Headlights

Russbus

Active Member
I set about changing my dull old headlights today with some bought of ebay.
Took old ones off and cleaned the chrome outers that hold the units in place offered up a new one and turns out they were ( for a better word) crap. The housing for the bulbs on 3 of them were 45 degrees out of line so the beam was pointing to the middle of the car, the bulbs were not new but looked used and slightly rusty and the silver trim did not hold them in place due to the unit being to thin.
So back on went on the old ones and an email sent to the supplier but not got a reply yet.
It did not spoil the hours good drive in the car before I started the job.
Got to love classic motoring
 
I set about changing my dull old headlights today with some bought of ebay.
Took old ones off and cleaned the chrome outers that hold the units in place offered up a new one and turns out they were ( for a better word) crap. The housing for the bulbs on 3 of them were 45 degrees out of line so the beam was pointing to the middle of the car, the bulbs were not new but looked used and slightly rusty and the silver trim did not hold them in place due to the unit being to thin.
So back on went on the old ones and an email sent to the supplier but not got a reply yet.
It did not spoil the hours good drive in the car before I started the job.
Got to love classic motoring
I cleaned and polished my headlight surrounds the other day I was surprised just how well they polished up they was jet black from the road dust all that dirt kept the metal in good condition underneath.
Sounds like you have been having fun with your headlights. Since cleaning my headlight surrounds one of the headlights is slightly lose in the surround even though the screws are tight there is a slight movement not a lot but it’s enough I wonder if the surrounds was packed out with something? It’s like the dirt was holding them firm in place strange one.
 
Since cleaning my headlight surrounds one of the headlights is slightly lose in the surround even though the screws are tight there is a slight movement not a lot but it’s enough I wonder if the surrounds was packed out with something? It’s like the dirt was holding them firm in place strange one.

Lucas units used to rest in 3 tiny deformable brackets, that "gave" somewhat when the headlight was pushed back in order to protect the glass from small impacts. If these brackets are deformed, then the light will be loose in its mounting. However, you can prise them carefully back to their original shape, and the light will be tight against its base again.
 
Lucas units used to rest in 3 tiny deformable brackets, that "gave" somewhat when the headlight was pushed back in order to protect the glass from small impacts. If these brackets are deformed, then the light will be loose in its mounting. However, you can prise them carefully back to their original shape, and the light will be tight against its base again.
Thank you so much Demetris,
That explains that one at the time I just put it back together and thought oh well a job for another day I was tired from all that polishing and the pub was about to open :p
 
Am I correct in thinking that if I fit relays for the headlights out near the lights that their drain will not show on the ammeter?
thanks
jp
 
If you feed the relays from the ammeter shunt, the consumption will register in the ammeter.
If you feed them directly from the battery, it will not.
 
Whats involved physically in doing that? Where is the shunt - in the dash?
thanks
jp
 
A brown/white feed comes from the shunt (behind the dash) to the light switch. This doesn't need to have to carry as much power if you're only using the light switch to fire the relays, so I used this (now redundant HD wire) for the pick up. I then ran two wires from it to the relays behind the headlights. I took a smaller wire from this brown/white one to the original position on the switch, so I could still utilise the switch for controlling the lights.

This way, you're using existing wiring for the power, no need to find the shunt and mess around with that, and also existing wiring with a much reduced wattage to switch the relays. This takes all the power away from the fuse box and much of the original wiring

I did use fused relays so didn't need separate fuses. I have modified the diagram below slightly as the M Relay on the right now runs both outer mains, and the M Relay on the left runs both inners.

This is just how I wired my halogens, I'm not saying it's right, but it does work :)

Oh, and I took the time to draw a small wiring diagram to remind me what I had done, just in case anything went wrong in the future :)

after.jpg
 
Sent the headlights back on Monday and got a refund today , I reckon that's a good result as it could have been dragged out but credit to them for sorting the problem out fast .
I cleaned the original middle 2 lenses after noticing they have bulbs so i have ordered 2 halogen bulbs and reordered 2 outer new lenses with halogen bulbs that have been fitted today and they look smart now and brighter .
I used the same size watt bulbs as original so no extra strain on wiring .
 
That is a good result, the original lamps are a bit dim it’s like driving with sunglasses on at night amazing really when you think originally that’s all the light you had to drive with. You should be ok but just keep an eye on the fuse box they can have a nasty habit of catching fire mine did using the original headlamps heat marks on the paper fuse board backing is a sign it’s getting to hot also some of the box itself can look distorted from the heat fitting relays can help.
 
I put a set of I think pram night breakers on my stag I think p6 lights are the same there quite alot brighter than normal bulbs but cost about £30
 
I put a set of I think pram night breakers on my stag I think p6 lights are the same there quite alot brighter than normal bulbs but cost about £30
I have never tried them did you find there was significant improvement?
you would think that producers of Led headlights would get together with government to produce a led unit that was legally allowed to use on the road after all it’s only a headlight and could improve road safety
 
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