86-upgrading headlights keep stock look

[DoubleDingo]

Not my square, but this is with a relay kit installed using sealed beams. Excellent output and not that annoying ultra bright ******** everyone seems to have nowadays that makes driving more dangerous because of people being blinded. That's low beam at dusk.

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[PrairieDrifter]

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This is what I got from using LMC. Look right?


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Believe it or not the sets of housings come with bulbs for each housing.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

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This is what I got from using LMC. Look right?


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I don’t think the headlight housing quanity is supposed to be 2. I know mine came in sets of two and I only ordered one for high and one for low, I believe there was an option for replacements where you can buy just one housing. I’ll try to look my order up

 

[DarthKnight84]

I don’t think the headlight housing quanity is supposed to be 2. I know mine came in sets of two and I only ordered one for high and one for low, I believe there was an option for replacements where you can buy just one housing. I’ll try to look my order up

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This is why I changed the qty’s.



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[PrairieDrifter]

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This is why I changed the qty’s.



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Seems like they changed the pages slightly since I got mine. I remember buying them in pairs for hi and low and I swear they were only at that forty dollar mark not 40 a piece.

 

[DarthKnight84]

Seems like they changed the pages slightly since I got mine. I remember buying them in pairs for hi and low and I swear they were only at that forty dollar mark not 40 a piece.

Well that sucks! Lol why didn’t you tell me?! Jk


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[Merlin3e9]

I'm very interested in this thread too. My next big project will be lighting upgrades. So if I'm understanding everything correctly, I can purchase sealed beam lights that are our 4x6 size with removable bulbs that are H4, 9005, 9006, etc..?

I already knew Bella made upgraded sealed beam lights but I didn't know Sylvania made some too.

Overall, which are better? Hella, Sylvania, LMC housings with upgraded bulbs?

I will do an upgraded wiring harness regardless.
Thanks

 

[77 K20]

Years ago I upgraded my headlights from the standard sealed beam to the Hella H4. Yeah, they aren't DOT compliant... but guess what? Ambulances and law enforcement used to use them all the time. Why? They work great when aimed properly.

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This was just ONE headlight installed:

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Notice the nice sharp cutoff. This was low beam. The bulbs I got were 55W/100W. I never got around to adding off road lights to my truck so I run these instead. TONS of light when on brights.

 

[SquareRoot]

I'm in the process of converting to H4. Got them from LMC ( $39 per side/bulbs included ). After first installing them, I tried to adjust them like a good citizen should. I could not get them turned in far enough without the adjustment screw running out of thread. Further investigation revealed that the stock buckets had some "ears" one them that interfered with the large rubber gasket thing on the back of the bulb. After a 5 minute chop job, the lights sat flush in the bucket like good lights should. Look at these pics close and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'll explain the harness conversion in the next post.

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[DarthKnight84]

I'm in the process of converting to H4. Got them from LMC ( $39 per side/bulbs included ). After first installing them, I tried to adjust them like a good citizen should. I could not get them turned in far enough without the adjustment screw running out of thread. Further investigation revealed that the stock buckets had some "ears" one them that interfered with the large rubber gasket thing on the back of the bulb. After a 5 minute chop job, the lights sat flush in the bucket like good lights should. Look at these pics close and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'll explain the harness conversion in the next post.

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For some reason I can’t see your pictures. You bought one $39 low beam set and one $39 high beam set? I just want to make sure so I’m not buying two sets.


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[SquareRoot]

So I'm not paying $40 for 2 cheesy Chinese relays and a few feet by of wire. I used good quality Pico weather pak relays mounted near the battery on the rad support. I added two 16 guage wires in the loom that houses the headlight wires. Clipped ONE pair of the brown & green (hi/low beam) wires a few inches off the D/S bulb. These become the control wires that turn the relays on/off. The P/S brown & green get clipped a few inches off the bulb, spliced with the D/S and each wire goes to each relay- one for low-one for high. Then just run the high current leads
(30 & 87a) to the battery and the lights. Boom done!

 

[SquareRoot]

For some reason I can’t see your pictures. You bought one $39 low beam set and one $39 high beam set? I just want to make sure so I’m not buying two sets.


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LMC sells the lights separately. Each one is $39. Each light has both hi and low. This is for my 85 single headlight grill. I'm not sure how the grills with 4 headlights operate. The lights come with bulbs installed. These are the bulbs:

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[hatzie]

I'm in the process of converting to H4. Got them from LMC ( $39 per side/bulbs included ). After first installing them, I tried to adjust them like a good citizen should. I could not get them turned in far enough without the adjustment screw running out of thread. Further investigation revealed that the stock buckets had some "ears" one them that interfered with the large rubber gasket thing on the back of the bulb. After a 5 minute chop job, the lights sat flush in the bucket like good lights should. Look at these pics close and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'll explain the harness conversion in the next post.

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Are they glass lenses like the Hella E-Code H4 bulbs or plastic?

Glass lens with Metal reflector E-Code lamps with H4 or 9000 series bulbs are very nice setups.

However... Everything is a trade off...

The really nice thing about sealed beams is that changing the bulbs to high quality Halogen sealed beams brings your lights back to better than original light output because you are not just changing the burnt out bulb... You're also changing the UV damaged reflector, and pitted lens too.

You give that up with a separate lamp and housing.

The high intensity light and heat from your H4 or 9000 series bulbs damages the reflective surface of the expensive lamp housing and road crud along with good old fashioned rain sleet & snow pits and damages the lens. Plastic faster than glass but both take a beating over time. You don't notice the wear on a sealed beam because they get replaced with every new "bulb".
If you think glass doesn't take a beating... I'm replacing the windshield on my 15 year old GMT800 pickup because it's sandblasted enough that there's a lot of added glare from the pits.

 

[SquareRoot]

They are glass. Smooth glass at that. They look nice and modern. However, you have a good point about the abrasion issue. In my case, I live in Southern Arizona literally 5 miles from the sand dunes. Every part of our vehicles gets sandblasted daily. Windshields get replaced about every 5 years just from pitting. The bulbs will be no different. Like you say, everything is a trade-off. On the bright side (pun intended ), we have 30 year old vehicles with zero rust.

 

[77 K20]

Might look into protective headlight film. Years ago I had an Audi with glass headlights and foglights. They were very expensive to replace so I coated them in this film.
Probably every 5 years or so I'd peel the film off and replace after they became pitted and dirty.