Headlight aiming/fitment problems - 02 Camaro

Birdie2000

Club Member
Bought a car recently that already had Depo whistlered headlights installed. They fit poorly and were aimed such that I couldn't see the road at night (too low). I tried aiming them but am having trouble getting them where I need them, plus the fit just looks flat out wonky. Admittedly this is my first time aiming headlights, but it doesn't seem like it should be this difficult. Anyone else have any issues with fitment or aim on these headlights?

Here are some pics for reference after I attempted to aim them. The top of the blue tape is even with the approximate centerline of the headlights from the ground, and the lower edge is 2" below that which is where the low beams supposedly should be aimed at. The inside edge of the vertical tape is the distance from the centerline of the car to the approximate centerline of the low (outer) and high (inner) beams on the headlight housing. Also I have included some before and afters of the fitment of the headlight versus the body of the car. The light shots are before aiming and dark shots after.







Low Beams:


High Beams:


The high beams are very obviously aimed to the left a bit and possibly too high which is no good, but when looking at the low beam pattern the center of the light concentration seems to be centered properly despite more "bleed" of the pattern to the left which is again, no good. The fitment of the lights seems to suggest the same.

Thoughts?
 
Did the brackets that hold them look ok? I wonder if they got bent at all. I know when I replaced the ones on my car I had some fitment issues as well and just dealt with it after much messing around. I was just happy to get a fairly even pattern. I had to aim mine down a little since I retrofit HID's in the housings. I didn't want to blind anyone.
 
Aftermarket housings usually fit like crap to begin with. I'd say see if anyone has an oem set and see how that works. Also is it possible that the car was hit in the front before and that's an aftermarket bumper cover?
 
The brackets have been cut to accept these housings, which seems really weird to me. I really hope the car wasn't hit before as I specifically asked the previous owner and it wasn't disclosed to me, but that said the engine bay is so clean that it would surprise me. The bumper does seem to have more orange peel than the rest of the car, but I suppose a plastic bumper likely painted at a different location contributes to that sorta thing even on stock cars.
 
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