chrger1967
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Nice car. I swear these cars should have daytime running lights, they look awesome with these lights on during the day. Those are nice rims as well.
Who wants brighter headlights?
- Thread starter Kern Dog
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Nice car. I swear these cars should have daytime running lights, they look awesome with these lights on during the day. Those are nice rims as well.
chrger1967
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I put LED's in my 67 charger. Huge difference. I remember having my 70 Charger years ago and sitting at a light at night with a few other things on and the headlights would go dim and the wipers and fan speeds would drop.
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Typical for the time, undersized stock alternator for the running loads at idle.
chrger1967
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And lets not forget the car was 26 years old when I bought it. I drove it back and forth to work till 2006, and we all know the wiring sucked. Back then there was no LED headlights.
Crackedback
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Part of the reason the bulkhead likes to burn up. Inadequate alternator output at idle.
Along with bean counters and engineers not doing customers any favors cheaping out on the system.
Archie Duiker
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It's really simple to adjust your own headlights. Park your car on a level surface with the headlights 25' away from a clean wall. You will need 4 lines on the wall as per my attached drawing: 1. A horizontal line (3) at the height of the centre of the headlights. 2. A centre vertical line (5) which needs to be lined up with the centre of the hood. 3. A vertical line (4) on the left side in line with the centre of the left headlight. 4. A vertical line (6) on the right side in line with the centre of the right headlight. Adjust headlights as per drawing.
ynst
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Quad headlight folks can ignore this post.
Be careful with those H1 conversion kits. It's not a big deal with quad headlights but with single headlights, there are potential issues.
Some of the 7" conversion kits on the market were designed to replace the incandescent bulbs in pre-seald beam vehicles and used the original incandescent bulb lenses and reflectors. These kits will bolt into any 7" headlight bowl regardless of the age of the vehicle.
The filaments in the old incandescent bulbs were orientated horizontally and parallel to the axles.
The newer H1 bulbs have a pair of horizontal filaments but their orientation is parallel with the center line of the vehicle.
Putting an H1 in the old reflector (or a reproduction of the old reflector as found in the upgrade kits) will result in a flood light as opposed to a spot light. This is because the original lens was manufactured to accommodate the reflection of the incandescent bulb's filaments and focus the light into an oval pattern.
It IS possible to get them to work, well sort of, by altering the forward/rearward position of the bulb in the reflector. You will be able to get a relatively oval pattern by altering the front-to-rear spacing but not the precise pattern possible with the matched lenses. That's how Bob Drake (the antique car parts guy) corrected his conversion kits decades ago when the H1 bulbs turned headlights into floodlights.
My '72 Dart had Bob Drake conversion headlights in it when I bought it and they lit up the whole street and everyone's lawns at the same time.
The correct fix is to use a lens specifically designed for the axis-parallel filaments in order to properly focus the light beam.
If your headlight conversions shine like flood lights and are impossible to adjust to the oval beam required, you have a set of the common antique car reflectors and lenses (which have been on the market for decades) instead of the correct H1 lenses.
Bottom line is hat the lens has to be designed for the orientation of the filaments with respect to said lens.
Be careful with those H1 conversion kits. It's not a big deal with quad headlights but with single headlights, there are potential issues.
Some of the 7" conversion kits on the market were designed to replace the incandescent bulbs in pre-seald beam vehicles and used the original incandescent bulb lenses and reflectors. These kits will bolt into any 7" headlight bowl regardless of the age of the vehicle.
The filaments in the old incandescent bulbs were orientated horizontally and parallel to the axles.
The newer H1 bulbs have a pair of horizontal filaments but their orientation is parallel with the center line of the vehicle.
Putting an H1 in the old reflector (or a reproduction of the old reflector as found in the upgrade kits) will result in a flood light as opposed to a spot light. This is because the original lens was manufactured to accommodate the reflection of the incandescent bulb's filaments and focus the light into an oval pattern.
It IS possible to get them to work, well sort of, by altering the forward/rearward position of the bulb in the reflector. You will be able to get a relatively oval pattern by altering the front-to-rear spacing but not the precise pattern possible with the matched lenses. That's how Bob Drake (the antique car parts guy) corrected his conversion kits decades ago when the H1 bulbs turned headlights into floodlights.
My '72 Dart had Bob Drake conversion headlights in it when I bought it and they lit up the whole street and everyone's lawns at the same time.
The correct fix is to use a lens specifically designed for the axis-parallel filaments in order to properly focus the light beam.
If your headlight conversions shine like flood lights and are impossible to adjust to the oval beam required, you have a set of the common antique car reflectors and lenses (which have been on the market for decades) instead of the correct H1 lenses.
Bottom line is hat the lens has to be designed for the orientation of the filaments with respect to said lens.
ynst
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BTW, the Dart got switched over to halogen sealed beams right after I bought it.
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What am I missing here? H1s?, H1s are single filament bulbs. H4s are dual filament, two different versions of H4s? An example?
ynst
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This filament is oriented front-to-back and requires a lens that captures the light reflected from the silvered reflector that the bulb is mounted onto and focuses the light into a horizontal oval pattern.
This pre-sealed beam dual-filament pair (high and low beams) headlight bulb below is oriented in a horizontal side-to-side arrangement and requires a completely different lens to accomplish the same focal result (horizontal oval pattern) projecting from the headlight.
Early halogen headlight conversions were engineered to replace the, above, incandescent bulb with twist-in halogen bulbs. The lens, however, was NOT changed and the resulting pattern in the headlight became like a flood light instead of an oval beam.
The lights were substantially brighter and buyers loved them because they brightened up the road in front of them immensely but they blinded oncoming traffic as well as made it nearly impossible to drive in light rain and/or fog.
Subsequent re-engineering of the retrofit kit relocated the bulb in the reflector to improve the focal properties of a front-to-back filament bulb behind a lens designed for a side-to-side filament bulb while still retaining the twist-in arrangement. While not perfect, the lights could be aligned (aimed) properly.
Subsequent conversion kits were designed with new lenses to work properly with the H1 bulbs but there's really no way of knowing whether the kit you have is/was designed as a replacement for the older incandescent bulbs behind original 7" lenses or is a later conversion kit with the correct lens configuration to properly focus and aim the headlights. There are just too many conversion kit combinations out in today's marketplace.
I have converted a number of the early style halogen headlight conversions to H9004 lights which work very well behind the pre-sealed beam headlight lenses.
The H9004 and H9007 bulbs have side-to-side filaments and if the bulb is oriented (rotated) in the proper position in the reflector, the resulting pattern is an accurate oval that can be easily aimed to comply with DOT regulations. The flat portion of the plug must be on the top and the curved part of the plug faces downward.
The main differences between 9004 and 9007 headlight bulbs are pin configuration and power draw. The 9007 has its ground pin in the middle with high/low positive pins on either sideit, while the 9004 has its ground pin on the side. 9007 bulbs draw more power, typically 55W/65W, compared to the 9004's 45W/65W, resulting in a brighter low beam for the 9007
The filaments are in nearly the same exact position as the original incandescent bulb so the reflector works with the lens to accurately focus the light pattern.
I use 3 tiny sheet metal screws to secure the bulb in the reflector.
It's a lot easier to just put in halogen sealed beams in vehicles already set up for sealed beam bulbs so I only do these conversions for folks who want to retain the original glass lenses in their vintage vehicles.
This pre-sealed beam dual-filament pair (high and low beams) headlight bulb below is oriented in a horizontal side-to-side arrangement and requires a completely different lens to accomplish the same focal result (horizontal oval pattern) projecting from the headlight.
Early halogen headlight conversions were engineered to replace the, above, incandescent bulb with twist-in halogen bulbs. The lens, however, was NOT changed and the resulting pattern in the headlight became like a flood light instead of an oval beam.
The lights were substantially brighter and buyers loved them because they brightened up the road in front of them immensely but they blinded oncoming traffic as well as made it nearly impossible to drive in light rain and/or fog.
Subsequent re-engineering of the retrofit kit relocated the bulb in the reflector to improve the focal properties of a front-to-back filament bulb behind a lens designed for a side-to-side filament bulb while still retaining the twist-in arrangement. While not perfect, the lights could be aligned (aimed) properly.
Subsequent conversion kits were designed with new lenses to work properly with the H1 bulbs but there's really no way of knowing whether the kit you have is/was designed as a replacement for the older incandescent bulbs behind original 7" lenses or is a later conversion kit with the correct lens configuration to properly focus and aim the headlights. There are just too many conversion kit combinations out in today's marketplace.
I have converted a number of the early style halogen headlight conversions to H9004 lights which work very well behind the pre-sealed beam headlight lenses.
The H9004 and H9007 bulbs have side-to-side filaments and if the bulb is oriented (rotated) in the proper position in the reflector, the resulting pattern is an accurate oval that can be easily aimed to comply with DOT regulations. The flat portion of the plug must be on the top and the curved part of the plug faces downward.
The main differences between 9004 and 9007 headlight bulbs are pin configuration and power draw. The 9007 has its ground pin in the middle with high/low positive pins on either sideit, while the 9004 has its ground pin on the side. 9007 bulbs draw more power, typically 55W/65W, compared to the 9004's 45W/65W, resulting in a brighter low beam for the 9007
The filaments are in nearly the same exact position as the original incandescent bulb so the reflector works with the lens to accurately focus the light pattern.
I use 3 tiny sheet metal screws to secure the bulb in the reflector.
It's a lot easier to just put in halogen sealed beams in vehicles already set up for sealed beam bulbs so I only do these conversions for folks who want to retain the original glass lenses in their vintage vehicles.
Casca2525
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Canada is quite often a fair bit higher and shipping drives costs up fast too
Casca2525
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suggestions on going from two 7" round bulbs to 4 small rectangle bulbs with all 4 being hi/lo beam? currently have 12ga power fed to relays mounted to the rad support and summit 14ga pigtails going to the 7" bulbs with all connections soldered and sealed with double wall heat shrink with adhesive lining
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The bulbs arrived today. The H4 Hi/Low bulbs have 3 spades but the H1s only have one. Do they assume the lenses are self grounding? Regular high beam bulbs have 2 spades so I have some figuring to do....
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Do you mean H4, the H4 Hi/low bulbs should have three spades. the H1s have a single spade, grounds to the housing, the correct high beam only housing designed for the H1 bulb should have a spade for grounding to the car and comes with pigtails to adapt to a standard 2-prong connector.
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ynst
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That looks like a real kludge workaround to relocate the front-to-back filament in the bulb away from the original lens and into the vicinity of the original side-to-side filament in a modified sealed beam housing in order to produce an oval beam (as opposed to a flood beam were the bulb installed right at the base of the original reflector where the glued-in adapter is attached).
I wonder if this arrangement would interfere with the core support given the absurd distance back from the bulb's original electrical connection.
That appears to be a 55 watt bulb commonly used in driving lights.
An off the shelf H5001 halogen sealed beam would work just as well and not require ANY modifications and be substantially brighter than the original non-halogen bulbs, PLUS, the beam pattern will be more precise than the kit H1 arrangement. The more precise beam would offset the 5 watt difference between the H1 and the H5001.
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There is nothing modified about this Hella (2524811) 5 ¾” high beam lamp assembly, it is purpose designed/built to use the relatively common H1 single filament bulb type. That’s not an adapter of any kind, the pictured sealer was not applied as an adhesive, its sealing the rear socket casting against the reflector from water intrusion. The H1 comes in varying wattages, the pictured H1 is a 100-watt version, there would be no comparison to any sealed beams at all.
Not as deep as it may appear, for most of these cars running quads, the inboard location is less restrictive depth wise than the outboard locations, never had an issue with that. No deeper than the Hi/Low H4 version (2850811), does require ceramic 90 degree connections to avoid depth issues in the outboard location by my experience.
Not as deep as it may appear, for most of these cars running quads, the inboard location is less restrictive depth wise than the outboard locations, never had an issue with that. No deeper than the Hi/Low H4 version (2850811), does require ceramic 90 degree connections to avoid depth issues in the outboard location by my experience.
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CoronetDarter
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That's one good looking R/T.
ynst
Well-Known Member
Regardless of whether it's a kludge or not, the bulb has been moved back away from the reflector to place the filament where it would have been if a sealed beam halogen bulb was used.
Gary Gaz
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You need H7 Bulbs, they have the twin spade fitting
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A housing designed to run an H1 type bulb will not accept another bulb type. The Hella 2524811 housing can’t accept a H7 bulb, H1 only.
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