Boyo, I just re-did a couple cheapo / cheezie 4' flourescents made in China jobs that I bought about 15 years ago with new solid state ballasts and the newer T8 tubes. I bought the ballasts that handle 4 bulbs at a time and set the 4 footers 2 feet apart end to end above my work bench. THEY ARE SWEET!!! and all it cost was about $40 for a ballast and 4 tubes to do each pair. A new 4 tube solid state fixture was $79 + the cost of tubes so I saved a few bucks and didn't have to throw away good sheet metal. If you go with flourescents spend the extra bucks and get solid state. They light right up in freezing weather and NO ANNOYING BUZZZZZ. . . plus you can pick from a variety of cool, warm, full spectrum colors. Buy as high a wattage as you can get too. I think mine were 4 x 36 Watt.
