did any first gens come with the one piece compostite headlights ?
and if so is the header panel interchangeable with a cavalier ??

im looking into doing a sealed beam to composite conversion and was just trying to find the easiest routeto do it

did cimmerons or sunbirds come with composite headlights ?


update:brakes are done, exhaust is done(my 20 dollar glasspack sounds awesome), vacuum lines are all done and fixed(car starts right up and idles perfect now), currently fixing seat bolts and interior wiring, so i can put console in and the stereo...then body shop and top

e.t.a: end of jan-begining of march

88 + cavalier had composite headlights. in order to swap them, you need the entire front end of the car.


im gonna go out on a limb and guess that you are wanting a replacable bulb instead of sealed beams. in the case, bosch/hella makes an h4 conversions kit to replace sealed beams. the housing is a direct fit, and it comes with the adaptor for the wiring. its a direct swap, and it lets you use an h4/9003 bulb on the market.

i have them in my car, best thing i ever did.

86 + 87 (I think) Cimmarons had a one piece composite headlamp, and the header panel should fit the cavalier just fine. Not sure what wiring changes you'll need to make, but that would work if you're going for an easy swap.

I believe the Firenzas also had them in 86 or 87 on some models, but I rarely see them, and the header panel looks very different than the Cavalier. Cimmaron would be the best bet.

Also, the Cimmaron bumper and air dam have cutouts for foglamps. I always thought it would look sharp to swap one over to a Cav.

Good luck with the swap & post pics!

Here's some pics just FYI.



Also, this is an 88 Firenza, but it retained the 1st gen body style that year, as it was the final year of production. Didn't get the newer roofline like the Sunbird and Cav.

I wonder if you inverted the Cimmaron Lights and did some fiberglass work if you couldn't fit them into the cav's header panel. If you flipped them, they look like they'd match the cav's grille, etc.

hmm...perhaps, im gonna go to the junk yard and see what i can find, id like to keep the cav header panel, i kinda like my z24 grill
i was looking at an early 90's buick skylark the other day the the headlights look like they would fit without too much trouble but i'd have to glass in the headlight buckets and then change the wiring over

and i need to have eveything roughed in in a month, for my bodyshop appt

i guess the header panel isnt a big deal i can get this done and mess around with the one i have off of my parts car and if it works out can just paint and transplant that one, but those inverted cimmeron lights look promising...now i just have to find the damn things

thanks alot.

It looks like the Caddy has a slightly different hood, it seems to be less flat than a 1st gen Cavalier. at least on the '88 model. The Firenza kinda looks like a Cutlass Ciera. I've only seen one Firenza like that up here in Thunder Bay ON Canada. Its one of the more aerodynamic 1st gens out there. I thought I heard they made Firenza's until '89 or did I hear wrong?


Bob Larrett

87 Cavalier Z24 Hatchback
82 Cavalier Type 10 Hatchback

I beleive it was 88 but I can't be certain. I need to brush up on the other J-bodies and their history.
Poor Firenza / Skyhawk / Cimarron owners always seem to be left in the dark. But that's why we need them to post here! To keep us all informed!

And yes, the Caddy hood is a different contour. Actually doesn't look that bad, but you would have to swap the hood & header panel to acheive a uniform look to your car from what I can see. Invert the headlights and get crazy with the fiberglass!

I tried to search for a post about composite headlamps here from about a year or two ago but had no luck. Someone on this board did a custom composite install from a pair of Celebrity lights I believe. Not sure if it ever got 100% finished or not, but I recall seeing a few pictures of his work. Anyone else?

fenders look longer......


1st 1st gen on air.....

Yes, 1988 was the last year for the Firenzas. I've had this car for almost 5 years now, and I refuse to let it go! I love that little car. It has a '94 Cavalier 2.2 in it, the nose was smoked right off it and I put it back together with the fiberglass "domed" hood and all. As for the headlights,They're from Autozone. Pilot Company makes the direct fit ones, so you just have to change the wiring a little bit on the plug, and they work excellent. Depending on how many watt bulbs you use, you may need to wire in a headlight relay. When I put my hi-beams on for more than a couple of minutes, the overload protection breaker in the dash switch made the lights flash on and off. A simple Bosch 30 amp relay wired in solved the problem. I WAS going to butch in a couple of '88 Caprice Classic headlights in the front, but as we all know, damn Firenzas have the turn signal lights are in between the headlights. That would look stupid. They probably would fit very well in the header of a 1st gen Cavy though. Same size as 2 reg. lights wide.