hey guys, i have been appreciating the helpful info on my car and i have yet another question or two for you. who makes a conversion kit for my 55 customline to halogen headlights. i notice on a lot of websites, they only go back to 1964. what do i all have to change to do that. i am really starting to piss away money on this car. i'm thinking next time if there is one, i will buy the damn thing complete. thanks again for any info, ideas, or smart ass remarks
Mine are Hella 90w-140w -- grill HIbeams are 100w Hellas -- under the bumper fogs are 100w Hellas as well - "I can see clearly no the haze is gone!"
Is the car now 12 volt? If so, remove old 7" headlight replace with a 7" Halogen! If the car is still 6 volt, that's a whole nother animal. They do make 6 volt halogen H4 bulbs, but they require a head lamp like the SD Highway man is using and will run you about $80 just for the lamp assembly plus the 6 volt bulbs. KK
Your '55 takes a standard 7" round headlight, the only issue would be if it's still 6 volt. The 6V lamps are here: https://www.octanelighting.com/c-8-h4-light-bulbs.aspx and will fit any aftermarket 7" H4 type lens assembly. Buy extra lamps as you won't find these at parts stores... Lens assemblies here for the very best: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html Halogen lamps draw more power compared to what was used 'back then', you may need to put the high beams on a relay.
Jeep used a plastic 7'' headlight that fits any standard 7'' bucket, I don't know if they are halogen but they look pretty good and they are cheap if bought used. I think they were used in the Jeep Wrangler.
If you're after as much light as possible, avoid plastic lenses, only use glass. Plastic transmits about 7-10 % less light compared to glass and as it ages can go even lower. That's one of things I like about Cibie lenses, they use optical-quality glass for the least amount of light loss.
Get a summit catalog, hella makes a 7" light as does Cibi. I prefer the cibis but they are pricey. I don't know where the link is for sure but there is a site that sells real Lucas Flamthrowers too of you want to go totally old school. I'll look for the masses. Here are some 7" Cibis while I search. about 54 dollars a side. http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/headlights/cibie-7-inch-e-approved-headlight-conversions Found it Lucas lights are as traditional as it gets when it comes to hard core lights. http://jollyrogersmotors.com/store/c/124-Lucas-Electrical.html?pi=16
On a two-headlight car, that may or may not be needed. Standard 55/60W lamps will usually be ok, if you use higher-wattage 'off road' lamps then you need to use a relay to power the high beams. You will have a problem on 4 light cars, these need the relay...
For my 49 ford, I used the Hellas with H-4 Halogen bulbs...a bolt-in deal. This was before they had the hokey-ass LED ring around the outside.
I bought a pair of glass 7" round headlights off of Ebay for $35 just a few days ago. If you plan on getting some decent ones, please make sure: 1) They are glass 2) They have the vertical lines in them like the Hellas. They spread the light a lot better than totally clear lenses 3) Make sure they don't have halos or LED's built into them - unless you like your cheese...er...cheesy. I am also getting a pair of 6000K LED Cree 'bulbs' to go in there. MUCH whiter than halogens (if you like that kind of thing) and they don't have an evil glare like HID's do. Sorry to post a pic of a non-traditional but this is my Dart with the conversion. On the left is LED with glass lens and on the right is stock yellow sealed beam.
This is an interesting subject, the difference in current draw between halogens and tungsten bulbs shouldn't be enough to matter, maybe 3 or 4 amps total. If the grounds and connections, switches, are marginal, all bets are off but that's not news. Not against relays but they didn't come from the factory with dim, yellow lights either. I have run Ford script halogens and a generator for many years and cross country trips overnight with no problem but am probably OCD when it comes to grounds and connections. Both lightswitch and floor dimmer have been replaced at some point. Check for voltage drop on both negative side and positive circuits. Anything more than about 0.2 tenths per side is excessive.
The current draw can make a difference. Ford used internal circuit breakers for the headlights in all their headlight switches from the 50s to at least the 80s, and they used two sizes; the two light cars got 15A breakers, the four light cars got 20A. Two 60W lights will put you right at 10 amps, a bit below the maximum safe amount on a 15A breaker (80% of 15 is 12). With a four light car with 60W lamps, you'll be at 20 amps, well over the max breaker rating of 16 amps. The other thing to note is that 'conversion' bulbs designed to replace another lamp type ARE NOT legal anywhere in North America, lacking DOT approval.
Ask around on the 1952- 1959 Ford forum. Lots of guys converted their cars to halogens, know the ins & outs, part numbers of whatever they used for relays, etc.
Well Lucas was an English company but you can get them both ways. Damn it I was thinking about my second link sorry.
Hellas are a flood unless you find and buy Hella spots. To be really functional at speed on the open road (or crossing the desert at night) you really need to run a pair of pencil beams with them. I liked the Hella/pencil beam setup I had on the Willys I traded for my A. But they were the flat lens light and they just don't look right on a traditional hot rod. If I don't go with Lucas Flame throwers on my A it will just run Halogen seal beams.
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