headlights upgrade

fastlane351c · Jan 15, 2012

hey my stock headligts on my 1970 are dim as . theres a couple options on cj pony but idk if theyr any good.... any suggestions?

rbohm · Jan 15, 2012

start with halogen headlights, and add relays to the system to provide full battery power to the headlights. you can get a prewired headlight harness from here;

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/fb/full.aspx?Page=59

armand67Fstback · Jan 15, 2012

I saw a 68 Mustang install on youtube using the Delta Halogens, the lights looked really bright after the install. Rbohm, I am also working on this, that is the best price on the headlight harness I have seen so far.

fastlane351c · Jan 15, 2012

i just looked up the video it looks pretty simple with good results... thanks guys

spfd · Jan 15, 2012

I see in the Feb 2012 MustangMonthly that Scott Drake has a new 7 inch Halogen headlight that looks factory orginal. If anyone is running them I would also be interested in how they look and work?

jlangholzj · Jan 15, 2012

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004039ICY/?tag=stangnet-20

I've had great luck with anzo's before. Little bit cheaper yet

Loup-garou · Jan 16, 2012

fastlane351c said:
hey my stock headligts on my 1970 are dim as ****. theres a couple options on cj pony but idk if theyr any good.... any suggestions?

Clifford Electronics (used to make ignition systems and such, now has morphed into an alarm & remote-starter specialist) used to make a kit called the "headlight brightener", basically just a wiring sub-harness to put the stock light circuit on relay-switched, full 12V battery power. That's one option, but if you're going to go to the trouble of setting up headlight relays, you may as well go with the H4 halogen conversions.

Don't buy anything with a DOT certification; you won't get the best improvement for your money that way. Look at the "E-Code" headlights at sources like Susquehanna Motorsports. Beware, though, some of the euro-brands like Hella offer both E-Code and DOT-spec lamps (Hella's DOT-certified version is called "Vision Plus"). Another information resource is Daniel Stern Lighting - that fellow wrote a headlight upgrade article that got copied around the automotive forums years ago. Following his advice, I found a pair of Cibie' Z-Beam headlights at a import car parts store and put them on my '65 years before the first "Tri-bar" headlights appeared.

Couped Up · Jan 16, 2012

I've been running e-code lights in all of my vehicles since 1976. I've experienced many brands, and have always found Hella's to be quite good, ( w/ the exception of their newer DOT approved versions) and easier to obtain then some of the other "High End" lights. I've also ran Bosch, Cibie, and Marchal, all of which are excellent! Upgrading your wiring harness will do more for your car, and is definitely a prerequisite to running any high intensity bulbs. Therefore, IMHO you should install a good wiring harness prior to the purchase of any bulbs. There are many "Good" quality harnesses available, or if you're so inclined, you can build your own. Beware of the Cheap Chinese Junk that's also available... The ARB/IPF harness has been well received in the off-road community, and is probably the one I'll use in my current project. Although I've never used one, I am aware of a harness being MFG. by Reen, that is Mustang Specific. It seems a little costly, but I'll leave you a link.

http://www.offroadtuff.com/h4wiringloom.htm

http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/largeview.php?SearchField=30815

http://www.reenmachine.com/shop/home.php?cat=259

http://zhome.com/DaveRelay/DaveBuild/DaveInstruction.htm

http://1970mgr.org/_HeadlightRelays.htm

Good luck with your project!

kylehamilton79 · Jan 16, 2012

I've been wanting to do this for a while too. Which one should I try to order from the LMC catalog? I have some of the Zenon headlights but they look/shine the same as my halogens I took out since I don't have a relay on there currently.

horseballz · Jan 18, 2012

kylehamilton,
You are lucky that you have not burned up any wiring or your headlight switch yet! My biggest concern about any of the kits is that they don't specify wire size, which is why I made my own. Even though I got relays that had pre-wired relay sockets, the wires were #18 at best (even the supply), so I put new terminals and wires into them. They should be absolute minimum #16 to the lights and #12 for supply from the battery. I went with #14 to the lights and #10 for supply.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PCO-5591PT/

HTH,
Gene

Hack · Jan 18, 2012

I put some Sylvania halogens in my '65 pickup and they made a huge difference. I have yet to upgrade the Mustang. The other thing I did was go to a 3G alternator. That made a really big difference in the gages, how the battery charges, etc.

fastlane351c · Jan 18, 2012

good point hack.. i didnt think about that cuz wen i sit at an idol and rev my engine my gage lights and headlights brighten so that could help and if i do upgrade i would most likely need to do that anyway

Couped Up · Jan 18, 2012

The nice thing about the relay harness, is that you plug your headlight harness into them. After that, the only draw on your original harness is what's required to pull the relays in, as the power for your headlights is no longer being drawn through your headlight switch. A far better way to go IMO.......

FYI: There are many differences in the available harnesses... ie; The ARB harness has three relays. one for Low beams, one for High beams, and one for Fogs.... some have just One, or Two Relays, as well as various size conductors.

Do your Homework!

jlangholzj · Jan 19, 2012

horseballz said:
kylehamilton,
You are lucky that you have not burned up any wiring or your headlight switch yet! My biggest concern about any of the kits is that they don't specify wire size, which is why I made my own. Even though I got relays that had pre-wired relay sockets, the wires were #18 at best (even the supply), so I put new terminals and wires into them. They should be absolute minimum #16 to the lights and #12 for supply from the battery. I went with #14 to the lights and #10 for supply.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PCO-5591PT/

HTH,
Gene

I'm kinda surprised too, 12AWG should be great plenty for power from the battery. If you wanted to run a hot rail up to the relays for both then go with 10awg, but from the rail to the relays 12 should be fine. Make sure however that you put a 15-20A fuse in line with it as well.

Don't know how you did it gene but it was mentioned that you can just use the lines for the high/low beams as the line to pull the relays. this is how i also plan on doing it and would probably be the most painless way to do it.

My incadecents are bad enough to the point were its hard to see the lines on the road .... oops... I'd also recomend as stated a 3G upgrade if you haven't already. An aditional 80W or so on the system isn't too much but the 3G is a good choice anyway. I'm planning on going with a 1 wire 160A alternator in mine. Two e-fans and an amplifier for the sound system draws a bit much more than the stock alternator is made for and it should also give a performance upgrade on my electronics.

horseballz · Jan 19, 2012

jlangholzj,
Yeah, I mis-spoke, the #10 was on my 69 F250. On the Mustang, I ran 2 separate #12 from battery/solenoid (both on the same ring terminal) with a separate fuse for each wire, just below the solenoid and ran them over to put the relays just above the voltage regulator on the driver side. I then used the driver side headlamp wires to trigger the relays and ran new #14 to each headlight, clipped the plug off the passenger side, folded & taped each cut-off wire & shrink tubed it to insulate. I couldn't see the wisdom of untaping the 40+ year old, brittle, but functioning portion of the harness that goes across, under the radiator just to pull the now unused wires out. At the driver side, I put a new ground terminal from the headlight socket and from the ground wire of the main harness to a clean ground point on the radiator support. On the passenger side, I put on a negative/ground battery cable that has an extra wire on it to a clean ground point on the radiator support along with the ground wire from the passenger side headlight socket. You can never have "TOO GOOD" of a ground!
HTH,
Gene

armand67Fstback · Jan 19, 2012

Just bought the painless harness on Amazon. Once it arrives I will mount the headlight buckets on the fenders, then mount the fenders, and install the headlights so it can start to look like a car again. This thread turned out to be very helpful.

palerider94 · Jan 20, 2012

I put relay and new halegens in mine and was dissapointed with results. I have heard others acheive pretty good success. I need to check voltage going to headlight - may need to clean orginal connections also. Did that on my backup lights and it made a heck of a difference.

horseballz · Jan 20, 2012

palerider94,
Did you reuse the some/any of the original wires and/or connectors to the headlights? Also, did you give nice new, clean ground points at each headlamp? I have seen several articles that simply cut the harness and put the relays "in-line" using mostly existing wiring. I see this as not much improvement over making an "all new" harness from the relays to the lights, even though it is a very "convenient" way of doing it.
Just Asking,
Gene

fastlane351c · Jan 20, 2012

yea i reused all the original wiring and cleaned them well and used alitle dielectric to make sure theyl keep a good ground... idk if im goin to go through the trouble of swapping the headlights i think il just go all out with new wiring... thats a good idea tho i never thaught of that

palerider94 · Jan 21, 2012

Yes I used existing wire also. I don't remeber having to cut wire though I think the harnes plugged into existing sockets. I'll have to clean grounds and suckets as suggested. This will be a spring project or I can keep driving around with my brights on - no one seems to notice.

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