for even suggesting that. As a fellow motorist I prefer not to be blinded by your HID's in reflector housings which were designed for HID's

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Thanks for the advice. Because I am in NYC I am looking for projectors, to not blind other motorists. When I leave the city and drive in rural roads I sh*t brick because I can't see anything. Also my stock gousing have 195,000 miles on them. They are pitted to heck and don't let much light through.

Yeah, I hear ya on that one. The cutoff on these are decently sharp and if you aim them correctly you could keep everyone in the city happy instead of just throwing light everywhere haha.
As another suggestion (from personal experience), Hella Optilux 2500's are crazy awesome for rural driving. They are actually bright enough to drive without the headlights on and still be able to see without a problem, however they don't have a cutoff and since they would go in the stock foglight location, they aim up and thus can be irritating to other drivers, but for rural driving, they are absolutely awesome. 100000000 times better than the poor excuse for "foglights" that came on these cars.

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Thanks have a link to the hella optilux 2500's? Are they just replacement bulbs? If they are, how long do they last? I had silver stars in my fog lights and they burn out after 3 months. Lol

They are entirely new housings which come with 55w H3 bulbs. So the bulb is brighter than the stock 880 27w bulb and the housing is designed much better to actually focus the light forward and not just scatter it 3 feet in front of the car.
I picked mine up from another member on here, Kyle_99_GTP, when he was demodding. He had them for 2-3 years before I got them last year and they are still the original bulbs.
Amazon seems to have them for the best price from what I could find real quick.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RZMJ0M/ref ... B000RZMJ0M

And they have halos to match the headlight halos So you can still have some style with a whole lot of added function.
Here's Kyle's first gen spyder headlights with the Hella's which I later got from him

And here's my girlfriends 97 with the same Hella's and 3rd Gen Spyder's after some tweaking

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Thanks I just ordered a set of fog lights! As for the spiders have you had any sealing issues with your GF's GP? Like fogginess or condensation?

Not really. After a really heavy rain and the car sitting for a couple days, there is sometimes a very slight fogging, but once the headlights are on and the bulbs warm up, it evaporates off very quickly. Under frequent driving and non monsoon weather though, they've never had an issue at all.

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

He actually didn't mention a year model in his first post, and I didn't bother to actually read/click the link so I didn't notice from there. I just commented on the 04+ and up since that is what I have experience with. I didn't comment on the 97-03 as I have never owned one and have no clue about the quality of their aftermarket headlights. So that's why

_________________

Gotcha, it's all good. You know I just like giving people a hard time

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Yeah yeah, but I had to go re-read the first post for a sanity check after you called me on it. I suppose I should be more observant in the future. But then again, why?

_________________

I had a set of Gen 2 spyder projectors for nearly a year in my 1998 GTP... I bought them new off of ebay...

They are a decent upgrade, but only once you also go to HID lighting... the projectors are pretty dim with halogen bulbs...

And bounce is an issue... not because of fit from above the housings but from fit below (the gap in between the headlights themselves and the bumper cover itself)... there is someone in town that bought a set and I see the car all the time... the bounce is really bad... The best remedy (and trust me I tried lots of stuff including truck cap tape under the head lights etc etc) was to simply take a wooden wedge and put it underneath the bumper cover on the bumper bar itself... Then the headlights are snug and no major bounce issues...

People do report tabs breaking on these kind of headlights, but I never had an issue...Im pretty sure they were over tightening the retainer bolts...

_________________

2004 GTP Comp G. The Daily Driver.
JULY 2011 GPONA COTM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uNwgZGrvJ0
1992 GTA Trans Am. The Toy.
2003 VW Jetta. The Spousal Unit.

I finally received the hella optilux 2500's via UPS last week. I was wondering how you wired them. Did you use the extra switch that came with the kit or did you splice it into the stock fog light harness to switch on with the stock fog light switch?

Just splice into the stock harness so you can use the regular fog light switch.

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Okay, one more question about that. Yellow wire is power for the Halos and white seems to be power for the bulbs. Just splice those two together to the single power wire from the stock fog light harness?

Yeah you could do that. You could also splice the halos into the parking lights if you wanted to.

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Thanks for the advice!

No problem. Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

_________________

Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

I'd recommend wiring the 2500's into the high beams instead of the foglight switch (with a relay harness, since I wouldn't want to put that much load on the stock headlight wiring). If you wire them into your foglight switch you won't be able to have both the driving lights and your regular high beams on at the same time. If you don't want to use them in the city, you could add a switch so that they only come on when the high beams are on and the switch is on.

Do you plan on getting both the Spyder projectors and the Hella driving lights? If so, you could swap out the 9005 bulbs in the Spyder high beams with 9011 HIR bulbs (increases output from 1700 to 2350 lumens each). With these wired these to come on with the Hella 2500's, you'll get 7600 lumens of high beam power (2350*2 from the HIR's plus 1450*2 from the H3 bulbs in the driving lights). I guarantee you'll say "holy slitzweitz!"

_________________
2003 Lincoln LS V8 Premium Sport
RIP: 2002 Redfire Metallic Grand Prix GT Coupe
One man's treasure became another man's trash.

Thanks for the advice. I bought a set of used Spyder projectors for cheap. Probably going to install them sometime next week.

How do those Hellas compare with just throwing hids in the stock fog light housing like I did? I like the angel eyes but what would be the output difference? Thanks

I haven't mounted them on the car yet, but I hooked them up to a 12 volt battery charger to test them and boy they are bright! What I like about these fog light housings is that the lens is glass instead of plastic as on the stock housings.

As for the reviews I am a little weary as to how these will hold up over time. I read a few reviews of people complaining that they are poorly sealed and let condensation in that makes them deteriorate in a hurry. Others seem to have no condensation issues. As an extra precaution I RTVed the areas where condensation could get in.