Has anyone used the Summit racing Halogen conversion Kit 899250 to a 1940 ford? this kit uses a H4 type bulb and claims to be 60% brighter than a factory sealed beam. It looks like I would need to cut the stock ford headlight bucket out for the larger connection area on the headlights and possibly the SS retaining rings around the stock Headlights may be a tight fit plus the "nubs" may be an issue. Any feedback is welcomed. Night driving is not much fun with the 12v stock syle, the Whitetail deer like to graze on the side of the roads & I want as much time as possible to miss hitting them!
Are those any brighter than ordinary 7 1/2" halogen lights? I like the idea of adding more lights to the bumper
If you have conventional glass sealed beams in there now, these should fit with no mods. If you want something less 'modern' looking and with better performance to boot, look here: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html The Cibie 7" round is a superior light (and costs more, but you get what you pay for) with a precision reflector and optical-quality glass lens. Note that both of these will draw more power than a 'standard' sealed beam, so if your existing lights are dim, you may have wiring issues. But I installed a set in my avatar and couldn't be happier. Note that proper adjustment is needed; you've got quite a bit of rake (as does my car), so adjustment will be needed.
it's been a while since i've messed with a `40 , but from what i recall the stock headlight buckets may be deep enough as you said , the nubs may be a problem
A first step to any headlight upgrade should be to measure the voltage at the battery, and compare it to the voltage at the lamp (engine running, lights on & connected, everything just as if you were driving down the road). It is natural to loose a little voltage due to resistance through the wires, connectors etc, but any drop costs you alot of light. A mere 5% voltage drop (about 0,7V) reduces the amount of light by around 20%, and so far I have not made that measurment on any car that good - they've all been way worse! In other words, an upgrade with nice thick wires straight from the battery, through fuse(s), to relay(s) and straight to the headlights (and don't forget the ground side of the wiring) can give a pretty serious improvement. I've seen fairly modern cars where one single headlight with new improved wiring gave more light than both of the headlights together did with the original wiring. There is one downside to increasing the voltage at the lamps, and that is that it also shortens the life span of the lamps. Still, if you drive alot at night, it's a no brainer for me. Lamps are cheap, hitting something because you couldn't see it is not.
If I am using added lights I use an old off road racer trick, floods and pencil beams. The added lights are pencil beams and the stock lights are floods. on the Willys I just traded off I used '36 Ford Aux lights and gutted them and put spots like the KC fire dept uses on the fore trucks, they got a 10 mole reflective range. got them from NAPA I probably still got the box if anyone is interested enough to PM me and ask i'll look for it and get the part number. I haven't used the Summit conversion but I have used summit branded parts before with good success. it woild be worth a try or just a seal beam conversion will make plenty of light I would think.
I know the original style 7 inch seal beam halogens will fit the 40 but the "nubs" have to be ground off. These were bought at K-Mart in 1978.
http://www.holden.co.uk/displayproduct.asp?sg=&pgCode=&sgName=&pgName=&agCode=&agName=&pCode=010.275 .i got my cibie lenses here,curved lenses,fitted without any mods into my 38 chevy pu headlights .not cheap .you should be able to run powerfull bulbs without fear of cracking overheating the lenses. cant comment on the light quality yet but previous experience has been good
I've seen quite a few original '40 headlight doors with small notches ground into them. I always figured it would have been easier to grind the lenses instead of ruining the door's finish.
You are correct. Use a slow turning grinding wheel in a hand drill and keep the area flooded with cold water. Grind a tiny bit at a time. No need to ruin the chrome headlight doors.
If by 'nubs' you're referring to the three adjuster locating 'nubs' on the outside of the lens, you won't find those on the E-code style lens assemblies (most any aftermarket replaceable-lamp lens). Those were a DOT requirement to allow a mechanical adjusting means that didn't require the light to be on.
I use the Hella ECE lenses in my 50 , Cibie ECE my old 62 VW , and Hella on one of my O/T Motorcycles . on the VW it was like adding another headlight specially since I was using a generator vs alternator . on the bike it really helped as the bucket was hard to adjust down and the old bulbs were shoddy in lense quality , the eurpoean ones put the light were its needed . the 7" hellas in european lense format are flat not domed but unless you really look its not too noticable . as for ditch lights a standard GE fluted clear driving bulb is what you want they have them in all sizes , and some 2h style replacements , we used them on the farm trucks during harvest opps as the critters would run to the roadside from the fields we aimed them towards the ditches about 100' ahead of the truck to spook them and being aimed this way it don't blind oncoming traffic ( just remember to turn them off in town ) and also I am suprised steve didn't say run the lights thru a relay from the battery instead of thru the switch . the halogens will make the switch hot and might cause a voltage drop . ( even on a 6v VW I did this and it helped big time ( no dimmed lights at stoplights )
Generally, if you're only running two headlights the OEM wiring is more than adequate. You're only talking an increase from about 8.3 amps to 10 at 12 volts when converting to halogens, and a voltage drop difference of less than .1 of a volt; from .42 volt to .51 volt (and still under 4%). If the vehicle has been rewired and/or inadequate-sized wire was used (smaller than #14), then drop can go up to .8 volt (over 5%) and a relay is called for. Pretty much all circuit-breaker-equipped light switches use at least a 15 amp breaker, so you have plenty of headroom in the switch. 6V vehicles, you may have issues if still using the OEM switch and having good connections is critical. A swap to halogens on a 4-light car is a different story.... I have yet to find a light switch that can handle the high-beam load, so a relay is mandatory.
Most h4 kits fit in 7" round buckets fine . If for some reason it doesn't fit , Summit is pretty easy on returns, you have to pay the return shipping though. there are a lot of h4 bulbs available so you can try different bulbs, with different wattage and color . most halogen bulbs are in the yellow light range and great in foggy or rainy weather, there are some bulbs available with different gasses in the capsules that make whiter light. you mentioned deer on the side of the road, as someone suggested a pair of fog lamps would be ideal, they are designed to illuminate the side of the road (fog line) HID is another option, not great in rain or fog but very bright white light , illuminates the road very well, should have no trouble spotting deer ,they don't draw a lot of current. you will have to find a place to mount the ballasts though. HID's do need a lens designed for the bulb though, not a good idea to put HID's in H4 lamps designed for Halogen, wavelength of the HID is shorter and scatters the light. Phillips made a 7" round HID kit several years ago that included lamps housings, bulbs and ballasts that was well engineered.
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