Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

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God.favored
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Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by God.favored »

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I've been wanting to upgrade my headlights for a while and found what I think is the easiest way to get LED headlights in our corvairs :)

I found a set of 5 3/4" Glass housings with LED halo's around the outsides on amazon for $119 + $21 for shipping. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MS ... UTF8&psc=1) They come with halogen h4 bulbs, and are almost completely plug and play, just require a little bit of modification to the rings that hold the headlights in, and a little bit of wiring to hook up the halo's. because its the h4 style bulb you can now either use the halogens that come with them, or do what I plan on doing and buy a set of H4 LED bulbs I would expect to pay between $70-100 otherwise you'll most likely end up with a bulb thats either absolute garbage or isn't water proof and dies 3 months down the road. (https://www.amazon.com/Safego-Headlight ... ight&psc=1)

So start by removing your old headlights, I found it almost easier just to remove the whole back tray, (mines a 67) that way you can test fitment of both headlights, route wires and then just put both back in all at once.
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The Light almost fits perfectly the only thing you will need to modify to make it fit is you will need to either cut or drill a channel for the LED halo wire to fit through. I just lined up the top of the bulb with the top of the cup and marked where the wire sat, then cut the track and placed the bulb in and tightened the ring down on it. I noticed that two of these didn't quite fit as tight as the stock bulbs so I ended up actually using some leftover window cord as a sticky gasket and stuck it to the backside of the bulb and then put the ring back on it. that keeps it tight and keeps any vibration noise.
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Here's a view of what the old bulb looks like vs the new bulb on the back side
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Now just put the new bulbs back on the backing plate and install in the car!
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And in the car!
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I'll update later with some pictures of the halogen bulbs and then of the LED's when I get around to ordering them. (just ordered another $600 in parts from clarks tonight so it may be a few weeks :P)
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1967 140 4 Speed
1963 Monza 900 Spyder
66vairguy
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by 66vairguy »

O.K. First the title "LED headlights" threw me. They are LED HALO lights with H4 bulbs - and that's fine. Looks great.

I was going to install the LED HALO lamps a few years back. But the retailer stopped selling them and when I called they said the failure/return rate was so high they would not sell them! I hope you have better luck. Keep us posted as I would like to use them if they are reliable.

Second - how is the lighting pattern? With the halo ring it minimizes the reflector area and can reduce the light pattern of headlamp.

Third - I have a set of quad lamps and the inside HIGH only lamps have different locator tabs to fit the stock buckets (high only lamp housing tabs different from the outer HI/LO tabs) , but all use the H4 bulb. The inner lamps just don't use the low beam H4 terminal. Nice since the same bulb fits all four. Do YOUR inner lamps have the different tabs or did you have to modify the buckets?

Finally - You're correct that a GOOD LED H4 bulb will be pricey. The cheap ones don't last or have a horrible light pattern.

BTW - Forget the "BLUE" H4 bulbs. I find the Sylvania H4 Xtravision (9003) bulb is brighter and lasts longer than the blue "SilverStreak" bulb .
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God.favored
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by God.favored »

Hah maybe you didn't read the article. I'm putting H4 led bulbs in them, which makes them LED headlights... call it what you will but when they have all LED's that's an LED headlight.

The plugs all fit. The manufacturer just bent the tab for the 3rd prong (low beam) down and it plugged right in. The only custom wiring needed is for the Halos. Here's a picture of the pattern. I need to adjust them still though. Image


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1967 140 4 Speed
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wbabst
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by wbabst »

I am planning on just upgrading to Halogen bulbs on my Corvair, but do like some of the new lighting that is out there. I think the halo's are pretty cool. I do have to ask though did you remove the "Off Road Use Only" sticker before you installed them into your road car? :think: Image
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66vairguy
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by 66vairguy »

So is the garage door pic with the H4 halogen bulb, or have you already put in the H4 LED bulbs?

You didn't answer if the inner HIGH only lamps had the different mounting tabs to fit the HIGH only lamp bucket slots. They look the same, but they are positioned slightly different vs the outside HI/LO bucket tab slots.
ptr
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by ptr »

There are many 5.75" LED lamps available for motorcycles that could be adapted.

If you put an LED bulb in a halogen reflector you and everyone you meet on the road will be less than satisfied with the result. The location and size of the LEDs is different than that of the filament in a traditional bulb which affects the light dispersion pattern.

A full explanation with pictures is available here: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... sions.html. I made the mistake of putting LED bulbs in my van and the result was awful. Pulled them in two days for the old Halogens and started planning a proper projector retrofit.


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God.favored
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by God.favored »

66vairguy wrote:So is the garage door pic with the H4 halogen bulb, or have you already put in the H4 LED bulbs?

You didn't answer if the inner HIGH only lamps had the different mounting tabs to fit the HIGH only lamp bucket slots. They look the same, but they are positioned slightly different vs the outside HI/LO bucket tab slots.
The garage door picture is with the halogen bulb, and oh! I actually didn't pay attention to that, it must've been different because I noticed that the high beam only was Loose fitting so I ended up using that window cord to keep it tight.




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1967 140 4 Speed
1963 Monza 900 Spyder
Joe B
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by Joe B »

Your new headlights make the car look like it's hopped up on caffiene or something with those dilated eyes!
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wv-geo
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by wv-geo »

If you upgrade to LED headlights, don't get the ones with the cooling fans, get the ones with passive cooling.
If the cooling fans fail, the lamps will overheat and die.
The passive cooling LEDs use woven metal heatsinks that looks similar to the EM battery negative ground strap.

I have LED headlights on my 2008 Scion xD with the cooling fans.
I like the light they provide, but have my fingers crossed hoping the fans don't fail.
Dan

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1964 500 Coupe, 140HP, 4spd (Christene)
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triumphcorvair
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by triumphcorvair »

Did you also upgrade your wiring harness as recommended in the product reviews so as to not to overload your headlight switch? If so, which relay kit did you go with?
Darrell McCracken
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God.favored
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Re: Easy LED Headlight Upgrade

Post by God.favored »

triumphcorvair wrote:Did you also upgrade your wiring harness as recommended in the product reviews so as to not to overload your headlight switch? If so, which relay kit did you go with?
I've only kicked them on once to see how they look. Any relays with the proper amperage will work. I just bought a 5 pack of them on Amazon here's a link

Genssi 30/40 AMP Relay and Wire Harness Spdt 12V 40A (Pack of 5) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005HFYE1O/re ... pybT4S8YZT

Super easy to wire and 12ga wire is sufficient.


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1967 140 4 Speed
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