HEAD lIGHTS

I want to install Halogen headlight in my 77 Avanti. Is there anything I should know before doing this? Can I purhcase these bulbs at my local NAPA or Auto Zone store? Thanks

[dclewallen]

I installed sealed beam Halogen bulbs in my 53 with no problems. A big difference from the plain sealed beam headlights. A much brighter whiter light. The bulbs should be available at most any parts store.

Darryl C. Lewallen Clarkesville, Ga.

[sbca96]

Nothing special about this install, and its a worth while upgrade. If
you wanted extra light, you can wire a relay setup for direct current.
That isnt necessary though.

Tom

'63 Avanti, zinc plated drilled & slotted 03 Mustang Cobra 13" front disc/98 GT rear brakes, 03 Cobra 17" wheels, GM alt, 97 Z28 leather seats, soon: 97 Z28 T-56 6-spd, Ported heads w/SST full flow valves, 'R3' 276 cam, Edelbrock AFB Carb, GM HEI distributor, 8.8mm plug wires

[60Lark]

I put 7" Halogen sealed beam bulbs in my 60 Lark they work great while on Low Beam, but if I switch to High Beam and leave them on for a few miles/minutes the circuit breaker trips and all lights go out for a few minutes until the breaker resets.


Studebaker Fever
60 Lark
51 Champion
Phil
Arnold, Missouri

[41 Frank]

Phil, you either have a weak breaker or the amperage draw of the new lights exceeds the capacity of the breaker you have,I have heard of this happening before and it usually means you need to increase the amperage of your breaker if your wiring will handle it!

quote:Originally posted by 60Lark

I put 7" Halogen sealed beam bulbs in my 60 Lark they work great while on Low Beam, but if I switch to High Beam and leave them on for a few miles/minutes the circuit breaker trips and all lights go out for a few minutes until the breaker resets.


Studebaker Fever
60 Lark
51 Champion
Phil
Arnold, Missouri

[Skip Lackie]

The original poster did not mention whether he was talking about the sealed bean halogens (which are readily available in auto parts stores) or the European-style headlights with the replaceable H1, H2, etc bulbs. As 41Frank notes, the former MAY draw more power than a Stude circuit breaker (20 amps, I think) can handle. In that case, a higher capacity breaker or a separate relay would be required.

The European-style lights are even brighter, but are not strictly legal for road use in cars (legal on motorcycles) in many states. They can be found in the JC Whitney catalog, Hemmings, and from places that specialize in European cars. They draw a lot more than 20 amps and definitely require the installation of a separate relay and fuse, but that's easy to do and the improvement in lighting is impressive.

Skip Lackie
Washington DC

[sbca96]

Thats what I touched on with the "relay" I mentioned. I posted up the
Ebay style headlights a while back, and the thread has some decent info
on installing the relay wiring for super bright (and safer) headlight
wiring. Overheating the wiring CAN cause bad results. It seemed like
the original poster was only refering to the common halogen bulbs.

http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/sdc_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6203

Tom

quote:Originally posted by Skip Lackie
As 41Frank notes, the former MAY draw more power than a Stude circuit breaker (20 amps, I think) can handle. In that case, a higher capacity breaker or a separate relay would be required.

[60Lark]

Thanks Frank and Tom for the suggestions, I have a few of the sealed plug-in type relays that GM used in the mid 80s, I will make up my own wiring harness and terninal block using a couple of these relays to control the High and Low beams, it should be a piece of cake. I have done electrical control work most of my career plus I have been getting a lot of experience with rewiring the 56 Powerhawk that I brought home from Northern Nebraska about 2 monthes ago. I have almost completely re-wired the 56 Powerhawk. The fella I got it from, should never be allowed near another wire. From front to back and side to side, there was absolutely nothing wired correctly. When I got it home, I decided to make-up my own replacement wiring harness, using the correct wire colors. I am almost finished with the wiring and will moving on to the brakes which have been screwed up equally as bad. So rather than finish what he started, I am redoing what he did. Sorry for getting off topic [^]


Studebaker Fever
60 Lark
51 Champion
Phil
Arnold, Missouri

[41 Frank]

I admire your determination to tackle a wiring job like that in the Hawk Phil. I wired the 41 after I ripped everything out and started from scratch except I used a Painless harness and that made everything much easier than a scratch built one.I did install various relays for fan control and AC etc, I used stock headlight bulbs which made a relay not necessary in my opinion.See you in a few days.

[StudeRich]

Yeah right, sure, install some of those European Gas bulb "blasters", so you can join the Lexus SUV crowd and blast a trail 250-300 feet wide and 600-700 feet long with blue/white light to blaze everyone's mirrors for a mile!

I don't understand how they get the right to import those darned things over here, the U.S. DOT must be sleeping! A few years ago you couldn't even import a Germany standard Mercedes here, without replacing all the lights because they were too bright, and they were not even close to that bright!

Those things are not needed on our well lit streets and freeways, only on one lane country roads that you could use driving or fog lights for.


StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[Skip Lackie]

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

Yeah right, sure, install some of those European Gas bulb "blasters", so you can join the Lexus SUV crowd and blast a trail 250-300 feet wide and 600-700 feet long with blue/white light to blaze everyone's mirrors for a mile!

I don't understand how they get the right to import those darned things over here, the U.S. DOT must be sleeping! A few years ago you couldn't even import a Germany standard Mercedes here, without replacing all the lights because they were too bright, and they were not even close to that bright!

Those things are not needed on our well lit streets and freeways, only on one lane country roads that you could use driving or fog lights for.


StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

Rich-
I don't think either Tom or I were referring to the blue-white "blasters" you see on high-end imports -- at least I wasn't. I was referring to the halogen headlight conversions that have been available for 30 years or so in the standard sizes -- 5.75" round, 7" round, 4x6" rectangular, etc. I installed some Cibie conversions in my 64 Daytona more than 20 years ago and have been pleased with their performance. I've also seen them from Carello and Hella.

I agree that they don't help that much in well-lit areas, but they're a big help on wet and icy streets with lousy street lighting. And if they're adjusted properly, they don't seem to annoy oncoming drivers any more than do the sealed beam halogens. But I do agree that the new high intensity discharge headlights seem to be a lot more annoying, and yet they're legal while the standard halogens were verboten for many years.

Skip Lackie
Washington DC

[N8N]

Skip,

the "E-code" lights that you probably have still *are* illegal, despite the fact that they have a much better beam pattern than even the currently legal halogens - the low beams have a very sharp cutoff so there is almost no chance of dazzling oncoming traffic unless you're cresting a hill.

I've been running a pair of Cibies in my 944 on a custom relay harness for about 3 years now without comment however; I don't think I could go back to the stock sealed beams.

I've got another pair on deck for the '55 as soon as I get it together

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight

http://members.cox.net/njnagel

[Mark57]

Up here in BC all you can switch to is the sealed beam halogen lights... If you go for anything fancier like Bosch, Hella, etc. you risk losing your vehicle's "Collector" car status.[xx(]

[sbca96]

Honestly, with all the driving I do, Fords seem to be the worst of the
offenders for bright lights. Living in SUVafornia, I get my retinas
burned just about every night. That said, my 55 mile commute is on a
mostly pitch dark two lane road. Deer are my fear. I would hate to
scoop one in the Avanti, which is why I plan to add brighter lights. A
few extra seconds can be the difference between a scare, and a deer in
your radiator.....

Tom

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

Yeah right, sure, install some of those European Gas bulb "blasters", so you can join the Lexus SUV crowd

[Skip Lackie]

quote:Originally posted by Mark57

Up here in BC all you can switch to is the sealed beam halogen lights... If you go for anything fancier like Bosch, Hella, etc. you risk losing your vehicle's "Collector" car status.[xx(]

It's hard to argue with the province's reasoning on that one. In most states and provinces, you can't qualify for historic, antique, collector, etc plates if your vehicle is equipped with any equipment (exception: seat belts) that wasn't available when the vehicle was new. Most of those laws are intended to prevent street rods with more modern drive trains from qualifying for antique plates, but enforcement varies all over the place -- especially if antique vehicles are exempt from inspection.

Skip Lackie
Washington DC