Headlight upgrade

[bnam]

Stripped, primered, and painted the headlight buckets a satin black and installed flat face Bosch H4 headlamps from for $45/pair and German Flosser 55/60W bulbs for $4/each from Bus Depot. Mounted them this evening. Need to fine tune the beams -- they have a nice __/ __/ pattern -- but they look good already

Byas

[Simeon]

They look really good.

Stupid question (and thread hijack - sorry) but do you think those buckets are 'handed' (i.e they would work in a right hand drive)? No problem sourcing RHD 7" H4 inserts in Australia but at the moment stuck with my crappy Euro buckets (apparently desirable) but with rusted reflectors.

Would they fit in a 1973 or are they just for later cars?

[tim385]

I got a set from the US and they will work but a little mucking around to get your headlights shining in the right spot.

[tim385]

I got a set from the US and they will work but a little mucking around to get your headlights shining in the right spot.

[bnam]

They look really good.

Stupid question (and thread hijack - sorry) but do you think those buckets are 'handed' (i.e they would work in a right hand drive)? No problem sourcing RHD 7" H4 inserts in Australia but at the moment stuck with my crappy Euro buckets (apparently desirable) but with rusted reflectors.

Would they fit in a 1973 or are they just for later cars?

The buckets themselves are not handed for RHT vs. LHT (or LHD vs. RHD respectively).

But, the US buckets are side specific -- left vs. right -- though they are not marked. The angle with which the "cup" is welded to the frame to make up the bucket is different for the 2 sides. (see a thread by me from last week or so)

Byas

[c.d.iesel]

the headlight buckets are LEFT & RIGHT for 02 bodies, same for all markets

of the world - - ITS THE BULB LENS that is RHD / LHD country specific -

how the cut-off pattern lights up the road

[thinksound_mike]

Hi Byas,

I came across this thread when searching for headlight upgrades. How do you like the Bosch H4 set-up over the stock ones? Would you recommend these? They're much cheaper than the Cibie ones. I'm making some safety upgrades to my 74; headlights being one of them. I figured I'd ask someone who has installed these before I ordered.

I also saw your seatbelt post. I might have some questions on those as well, since rear belts will be next on the list.

Best,

Mike

[bnam]

Mike,

When I think of H4s, I think of a headlight pattern being distinctly like this:

__/ __/

These Bosch ones from Bug Depot are really motorcycle lights. I could not get that crisp pattern from them and there is an annoying black spot that makes the throw somewhat non-uniform.

Now in fairness, my car has had its nose impacted and due to to the quality of repairs, it was challenging to get the headlamps properly aligned and that might contribute to the non-even distribution. But by shimming up the buckets and enlarging the holes that buckets mount in I was able to get a reasonable alignment and a more uniform distribution.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate these as 6-7 vs. stock at 3-5. So, they are a reasonably cheap upgrade, but not necessarily the best. But, that's just my experience and possibly others can chime in.

If you're interested, I'd be willing to post some pics of the light pattern put out by these lamps.

Byas

[dbmw2002]

Same thing here with my H4s, _/_/ same beam pattern, has anyone figured out if it is the glass that make this or the metal piece that guards the bulb iside the unit, moved my guard up and it only made pattern worse? Puttin on my German thinkin cap........................again

[bnam]

If you are getting this pattern __/ __/ , then you have it right -- that's what it should be. The low crisp cut off on the left side is to prevent the opposing traffic from being blinded, while the upward distribution on the left is to light up road signs.

[dbmw2002]

Might be right but not what I need, on twisty mountain roads hard lefties at midnight are a bit too mysterious, fogs helped but removed mine for bumper mods. Still thunkun

[Koblenz]

I installed after market HIDs in H4 buckets. Huge difference. Some of the back roads in Florida at night are/were bad.

[ray_]

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

GL,

I installed after market HIDs in H4 buckets. Huge difference. Some of the back roads in Florida at night are/were bad.

[thinksound_mike]

Hi Byas,

I mostly drive in the city at night. Everything is pretty well lit, so I think the H4 being somewhat better than stock would be ok. The dark spot concerns me, but the stock lights are pretty dim anyways. I'm looking to add some fog lights too; so the headlights won't have to do all of the work. I guess I'll give the H4 lights a try. Seems like a cheap investment for a decent upgrade; especially since Cibies are almost 4x the price!

Thanks to all of you for your input!

Mike

[3rd02]

when you say H4-- is that a replacement bulb inserted into the stock 7" glass? or new glass + H4 bulb?