HID lights
 

I really like the period look of the Lucas P700 lights but I've read in a few places that they're not too effective at night. So I started looking at HID/Xenon upgrades. I don't want ricer blue lights, I just want good clear vision at night that doesn't scatter and blind oncoming drivers.

I'm going to contact this ebay seller as he's not far from Melbourne. They're E marked ("E rated" as he says) and look to have the same locating tabs as my standard H4 units.

Toyota Landcruiser 40 45 47 55 60 70 75 78 79 series HID Hi/Lo 7" round lights | eBay

Has anyone gone down this path?

Paul I was thinking of this also, and decided against it - I don't think the aftermarket kits are really that good. Have a chat to Anthony at Classic and Vintage Bulbs http://www.classicandvintagebulbs.com and he will tell you all you need to know about them. I bought my headlights from him, great guy to deal with and he really knows automotive lighting!

Ben

My checking showed some potential dangers from melting wires or joins with the HID/xenon kits. I find the P700s pretty effective for the limited night driving I do.

they are more of a pain than anything
most of the ones for slae around the internet and even at shops are the cheap ones
and the globes fail more regularly

if u buy a genuine kit then its expensive for the kit and replacement globes

all u need is upgraded wiring
and get some good brand 90 /130 watt globes
u need to find the globes that give a nice white/blue light

normal globes i tell people actually give a yellow orange light
and thats y the new blue globes come in
if u get the correct blue globes its actually a nice white/blue
not a japanese ricer boys wanker car

i have a guy i buy alot of electrical bits froma nd he knows his globes
so find soemone like that
dont ask repco or super**** stores as they have nfi

they are cheap anyway so buy afew sets and see which ones u like

u can even get good 55/60 watts globes which are std wattage
but if your worried the next globe up is 90 /130 and will work very good

Just be careful with the ADR requirements, with Xenon I think it is mandatory to fit wiper or pressure washer and also self levelling device. But not an area we are expert on as we have avoilded them.

We have had great success with those high quality H4 bulbs, the expensive ones that are spec'd with better light output etc, not brighter, but just cleaner/whiter light out of them. I think they are called names like ultra blue, white lightening etc. See Hella and Narva brands.

I think most of the light output comes from the assembly/reflector design, not really the bulb. Of course better bulbs will help, but its impotant to get a well designed reflector.

yes and these days there is so much chinese **** out there
no one knows whats good and whats bad and what your going to get

OK thanks guys, think I'll steer clear for now.

I just got back from a trade supplier expo/ managers conference on the Gold Coast. Much to my suprise it was mentioned that although HID lights are readily available they are not permitted for road use.
Investigate any options fully, best to cover your butt from a legal/ ADR/ insurance perspective.

The new range of Narva Intense, Arctic etc globes are a cheap alternative to standard globes. They draw the same current but provide extra 'volume' of light, a slightly blue (barely) but much crisper white light. The Narva dark blue have been discontinued from Supercheap stores as they are not ADR approved, I would stress this point to any customer before they made a purchase.
I have Narva globes in the old TR magna and EF falcon, they do make a noticable difference, I don't think the EF would be drivable at night without them. The downside of these 'performance' globes is a shorter life span, I can live with that compromise.

Sideshow, please never mention the R#@%^ word in my prescence. :mad: :rolleyes:

heheh
strange y they say hids are illegal
dont some of the euro cars have them from factory

we all know that so many new cars have illegal parts on them but the authorities
turn a blind eye to them heheheehehehehe

Apparently they need to be auto-levelling and have spray washers fitted. Not too practical on a cobra.

It's funny this subject should come up. A few months back I did a HID conversion and put angel eyes (like BMW) in the lights of my AU Pursuit 250. I made a bit of a deal with the blokes that supply the units that I would show them how to do the whole thing and they are going to supply it as a kit. I don't think too many people have done the AU quad headlight setup like this.

Here's the angel eyes when I first fired them up.

http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1338425317

The HID lights certainly pump out a lot of light for only 55Watts and it's a very cool white light which is good for my drive home from work as I'm in the country and we get a few roos on the road.

I got an extra set of HID lights with the intention of doing my P700s at a later date. I've been doing some measurements and working on machining up some adapters to make them fit where the original bulbs go. I've stil got a bit more testing to do but I reckon I can make them work.

The main issue is getting the globe in the right position to suit the reflector on the P700. The commonly available P700 while it uses a H4 pattern is actually not a standard H4 bulb. The globe is about 1/2" shorter than a regular one to suit the shape of the reflector.

As far as legality?? The P700s aren't E marked so technicaly you shouldn't be running them anyway.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Cheers

One of the advantages of the HID or xenon lights is they draw a lot less power. They are only draw 35 to 55 Watts for a lot more light output. That means less current required than the regular lights and no need for extra relays, heavier wiring etc.

If you are not sure how they work they are actually an arc light rather than a fillament like a regular globe. They have a ballast attached to them that takes a 12VDC input and turns it into a 22KV AC output. This arcs accros a gap inside the globe. The globe is filled with an inert gas that the arc jumps easily through and some metal salts. The arc jumping through the gas starts the reaction. The metal salts are superheated and form a ball of plasma which produces the ultra bright light. This is why when you turn them on they take 10 seconds or so to warm up and they get progressively brighter as more of the metal salts are heated and turn into plasma.

It's the same technology in mercury vapour highbay lights in factorys etc. The Highbay takes a while to warm up because the mercury takes a while to completely turn to plasma. Also anyone who has them will know that when you turn them off and back on again they won't light. The arc doesn't like to jump throught the mercury once it's al vapourized, it just sort of shorts out and flickers purple. You have to let them gool down and let the mercury condense before turning them on again.

It's for this reason you generally won't see HID lights used for seperate high beam lights. They are usually used just for High/low beam lights and the Hi/Lo is done by changing the position of the bulb in the reflector to change the light pattern. The arc stays running the whole time.

Cheers

Mike can you tell us more about the angel eyes? Like where to get the parts? I have wanted to put those on my Cobra since before I got it, ever since first seeing them on a BM years ago.