"Berang" (berang)
06/26/2016 at 19:25 • Filed to: vintage car, saab, headlights
1
6|
"Berang" (berang)
06/26/2016 at 19:25 • Filed to: vintage car, saab, headlights | 1
| 6 |
H4 conversion for 7" sealed beams. Let’s lighten it up now.
Sealed beam headlights are crazy. The bulb, lens, reflector, are all one big blob of glass. The design is moisture proof, and basically shock proof. but the bulbs are also dim and there are limitations to what can be done with beam pattern. Low beam on these old ones is only 35 watts.
I bought some round headlights that will take an ordinary H4 bulb off of Amazon. They were very cheap, made in Taiwan, but reviews on forums and elsewhere gave them good reviews, and compared to the Hella units which cost way more and are made in India, the quality seems well enough.
Anyway, the way sealed beams are mounted is they’re held into an adjustable bucket by a retaining ring. The ring was originally held in my some screws and plastic mounts which had long since disappeared. The PO used some copper wire to secure the retaining ring, and I just copied them. Using galvanized wire instead because the nearest Home Depot somehow didn’t have any copper left.
With everything twisted up tight the new light is mounted surprisingly solidly. Low beams are brighter at 55 watts instead of 35, and high beams seem to put out a lot more light a lot higher up. Will adjust properly when it gets dark out. Then we’ll see how they hold up in real use, and if I’d have been better off springing for some genuine Hella or Cibie lights.
dogisbadob
> Berang
06/26/2016 at 19:56 |
|
The best cheap option is the GE Nighthawk sealed beam. H6024NH. But it has to be Nighthawk. They are US-made and also 55w.
Sad to see the Hellas made in India. At least their rectangular conversions still seem to be German. I actually looked on eBay, and found some German 7-inch round Hellas. All the Hellas I was able to find are made in Germany. Here and here
Of course, Hella makes several different sealed beam conversions (E-code, Vision Plus, Free Form, etc), but German-made Hellas are definitely still available.
There’s also the Autopal from India, most likely on par with the Taiwan lights you have now.
If you can afford Hella/Cibie, get one of those. If not, GE Nighthawk.
Also, there’s a really good LED 7-inch headlight called JW Speaker. Unfortunately, they make even Cibie look like a bargain!
|
Berang
> dogisbadob
06/26/2016 at 20:00 |
|
Yes I’ve seen the Autopal lights too. I actually bought these ones because the seller’s photo was wrong, and I thought I was buying a Cibie clone (there’s one out there that I’ve seen VW guys using, unfortunately this is not it) but I figured I may as well give them a shot.
|
dogisbadob
> Berang
06/26/2016 at 20:05 |
|
I think Autopal is supposed to be a Cibie clone, actually.
Anyway, good luck with them. What kind of bulbs do you plan on using? I’m a big fan of the Osram Nightbreaker.
And of course, if they don’t work out, there’s always the GE Nighthawk
|
Berang
> dogisbadob
06/26/2016 at 20:10 |
|
Autopal is different. These are what I was looking for:
http://www.busdepot.com/nl910ch4/
And now that I see they’re on sale I think I’ll get them 9 _ 9
|
dogisbadob
> Berang
06/26/2016 at 20:21 |
|
Always nice when they’re on sale! They also have the Hellas on sale for $69/pair which is a hella good deal
94RRC
> Berang
06/27/2016 at 15:58 |
|
If you’re looking to make those new lights even brighter, wire in a relay that is triggered off of your headlamp switch hooked up to the battery. You’ll get a good 13-14V without the resistance that the old wiring causes.
I’ve done this headlamp upgrade and the relay upgrade on my old range rover and on an old w123 Benz. It’s like night and day.