H4 conversion from Sealed Beam Headlights
 

I just wanted to make a thread to say this mod is probably the BEST bang for the buck improvement you can make to a 1st gen.

I am mad I waited so long to do it. I was considering going HID, but I wanted to keep my car "PERIOD CORRECT." So I just wanted to do the H4 conversion. I bought the HELLA H4 lenses on Ebay for a little under $100 shipped. Now the fun part...is bulb shopping! H4 bulbs are very popular so you can go with pretty much any ricer/racer color you want. Cool blue, bright white, purple etc...I personally went with JDM yellow. Again, keeping the car "period correct."

Here are some pics...it is a simple mod can be done in an hour in your driveway...driving at night is FUN. Super improvement I am very very happy.

here is the Hella lenses kit.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/...a67c9228_o.jpg


install...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3231/...8b8b57e3_o.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/...6d9284e6_o.jpg

comparo pic TOP is stock sealed beam and below is the HELLA H4 lens
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/...1b1ce93e23.jpg

detail on hella lens
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3108/...e0494043_o.jpg

I wish I did this at the start...should be a first mod! So easy improves the look so much...and lets not forget the safety upgrade! You night time vision and driving range improve with these lights too.

You forgot to show how it looks at night!!!!!

Your old wiring may not survive this conversion. Heres a writeup I did on doing this along with using a relay harness all from blackdragon.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/lighting-how-heavy-duty-headlight-harness-installation-695121/

No doubt any improvement in lighting is a win over the old stock lights.

Yes, definitely check into the wiring. I have also upgraded the wiring to heavy gauge and installed relays. The difference on stock bulbs was amazing. The stock wiring is so tiny, that it doesn't allow very much of the power to actually reach the lights once it runs through all the switches etc. which use 16 gauge.

A very good source for information on this problem: www.danielsternlighting.com



.

Thanks for the replies, I will double check the wiring. I thought you only needed to upgrade the wiring if you were doing HIDs. I figured the simple lens change would not need it.

I will look into it...thanks for the heads up.

If you are using the stock 55/60Watt bulbs it will be fine. I have used the stock wires with the Hella kit for three years now. If you went to higher wattage H4, then I'd upgrade.

That being said, using a harness will increase the light output of your current bulbs. Not necessary, but its up to you. You may want to leave your setup looking more stock.

Getting the correct voltage to even the 55/60W bulbs will make a major difference. I am keeping my car as stock as possible, but will be upgrading to Hella ECE headlights and 60/100W bulbs and an upgraded wiring harness.

these are the bulbs I am running...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/...1fe5e512_o.jpg

so you still suggest the wiring harness?

I have seen some that are kinda pricey....any other links to alternative wiring harnesses I should use?

If I need to get all the juice to the lights and make em even brighter...I am all for it.

Like I said, you don't technically need it for those. They are the same drain as stock. Adding a new harness however will increase the light output.

As for price, I think the black dragon one is $30. Or you could go with an eBay unit (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Harne...spagenameZWDVW) or something similar.

As long as you do some reading, and fully understand what you are trying to do, then you can just do what I did. All you need is some heavy gauge wiring and a couple of 5 dollar relays and you're all set. Very easy to do, as long as you really understand what you are doing...

I don't like how our headlights use only half of the entire housing to project light, and you only see the other half when you flip on your high beams. My HID's look weird considering it does that.

All lights work like that. Even HID's in projector lenses. It's just not as noticeable.

Yea.. no fun. Makes me wanna custom fab square headlight housings.

You can also make those kits FULL HID
With ballast boxes and all.

Check these out there Great im going to buy this set up and post some pics

The Light housing

http://www.eurolamps.com/eurolamps/sealedbeams.htm

The HID Kit

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-H...mZ380064278088

yeah if you read my first post I decided not to go HID because I wanted to keep my car "period correct." I was definitely considering it...and I saw tons of H4 HID kits...but yeah ultimately I am happy not going full HID.

I wouldnt buy that HID kit, "made in germany" the first one I bought that was made in germany was horrible and one of the ballast boxes went dead after 3 months. Impossible to get the warranty replacement.

Those are the exact housings I bought something like 5 years ago and installed. Made it until a rock destroyed one 2 months ago. I just used the white xenon bulb they included and it was a vast improvement over stock. I didn't upgrade the wiring and never had any issues. Now I'm buying replacement housings and an upgraded wiring kit so they'll be even brighter, probably gonna get some Hella ones off of ebay.

The bulbs you have are good. You can run them on the stock wiring or upgrade the wiring. Upgrading the wiring will get the proper voltage to the bulbs, which will make them brighter.

I had P/U that I installed the Hella ECE's and ran 60/100W bulbs. Major improvement over the stock headlamps. I also had Hella 550 fog lights on the P/U, they seemed brighter then the headlamps and I used the wiring harness that was included with the fog lights. I then installed the wiring harness upgrade on the headlamps, literally a night and day difference. The Hella ECE's were much brighter.

You are looking at 25 year old wiring that was marginal when it was new. Go with a wiring harness, the one from Black Dragon will work well, and you will be bypassing the old wiring for carrying a big load. The old wires will just be used to supply power to the relay.

For more info go to http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

great info...thanks

Here is a link to a good writeup about lighting.

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...#WiringHarness

One other thing I did to my lights on my P/U, and will do on my 7, is put the following onto my headlamps and fog lights. Much cheaper to replace and keeps the glass from pitting from driving in the winter.

http://www.autoseattle.com/xpel.htm

Won't be driving the 7 in bad weather, but both of the current headlamps have small stars in them. If they were the Hella ECE's that is $40 per side.

I got the lens set with angel eyes!
Ordered it today it will be here about same time next week.
Im gunna see if i like the lights they send me, if not im gunna get a HID kit.

Good advice about the German stuff, but i used that as a example.

Got the Halo's installed first pics
 

http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/phot...75228_6290.jpg
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/phot...75233_7647.jpg
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/phot...75234_7914.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/phot...75238_9012.jpg
http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/phot...75239_9307.jpg

hey dont suppose you have the part numbers for the Hella H4 lenses???
thanx
the angel eyes look killer!!!!
Id get hassled by the law if I did that :(

Just go on Ebay and search for Hella, H4 and you are looking for the 7" round lenses. Very simple!

Nick, we'll have to get together and shoot a comparison photo.

You: your new conversion.

Me: re-wired headlights with relays, Sylvania Xtravision bulbs.

Could be interesting to see the results... :)

I've decided I need to get this. I just installed some H4 foglights and I can see better using only them than I could with my high-beams before. (The broken bushing on one of my headlight lifter rods doesn't help, either.)

I did not use the hella conversion.
I found that the faceing of the hella lens was very rigid and the ones that i got have a smooth face on the lens.
+ i got the angel eyes for kicks, the kit was like 50$ with super white bulbs.

Can the angel eyes be orange/yellow instead of blue? That would look so awesome.

I didnt look, but im sure they have them.

Looks good! I might be picking up a set of these soon. The angel eyes look awesome though!

As someone who had tried both, there is no comparison to the Hella lenses. The eBay ones are garbage in terms of build quality, light output and light pattern. Don't waste your money on the eBay junk just because they look cool.

Well i have not had one problem with my ebay set, and they light up the road like nothing i have seen befor.

You cant knock something just because it doesn't have a name brand on it.

Only time will tell with these, i had no issue on installing them and they fit like a dream. There is no doubt in my mind that the ones that i got will give me good D.D.S.
"Deer Dodging Sight"

Just a little more info about the Hella kits. There are two versions the DOT and the European E-Code. I personally have the European lenses, so this may account for my results.



There are four basic differences between a Vision Plus (DOT Approved) and a Hella Euro Conversion.

First is in the lighting pattern. For us in the US the regulations date from the 50's. The US DOT mandates a dispersed pattern that puts a percentage of the light output UP and to both sides of the road so that overhead or roadside signs, which may not have other lighting or reflective characteristics, are lit for you.

The European standard allows all the light to go on the road - they have a law that any overhead or roadside sign has to have it's own, independent lighting or must be highly reflective. So not only is there more light on the road with your low-beams, the high-beams are more precise as well. There is also a triangle of light on the right side to light up roadside signs. Lamps sold in places where they drive on the left side of the road, like England and Japan, have that triangle on the left side.

The effect is that the Euro lights actually put more light on the road for you to drive with, and offend oncoming traffic MUCH LESS because of the sharp cutoff in the lighting pattern. And all of this with the same wattage lamps as in the US.

That's on low beam. Because of the low-beam requirements and the way that screws up the lens and reflector design, it's impossible to get a good high beam. Although the Vision Plus is substantially better than your typical off-the-shelf sealed beam, it's performance falls short of the Hella Euro Conversion.

The second difference is that DOT also required that the lamp have the three Aiming Lugs on the face of the lens. This requirement was dropped in the 2000 DOT Standard when visual aiming was approved. The Vision Plus lamps still have the Aiming Lugs, E-code lamps do not.

Third, the lamp must have DOT molded into the face to confirm that it meets DOT. E-code lamps have E1 molded into the lens.

Fourth, the lamp must not have more than 60 watts on high beam and 55 watts on low beam. The Vision Plus comes with a 60/55w H4/HB2 bulb in it in order to meet the DOT standard. The E-code lamps have no bulb because there are many variations in wattage and color available. It is not recommended to put a higher wattage bulb in a Vision Plus because the light pattern could dazzle oncoming traffic.

If you can upgrade to the Hella Euro conversions, then this is the least expensive, easiest and most beneficial upgrade you can make to your forward lighting.

That bit about the triangle up on the side explains this then. The Hella is installed on the left and the stock light is on the right. BTW this is with the BD harness setup. Notice the hella and the stock light brightness are about the same.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2403/...52e83b.jpg?v=0

Good info. Never heard all that before.

that IS great info, i didn't know there was so much shit about lighting! damn

Yeah, the brightness is the same. Look at the beam pattern though, the lens on the left, the hella has a bright rectangle section with the little triangle up slope, while the lens on the right, the stock one has a oval with a diffusion out from that. The E-code lenses seem to light up the road more.

Sgt Fox is right...that is one thing for sure after switching out the light output is definitely shooting down the road more effectively than the stocks.

as for the EBAY specials...they may work and look cool...but yeah the Hellas are simply better quality. Also...no offense, everyone has their opinion and can fix their car anyway they want...but I personally do not like the "angel eyes" as I think it look weird on our 1st gens. Angel Eyes are of course a BMW thing...I just dont like it on these cars. But whatever...each his own.


I think this lighting upgrade is totally worth it...and not that expensive. :icon_tup:

I will take quality over looks anytime. I ran E-codes on my 4 wheel drive 89 Toy P/U with 60/100W bulbs, and when I pulled up behind cars the beam cut off was so sharp the trunk would be illuminated, but the interior of the car would not have any bleed over into it. E-codes work much better in rain and snow, a lot less glare from the rain and snow. As soon as I get my 7 registered, I will be putting E-codes in and will put expel light covers on them to protect the glass.

good info sarg!!!!!!!!!
Ill be goin E codes Hellas for sure

anyone tried these?
 

Has anyone tried these HID kits? The reviews on the other forums seem to be pretty good for them....... BTW, I did catch this company recommending putting in the relay for any vehicle over 15 years old.

https://www.rx7club.com/vendor-classifieds-276/hid-conversion-kit-special-%2460-00-shipped-rx7club-com-members-849587/

a relay is "must" for me. its for protection.