Headlights : Euro / Halo

[sbca96]

Has anyone dabbled in any of the Ebay headlights? I am thinking about a
set of "halo" headlights for my Avanti. Since the Avanti is euro, I think I
can get away with it better then some 57 Chevys and 69 Camaros I have
seen with them on. I also think with the plastic lense cover, it will look like
a factory thing, bringing my Avanti even further updated. Here is a link to
the lights I have found - and the price is right.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/7-INCH-ROUND-UNIVERSAL-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEAD-LIGHTS-LAMPS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQihZ008QQitemZ180033879088QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

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

[sbca96]

FYI : They dont just keep blinking like that, its for display. This
style light is quite popular on the show circuit. If you look at my
Ryon Park pics, the white 69 Camaro has them, and so does a 57 Chevy
at both Ryon Park and the JR's hangout. They were the basic light,
without the halo. They are factory on BMWs, and the new Camaro with
single headlights is going to have them in 2009.

Tom

[rockne10]

By "updating" do you mean brighter and, therefore, safer than standard halogens, or are these just the obnoxious blue things we see coming at us from time to time?

Brad Johnson
Pine Grove Mills, Pa.
33 Rockne 10
51 Commander Starlight
53 Commander Starlight

previously: 63 Cruiser, 62 Regal VI, 60 VI convertible, 50 LandCruiser

[N8N]

I'm not aware of any "angel eyes" headlights that I'd consider good quality in a 7" round format (what you need) and there's a lot of junk on the market aimed at the "ricer" crowd. Unfortunately, I'm having issues with my new connection - for some reason I can access EVERYTHING on the web, except the most popular search engine - so I'm not really ina position to look for you, but I'd personally stick with known good brands like Cibie or Hella.

I believe I've mentioned before that I'm just running the standard Cibie 7" round reflectors on my Porsche (what you'd use for an Avanti) and they are quite simply the most incredible headlights I've ever driven behind. They don't look flashy but they darn sure get the job done. I've also added a relay harness to feed them straight alternator voltage, and they seem to like it. I plan a similar upgrade for the '55.

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[sbca96]

Nate, these are pretty good quality as far as I can tell, & the price
is pretty darn good. Here is the text from the ad :

7" Round Halo Rim Projector Headlights w/Super White H4
Manufactured by ISO Certified Auto Light Manufacturer
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Price is for One Brand New Set of 2 Pieces, Left & Right
*Diamond-cut Chrome Housing, Halo, Clear Projector & Euro Clear Lens
Cover
*Bulb-replaceable Design, no more Light Housing Changing, just Replace Bulbs
*Comes with all new bulbs, H4 60/55W P43T Type White Light ones (blue lens)
*100% Glass Lenses
*Rare with unique look-comes with a built-in parking light. You can connect it to your existing parking lights or leave it disconnected
*Same as shown in Pictures
*Durable with highest quality
*Street Legal

Rockne, they are brighter then halogens, and are supposed to have a
better pattern, especially off to the sides, which I need to spot deer
on my commute home at night (which I do on Fridays with the Avanti).
Having seen what a small deer will do to an 80's Camaro, I would hate
to find out what one stuffed in the radiator of an Avanti is like!
They are not the "blue" lights, they state "super white". Its an idea
I am toying with, after seeing a few show cars that didnt have an euro
look at all (which they looked 'interesting' on).

By "updated" I mean modern, the projector lights are hear to stay, its
on just about every higher end car out right now. I wasnt too sure on
single headlight projectors with halos until I saw the '09 Camaro. Im
not a fan of the style of the front end, but the lights interest me:



Tom

[Mike]

Cibie "Z" beams, with 130/90 bulbs will definitely light up the side of the road, where the deer come out of nowhere. Maybe you'll even find the lost fuel pump bolt! The sharp "Z" cut off limits light high and to the left; so you don't blind oncoming traffic; although there will be some scatter with the plastic covers. There are reproductions sold on ebay for $40 a pair. Maybe they will sell them with the high power bulbs.
I've gone way overboard on wire size, in the past; and that's what most people recommend. All the assessories and lights in a stock Avanti are fed by a single 12# wire.
With the most powerful bulbs available, on high beam, each headlight is a 10 amp circuit. I'll be converting my Avanti and plan to run individual 14# wires to each headlight, from the dimmer switch. I'll probably run new 14# grounds to the engine block. I'll use one 30A relay, and one 30A breaker to feed the dimmer switch from the battery side of the stock 20A headlight breaker. Maybe I'll rewire the charging circuit with 10# wire.
Mike M.

[N8N]

Mike,

rather than do that, why don't you use a pair of relays, one for high and one for low beam, and take the power for the relays right off the voltage regulator? Less wiring that way and also you don't have to worry about the condition of the contacts in the dimmer switch, it becomes basically a low current control switch now.

In my '55, as I'm desiging this in my head, I think I'm going to take a pair of 12 AWG off the back of the alternator (I've converted to a 10SI so no external regulator) mount a plate in place of the stock regulator (in my car, just in front of the alternator, so it's a convenient place) and mount two Hella fused fog light relays on it. Then some 16 AWG from the stock junction block on the fan shroud to trigger the relays, and 12 AWG returning to another added terminal strip on the fan shroud to hook up the headlights. I might rewire the headlight buckets with 12 AWG and separate grounds as well... couldn't hurt; the stock buckets just ground through the mounting screws to the fender, I'm guessing a ground to the alternator case would be an improvement.

The way I'm envisioning this, the only irreversable mod to the car would be two additional holes in the fan shroud, so if anyone ever wanted to restore the car, it wouldn't be that difficult to put it "right" (although I'm not sure why you'd want to.) Obviously my mounting locations would not work for an Avanti but I just figured I'd throw this out there to see if you could think of something similar to do. Maybe mounting the relays on the inner fender below the battery?

I concur that the "Z-beams" were awesome headlights, unfortunately I don't think they make them any more, I am running whatever E-codes Cibie was selling as of about 2 years ago. They're still awesome. I've also heard that (believe it or not) the "Zelmot" brand lights were pretty good and a lot cheaper, but I haven't tried them. I know JC Whitney used to sell them as motorcycle headlights, but am not sure if they still do or have substituted something cheaper and less functional.

good luck,

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[63Avanti]

One more time,
are these the good bright lamps,
or those faked out blue things

quote:Originally posted by sbca96

Nate, these are pretty good quality as far as I can tell, & the price
is pretty darn good. Here is the text from the ad :

7" Round Halo Rim Projector Headlights w/Super White H4
Manufactured by ISO Certified Auto Light Manufacturer
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*Price is for One Brand New Set of 2 Pieces, Left & Right
*Diamond-cut Chrome Housing, Halo, Clear Projector & Euro Clear Lens
Cover
*Bulb-replaceable Design, no more Light Housing Changing, just Replace Bulbs
*Comes with all new bulbs, H4 60/55W P43T Type White Light ones (blue lens)
*100% Glass Lenses
*Rare with unique look-comes with a built-in parking light. You can connect it to your existing parking lights or leave it disconnected
*Same as shown in Pictures
*Durable with highest quality
*Street Legal

Rockne, they are brighter then halogens, and are supposed to have a
better pattern, especially off to the sides, which I need to spot deer
on my commute home at night (which I do on Fridays with the Avanti).
Having seen what a small deer will do to an 80's Camaro, I would hate
to find out what one stuffed in the radiator of an Avanti is like!
They are not the "blue" lights, they state "super white". Its an idea
I am toying with, after seeing a few show cars that didnt have an euro
look at all (which they looked 'interesting' on).

By "updated" I mean modern, the projector lights are hear to stay, its
on just about every higher end car out right now. I wasnt too sure on
single headlight projectors with halos until I saw the '09 Camaro. Im
not a fan of the style of the front end, but the lights interest me:



Tom

Terry,
1963 Avanti R2, 63SR1065 http://sterkel.org/avanti
1985 Kubota L2202 (Diesel)
2000 VW Jetta GLS

[sbca96]

[quote]quote:Originally posted by tsterkel


One more time,
are these the good bright lamps,
or those faked out blue things

Originally posted by sbca96
7" Round Halo Rim Projector Headlights w/Super White H4
*Diamond-cut Chrome Housing, Halo, Clear Projector & Euro Clear Lens
Cover
*Comes with all new bulbs, H4 60/55W P43T Type White Light ones (blue lens)
Rockne, they are brighter then halogens, and are supposed to have a
better pattern, especially off to the sides.....They are not the "blue" lights, they state "super white".

Thats all the info I have on them, and I wont know for sure until I
order them. Total cost will be about 40 bucks, and if the halos look
dumb, I can always leave them unhooked. I am not as sure about this
as I was the rims, but the investment is considerably less.

There is a harness available for mustangs :

http://www.karmustang.com/halogen_headlight_kit.php

And Painless wiring makes one (90 bucks though) :

http://www.performanceproducts4trucks.com/ProductPage.aspx?pid=110695

This looks like the best deal, and free shipping :

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=AMC%2D509102

$48.39

Prevent a meltdown.High-wattage bulbs can fry your stock light switch. These APC wiring harness kits include a special relay system that'll prevent a meltdown.



Tom

[N8N]

I'd stay away from APC; they are the company that makes all those s**tty aftermarket taillights, headlight covers, cheezy pedal covers, etc. for the ricer crowd.

I would recommend RIK-2 from:

http://danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

Daniel is a little crusty and short with people he considers clueless, but he sells the goods. I got my own relay harness and lights from the sadly late Dan Wray, but AFAIK the stuff Daniel Stern sells is comparable/may be the same.

good luck,

nate



--
55 Commander Starlight

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[sbca96]

Daniels stuff looks nice, but more of a do-it-yourself kit, it says
that the wires are not included?? Just because something is made for
the "ricer crowd" (which I dont care for either) doesnt automatically
mean its crap. Where have you read it was poor quality? I am only
asking, the price being half as much as the Painless, makes me suspect,
so you are probably right. I guess I need to google some reviews.

Tom

[N8N]

I think I checked the APC wiring out at a swap meet once, it was 16 AWG if I remember correctly, which would only give you a marginal improvement over stock. I do know that the harness I have which is all 12 AWG or heavier gives me a full 14.1V at my headlights in the Porsche which is actually higher than I get at the lighter socket. It's a beautiful thing. I don't think the lack of wire is a show stopper; I feel better using wiring that I've soldered and heat shrinked myself anyway, and I can wrap it in the old black harness tape to keep it stock-ish looking. I've got several boat stores and auto parts stores that will sell me good wire in various colors nearby. Even better, one of my favorite local chains has a location within walking distance of my new place, just discovered that last night

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight

http://home.comcast.net/~njnagel

[sbca96]

Well Nate .. its confession time on MY part. I am solder-impaired. I
can NOT solder worth beans. If my life depended on it, I might be
able to get the solder to stick, but usually it just goes everywhere
but WHERE I am trying to solder. So for me, I would rather buy one
that has been done for me, at least I know the soldering will last.
16 gauge isnt too bad, Daniel states that 18 is usually factory. Even
20 is found in some cases.

The Olds guys seem to like the APC kit.

http://www.oldspower.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18012

Here is the APC website :

http://www.performancestyleattitude.com/home.htm

Tom

[Mike]

I've used two relays, like Nate describes, before. It's the way most people wire their lights up. I like the simplicity of one relay rather than two. I don't like running two 12# or even 10# wires to the 1/4" QD terminal on the commonly used headlight relays. I'm not familiar with the Hella version. What type fuse does it use?
The dimmer switch is probably heavy enough, electrically and mechanically, to use as I plan. I have an old one I may open up, to check. I think Rock Auto sells the shell with removable contacts for the connector plug.
I want to mount the relay and breaker on a panel next to the stock fuse box, with as few wires running to them as possible. I'm trying to use components that were available in the '60's.
I have a pair of "Z" beams, from the early '70's. If the reflectors are shot, I'll try the reproductions from ebay.
The plans for your '55 sound neat. Hiding the relays in a voltage regulator cover and getting power directly from the alternator seems like a natural. I remember the terminal strip on the fan shroud for the lights.
About '68, I was using Lucas headlamps on my '57 Stude. They were the type with an internal bulb shield mounted on three bars, with the Lucas logo on a black button in the center. The originals have a lot more class than the imitations that seem to have become popular! I switched to QH bulbs, when they became available. I used much better Cibie and Hella lamps on subsequent "furin" cars. European lights, and good advice, were available from Eugene Shymeister, (sp?), at "Apogee Enterprises", in the '60's and '70's. He was great. I still have a copy of his "Whole Light Catalog".
Mike M.

[Mike]

You can improve even the stock sealed beams by installing a relay, rather than running the headlights through the overhead switch; and running larger wires. The stock headlamp wiring is indeed 18#. I think it's one 18# wire to a "T" splice to feed the two headlights. It also goes through unnecessary connector plugs, that I'll be eliminating. I wouldn't go any smaller than 14# wire for a 10 amp circuit 15' long. It's not a matter of smoke, just voltage drop.
It's not hard to learn to solder. Any oil, even skin oil from handling parts and bare wire, will make it hard to get the solder to flow. There must be a tutorial on the net, somewhere.
Mike M.