Anyone here running Holley Retrobright LED Headlights?
 

Been looking into alternatives to the factory sealed beams

Basically just want more lumens without sacrificing the factory appearance

The HID conversions with plastic housings look terrible and the last time I tried drilling the back of a halogen beam to convert it to HID I ended up with a handfull of glass shards

Saw an ad for the Holley LED's earlier today and they seem to be the ticket (although spendy).

Just curious if anyone here has them on their ride

$200 bills apiece . Outa my budget but at least they don't look stupit.

I am interested in them also but the price is a little high.

These reviews look good....

Still spendy though


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwRnvv57b9s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekMpdKfLlMQ

The beam pattern does look nice. At that price, I do wish they had more than a 2-year warranty. Living in an urban environment where I basically don't even need headlights to see at night, I won't be spending $800 on four of these any time soon. For people who live in the country and drive their classic at night on unlighted roads on a regular basis, these could be a worthwhile upgrade.

Hot Rod Newsletter just came out with a review on them today, came to my email inbox. Well written, very informative, multiple photos and comparison.

Tim john---

I have Dapper Lighting on me 69 GTO they are nice a slight bit cheaper and seem to work well enough better than the stock headlight

$800 for 4 is just plain NUTS. Anyone willing to spend that on these needs their head checked. Plus they say HOLLEY on the lens. What a lame product.

"Holley" as opposed to "Sylvania" or "Halogen"?

I'll take Holley

Yes, it's expensive, but I can think of worse things I've spent money on.

I wouldn't call it a lame product if it looks and performs as it should just because of the high price.


Besides, I would only need a pair for each of my T/A's

Have you looked into Cibie/Valeo? Probably the highest quality convex lenses out there and you can put whatever bulb in them that you like.

The Hella are good quality alternatives to save some $$ if you don’t mind the fact they’re essentially flat.

Even running a standard H4 bulb in either one of them is an unbelievable difference. You can install a quick no-splice relay while you’re at it to maximize your light.

"Holley" as opposed to nothing or "T3" on the headlight glass --- well no way I run "HOLLEY" on my headlights for $200 each. Silly. Can put together way better LED lights for so much less. And just how many really drive in the pitch dark that often anyway to need $400 (pair) or $800 lights....

It's pretty dark out where I live and I'd like some MUCH better lights than I have now, but not $800 better. I remember I used to see some aftermarket ones on ebay for (~$200?) that simply replaced the the old T3s with a new glass and reflector and let you insert a newer halogen bulb like an 9006 or something. Never got around to making the purchase and I don't know if they're still available. Some classic cars look kinda cool with the newer halo LEDs, but some look pretty stupid.

I took the plunge and put 4 of them (classic yellow) on the 67 GTO

Unbelievable. Difference isn't even close on low, even better on bright.

Last weekend had to drive 30 miles home through the country, blacker than the inside of a cow outside.........worked great, really lights up the lines on road. Expensive, but better than pegging a four legger. I will try to get some pics as it's darker these September nights.

Octane lighting gets great reviews and there’s even a before and after video in a GTO on YouTube. For 200 bucks you get the housings and led bulbs or you can just run halogens with relays.

I’m thinking about buying a yellow set for my third Gen- something different.

If you have a car that uses a single round headlight look at the’truck-lite’. I put these in my 72 TA and they look awesome

Anyone here using these conversion housings from IPCW?

Pretty cheap on Amazon

the price is right...you try before I buy?

lol

Not very into the blue'ish color of the light output on those IPCWs.

What bulb for these....

H4

The one that pops up as "Frequently Bought Together" on Amazon are these from BeamTech

https://www.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-Head...6XHD78DQ&psc=1

Yes, I use them in the Camaro and in the Chevelle. I got dad onto these and he also uses them in his GTO. I will probably buy another set of the IPCW lenses and LED bulbs for the Firebird when I get around to it.

I've been happy with them. They take any H4 LED but the LED I've found that I like the most are the Lightening Dark, also sold on Amazon. A little more expensive than other H4 LED's but they project a better beam that is adjustable and there is a more noticeable difference between the low beam and high beam.
Here are the LED's I use...... https://www.amazon.com/LIGHTENING-DA...s%2C119&sr=8-4

I put the Holly LED headlights in the Judge. All I can say is WOW.

The rest of the conversion has been less than fun. The tail lights are fine using the Performance World Tail lights. The parking lights are a different story. The light on the drivers side was intermittent. The old lights worked fine. I had a couple of housings in the parts bucket. Those two do the same thing. If I hold the bulb a certain way...it stays on. Our sponser doesnt have any in stock (front parking/signal light housing) Neither does anyone else.

Too keep busy, I crawled under the dash removed the flasher and installed the LED flasher and put it to ground. Cant for the life of me find the other flasher. Its not in the fuse box and doesnt seem to be near the steering column.....Signals and 4 way flashers do not work. I hate my cars.

Been a full year with the Holley Retrobrights......They are great. Back and forth a lot between Whitefish MT and Eureka MT at night this past summer, they light up the road like a modern car, and excellent when on hi-beam. Expensive, but worth every penny, several oh-sh.t moments when you round a corner and 4 whitetails standing in the ditch, likely would not have seen with T3's, or Sylvanias. If you are driving outside the city, get 'em.

I installed a set in my 77 T/A. They were on sale for $80 each so I sprung for 2. Much better than original price of course but I couldn’t justify replacing all 4 so I’ve left my sealed beam incandescent high beams installed. Nonetheless, wow, they really are a great product. Not sure I could ever have justified regular price but certainly at $80 each they’re worth it.

I really don’t even need the sealed beam highs plugged in as the outer low/highs do a great job. There is a tiny bit of a different look to the less if you’re paying attention so I’d like to find some aftermarket lenses that look closer to the Holley’s that I could add LED bulbs to. For now they’ll do.

Daniel Stern has been an authority on headlights for a long time.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

Here's some good upgrades for less money.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/p.../products.html

I have a pair of the Koitos on my Suburban

Would you have to splice in a relay with the Hella lights? Or is it more of a recommendation? I know it's advised to with the sealed halogens to save your dimmer switch, but wasn't sure if it was the same in a light with the replaceable H4 bulb. I've been reading all the light threads on here and just recently scrolled past Hella lights on Summit's website.

Another success story.

It's been a year for me as well with the low beam Holly retro-bright (classic) in my 74 Bonne. Since she is my airport commuter, and I often travel at night, the difference is night and day (no pun intended). Huge improvement over stock, even Halogen, and zero issues in regular use for a year plus.

Like most of you, the cost was pretty high, so that's why I just tried the two. I'd love to put them in all of my cars, but probably won't happen simply due to price.

Seems like lots of good options out there. I'm always curious with what others are doing. I'm looking into upgrades for the rest of my fleet as I go along. Balance of price/reliability/function/form, etc...

:)

I've been using the $20 conversion housings from Amazon along with the Lightening Dark H4 LED's that just plug into the existing harness.......for about 5 years now on both daily drivers. Been fantastic.

They a cheap enough that I converted all the cars over to it now.

Thanks FJ. So you're using the iPCW housings with the Dark Halogen, correct? What is the difference in color with that 'Dark Halogen?' Is it less blue, or?

I'm more a fan of the yellow 'classic' look like the Holley's have, but I'm willing to try others if it's considerably cheaper with great lighting.

I may give this combo a try on my 72 GT. :)

I use the IPCW housings but I use the white LED's from Lightening Dark. They are bright white. 6500 lumens I think they are rated at. Very nice light projection and very bright. Worlds better over the standard halogen bulbs I've run for decades.

Same H4 bulbs in all 4 sockets, or different bulbs for low and high beam side?

I'm a little unclear looking at the Amazon link, and I have limited experience with the new design bulbs. Been around my old cars too long I guess. ;)

I've seen you post about your great experience with these before and I'm curious to maybe try some. Is this the conversion housing you are using? And did you wire relays in or anything?

https://www.amazon.com/IPCW-CWC-7003...ustomerReviews

I like the glass and metal housings that Hella make
They probably even have LEDs that fit now. I think they used H4.
Have a nice cut off so can go a little brighter.Most likely cant find in SAE
anymore so stuck with U R a Peeing.

Same bulb in all 4 housings. They just tell you to snip off the 3rd prong for the high beam socket.

Yep those are the housings for the 4 headlight setup. They also sell the 7" for the single headlight guys. Made of glass, not any cheap plastic stuff.

No relays or anything, the H4 LED's simply plug into your existing headlight socket/harness.

Thanks FJ. I think I'll give 'em a shot in my 72. :thumbup:

You're on to a good thing here, FJ. Installed them today on my 72 GT, and just got home from a 'dark road' roll. HUGE improvement in visibility. Made me think I was in my wife's newer Audi!

That being said, they remind me of just that... a newer car. Absolutely love the visibility improvement, but it will take me some time to decide if I can live with the brighter white hue, or if I want to stick to the classic 'yellow' hue of the Holley Retrobrights. Both designs light up the night wonderfully, but is that huge price difference worth the retro color? :eek: I dunno yet.

Luv First World problems. Heh. ;)

Thanks for the suggestion though for sure. For those of you who don't mind the newer bright white look, I highly recommend these! All in (4 bulbs) for less than the price of one Holley Retrobright. Hard to argue.

(Before and After photos from old school Halogens)

:)

I know everyone's eye's will be quite different but here's what I've noticed.

The clean bright white light will reflect off road signs much better at night (for my wife and I) so I can see what's coming much easier, and sooner. Especially on roads with faster speeds. It also lights up the painted lines on the roads much better. One interesting thing I've also noticed at night is how they show off the road imperfections at night. Dips, holes, even wash board (A thing out here) will show up with the bright white light across the blacktop that I otherwise can't see with the more yellowed (what they now call dirty) light.

As we get older it's become a much safer way to travel at night for us.

Agreed on all. I noticed the bright reflectivity of street signs and the road stripes right away too. I hadn't thought about the road imperfections, but I will look for that comparison next drive. As I mentioned, the visibility felt just like driving my wife's new Audi, and that may be part of the reason too.

Another concern I've had with LED headlights is the 'tiger stripes' that they can emit (kind of looks like stripes of bright light and stripes of dark intermixed). I've seen this problem on my Harley with different LED headlights until I found the one with the least amount. That was a concern I had with these bulbs as well. While I did notice a small amount of the tiger stripes, it was very minimal which pleased me.

Again, for me, it just has to do with a loss of the 'nostalgic' feel of the yellow hue. I still have that feel with my Bonneville and it's Holley Retro-brights.

I'm happy to have both now to compare and contrast. I may need to take both cars out on the same night, same road, same conditions to get a true comparison. My eyes are getting older too, so I want to make a wise decision for the last car I need to outfit, my 71 GTO. For now, it still retains the Halogens and will for a time until I decide for sure which version I prefer.

:)

Looks WAY better on mine & yers...IMHO

Works better too...deer are a real-world issue around here unfortunately

What you mentioned was a concern for me as well. I must have went through 4 or 5 different brands of LED H4's trying to find something I was happy with. The light was either striped, or the pattern was terrible, or the difference between high and low beam was non existent. Truth be told I probably spent more than $200 on LED bulbs until I finally settled in on one that did all of the things I mentioned very well and that was the Lightening Dark brand.

So I wanted to share that here hoping to save some people money and all the aggravation.

There might even be a better brand of LED H4's out there yet, but after the money and experimentation I went through, to finally get one that was more than satisfactory on all those points made me happy enough.

Another tip I found is that if I went higher than about 6500 lumens the light started getting away from the bright white and was turning blueish. That blueish light was terrible for my eyes, I couldn't see squat. Don't know how others drive around like that.

What you mentioned was a concern for me as well. I must have went through 4 or 5 different brands of LED H4's trying to find something I was happy with. The light was either striped, or the pattern was terrible, or the difference between high and low beam was non existent. Truth be told I probably spent more than $200 on LED bulbs until I finally settled in on one that did all of the things I mentioned very well and that was the Lightening Dark brand.

So I wanted to share that here hoping to save some people money and all the aggravation.

There might even be a better brand of LED H4's out there yet, but after the money and experimentation I went through, to finally get one that was more than satisfactory on all those points made me happy enough.

Another tip I found is that if I went higher than about 6500 lumens the light started getting away from the bright white and was turning blueish. That blueish light was terrible for my eyes, I couldn't see squat. Don't know how others drive around like that.

I appreciate the leg work on your part and then sharing your results. They are definitely a great combination for the price. :thumbup:

I agree with the bluish hue. I'm not a fan either. So if next round, I can't justify the Retrobright yellow hue due to cost, the white is certainly next in line.