Brighter headlights

[IndyCobra]

Originally Posted by Dwight

the Summit part number that I have is HLA-70477 for the bucket and HLA-78159 for the 100/80 watt bulb

Dwight

I could not find these part numbers online in the Summit catalog. Are they the standard 7" replacement lense assemblies?

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by IndyCobra

I could not find these part numbers online in the Summit catalog. Are they the standard 7" replacement lense assemblies?

I also did a search on Summit for both part numbers and came up empty. Can someone post a link to where you found them?

Thanks,

[Got the Bug]

I went with the hella H4 60/55w Xenon lights and it was a significant improvement over the stock sealed bulb. I may try the 100/80W lights if one burns out. I have my lights on a lot (regular drive over a windy hwy to meet up with other Cobra owners) so the lower draw 60/55w lights are a safe bet with the stock SPF wiring.

[RedBarchetta]

Doug, thanks for the post. I'm going to do this upgrade and was concerned that the 100/80's would just suck the life out of the factory wiring over time. I honestly don't drive a whole lot when it's dark, and when I do it's for shorter (under 25 miles) distances. Still, I need something better than what's on there now and have to run the high beams just to see the road.

-Dean

[Randy Rosenberg]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Doug, thanks for the post. I'm going to do this upgrade and was concerned that the 100/80's would just suck the life out of the factory wiring over time. I honestly don't drive a whole lot when it's dark, and when I do it's for shorter (under 25 miles) distances. Still, I need something better than what's on there now and have to run the high beams just to see the road.

-Dean

I've been running 100/80's in my Hellas for 5+ years. I drive with them on mostly in the winter when driving 30+ minutes to breakfast on Saturday mornings. I have neven had a problem, other than an isolated problem with my headlight relay that I attribute to poor quality, not running 100/80's.

Maybe Blas has an opinion on this topic for SPFs...

[capteddie]

Can someone post a link to the Hella lights?

Thanks,

Ed

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by capteddie

Can someone post a link to the Hella lights?

Thanks,

Ed

Both Randy and I bought them from Rally Lights.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=739

[capteddie]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

Both Randy and I bought them from Rally Lights.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=739

Great!!! Thank you!

[mickmate]

Hot Rod did an article on old cars and poor lighting. They discovered headlights weren't getting the voltage they needed and wired them off the alternator like Cobra 29's suggestion. I just changed some to the PL700's and they seem to work well, I don't know the bulb numbers in them.

[RedBarchetta]

CC paging Blas...Come in Blas...Do you copy, over?

EDIT: I just PM'd him.

[Rwillia4]

I have run with the PIAA Super White H4 100/80 bulbs before in Hella lens and they did work better than stock. BUT they are nothing compared to the HID setup I am currently using. READ: They H4 bulbs are no where close to HID.

The rewiring took about an hour to complete. Power draw is only 35 watts.The system I purchased is $200, so it is a little steep but WELL worth every penny. http://www.shopxenon.com/vi_60.htm
I went with the 6000K model -white with a slight tint of blue.
...and with a 2 year warranty on the kit, it is a no brainer IMHO.

If you do stick with halogen bulbs PIAA makes the best bulbs and not all watt rating equal lumans on the road.

[PANAVIA]

My personal feeling is 55/60W H4 bulbs with the Hella conversion cases is OK with SPF stock wiring. This is a tremendous upgrade from the 2D1 sealed beams.

--However anything hotter (amp wise ,like an 80+w constant bulb) I would upgrade the headlamp wiring with a relay kit.

2 key items ;

I > You are using a Lucas repro headlight switch
If you go beyond 60W's you are now feeding way more amperage through the switch than intended by design.

II > The Wipac lamp bucket wiring inserts.
In the stock SPF headlamp assemblies (with the wiring colored as various blues) are sourced from WIPAC, a classic British light supplier. they come with a wiring insert for the socket and supporting it is a pretty tiny gauge of wire, like 22ga. This is a smaller ga. than the say 20ga SPF car wiring that feeds them from the headlamp switch.

-- both of which I was personally uncomfortable with running my Proposed Hella H4 80-130s on.

OK, here is the AMPERAGE Math ;

A> (Normal Hella H4 55-60W) 55W bulb x 2 headlights = 110Watts.
Watts / Volts = AMPs. --- so 110/12= 9.16Amps@55W

B> (Hella 80W base 80-130W) 80W bulb x 2 headlights = 160Watts.
Watts / Volts = AMPs. --- so 160/12= 13.3A @80W

C> (Hella 130W high beam) 130W bulb x 2 headlights = 260Watts.
Watts / Volts = AMPs. --- so 260/12= 21.6A @130W ( High Beam )

So in this case ; " B" This crossed my internal rule of no electrical circuit loaded more than 50% during normal use.

Wire Gauges and ratings ; -- and when I looked at the 22 ga. wiring in the buckets and consulted my handy ga/amps chart I found the following

22ga. rated to 7A.
20ga. rated to 9A.
18ga rated to 16A.
16ga. rated to 22A.

so 18ga would be fine. --

so I upgraded the headlamp harness - using the painless kit.

--- and now my headlamp switch is just in control of the relay circuit and not the ...

wait for it; " amperage of the lamperage".

--and I have been a happy (well lit) camper ever since.


Steve

[RedBarchetta]

Thanks for the education, Steve. You definitely helped me with my choice.

-Dean

[Bxx1]

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

Thanks for the education, Steve. You definitely helped me with my choice.

-Dean

Ditto...

[Blas]

The Lucas dash switch routes power to the parking lights, dash lights and the trip circuit on the headlight relay. Headlight power does not pass thru this dash switch. (NOTE: Newer SPF chassis also have a tap for driving lights from this same switch, which would run to another relay which is not provided with the chassis).

The wiring feeding the headlights from the headlight relay is 1.5mm. (1.5mm translates to approx. 14.7ga) to each headlight bucket from the relay and the wire length is approx 8 feet long to each headlight. There is a 2mm power feed to the headlight relay which actually supplies the power to the headlights.

I have a call into WISCO for information on the wiring supplied with the lighting units. No reply as of yet. My car is in winter storage or I’d pop a lens off and take a look.

I totally agree the 90/130 bulbs are too much for the standard wiring. But I believe the problem with the fusing headlight relays is the momentary power surge when you switch between low beams and high beams. You are running both bulb filaments for a split second.

[RedBarchetta]

You guys remember that scene in Apollo 13 when they are trying to figure out the correct sequence to power up the CM without blowing any circuits or exceeding a certain number of amps? I think that was Blas next to the astronaut telling him how to do it correctly.

-Dean

[Bxx1]

Again, many thanks to Blas regarding your electrical knowledge. Another CC member has been running 100/80 bulbs with no problems but he reports that he doesnt use his lights much and rarely goes to the hi beams.
I would like to upgrade my headlight wiring... is the process you mention difficult? (as my skills are limited) or can a competent car mechanic do it?
Thanks again!
Ron

[kitcarbp]

While we are on the topic, I found this vendor who sells a reasonably priced quality harness for low and high beam operation, I may just have to try this one on my car, made in the USA as well.

http://www.rjminjectiontech.com/?p=8

[cdnus]

Good find, not worth the trouble of making up a harness for that price.
Unless you already have the materials on the shelf, which most of us don't.

Craig

[lal Naja]

Has anyone had issues with heat within the headlight light fixture when using 80/100 watt halogen bulbs?

Has anyone cut breathing holes/slots into the top and bottom of the metal bucket into which the lens, reflector & bulb fit to keep everything cool?

Arthur