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Headlight Upgrade?

RT6PK

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I want to upgrade the head lights on my '67 Belvedere. Does anyone have any recommendations as to going with either LED, Zenon, or Halogen? Or any particular manufacturer or retailer to buy from?
 
Halogen is probably the simplest upgrade (Hella brand should be close to a proper fit) but will require relays as they use more power than traditional incandescent bulbs. Im working on LED conversion now but this requires extensive cutting of the headlight buckets and at least on the 67 Coronet some minor headlight ring modifications. I was originally going to go with the Hella style replacements and use h4 LED conversion bulbs but have since switched course and will go with motorcycle style 5 3/4 lamps. The Hella style conversions would require less bucket modification but if you use the H4 LED conversion bulbs you should not need a relay setup. I would avoid ZENON all together. They require relays as well as a separate conversion box that in my experience tend to burn out before the bulbs. I got a year out of mine on my daily driver from zenon conversion and then switched to LED conversion bulbs because I was going to have to buy a complete kit since it was the box that died instead of the bulb.
 
I just installed Crackedback's kit on my 68 Charger. It fit perfectly. I went with Halogens. As simple as it gets with good quality components in his upgrade kit.
 
Rt6pk sounds like crackedback has what will work and be dependable. If these guys on this forum back a product you can believe all questions have been asked and serious thought went into making it right. Have fun with your project and I'm sure if you pm crackedback can answer any questions
 
Bosch motorcycle headlights, H4 bulbs, no mods needed.
Added relays.

20190831_095741.jpg
 
Gentlemen,
Consider HID lighting....High Intensity Discharge lighting. Basically its a Xenon gas discharge lamp, dtiven by a special ballast assembly that controls all the lamp's voltage and current requirments. In my opinion, HID lighting "outshines" conventional, quartz-halogen, and even LED lighting.
I've used: hidnation.com (Google it). They sell all types (including LED if this is your heart's desire) of lighting including HID with all the required pieces and parts to convert your car including a wiring harness and instructions.
HID lighting is what you see on more and more new cars. They are more energy efficient using less power to make a considerably brighter light....roughly 2x to 3x more light than LEDs. Cost is slightly more but well worth the addional cost, in my opinion. You owe it to yourself to, at least, consider the option.
Bob Renton
 
Second member Crackback's. This is headlights on battery power only. The other picture is I mounted his relays under my battery tray, out of the way but can get to it if need be

Headlights.jpg thumbnail_20170204_161837.jpg
 
On another vehicle, l used CIBIE both in 7" & 5 3/4" diameter. Both used tge dual filament H4 QUARTZ Halogen lamp. As a supplement to the 7" round lamps l also used Cibie Super Oscars with 100 watt H2 QH lamps on a relay controlled circuit that came on when I went to high beams. Cibie's secret is the lense and reflector. I could send a beam of light 3 1/2 miles ahead....like aircraft landing lights. The original Cibie lamps were not sealed beam units and l had some difficulty with narrow minded Pa. vehicle safety inspectors...but at nite they were ABSOLUTELY great.
The HID XENON lamps of today are superior in all regards to any quartz halogen lamps offered. You owe it to yourself to check out the alternates. Just my opinion of course.
BOB RENTON
 
Halogen is probably the simplest upgrade (Hella brand should be close to a proper fit) but will require relays as they use more power than traditional incandescent bulbs. Im working on LED conversion now but this requires extensive cutting of the headlight buckets and at least on the 67 Coronet some minor headlight ring modifications. I was originally going to go with the Hella style replacements and use h4 LED conversion bulbs but have since switched course and will go with motorcycle style 5 3/4 lamps. The Hella style conversions would require less bucket modification but if you use the H4 LED conversion bulbs you should not need a relay setup. I would avoid ZENON all together. They require relays as well as a separate conversion box that in my experience tend to burn out before the bulbs. I got a year out of mine on my daily driver from zenon conversion and then switched to LED conversion bulbs because I was going to have to buy a complete kit since it was the box that died instead of the bulb.

I guess you just don't realize the difference between Xenon HID system and a quartz halogen system . The HID system produces 3x the LUMENS (the correct unit of light measurement) than Quartz-halogen lamp or bulb. A QH lamp consists of: Tungsten filament, a Quartz glass bulb and Halogen gas filling (either fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine gas). Because the QH lamp has a filament inside, it is subject to vibration, thermal shock and voltage variations. It cannot be handled by bare hands as this will cause lamp failure. Your supposition of the "box" is incorrect as it is replacable separately and is a simple plug in replacement. The "box" is sophisticated device that is a voltage converter, inverter and starting device in one package, that provides all the requirments the Xenon lamp needs including voltage regulation. Whose system did you originally install? The best systems and components seem to come ftom Germany not China.
Again, your comment about not needing a relay kit is incorrect because it depends on the WATTAGE of the lamp system you are installing.....higher wattage lamps need more AMPS usually more than the headlight switch can furnish hence the need for a switching relay.
For my money, I'll install Xenon HID system any day....it produces 3x the LUMENS as QH system with less power in addition to superior optics (reflector and lense). Do your own due diligence and don't take someone else's word.....like your next door's neighbor's brother-in-law's cousin's best buddy's Uncle Elmo's friend, who seems to be an authority on just about everything. Just my opinion of course.
BOB RENTON
 
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