upgraded lights

I have upgraded my 1973 V8 to halogen - it does make a vast difference to easing night time driving.

That said, shop around and make sure you get the correct lamps. You don't want the lamps with the 'pilot bulb' built in as the ones in the Ebay ad seem to have.

I bought my set of Cibie halogens from Wins - reasonably priced, good quality and the right lamps!
 
Mick

I've upgraded to Cibie halogens for the outer dip/main lights only. Easy job to do and certainly well worth it if you're going to be doing lots of driving in the dark. The 75W inners are more than up to the job so I wouldn't bother with halogens for them.

Dave
 
Dave3066 said:
I've upgraded to Cibie halogens for the outer dip/main lights only. Easy job to do and certainly well worth it if you're going to be doing lots of driving in the dark. The 75W inners are more than up to the job so I wouldn't bother with halogens for them.
Click to expand...

Dave, are they a direct replacement for the standard sealed beam units? Or does anything else electrical need to be changed/added?

Will.
 
PAE has halogens i got from Ian at rover classics... (figured they'd all definitely fit that way!)

Easy to do, and does work.

Series 1 fuseboxes should be ok from what i've heard, but you should be careful with your fusebox if you have a series 2 .... unless you're a pyromaniac... Have a search around for details. Think Nick Dunning posted a fire from one not long ago?

Rich
 
I've upgraded the sealed beam units on mine to more modern bulb type. They came from the local motor factors and are Lucas. I believe the lights are intended for a Jag XJ40. They're a little less domed than the original sealed beams which may be a problem for those who want a completely original look, but the light output is excellent. Having said that, I never drove the car with the original lights, but comparing brightness when I did the swap, the new ones were far superior.

Regarding mods to get them to fit, the lights were a bolt in swap. No modifications were necessary and the original wiring plugs straight in, so getting the lights to work is easy. HOWEVER (and this is the important bit), if the new bulbs are a higher wattage than the original sealed beams, then the current draw through the system will be greater. Because of this, I intend to fit relays to the system to reduce the load on the switches and particularly the fuse box with its propensity for spontaneous combustion. A new +ve fused supply will need running to the relays, appropriately sized for the new bulbs. The original light wiring can then be used to switch the relay, and the original fuse box fuse reduced in size as is appropriate for the new relay. For the ammeter to register correctly, the new relay +ve feed will need connecting to the ammeter shunt.

I've not done the maths yet, so apologies for not having any figures for specific relay or fuse sizes but this can be calculated using the formula

P=VI
Power (watts) = Voltage (volts) x Current (amps)

T
 
willmills71 said:
Dave3066 said:
I've upgraded to Cibie halogens for the outer dip/main lights only. Easy job to do and certainly well worth it if you're going to be doing lots of driving in the dark. The 75W inners are more than up to the job so I wouldn't bother with halogens for them.
Click to expand...

Dave, are they a direct replacement for the standard sealed beam units? Or does anything else electrical need to be changed/added?

Will.
Click to expand...


Hi Will

^^^^^^^^what Tom said^^^^^^^^

:D Direct replacement, no modification required.

Vast difference in light output though.

Dave
 
A friend and I replaced my original Lucas 75 Watt high beam inner lights 21 years ago. A pair of 100 Watt Hella Pencil Beam Driving lights were fitted, the supply running through a pair of relays. The original 75 Watt lights were better than what most cars had at the time but the Hella lights were on a different page altogether. Talk about bright... :shock: they turned night into day. It said on the box that they were illegal in Europe.

Ron.
 
SydneyRoverP6B said:
It said on the box that they were illegal in Europe.
Click to expand...

That doesn't tend to worry a lot of people in Europe these days :roll:

I'm sure they can't be any worse than the lights on new cars these days.

Dave
 
DaveHerns said:
Are we referring to HiD Xenon headlights on modern cars ? They are fantastic if you're the driver
Click to expand...

I'm sure they are Dave but for everyone else who has to put up with the blinding light whenever the car goes over a bump etc.......they're a real pain..... :evil:

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top