Headlight upgrade?

[Corvetteville]

I've got a 78 with the standard 4 headlights, 2 sealed high beam & 2 dipped. I've seen online replacement "classic" headlights that house twin element halogen bulbs. My question is could I put these in all 4 pods? Obviously a small amount of rewiring at the front, but would the electrics, switches & relays etc, handle the power requirements? Would it be legal?
I don't drive at night much in the Vette, but last time down the lanes by me was " challenging, LOL

 

[Roscobbc]

I've got a 78 with the standard 4 headlights, 2 sealed high beam & 2 dipped. I've seen online replacement "classic" headlights that house twin element halogen bulbs. My question is could I put these in all 4 pods? Obviously a small amount of rewiring at the front, but would the electrics, switches & relays etc, handle the power requirements? Would it be legal?
I don't drive at night much in the Vette, but last time down the lanes by me was " challenging, LOL

I considered doing just what what you have questioned when I did the Xenon bulb and headlamp replacement thing. Reality (for me anyway) that the single dip filament lamp on its own was such an improvement that an additional filament just wasn't needed. That was with the EU legal "Xenon 50% brighter than Halogen" bulbs. There are even brighter (and presumably non EU approved) options available.....

 

[hurtzcsa]

I converted mine to ford Capri headlights with halogen bulbs. both main and dipped are single filiment bulbs

 

[Corvetteville]

Hi guys, thanks for the replys. Something to mull over during the holidays. I guess fitting separate halogen high & low in the current format probably would be a big improvement. I want to see where I'm going, but not blind oncoming drivers.

 

[Roscobbc]

The difference with Zenon bulbs as compared with oem lamps is literally "night and day" and on an equal par with new vehicles and well up for cross country 'B' road driving.....

 

[Corvetteville]

I take it there's no problems with switches or overheating wiring?

 

[Roscobbc]

Xenon replacement bulbs are generally the same (or slightly less) wattage than Halogen bulbs - perhaps a little more than some of the older USA 37watt filaments but should be well within capabilities of the vehicle.

 

[Corvetteville]

Thank you that's great. I'll start with replacing the dip & see how it looks

 

[kentvette]

I didn't go down the Xenon route, but used these from Classic Car Accessories:

Complete chrome headlamps with free bulbs and Free UK shipping | Headlight reflectors + free halogen bulbs | Tripod Headlamp reflectors | Clear lens headlamps | Stone guards | Rally stone guards | Chrome Mini number plate light |

Free standing chrome headlamps | 7 inch headlamps | 5.75

www.classic-car-accessories.co.uk

(CLO413 for the UK)
I also wondered if swapping all 4 would be a good idea and give brighter lighting.

However, I found that the light units as they came, with the H4 bulb, made an incredible difference. The dip beam now allows me to drive normally after dark here (next to no street lighting out here in "rural France", so the roads are DARK!) and the main beam will have cars approaching two kilometres away flashing me!

By staying with the H4 I was able to avoid the need for relays etc. While not a regular occurrence, when we do drive at night, its usually for a long time, returning form a trip, so we are on the road after dark for two or three hours, much of it on main beam. I've had no issues to date with overloading the wiring etc...

The swap was almost "plug and play", but I did need to adjust the beam, as the new lamps gave a beam pattern considerably lower than the one that came out.

As an aside, CCA are a great company to deal with, very helpful and pleasant and, a good price!

 

[Corvetteville]

Thanks for the reply Stephen. Very informative as always. Thinking about it, your REALLY "out in the sticks" compared to here!
Thanks for all the replies, going to have a look & think. It's not top priority, door pins first. Just figuring a way to stop the door flopping over on the jack, as I will be outside. Wish I had an engine hoist..

 

[Roscobbc]

The 'substitution' of Xenon bulbs vs halogen shouldn't place any burden on electrics and yes, more expensive than Halogen and IMHO well worth the additional cost - 70+mph rural road driving is perfectly feasible (certainly in visibility terms).........why not replace reflectors too while you are at it.......

 

[Corvetteville]

Thanks Roscobbc, I think that's what was my main concern. I shall explore the options in the new year. Cheers Steve.

 

[hurtzcsa]

I take it there's no problems with switches or overheating wiring?

I think the wiring in American cars is a lot more heavy duty than English cars .the core of the wire is a lot thicker

 

[Corvetteville]

I would agree given everything on yanks is heavy duty. It's just mine looks fairly original, so 42 years old!

 

[hurtzcsa]

mines the same original wiring apart from converting the reverse light to indicators .and wiring in a led reverse and fog light`

 

[Forrest Gump]

I thought you do usually need to put in a relay if going from the original sealed units to H4 halogen?
I definitely had to put a relay in on my car otherwise full beam would overload the switch and knock-out the lights.

 

[stealthyflatfish]

Hi guy's, just found this post, I'm just in the middle of fiddling with my 71 lights. I changed the four reflectors in mine to EU complient units with standard halogen bulbs about six years ago, I rarely drive the Vette at night but last year found myself out and about in the dark, don't know if 71 is different to other years but on main beam all four bulbs across car are on. All dipped bulbs are off.
Switching to dipped beam, the inner bulbs go off ( obviously as single element H1 ) The outer reflectors stay on , to be honest they are useless
So decided to upgrade, I've all ready installed the fairly new Phillips GT 200 ( 200 % more light ) bulbs to the outside H4 reflectors there sold as xenon's but are exactly the same fitment/ shape etc as halogen bulbs so assume it's just the gas inside the bulbs that is different. Haven't driven Vette on road yet, but seems to make a large difference, much whiter and brighter. Now I'm wondering weather to go the whole hog and swap out the inner reflectors for H4's fit xenon bulbs and just piggy back the extra dipped elements to the lights next door, the last owner has already fitted extra relays into the circuits ( Bosch ) so obviously not standard, my only concern is will the dipped circuit wiring take the extra amperage ?
But when all Four main beams are on the standard guage wiring shows no sign of distress. I've not uncovered the relays yet to see how they are wired into the circuits, its bloody cold out in my garage. As a side job the existing H4 reflectors have the pilot bulbs in, but I have discarded them in favour of some rubber plugs, thinking about putting some grommets in the reflectors and reinstating the fiber optics that are now to short to reach,
so something else to google and read up on, I know you can get repair kits for the optics. But might take a bit of time as the post over Christmas might be a wee bit slow.

 

[CaptainK]

The 'substitution' of Xenon bulbs vs halogen shouldn't place any burden on electrics and yes, more expensive than Halogen

Agreed. I upgraded another (non Corvette) car to use Xenon lights. They were very good, and like you said, Xenon, when on, use less power than a normal bulb. Dunno about the spike in power from the ballasts when you first turn them on though, but it shouldn't be an issue, and never was for my other car.

Where did you get the Xenon kit from for your Corvette? I've been thinking also about headlight upgrades.

 

[Roscobbc]

Agreed. I upgraded another (non Corvette) car to use Xenon lights. They were very good, and like you said, Xenon, when on, use less power than a normal bulb. Dunno about the spike in power from the ballasts when you first turn them on though, but it shouldn't be an issue, and never was for my other car.

Where did you get the Xenon kit from for your Corvette? I've been thinking also about headlight upgrades.

S-M-C in the Midlands as I recall.

 

[Chuffer]

Just spotted this thread after too much red wine to absorb all the details . Will look at it in the cold light of day as have been interested in the problem ever since owning the car . I suffered all the usual overload problems with the thermal cut in the head light switch on my 1980 car . I have fitted new H4 dip / main beam units ( the outer pair) and have sealed beam inner units . The set up is still far from ideal on dark country roads and after a period of driving with all four on the cut out activates which is a tad scary on the move I do very little night time driving in it but really want something better that reliable without going to the trouble of installing relays .