headlights
 

Hello, I have a 1967 GTO with the factory headlights. As most know they are not very good at night. I would like to upgrade to brighter lights. LED or something. I do not want to spend a fortune doing this. Can someone recommend some good inexpensive headlights that will be bright at night. I do not want to have to damage the headlight housing to fit the new lights.
thanks in advance
alan

I just put my T3 headlights on high....

The halogen headlights are the next step up from stock. I find them to be fine in most night driving conditions. Do your headlights produce white light, or do they seem reddish or dim? The factory wiring and switch can cause the headlights to be dim if the wiring connections are corroded or damaged. Also check the headlight grounds, there is one on either side of the car. Also make sure the system voltage is 13.8-14.7 when running, low alternator output or bad cables can make the lights dim too.

I kept hoping the Holley direct fit LED lights would come down in price. They supposedly fit with no mods and put out very good light. Alas, they haven't come down and the price to me is excessive.

Before changing lights you should try putting n a really kit, it puts direct 12 volts to light instead of about 10.5 after going thru switch etc.
I just have cheapy non halogen lamps and the relay made a lot of difference. Either build your really kit yourself or by a kit either on eBay or Amazon.
Ebay 234907695011 or Amazon. Painless wiring kit https://www.painlessperformance.com/wc/30814..

I used the headlamp dimmer switch output to headlamps to trigger the relays, and made my own wiring harness using new headlamp pigtails
from any part store, bought some packard wire terminals, and wired it in. amazing difference.

I simply use the conversion housings sold all over on Amazon for about $20 a piece that accept the H4 LED replacement bulbs.

For LED's I prefer the Lightening Dark LED's also sold on Amazon for about $50 a pair. After using several they are the only one's I've come across that project a very nice beam.

So for about $100 you can have very bright LED headlights that work fantastic.

I've converted the Chevelle, the Firebird, the Camaro, my sons Mustang, dad's GTO, and will likely do the Nomad and the Vega at some point. No modifications necessary on any of these cars.

I use a relay on Halogens and it puts out decent light. But I'm getting older, and night driving is different than it once was. I also think we lose some tolerance for the lesser lighting with more exposure to the much better lighting of the newer vehicles that most of us drive most often.

Yep and that's the whole reason I've converted most of the old cars here. We drive them a lot and night driving as you get older, as some know, isn't as easy as it once was. ;)

May as well join the club, all the new cars on the roads these days use LED's.

I will eventually. I just was holding out for the simple way to become at least a little more affordable.

I’ve put headlight relays on 3 different vehicles, all showed a big improvement even with old bulbs. I believe sealed beam bulbs get dimmer the older they get, perhaps just changing out the bulbs will get you what you want. Multiple companies make higher output halogen sealed beams, i have Sylvania Silverstars on my LeMans. I really like the light output and prefer halogen to HID because of the warmer color. I find the white light of an HID to be harsh.

Another thing you can do is disassemble the light switch, if I remember right it’s just a sliding brass bar that hits other contacts, just clean off the contacts and bar and lube it with dielectric grease.

I cleaned all my contacts and checked the grounds before putting in halogen bulbs for my low beams. Still running T3 for the high beams. It's working OK so far for my 68 y.o. eyes.

I know what you mean, especially with too many cars. I didn't do it for the longest time because of cost. Some of those kits are just down right crazy on prices, and too many options like halo stuff that I don't ever care to use, or look at on a classic car.

Tons of searching and trial and error led me to the conversion housings, which can also be expensive, but I found them on Amazon at affordable prices.

Here are the 7" I use, and they also sell the 5 3/4"

https://www.amazon.com/IPCW-CWC-7006...%2C118&sr=8-31

Then I tried 5 or 6 different H4 LED's and was just never happy with the light projection and the high beams never made a difference. I fooled around with that for a long time and probably spent more $ than I care to admit until I finally landed on Lightening Dark LED's and that was the ticket for us. Nice beam projection and the high beam actually works.

https://www.amazon.com/LIGHTENING-DA...s%2C135&sr=8-2

Hope that helps.

I'll check into it. Thanks!

Went with Hector's LED kit...much brighter.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1679871701

Those Sealed Beams are quite fine, just need to run the Headlamp Ground wires to the alternator case.

No. With the alternator charging, relays would put 14-ish volts to the headlights. VERY recommended.

I completely agree about the color temperature of halogen vs. HID lights. Blue headlights make me crazy. Blue is not a good color for headlights. Years ago, the French mandated yellow headlights because the eye is more sensitive to yellowish light than blueish light.

Once the relays are in place, the headlight switch controls the low-amperage draw of the relay, not the higher load of the headlights. The switch should be just fine as-is.

The LAST thing I'd do is to install bottom-feeder, Made-in-Communist China aftermarket headlights. Aside from the fact that they're illegal, they're a glare-causing disaster that may be "bright", but often cannot focus properly, depending on how they're made. There's nothing wrong with sealed-beam headlights provided they're in good condition, supplied with enough power, and aimed properly.

Sealed-beam headlights absolutely get dimmer with age. Some of this is due to corrosion on the reflector. The headlights I took off my '88 K1500 truck had reflectors that corroded so badly that lots of light was escaping out the rear of sealed-beam unit.



Start the engine. Verify alternator voltage at 14+ volts.

Then check voltage TO the headlights, at the headlight connector, with the headlights ON. First Guess: 11+ volts. About 3 volts of voltage drop in that circuit.

Check voltage on the ground wire, at the headlight connector. Anywhere from 0 to 1 volt is common, but anything over "0" is too much. Over 1 volt is terrible. Any voltage on the ground side is SUBTRACTED from the voltage on the positive side. So if you have 11.5 volts on the positive side, and 1 volt on the ground, the headlights are operating on 10.5 volts.

Headlights are rated for brightness at 12.8 volts. If you don't have 12.8 volts across the headlights, they're more-dim than they're supposed to be.

Headlights are rated for service life at 13.2, or 14 volts, depending on the source you use. Higher voltage reduces service life, and 5% over-voltage reduces service life by 20%.

Headlights operating on 14 volts are WAY brighter than headlights operating on 12.8 volts...which are way brighter than headlights operating on 10.5 or 11 volts.

The only thing I don't like about the "relay kits" is that they generally use fuses to protect the circuit, and the wire gauge is excessively large.

The low-beam headlights should be protected with a 10-amp SELF-RESETTING circuit breaker, while the high-beams would use a 15-amp SELF-RESETTING circuit breaker.

16 gauge wire is acceptable in this application. Stock wiring would be much longer, with additional connection points, low beam at 18 gauge, and high beam at 16 gauge. With relays, the wire length is shorter, there's fewer connections to corrode, and the wire isn't fifty years old. 16-gauge is perfectly adequate.

Clean or replace the ground wire/ground connections as needed. The closer you can get to "0" voltage on the ground wire, the better.

AND THEN AIM THE HEADLIGHTS according to state or manufacturer's specs.

Guys lower their cars, or they raise the back end for tire clearance, or they lift their trucks, and never give a second thought to how ride-height affects headlight aim.

Formula...do you have a part # for the 5 3/4" headlight bulbs? I'm guessing they're different than the bulbs you listed for the 7" lights that you use. Thanks

They still use the same H4/9003 style LED with the only difference being on the high beam you won't use the 3rd terminal on the plug. They tell you to remove it.

It used to be that they offered the 2 terminal high beam bulbs a couple years ago but when those disappeared they never seemed to come back so now they just tell you to remove the 3rd prong. Dad ended up doing that on his a couple years ago, it all still works the same.

you can get plug and play relay kits from Painless
that helps, along with a good halogen such as Sylvania Ultra Stars (or what ever their i think it was white box colored headlights were)
however, i am VERY fond of VisionX LED headlights. Cheap and safety don't go together, unless you want ummmmm cheap results
I think at one time Holley was offering a LED conversion kit, looked nice, but to me, nothing beats the VisionX clarity, quality, and super ease of installation.
They work just as good as the LED lights on our late model Accord. Pretty stellar of you ask me...
I know my TA has the 4 buckets lights... but out in the open dessert night when its pitch black and high beams, WOW.... and honestly i don't even need them on, the two lights and halos make all the difference.

The size / gage of wires leading to our headlights is quite small like 16 and 18 gage and you cant do much with that because you still have a wimpy switch, but its all good to trigger relays

one thing i do is run a dedicated 10g ground wire from batt to core support and dont forget to upsize the ground wire from each light to core support if you go that way

relays can be harvested out of newer cars in their fuse box and incorporated in a way that doesnt modify a car forever and provide more power to a new halogen lamp for decent results

Thanks Formula...I've been wanting to do this upgrade for a while. I try not to drive the car at night too much, because of all the deer around here, but when I do the factory lighting is weak at best. All the wiring is new so that's not the problem.

Real Sealed Beams have ZERO corrosion or reflector aging; they are sealed. Corrosion is a sigh of a phoney foam seal lens on a reflector with a mini bulb inside. I toss those in the creek.

I will repeat; the real Sealed Beams bulbs; T-3, Sylvania, General Electric, and Westinghouse are rather bright with 14.4 Volts.

Mandatory to run a good pair of ground wires from bulb connections on back to the alternator case. Aiming the bulbs will seal the deal.

Corollary: buying brite bulbs and running stock headlamp grounding to the radiator support is a kind of stoopid to me, so don'ta bother defending the stock approach; was cheap-bad when done originally new. Is what Rad-Support rust was made of.

For the Eval record; have tried John Deere clear beams (as bright), and Aircraft Landing lights ( like laser beams, the brightest, even with today's bulbs). Technology has rolled by, and there are brite bulbs to buy, but i don't know what they are. Dang, i've had comments that my headlight are so bright; and so i gotta esplain.

The only bulbs less bright were the phoney seal beams. And i do suppose there are dim sealed Beam bulbs but not familiar as they are usually tossed or burnt before i ever got to em.

Your welcome. Most of my stuff has newer factory replacement wiring as well and I'm not really a fan of modifying any of that. I never wanted extra relays and wires running around that weren't there originally and this LED mod was cheap, easy, didn't require any cutting or splicing of any kind, still looks completely stock, and improved the night driving by 150%. Now they are a brighter and cleaner light than any incandescent bulb will ever provide no matter what wire mod you do, and they draw less amperage to boot.

I forgot about the lower amperage draw...an added bonus for our old cars with mediocre charging systems from the factory.

Yep, easier on the headlight switch too. I didn't think much of that aspect of it until I installed a set on the Chevelle that I run a Sniper Stealth on, and have that digital readout on the voltage. I picked up voltage at idle with the LED change

I been looking at the new T3 options. Supposedly 25% brighter. I have mixed aftermarket bulbs from the 1970s still on my "67 Firebird.

Relay kit
 

I haven't tried this kit yet, but it appears to be a good one. It has everything needed to do a plug and play install. Found on Amazon.

Octane Lighting 4-Headlight Relay Wiring Harness.

Trying to clarify something for myself here. There's no need to change the factory T-3 plugs?
Also, did you use the same recommended LEDs for your dad's four lamp setup? Are there separate high beam and low beam lamps or do you use the same lamp for all four?

Speaking of low amp draw, I needed to replace a burned out turn signal bulb on an ‘05 Dakota truck that I used to own several years ago. Went to Autozone and bought a bunch of LED replacements for turn signals, brake lights, etc thinking I was forever done changing burned out filament bulbs.

However, my brilliance was foiled… the LED bulbs had such low amp draw compared to the filaments, the truck still thought that the bulb was burned out and was doing that “fast blink” when I engaged the turn signals. Doh!!


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I seem to recall that there may be a replacement flasher for LED bulbs.

I used the same set up FJ described

No need to modify the plugs on the cars, the H4's come with a male plug already wired in. Yes used the same LED's for the 4 lamp setup. They just tell you on the high beam lamps the 3rd prong isn't used. It's literally just a plug and play swap, no different really than changing out a burnt incandescent bulb. Once you figure out how the H4 bulb is inserted and clocked you're home free.

That's a great picture showing the difference. Just no comparison to an incandescent bulb.

4 of those suckers are pretty awesome at night too :D

Instructions for adding relays (home-brew, not a "kit") on my '88 K1500, hosted on another forum. Totally reversible if desired.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul....php?t=1152614

You'd think so. Not actually true.

Plenty of sealed-beams get cloudy reflectors due to Thermionic Emission--the filament that glows white-hot, also throws off tungsten metal particles just like the active elements inside a hot vacuum tube--triodes, pentodes, etc.

The cloud of metal vapor deposits unevenly onto the reflector and reduces the reflectivity over time.

Many "sealed beam" headlights get bulls-eye cracks just like windshields from road debris. That allows water-vapor to get inside. I've seen one "sealed-beam" headlight with liquid water inside, and it still lit up. Vehicle owner wouldn't pay to replace it.

Attached a photo of a Wagner sealed-beam "Halogen" headlight where the reflector is so pitted that all the light you see on the reflector is coming from the filament inside, not the camera flash.

I have these LEDs with Daytime Running Lights.
The DRL bar matches well with the horizontal rib of the 64 grille I think. Not sure how they would look in a 65-67 stacked headlight system.
$120 for the set. Modified the wiring harness so that all four low beams are on and also when in high. (These headlights are all low/high beam, no separate low/high).

Do these fit without modifications to the bucket or bezel?

From what I've looked at they appear to be a direct drop-in replacement. I like it.. I'm going to get a pair for my 1980 Datsun just to see how I like them. I drive it a lot more at night and it's only two headlights so it'll be a relatively cheap experiment.

Yeah, I have a 4 headlight application... Think I may do the low beams as an experiment. But only if no cutting required.

Yes, every car I've done here was a drop in replacement with no mods.

Cool thanks.

Those lights say they're high beams. Does it matter? Or can they be used in either spot?
ETA: not the ones FJ linked, but same brand in a 5.75".

Same lamp. See post #32.
5-3/4" here - IPCW CWC-7003 5-3/4" Plain Round Conversion Headlight without H4 Bulb - 1 Piece https://a.co/d/eJqOe6Q
Is the lens glass or plastic?

They have the appearance of glass, but I can't see where it's specified.

After reading post 32, to me that seems like the bulbs go in either position. Still unsure about the lenses.

The bulbs that I like to use are clockable (Lightening Dark) so they can be rotated inside the lens which will affect the beam pattern. They do come with instructions to explain the position they are supposed to be in, which provides a nice beam pattern. However they can be moved to tweak the beam pattern to your taste.

What I've found is that when they are rotated away from the recommended install position, it tends to spread out the beam. Great for visibility but oncoming drivers won't like it much LOL Many of the H4 LED's on the market now have the ability to be rotated like that. Some don't and are fixed.

The Lightening Dark bulbs I linked to earlier have the male plug integrated into it, just like the incandescent bulbs have, so your existing harness will plug right into it.

The lenses themselves install into the headlight buck just like your incandescent bulbs do, retained with the stainless ring.

:beerchug:

Thanks for the clarification

What is the housing material, glass or plastic?

Glass

So I changed the low beams out to the parts linked by FJ. Operation is good, puts out good, clean white light. I'm not sure they're sealed well enough for a daily driver, but mine almost never sees wet weather so shouldn't be an issue for me. The pattern (not the adjustment but the way the light is dispersed out the lens) is biased noticeably to the outside, so I'll probably swing them in a bit as a compromise. Overall an improvement.

We have them in both our dailys and while it doesn't rain all that much in Arizona (although we've had a wetter season than normal this year) the headlights have been okay, 3-4 years now