Halogen headlamps conversion

tantus pedis

tantus pedis

Member
I realise there have been a few posts on this before as I've done the searches but the problems I'm having are in a couple of different subjects to I thought I'd create a new topic.

When I bought the car it had sealed beam units which to be fair were next to useless - especially when one went pop on the way home.
I have already replaced the outer ones with Halogen conversion units and they are loads better - need adjusting off the floor though.

I read that some people do the same to the inners but use outer units instead and then wire up for 4 dip beams and 4 main beams. As I recently started to suffer with the 'inners on - all lights off' problem that is apprently down to the stalk switch I was thinking I perhaps need to do a switched relay re-route anyway. Incidentally this only happens after about 20mins of use and then corrects itself a few hours later.

I don't think it really needs the extra light as the sealed inners are pretty good. One is starting to go black at the top though so won't be long. The main reason for going for 4 dip beams is aesthetics and the fact that I managed to get two more new outer units for £6 each :)

My question is where is the best place to take the feed from for the lights? - as the battery is in the boot my normal method of tapping off the main positive cable is a no go and I can't seem to find an obvious fat red cable to hack into! What about the back of the alternator? As the car has had a SD1 lump dropped in it I'm not entirely sure what else is non P6 standard as far as ancillaries / wiring go.

There are fair few extra wires running round the engine bay as there is electronic ignition, an alarm and an electric fan I hadn't seen before. I was wondering what the extra rear window heater switch was for!

Still don't like the red :?
 
tantus pedis said:
Incidentally this only happens after about 20mins of use and then corrects itself a few hours later.

Still don't like the red :?
Click to expand...

Check your fuse box, they can get hot and loosen the fuses. Check the fuses are the long ones (31mm) and not the shorter 28mm ones as the shorter ones can overheat in the box and wreck it.

Don't like the red what?

Under your feet is the main battery cable from the boot which goes into the engine bay. This goes to the starter motor. There is a large cable coming from this cable to the Ammeter shunt. This would be a good place rig your relays into.
 
DaveHerns said:
I think having 4 headlamps all on dipped beam is illegal and would fail an MOT
I can see the appeal though
Click to expand...


I don't think it does, and reading the testers manual there is nothing in there that would indicate that it is a failure. (In other words, it doesn't say that with four lamp systems only two must work on dipped beam)
 
harveyp6 said:
DaveHerns said:
I think having 4 headlamps all on dipped beam is illegal and would fail an MOT
I can see the appeal though
Click to expand...


I don't think it does, and reading the testers manual there is nothing in there that would indicate that it is a failure. (In other words, it doesn't say that with four lamp systems only two must work on dipped beam)
Click to expand...

Do you not have to check that, 'Side lights and headlamps are the correct type and colour?'
 
Well cant take much to disconnect the dip part before an MOT anyway! Most of the old bill I know wouldn't know either - including me :D
Believe me headlamps isn't exactly a priority. Unless they're not on at all!

Fuses aren't getting hot - I'm driving with the glove box open and the cover off and checking now and then with a wet finger! :shock:
 
quattro said:
Do you not have to check that, 'Side lights and headlamps are the correct type and colour?'
Click to expand...

Yes, but that means not one blue bulb and one white one, or a car that is fitted with either square or round headlamps (eg Escort mk1), but not one of each. There's nothing in the testers manual that says that with a 4 lamp system two have to be extinguished on dipped beam. (Not as far as I can see anyway.)

C & U regulations may be different.
 
http://www.ukmot.com/1-2.asp

Reason for rejection :

b. Operation of the dip switch does not extinguish all main beam headlamps, and leave on at least one pair of dipped beam headlamps, or deflect the main beams to make them dipped beams

I take it from this that more than one pair would be ok if they need 'at least one'
 
Hi, just wondered where you got the halogen dipped units so cheap? I still have original units and, although I am trying to keep my car original, driving on dipped beam is a bit scary, so would like to convert.
 
I got two from www.holden.co.uk and two more off ebay for about half the price of Holden :)
Remember to search ebay for 5.75" and 5 3/4" as they can be listed as either. Sometimes they're listed under a specific model - in other words it took me a couple of hours to find some dead cheap.
 
I spent a few hours plumbing in the relays the other night. What fun that was. The outer units take the old style H7 base so I put a pair of Halogen 40/45W bulbs in there and left the 50/55W - or whatever they are - in the middle. I still haven't wired up the inner dip beams yet. The relays man enough but I'm not sure the wiring is.
I currently have 4 40A relays. I took feed from the supply to the stalk switch and used the wiring from the stalk to switch the relays. Replacing the fuses in the main box for much lower rating to suit the relay coils. The power feed is now wired through mini blade fuse box (4 fuses) to supply relay switched current for each side dip/main.
I have new plugs for the inner units and could tap into the feed for the outer dips. What I will probably do is have two more relays near the headlamp units - with the coils wired to the outer dip beams and then provide a seperate fused feed to the bulb.
The rest of the gubbins was put behind the passenger glove box and I don't think another two relays would fit. Overkill with the relays I imagine but I was trying to keep left and right sides seperate. Hmm I might go back to my sketch and see if I can't lose a couple!
 
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