headlamp replacement advice

[MilkyNoSugar]

Both of the inner main beam lamps appear to be faulty and in need of replacement. From the technical manual I have, it shows they are 4001 USA sealed lamps, 37.5 w and this seems to match what is in the car.

Having searched for that spec lamp I am not finding any UK suppliers of the correct bulb online other than Corvette Kingdom and that will be around £90 for a pair of lamps with postage. Is that my only option? Is it advisable or possible to replace the sealed lamps for standard halogen bulb lamps?

Is it also correct that the wiring circuit for the lights has no relays in place. Is fitting relays to take the load off the switches an advisable upgrade?

 

[Roscobbc]

A number of brit cars used the same 5 3/4" diameter headlamps as the C3. And yes......the stock sealed beam lamps are very, very weedy. Reflectors with replaceable bulbs are available - Halogen bulbs are available......as are 50% and 100% brighter Xenon direct replacement bulbs that are rated for the same consumption (or less) as tungsten or halogen......so relays may not be needed.
Perhaps try Classic car parts for all classic, veteran and vintage cars | Stafford Vehicle Components

 

[Corvetteville]

I got my replacement sealed beam original type lamps from here. Very reasonable price & quick delivery.

H Bowers - Automotive Components Distributor

H Bowers who specialise in the sale and supply of automotive components. Order online with next day delivery available in the UK.

www.bowerspartsonline.co.uk

 

[CaptainK]

I use LED bulbs in my headlamps - H4 bulbs with H4 5 3/4 inch headlamp reflector (in my dipped beam only - my main beam is currently standard). Note that only cars built before a certain year are allowed to be retrofitted with LED bulbs. All C3s are fine.

E.g.:
Various H4 bulbs here (I picked LED bulbs with the "LED box bit" built into the bulb so it wouldn't snag on the popup headlights):

LED Headlight Bulbs

Philips Z-ES Chips Hi/Lo Beam H1, H3, H4 , P43T, P45T H7 Headlight Bulbs. Suit Negative & Positive Earth. Top range CE & ROHS Approved 12 Volt 24 volt

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

H4 headlight reflector with PILOT light hole, used for my dip beams with the side light bulb in (I didn't need these as my dipped beams had already been converted to H4 bulbs during import):

Lucas LUB225 COPY 5 3/4" H4 Main Dipped Beam With Pilot Headlamp Reflector E Marked Classic Car Motorcycle

Copy Lucas Main and Dipped Beam Headlight Reflector. Metal Reflectors taking an H4 Lamp with provision for BA9S Pilot Light Right Hand Drive Vehicles only. E Marked and supplied in a Lucas Box with rubber caps. Suitable for MOTORCYCLES TRIUMPH DOLOMITE TRIUMPH STAG TRIUMPH T2000,2500 2.5PI...

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

H4 headlamp reflectors (no pilot hole if your sidelight is elsewhere):

Lucas LUB223 LUB226 5 3/4" H4 Main / Dip Beam Headlamp Reflector E Marked Classic Car Kit Car

Genuine Lucas Main and Dipped Beam Headlight Reflector. E Marked Suitable for TRIUMPH DOLOMITE TRIUMPH STAG TRIUMPH T2000,2500 2.5PI TRIUMPH 1500 TRIUMPH VITESSE FORD CAPRI MK3 CORTINA MK2 ZEPHYR ZODIAC HILLMAN IMP HILLMAN AVENGER RELIANT SCIMITAR ROVER P6 TOYOTA CELICA VAUXHALL FIRENZA, MAGNUM...

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

LED sidelight bulbs for the pilot hole:

BA9S 233 989 GAUGE DASH CLOCK INTERIOR DOME LIGHT LED UPGRADE - VARIOUS COLOURS

Classic Vintage Car Motorbike Motorcycle LED upgrade bulbs. not polarity sensitive. GLB233, LLB233, GLB989, LLB989 233, 989 Globe upgrade, White, Warm White, Blue, Green, Red. High Quality CE and ROHS approved Suitable for Negative and Positive earth ground T4W 288

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

All the LEDs have a colour option of modern white light, or classic yellow light. I went for modern white light. Not driven much in the dark with them yet, but they seem good so far and much less power draw too.

 

[Emc]

I have inner and outer I'm near you in Burton on trent
It could be a bad headlight switch
A Pair of inner high beam units are £45 delivered, that's half the price

 

[MilkyNoSugar]

Hi,

Just to update this thread, I purchased and fitted some new reflectors to allow me to use H4 and H1 bulbs. As part of that job, I also fitted relays to take the electrical load off the switches. All in all a relatively easy upgrade.

I purchased the bits from H Bowers Ltd. I already had the right cable and connectors for the job.

ITEMS IN YOUR ORDER	QTY	PRICE
BOW5042011 SKU: 5 3/4 Headlight/Headlamp Halogen H4 Conversion	2	£9.99
BOW5042012 SKU: 5 3/4 Headlight/Headlamp Halogen H1 Conversion	2	£9.99
RINGR472 SKU: Ring Bulb 12v 60/55w H4 R472	2	£1.59
RINGR448 SKU: Ring Bulb 12v 55w H1 R448	2	£0.99
CAR160155 SKU: 12v 30A Fused 4 Pin Make and Break Relay	2	£5.49

The biggest issue I had was the chrome retaining rings that hold the lamps in place. A couple of the tabs had broken off and a couple of screws had seized. I riveted the tabs back on and some plusgas sorted out the seized screws

To fit the relays I cut the tan and two light green wires in the loom that feed the low and hi beam. I cut the wires in the loom as it runs along the inner wing with the vacuum lines between the alternator and live termination point. I picked up a live from the main output from the alternator.

I have the relays mounted on the inner wing cover and just need to make up a small box to cover them.

On the relay (one for the hi and a second for the low)

Pin 85 - new ground wire
Pin 86 - green or tan wire from the switch
Pin 30 - new live from alternator (fused)
Pin 87 - green or tan wires to the lights

The existing plug from the outer lamps fits straight onto the H4 bulbs.

For the inner hi-beam H1 bulb, I made up a short male-to-female blade connector wire and connected the male blades to the existing inner lamp plug and the female blade connectors onto the H1 bulb and earth. I wanted to leave this so it was a reversible modification

Having proven this works, I will probably run new, thicker wires down to the lamps from the relay as the new bulbs are pulling a bit more current than the old sealed lamps.
The wiring still needs a bit of a tidy-up. Happy with the progress and glad to have some lights that actually work well enough to drive at night.

 

[CaptainK]

Nice one. H4 / H1 bulbs make it easy to find bulbs over here. As I mentioned in a post above, I used LED H4 bulbs to avoid any electrical load issues. I still need to do my H1 main beams though.

 

[GiuG]

Question guys, no one try to use both the headlamps as low and high beam, with LEDs?

 

[CaptainK]

Question guys, no one try to use both the headlamps as low and high beam, with LEDs?

I was thinking of doing that when I get the main beam lights replaced with LEDs. But the usual - time and money. Be good to see the outcome.

 

[MilkyNoSugar]

not that it will bother most people as our cars do not need an MOT test, but I always understood that LED bulbs as a retrofitted 'upgrade' in a reflector designed for halogen bulbs were not road legal in the UK

 

[GiuG]

I was thinking of doing that when I get the main beam lights replaced with LEDs. But the usual - time and money. Be good to see the outcome.

So theoretically, to do the "upgrade" you need to buy a double beam reflectors, H4 LEDs double filament.. or whatever. and bypass and duplicate the wires keeping an eye to not messed up with the ground. For sure the energy load is very far to be equal to a 4 halogen lights bulb....Give me a shout when you done, I'd like to see the miracle

 

[CaptainK]

So theoretically, to do the "upgrade" you need to buy a double beam reflectors, H4 LEDs double filament.. or whatever. and bypass and duplicate the wires keeping an eye to not messed up with the ground. For sure the energy load is very far to be equal to a 4 halogen lights bulb....Give me a shout when you done, I'd like to see the miracle

It'll be a while before I do it - long down the list of things to spend money on for the C3, especially as I haven't driven it in the dark for years now.

 

[CaptainK]

not that it will both most people as our cars do not need an MOT test, but I always understood that LED bulbs as a retrofitted 'upgrade' in a reflector designed for halogen bulbs were not road legal in the UK

This is true to a point. Recently (2021 I think) they changed the rules so that cars earlier than 1st April 1986 can have LEDs retrofitted to them and still pass an MOT. As my car is 1968, I'm legally fine to have LEDs in them now.

Various sites confirming this on Google, here is the first one to pop up when I searched:
LED pre 1986 Advice

 

[Steven Smith]

Extract from official MOT test guidance.

MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles

Inspection processes and rules for car, private bus and light commercial vehicle (class 3, 4, 5 and 7 vehicle) MOT tests.

www.gov.uk

"Existing halogen headlamp units on vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp for light source and lamp not compatible.

This does not refer to complete replacement headlamp units which may be constructed with HID or LED light sources.

If a complete headlamp unit has been replaced with a unit that was manufactured with HID or LED light sources, it must not be failed for ‘Light source and lamp not compatible’ but it must meet all other requirements detailed in section 4 of this manual specific to the type fitted at the time of test."