[gtospieg]

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.

[Half-Inch Stud]

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.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

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.

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.

[gtospieg]

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

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

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

[Bill S]

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

[shifty]

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.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

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.

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?

[Vid]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

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

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!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Greg Reid]

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

[grivera]

I used the same set up FJ described

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

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?

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.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by grivera

I used the same set up FJ described

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

[Schurkey]

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

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

Real Sealed Beams have ZERO corrosion or reflector aging; they are sealed.

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.

[Singleton]

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).

[Scott65]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

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.

Do these fit without modifications to the bucket or bezel?

[Greg Reid]

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.

[Scott65]

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

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Scott65

Do these fit without modifications to the bucket or bezel?

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

[Scott65]

Cool thanks.