Can you upgrade Headlights from NOS

[GetX'd]

Believe or not I have the same headlights in my 68 GTX that were there when I bought it in 1971. Some of you know the story of how I've owned the car for 46 years now - and just recently restored it. One thing that never dawned on me was the headlights - until I went to drive it at night. As you can imagine original headlights are not exactly illuminating when driving in the dark.

My question is what can you do about this? Can you keep the same electrical setup and buy upgraded headlights - or do you have to swap that system out to upgrade. I don't like driving the car at night because of this drawback. Thx for any and all replies.

 

[1967coronet440]

Interested myself, my headlights aren't ideal for driving at night. I'll be watching for replies.

 

[flypaper]

you can add on some relays that will really help them out.
member crackedback Rob on here sells nice quality custom kits with everything you need

 

[flypaper]

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...y-headlight-relay-kits.119460/#post-910530769

 

[Charger21]

It depends. Are you trying to stick to the stock look? Been thinking of trying this on my Charger....

 

[69L48Z27]

Evaluate what you have first. If you don't currently have halogen units I would start there. Upgrading from regular sealed beam to halogen should be all you need.

Current draw is not that much more. If you have doubts about wire integrity you may want to add relays. I've added halogens to these old cars a few times now without the relays, no drama.

 

[Charger21]

Regarding the picture above, you gotta appreciate that it was a factory option on some Chevy's straight from the dealership. At least they put a cloth under it to not scratch the paint!

 

[GetX'd]

It depends. Are you trying to stick to the stock look? Been thinking of trying this on my Charger....

View attachment 392479

Yeah.... I've been pretty set on sticking to the stock look. I can understand that look on a GMC car - thanks..... but it just wouldn't "work" for a Mopar - if you now what I mean.... lol

 

[GetX'd]

Evaluate what you have first. If you don't currently have halogen units I would start there. Upgrading from regular sealed beam to halogen should be all you need.

Current draw is not that much more. If you have doubts about wire integrity you may want to add relays. I've added halogens to these old cars a few times now without the relays, no drama.

Thanks so much for your reply. Can I ask you if you can just swap out the sealed beam for halogen - and where would I get them?

 

[flypaper]

Regarding the picture above, you gotta appreciate that it was a factory option on some Chevy's straight from the dealership. At least they put a cloth under it to not scratch the paint!

They don't give a **** about the paint!
That is for adjustment..LOL

 

[bm02tj]

To bad your lighting laws are so far behind and you are not allowed E code lights from Europe
So manufactures like bosch have DOT lights
Also try some truck dealers for the new LED lights as more are getting DOT listing

 

[Yatzee]

Believe or not I have the same headlights in my 68 GTX that were there when I bought it in 1971. Some of you know the story of how I've owned the car for 46 years now - and just recently restored it. One thing that never dawned on me was the headlights - until I went to drive it at night. As you can imagine original headlights are not exactly illuminating when driving in the dark.

My question is what can you do about this? Can you keep the same electrical setup and buy upgraded headlights - or do you have to swap that system out to upgrade. I don't like driving the car at night because of this drawback. Thx for any and all replies.

I use Hella replacement headlight housings with replaceable halogen bulbs mounted inside. The face of the housings is flat and pleasing to look at and the cut of the glass face disperses the light beam perfectly. There are up and down sides to this type of conversion but the output is astounding. You can get the housings in two or four light configurations. They are made in such a way that you can never mix up the position of the housings in the buckets or their related bulbs - one dual element H4 bulb and one single element H1 bulb. Surprisingly the H1 can be used as either high or low beam depending how you wire them. These types of headlights require a "halogen" type harness and conventional harnesses will not work in a four bulb setup as the H4 has three terminals and the H1 has just one terminal ( the ground for this bulb is incorporated into the housing). The down sides? You'll have to aim the headlights manually as the bulb housings don't have the glass tits that an aiming machine attaches to, and, their not "weather packed" were the bulbs mount. After some time the interior of the lenses may fog a bit due to air entering the housing as it heats up and cools down. Don't trust your existing wiring to run these babies, high output usually equates to a higher amp draw and it's best to use a twin relay system with separate fuses for High and Low circuits. You can either buy one of these harnesses ( Autometer's the best out there ) or engineer your own harness following diagrams readily available all over the interweb.

 

[bm02tj]

The only problem in the US is DOT and most good lights are not allowed
I have Cibie lights in my 73 SSB that I installed 40 years ago
I believe https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...uLZ1f9h9QTiWwHhPA&sig2=WgGPIPncxYfh50h7-BlvHQ

has stock but they are the best but only E code not DOT

 

[69L48Z27]

H5001 and H5006 are the high and low beams, H in front mean halogen. Local parts store may have them on the shelf. Just checked RockAuto, they have them for $6 each.

Thanks so much for your reply. Can I ask you if you can just swap out the sealed beam for halogen - and where would I get them?

 

[RT K_line]

There are a few options available as mentioned above, but I just swapped all 4 of mine out for halogens and it was a big improvement. The only thing was finding them. All local auto parts stores had were the newer type lights. I had to go to an old Car quest a friend told me about and the owner found them in the warehouse. He also found me the last set of 15 inch wiper refills too.

 

[747mopar]

I bought Halogen headlights from Summit that fit directly into the original bucket no problem. They now take the same bulbs as my 04 Dakota and have worked flawlessly for 10,000 miles now.. huge improvement! Relays are a must, I used 2 30 amp relays (1 for highs and 1 for lows) and wired mine where all 4 are on while on high. Very happy with them.

 

[GetX'd]

There are a few options available as mentioned above, but I just swapped all 4 of mine out for halogens and it was a big improvement. The only thing was finding them. All local auto parts stores had were the newer type lights. I had to go to an old Car quest a friend told me about and the owner found them in the warehouse. He also found me the last set of 15 inch wiper refills too.

That's pretty cool you found old school lights in halogen illumination - and the wiper blades to boot. The 69L above mentioned these part numbers and I found them at Oreillys - I didn't buy them yet but wonder if they'll fit my 68 GTX. We don't have Rock Auto here in SoCal. Oreillys is double the price he mentioned but still cheap if they fit the bill. Do you think the ones in the auto parts stores will fit a 68 Plymouth GTX-Oreillys says they will fit a 58 - 74. I guess I can try them and if they don't fit take them back. Just wondering what you think since you made the swap ....

 

[RT K_line]

They should fit fine, I've used them before on my 70 GTX too but that was in the 80s when they still made conventional headlights and halogens were the upgrade. They just aren't readily available locally anymore.

 

[Dennis H]

Sealed Halogen. Make sure the are aimed properly. Superbrites out of place on classic Mopars IMO.

 

[GetX'd]

Sealed Halogen. Make sure the are aimed properly. Superbrites out of place on classic Mopars IMO.

I thought about that too - but mine are so low on illumination I don't like to drive at night. I'll keep the old ones just in case - but they are literally the ones that came on the car from the factory. I want to drive at night sometimes. Hopefully these halogens from Oreillys are brighter but not too out of place.