keatonhaydon

Seems like a good quality bulb. But maybe LED would be better?
Hey again everyone,
so I've been struggling to understand why it seems like my headlights are so damn dim. Maybe it's because I put really bright LEDs in my daily? Idk. Here's the bulb. Im wondering if they're dim from not getting enough power or if its just because the bulb is kind meh quality. Previous owner put these in. Not sure if they're great quality or not.

Richard Miller

You have a halogen bulb that has a blue filter over it. You are already at a disadvantage. The stock circuit for the fb headlights sucked for starters. There is a lot of points where resistance can restrict voltage. There are write ups outlying adding relays to ensure maximum voltage

loose the bulbs you bought. They are gimmicky and do you no favors

keatonhaydon

Do you think it'd be worth going with an LED set-up instead?

Richard Miller

Adding bulb based LED to an existing H4 housing can be hit or miss. The issue comes from the distance of the diode in relation to the reflector. Too far or too close can effect output. Best option is to get a one piece sealed unit , if you must go LED. You should also not go cheap. I paid a reasonable $160 for my Audexen headlight off of Amazon. Now, the tabs did not line up do I had to dremmel a bit of the aluminum housing on the light. Plus I had one unit that was defective. Easily replaced. The super cheap units are not worth the trouble. I sure can’t spend $500 on JW Speakers. The Audexen are well reviewed and a decent compromise.

For starters, I would get some H4 bulbs from Osram or Sylvania. Without the blue filter over the bulb. Remember that blue is the hardest color to see. This really was prevalent when I was calibrating old front projection CRTs where I would have the red, green and blue images separated to adjust geometry and focus. Blue always looked softer.

try Sylvania H4 Silverlights 9003 first if budgeting is a concern.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

As Richard suggested, you will want to check hmthe circuit for any high resistance issues and corrosion in the headlight connectors.

I switched over to led headlight bulbs in my 85 and have been more than pleased with them. I was spoiled by the led headlights in my 2018 Camry and then decided to install them in my Porsche 944 while I was replacing all of the exterior and interior lighting and then in my in 85 RX-7. Very happy with the results!

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

Search the first gen section for PUTCO. There are several threads that talk about the PUTCO headlight harness. I have one.

7aull

iTrader: (2)

Dropped a set of BEAMTECH LED/H4s into my SA last year:

https://smile.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-He...s%2C126&sr=8-7

After decades running with Halogen H4s... Results: TRANS-FOR-MATION-AL. Wow. Clean, WHITE, bright, controlled light. Plug-and-Play with no fussy harnesses of relay kits needed, since LEDs draw LESS than stock bulbs. You will need an H-4 compatible lense such as Cibie or Hella. A cheap-o crappy lense with commensurate optics will reduce the quality of distribution, of course.

Stu A
80GS
AZ

keatonhaydon

Thanks guys for all of your input! I'll take a look at all of my options. I did think that the blue film was a bit fishy. I didn't buy this bulbs. Came with the car when bought. I'll probably end up going led. Does anyone have a good recommendation with link for housings/lens?

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Back in the day we had BlackDragon which sold some nice h4 setups with a great harness that included relays. Thats what I have and they work great. These days looks like the PUTCO harness is the goto for a ready made relay harness and the hardware Stu and Rich refer to. You posted a few threads on here for various electrical demons. Good luck! Whats the car look like? Or better yet post a progress thread for all this stuff with pics, we love pics.

Hot_Dog

>>> Does anyone have a good recommendation with link for housings/lens?

Check out these guys for automotive lighting: Susquehanna Motorsport (https://www.rallylights.com/).

7aull

iTrader: (2)

Just don't go cheap. Hella (on Amazon, for eg) seems to offer several models (why?). Bottom line, glass optics is what puts the light on the right places on the road! The Bulb is dumb, just pumping out photons...
Cibie is the gold-standard
Great source and general lighting tips:
https://www.danielsternlighting.com/.../products.html

Stu A
80GS (w/ Hella/LED)
AZ

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Great link Stu, Daniel Stern is the best resource for lighting issues.

keatonhaydon

I'm thinking on starting a build thread actually! I'll have to get some pictures and stuff together but I think I will once it warms up out. Pictures of the car in the garage won't do it justice. Tbh it's a great looking car! But the electrical issues are a NIGHTMARE! When I do start a build thread it'll all make sense why... I'm going to take some time to document everything. Rn I'm just getting some ideas together to get along with the build process. It's been some time since I showed the car some love. Bought it when I was in the military and back then I had time and resources to work on it. Got out of the military and had some financial set backs, but I'm just now getting to a spot where I have a little disposable income that I'd really like to put back into Ol' Blue. Tonight I'm actually gonna pop the headers off the bad girl so I can get ready to wrap them. Had another issue where the thick line that comes off the exhaust (not the thin vac line for the port actuators) ended up getting melted and its no Bueno. Need to reroute that and get my vac system under control. Currently just taking it little by little. Have a couple other projects I'm working on too.

keatonhaydon

Here is a picture of the car I'd anyone was curious!

Older picture but everything is still the same.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Thank you for sharing a picture!! Your color code looks to be L6. Is that the color code thats on the vin plate on the firewall? I also have an L6 85!

keatonhaydon

you know I'm not 100% sure it's correct but I was told that the color code was v3 tender blue. This is a respray and the cans of touch up i got were the v3 color code. The car was painted right before I bought it. I will say that the color is a bit more blue than the original silverish blue bit not much! I'll check the color on the vin plate and get back to you asap!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

The original Tender Blue is a beautiful silver blue color as you describe. The color code would be V3. Someone just painted the car a different color is all. Did they do the engine bay and door jams the same color?