Rather than choosing bulbs by lowest price, I think polling the vast HAMB knowledge-base is in order. I'm not adverse to using relays but not sold on halogen (but willing to be convinced). So, which ones? target car is 50 Merc
Any US made 6012 or 6014 sealed beam if you don't want halogen. No brand seems any better than the rest … setting the regulator to 13.8 - 14 volts brightens things up a little, and of course, tight grounds.
Yep, those are made to DOT specs and are built to a price, so any differences you see will be minor. A sealed-beam halogen version will be a bit better, not so much because there's 'more' light but more that it's 'whiter' light. Your eye perceives that as more 'natural' light (closer to sunlight in it's spectrum), so translates the info it gets better. You shouldn't need a relay for halogen as long as the lighting circuit wiring is adequately sized; it's not that big a bump in watts. If you're retaining your existing 'six volt' wire, that will be plenty big. It's the four headlight guys that need a relay, mostly because the switch won't take it. If you want the best legal lighting possible in the 7" size, buy Cibies. Not cheap, but worth every nickel IMO... Same load as the cheap store-bought halogens, so still no relay. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html
Halogen bulbs in a cibie light , as for bulb maker anything European (France,Germany, England), Nothing Chinese
Sealed beam halogens are pretty good, just a little better illumination over stock bulbs. I have them in my Ford.
Paul, what 302GMC said pertaining to grounds. Can't get them too clean. Relays will make the headlight switch and dimmer switch happy. One for high beam, one for low. Triggered with the outputs from the dimmer switch. With relays the only current through the switches is what is needed to trigger the relay. I use them on a lot of "stuff". Ben
I used Hella (made in Germany) Halogen Vision Plus with 60/55 watt lamps - European beam technology but DOT approved. The glass front isn't as curved as "stock" lamps but They aren't "flat". Very happy with them
my latest build came with a couple of old normal sealed beams, that have the 2 at the top, instead of 2D1, which means they're from before 1974. They worked ok, did quite a bit of night driving in strange places in bad weather on varying roads. I didn't run into anything. look around, you can probably find some on ebay, or at the junkyard, or your friend the car collector's yard.
Guess I didn't realize what a halogen was ... thought it was the blue light. Went and bought a set of NAPA halogen for $10 each. Some day I will pop for LED headlights for $5-800 a pair. You Tube has some good reviews especially from Headlight Revolution.. Headlights have come a long way toward putting light where you want it. Of course you have to pay for these puppies. Have a look U-Tube LED Headlight
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