Headlights

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1998_K1500_Sub

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(reply to 351FUN's post, above)

Agreed "glass housings". I considered retrofitting the GMT400 glass 7x6" dual rectangular system (e.g., using E-code refectors from Bosch or Hella) on my '98 Suburban, but needed to find a grill in good cosmetic condition, and radiator support and associated hardware in functional condition, and then swap it all onto / in place of what I have now. I decided to pursue the GM Brazil option instead, but I still think the 7x6" retrofit is a good option for others.

Yes, the composite reflectors do get hazy if they see a lot of sun and I assume the units from GM Brazil are no different. I've gotten most of mine covered with 3M headlight UV protection film.
 
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1998_K1500_Sub

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(back on the subject of the GM Brazil reflectors)

I heard back my Brazil contact who helped buy the reflectors, receive them on my behalf in Brazil, (re)package them and ship them to me in the US back in 2019, and he said "it's good to talk to you again, I can help you, yes, and with great pleasure, order whatever you want".

So the conduit from Brazil to the US appears to be open.

Now, the notion of "group buy" doesn't seem to play well in this scenario, but let me see what I can do. This isn't going to happen overnight, but I think it's going to happen.

Stay tuned.

Those of you who are genuinely interested, PM me so I can get a list of those interested.

Here's a link to one vendor who's posting on Mercado Livre, with lots of nice pictures of the product; the price is in B$ with free shipping (to Brazil).


Don't forget, my contact needs an incentive to buy the item, receive, repackage, and ship to the US (I think I gave him 15% of all costs last time, but need to confirm with him), and then there's the effective exchange rate (I send him money via Paypal) which right now is 5.3:1 (US$100 yields B$529.98)

I haven't checked lately to see how much shipping from Brazil to the US might cost...
 
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454cid

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I've tried two aftermarket reflector brands here (TYC and one other, can't remember the name) and they were both junk. Oh yeah, they looked cute (both were compound reflectors, clear... looked good on the Suburban) but on both brands the illumination pattern was crap (blotches of light here and there) and on one pair they leaked and held water.

I just ordered and received a new set of TYC headlights (the whole front actually). I ordered them knowing the beam pattern may not be ideal since I have TYC headlights on my Saturn SL2. When it's foggy out, I can really see the weirdo beam pattern, especially with the high beams. It'll be a quick fix for the very yellow/cloudy original lights.

(reply to 351FUN's post, above)

Agreed "glass housings". I considered retrofitting the GMT400 glass 7x6" dual rectangular system (e.g., using E-code refectors from Bosch or Hella) on my '98 Suburban, but needed to find grill in good cosmetic condition, and radiator support and associated hardware in functional condition, and then swap it all onto / in place of what I have now. I decided to pursue the GM Brazil option instead, but I still think the 7x6" retrofit is a good option for others.

Yes, the composite reflectors do get hazy if they see a lot of sun and I assume the units from GM Brazil are no different. I've gotten most of mine covered with 3M headlight UV protection film.

Is there more than one dual rectangular system? I thought it was just a matter of buying the proper headlight buckets, not grille and core support.

Great to hear that the Brazil contact is willing to help again.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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Re: dual rectangular system

I looked closely at ONE junk GMT400 that had the dual 7x6" headlamps. The grill was entirely different (from my 1998 Suburban's, anyway) so as to ensconce the 7x6" lamps, and the 7x6" buckets / radiator support were designed for each other (and were different from mine).

Here's a couple of pictures from two other trucks with the 7x6" headlamps (neither of these is the one I looked at closely, BTW).
 

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1998_K1500_Sub

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Re: Yellow, cloudy lights

Over the years I've taken three pairs of yellow / cloudy reflectors to a local body shop (two pairs from two different Lexus RXs and one pair from a 2008 Civic) and had them buffed-out; I was charged $30 to $100 for the pair (depends on who does the work and what they feel like charging on that particular day). Net-net: The results are remarkable and not prohibitively expensive. Yes, one might try this at home, but I didn't.

Buffing them does, reportedly, leave the reflectors subject to rapid UV deterioration, so I always follow-up by having them covered with 3M headlight UV protection film (which generally cost $50 for the pair). YMMV.
 

454cid

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Re: dual rectangular system

I looked closely at ONE junk GMT400 that had the dual 7x6" headlamps. The grill was entirely different (from my 1998 Suburban's, anyway) so as to ensconce the 7x6" lamps, and the 7x6" buckets / radiator support were designed for each other (and were different from mine).

Here's a couple of pictures from two other trucks with the 7x6" headlamps (neither of these is the one I looked at closely, BTW).

Oh, those are the single light system.... H6054 bulbs. Different grille, corner lights, turn signals, and connectors, but the core support is the same. Usually people switch from that grille, but a few swap to it.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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(back on the subject of the GM Brazil reflectors)

OK, so I asked my contact in Brazil to contact a few vendors (I gave him a list of three) to see if any had six (6) pairs of reflectors.

He replied earlier this evening that this vendor does have at least six.


So here's the fun. If you want a pair, let's talk dollars.

In 2019, I paid my contact (same person as now) 20% of the total... that's 20% above both the product cost and shipping cost to US. (I had, in an earlier post in this thread, said 15%, but looking back through my notes from when I did this in 2019 I found it was 20%).

PayPal is converting money from US$ to B$ at the rate of 1 USD = 5.3396 BRL as of this evening... but, when my contact accepts that money from PayPal they only give him 93.3% of the total, so (if using PayPal) one has to send even more to make up for the shrinkage. So let’s do some math:

Pair reflectors B$1370.00
20% "fee" B$274
PayPal Xchgn 5.3396 B$/US$
PayPal fee to recipient 93.3% (need to divide by this to get total US$)
-------------------------------
Net cost before shipping to US: $330.00 even

That's quite a far cry from simply assuming a product cost of B$1370 and a market exchange rate of 5.6:1 ( https://www.google.com/search?q=usd+brl )

So that's where we're at. I'm not in this for any money, I'm just facilitating. My contact, tho, has been (in 2019) and is now very responsive... and for good reason, he's in it for the money and I've agreed to reward him to the tune of 20% now as I did in 2019.

So if anyone's still interested in acquiring a set of these, stand up and be counted. If so, we'll figure out what to do about shipping, next.

If not, I can't say I blame you. I went through all this (and more) back in 2019 when I started down this path of acquisition; since then I've managed to repress the nuiscance "cost adders" shown above and enjoy what I managed to acquire.

PS: The exchange fees added by Paypal amount to about 12.4%. My contact and I are discussing other options for payment which might be more US$ efficient.
 
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1ton-o-fun

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Hmmm... I feel like it's one of those things that I may think, "Gee, I wish I would have snagged a set of those when I had the chance..."
But the immediate reality of MY situation is that it just doesn't make sense financially. I appreciate your efforts on this none the less.
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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(other items from Brazil)

The GM Brazil OEM GMT400 taillights differ from the US models.

This is something we haven't talked about much, if at all, and I can't say that I'm particularly thrilled by them, but if I could get them for a decent price I might consider a pair.
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See


Remember that the price listed is in B$, not US$.
 

df2x4

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I know we've discussed those in a previous thread, but I think it's buried deep in the 200+ page Spyder headlight thread somewhere. Seems like they would be nice for people dealing with laws that require amber turn signals. I agree though, I'm not a huge fan of the looks.

Here's some Arteb lighting part numbers for these trucks that I dug up from that thread. The parking lights look the same as what we got here in the US to my eyes but I could be wrong. Interestingly a Google search for the parking light part numbers brings up eBay Australia results, listed as Holden parts.

HEADLIGHTS:

Left Side - 93255734 (Original Code) - 0160191 (Arteb Code)

Right Side - 93255735 (Original Code) - 0160192 (Arteb Code)


PARKING LIGHTS:

Left Side - 93235989 (Original Code) - 0560107 (Arteb Code)

Right Side - 93235990 (Original Code) - 0560108 (Arteb Code)


TAIL LIGHTS:

Left Side - 93255736 (Original Code) - 0460181 (Arteb Code)

Right Side - 93255737 (Original Code) - 0460182 (Arteb Code)
 
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