I think it is time to upgrade the 69's front headlights. The HID's require extra wiring...extra power etc. I'm looking for a simple bulb/housing upgrade that will look relatively stock but outperform. LED's seem to be the way to go. I like the ones with the daytime LED "halos" ... on other people's cars. I just can't picture them on my car. What have your experiences been? Any recommendations?
LED Headlight Upgrade Ideas
mcc351
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I think it is time to upgrade the 69's front headlights. The HID's require extra wiring...extra power etc. I'm looking for a simple bulb/housing upgrade that will look relatively stock but outperform. LED's seem to be the way to go. I like the ones with the daytime LED "halos" ... on other people's cars. I just can't picture them on my car. What have your experiences been? Any recommendations?
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IMHO, the 'ring' headlights look pretty out-of-place on a mostly stock vintage Mustang. Some of the heavily modified and modernized ones look all right with 'em. But that's a matter of personal taste I guess! Keep in mind how pissed off you get when you are greeted with someone that has 'way too bright' headlights, even on dim. A lot of these put out a ton of watts and are not very friendly for highway driving.
If you get LED headlights, make sure they have a quality heatsink. The real problem most of these face is inadequate cooling, which can lead to a lack of brightness, or premature failure. They make them with a mostly 'stock' appearance as well as the 'ringed' versions.
If it's just 'smooth' glass, without the little Fresnel bumps and flutes, you should probably avoid it. Those are there to diffuse the light, and focus it on the road, away from other drivers' eyeballs. They work WAY better. (the bumps are on the inside)
If you get LED headlights, make sure they have a quality heatsink. The real problem most of these face is inadequate cooling, which can lead to a lack of brightness, or premature failure. They make them with a mostly 'stock' appearance as well as the 'ringed' versions.
If it's just 'smooth' glass, without the little Fresnel bumps and flutes, you should probably avoid it. Those are there to diffuse the light, and focus it on the road, away from other drivers' eyeballs. They work WAY better. (the bumps are on the inside)
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A good set of halogen headlights will draw the same power as your old bulbs, cost $50 each, look almost original and probably will be a better headlight than any LED you buy for that car.
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And prices for LED lamps at CJ Pony Parts range from $250-$370 a pair. They also have the "ring" halo lights for even more $$, but I agree with Grimbrand; I wouldn't want them on my '66.
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Well remember this you have a 69! so its not a pair of lamps but 2 pair or 4 lamps in total. so double the prices you are seeing. IMHO having two light's upgraded and two not would look wrong. You can get good halogen sealed beams for a lot less ( $30.00 a bulb) and you'll be amazed at the quality of light out put. Also all 4 lights aren't the same you need two 3 prong lamps and 2 2 prong lamps.
Also having converted a motorcycle recently to LED headlamp, I'll say this the light is bright, but LEDs don't have the back scatter off the reflector like halogen or incandescents will. So your beam pattern is sharply defined, often the side of the road is black or very dark and hard to see.
Also having converted a motorcycle recently to LED headlamp, I'll say this the light is bright, but LEDs don't have the back scatter off the reflector like halogen or incandescents will. So your beam pattern is sharply defined, often the side of the road is black or very dark and hard to see.
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I reccomend you contact Daniel Stern @ Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply
He knows more about automotive lighting systems than anyone I know. And if that's not enough, he's honest and will question you regarding your goals, and not try to sell you something you DON'T NEED !
I've purchased several H-4 conversion kits from him w/ Cibie lenses. The light pattern is outstanding, and the length of the beam as well. But no blinding of oncoming traffic. The Cibie lenses have a nice convex shape, and look much better on a classic car than most other lenses which have that unfortunate flat lens.
I'm in agreement with those who would counsel you to stay away from LED lighting. Not going to look right on a classic car, and you will get plenty of light from the H-4 type bulbs. BTW, those H-4's might not be the exact bulb for your '69, but Daniel Stern will know the right bulb for your needs.
A lighting relay is always a good idea, in my view. Lots of opinions regarding those, but I like them on a vintage car.
Z
He knows more about automotive lighting systems than anyone I know. And if that's not enough, he's honest and will question you regarding your goals, and not try to sell you something you DON'T NEED !
I've purchased several H-4 conversion kits from him w/ Cibie lenses. The light pattern is outstanding, and the length of the beam as well. But no blinding of oncoming traffic. The Cibie lenses have a nice convex shape, and look much better on a classic car than most other lenses which have that unfortunate flat lens.
I'm in agreement with those who would counsel you to stay away from LED lighting. Not going to look right on a classic car, and you will get plenty of light from the H-4 type bulbs. BTW, those H-4's might not be the exact bulb for your '69, but Daniel Stern will know the right bulb for your needs.
A lighting relay is always a good idea, in my view. Lots of opinions regarding those, but I like them on a vintage car.
Z
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I agree totally with zray. (Except maybe for the relay part. 
) I gave the short version of the answer, he explained it in more detail. I have the same Cibie, H4 headlights on two much different cars (no relays on either) and they are excellent. They are the ones I mentioned above that cost $50 each. You can get cheaper halogens but the best ones made are the Cibies.
As Walt described, besides the cost, the biggest problem with add-on LEDs is that the light distribution pattern is terrible becasue of the cheap optics. LEDs are entirely different than regular bulbs and need entirely different optics to make them work well. You have to pay literally THOUSANDS of dollars for custom designed optics if you want decent LED headlights. The cheaper retrofit kits may be bright but there is more to seeing where you are going than being bright.
I think you will also find that Daniel Stern will advise you that any of the LED add-on kits are highly illegal to use on a US highway. Anyone can claim their lighting products are DOT approved which means nothing. The feds don't issue approvals, they only sue after the fact to take illegal products off the market. The legal process is slow so many illegal headlights are out there in the meantime.
) I gave the short version of the answer, he explained it in more detail. I have the same Cibie, H4 headlights on two much different cars (no relays on either) and they are excellent. They are the ones I mentioned above that cost $50 each. You can get cheaper halogens but the best ones made are the Cibies.As Walt described, besides the cost, the biggest problem with add-on LEDs is that the light distribution pattern is terrible becasue of the cheap optics. LEDs are entirely different than regular bulbs and need entirely different optics to make them work well. You have to pay literally THOUSANDS of dollars for custom designed optics if you want decent LED headlights. The cheaper retrofit kits may be bright but there is more to seeing where you are going than being bright.
I think you will also find that Daniel Stern will advise you that any of the LED add-on kits are highly illegal to use on a US highway. Anyone can claim their lighting products are DOT approved which means nothing. The feds don't issue approvals, they only sue after the fact to take illegal products off the market. The legal process is slow so many illegal headlights are out there in the meantime.
Imma go against the grain on this one men. I bought some from ebay with fan cooled heat sinks and they are very bright and very well focused. They were $40 and come on INSTANTLY and I really like them. You can also get glass housings for standard H4 bulbs with or without Halo rings and some of those are great fro DRL use. I wired the inboard high beam halo to the indicator so you can actually see it. New age - yes, ugly no
but beauty is in the eye thing .
look at the pictures of the 69 boss clone here : Joe Persad's Library | Photobucket
but beauty is in the eye thing .
look at the pictures of the 69 boss clone here : Joe Persad's Library | Photobucket
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Thanks all for your suggestions. I will look into halogen. I like the color rendition of the LED and the fact that is draws less power though.
Silver69 nice photos... when you said clone I thought you meant it looked like a 429 on the exterior not the engine. Those engines are a work of art!
Silver69 nice photos... when you said clone I thought you meant it looked like a 429 on the exterior not the engine. Those engines are a work of art!
Thanks mcc351, lot of work but ended up nice. There's more to stuffing one of those in a 69 than shock tower removal, relocating the Hydroboost was the toughest part. Yeah if you go with Halogens you will need to put them on a relay system as to not overheat/overload the headlight switch.
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I 've tried halogen sealed beams, H4 conversions are better. A little more light output and good cutoff. You'll have to do surgery on the light buckets and possibly the body panel behind because they are much deeper than the sealed beams.
They make LED bulbs for H4 reflectors but due to the difference in how the light is produced (not a single point but three small squares) I suspect that they produce a massive amount of glare.
Still not satisfied with the light output of the H4s compared to my modern car I bought a pair of LED projector headlamps. I paid $140 each a year ago and they are down to $100 now. The surgery required to install these is much worse than the H4s. I barely had enough bucket left to make the assembly adjustable on the three dimples that set the alignment. My three star review is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...customer-reviews/R8YWFYCOGHWJM/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01BH8HKQ0
The LED projectors could be improved by better design of the lens for more even light, but more importantly fitting within the classic sealed beam package. Mine have a huge heatsink and electronics package on the back of the sealed unit, and I don't see any reason why most of that mess can't be made into a separate driver unit that can be placed elsewhere. Maybe the classic car market isn't big enough but it's hard to believe that someone hasn't come up with a more compatible design yet.
Here they are installed side by side with H4 high beams.
They make LED bulbs for H4 reflectors but due to the difference in how the light is produced (not a single point but three small squares) I suspect that they produce a massive amount of glare.
Still not satisfied with the light output of the H4s compared to my modern car I bought a pair of LED projector headlamps. I paid $140 each a year ago and they are down to $100 now. The surgery required to install these is much worse than the H4s. I barely had enough bucket left to make the assembly adjustable on the three dimples that set the alignment. My three star review is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...customer-reviews/R8YWFYCOGHWJM/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B01BH8HKQ0
The LED projectors could be improved by better design of the lens for more even light, but more importantly fitting within the classic sealed beam package. Mine have a huge heatsink and electronics package on the back of the sealed unit, and I don't see any reason why most of that mess can't be made into a separate driver unit that can be placed elsewhere. Maybe the classic car market isn't big enough but it's hard to believe that someone hasn't come up with a more compatible design yet.
Here they are installed side by side with H4 high beams.
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My Cibie H-4 lenses fit perfectly in a 65 and a 66 w/o any cutting or modification to the buckets.
Z
Z
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I'm currently doing the upgrade that Zray and IVY are talking about but I am doing relays. Ill post pictures of them Tuesday when I'm done. Amazon delivered the housings and bulbs in 2 days
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In what kind of lens?
A GLASS H4 lens with or without Halo. get glass lenses like these the orientation tabs line up perfectly and the bulbs fir perfectly without modifications
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-3-4-Whit...etal-Headlights-Set/253210379792?hash=item3af483c610:g:cKEAAOSwBLlVG2kL&vxp=mtr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MOSTPLUS-1...lbs/262138188783?epid=1754938407&hash=item3d08a753ef:g:FI0AAOSwzaJX9z8W&vxp=mtr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-3-4-Whit...etal-Headlights-Set/253210379792?hash=item3af483c610:g:cKEAAOSwBLlVG2kL&vxp=mtr
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MOSTPLUS-1...lbs/262138188783?epid=1754938407&hash=item3d08a753ef:g:FI0AAOSwzaJX9z8W&vxp=mtr
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