Originally posted by smnc
It's not your alternator that's gonna hold you back, it's your 17+ yr old wiring harness. Running 100W through NEW wiring that's rated for 65W is bad. Running 100W through wiring that was rated for 65W 17 years ago is just asking for trouble.

'Sides which, with new e-code lenses, 55/66W lights are GREAT!

If you need more info on headlights, click here. Feel free to contact Daniel Stern, the guy that runs the site. He is THE most knowledgeable person when it comes to headlights.

Originally posted by peejay
Before you do ANY lighting mods, go to lighting.mbz.org to find out what is a genuine upgrade and what is merely a waste of money.

BTW I've tried overwattage bulbs... they might be brighter but you still have the same crappy beam pattern! My next lighting mod will be a set of ECE spec lights.

Originally posted by jimtesla
Hey

Just went to the L.A. Auto Show.......and walked by a HID display by Xenarc.......I saw a round light that looked like my headlight and asked if that would fit a first gen....Yes they have a kit for an rx7.....$750.00
reg $800.00....50 off if you order on their computer........

Sylvania is the maker..........www.sylvania.com
You get 3 times more light than halogen, and less draw on your system....
Just my two cents........ if you got the money

Jim


84 GSL Automatic
Glass moonroof
Lots of toys going in and on this year.......

Originally posted by cletus
My guess was that the wiring couldn't really take it. And I have seen what happens when you do put too much current through a wire, it's usually bad news. Considering the HID kits cost about as much as the car, it isn't really worth that to me. I'll probably opt for the e-code lenses and the 55/65 bulbs. Should cost me about the same as replacing the sealed lights in there now anyway. Was just hoping they over-engineered it a bit I guess .

Originally e-mailed by Daniel Stern (dastern@vrx.net)
Several companies make 7" (large single round, sealed beam size type 2D1) E-code headlamps. First off, it's important to use CAR headlamps, not the motorcycle ones you sometimes find from Bosch, IPF or CPI. These are easily identifiable (they say "MOTORCYCLE" on the lens) and the beam pattern is not at all well suited to use on a double-track vehicle with low-mounted headlamps. In car units, the most widely marketed in the USA is the Hella 70476, standard H4 European-spec headlamp. (You'd also find the 70477, US DOT "Vision Plus" headlamp, which we call the "Vision Minus" 'cause...well, it's got a replaceable bulb, but it's just not that much better than a sealbeam as far as beam pattern goes, and it tends to collect water because of a badly-done drain design.) But as I was saying, the 70476 is around. I don't use it on my cars that take the single large
(7") rounds; I use Cibies. Why?

Beam patterns are better (wider, longer-reaching) on low and high beam with Cibies. The main difference, though, is that 7" round and 200mm rectangular Hellas have an irritating beam separation problem. Set the low beams where they belong, and the high beams are up in the trees without enough on-road light. Pull the high beams down where they can be useful, and the low beams are down on the bumper. I exaggerate for illustration, but the effect is to make you try to find a compromise setting where both beams are kinda OK. The Cibies do not have this problem; when the lows are correctly aimed, the highs are correctly aimed. Some folks don't find the beam separation as much of a problem as some other folks--and a lot of people who have only ever used two kinds of headlamps (Hellas and sealed beams) will swear that Hellas are the cat's pajamas. It's certainly true that Hellas are a big improvement over
"sealed bum" originals, but Cibies are just better. All Cibie 7" round
headlamps have convex (domed) lenses. Clear Lens Classic lamps have highly convex (highly domed) lenses and are generally for use in pre-1972 cars that must look "period correct", also in hot rods where styling is a prime concern, etc.

Now that we've fixed the beam pattern problem, let's talk about bulbs. Stock wattage is 60/55 (high/low). My "normal" bulbs are German-made high-efficiency 60/55W bulbs; with these, you can just remove the sealbeams, install the Cibies, aim and go with no NEED (though it's always a good idea) for uprating the wiring. Now, the E-code beam pattern, with its sharp cutoff which nullifies glare for oncoming traffic, can support higher-output bulbs without (a) glaring oncoming traffic or (b) creating impossible backdazzle for you in bad weather. Note that it is a VERY poor idea to put overwattage bulbs in with the stock headlamp wiring, which is meant for stock wattage ONLY. We see a lot of car-be-cue type messes when people try to do this. The relays/sockets/fuseholders package to do-up the wiring properly contains all heavy-duty components (dual-output 40A relays, terminal blocks, brackets, terminals, fused fuseholders and headlamp sockets) to accept heavy-gauge wire; supply your own wire from the local economy in your choice of color and length. View and print my "how-to" page at http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/how_to/relays for full text and color diagrams of how to do this. Now that we have good wiring, we can go to town on bulb wattage. NOTE, if you have a passenger car or other vehicle with low-mounted headlamps (lamps below the level of most passenger car drivers' eyes when seated at the wheel) you can increase both low and high beam power without causing undue glare. If yours is a truck or SUV or other vehicle with high-mounted headlamps, you will want to keep the low beams civilized to avoid dazzling other road users. "Other road users" include cops, so use your head! 100/55W bulbs can be furnished to keep the low beams civilized and still punch the next county with the high beams. I do not handle the 3rd-world bulbs you can find in the pages of JC Whitney and in lots of other places. I carry only German-made (Osram, Philips, Narva) bulbs. My policy of selling ONLY items I would use voluntarily on my own cars extends down to bulbs!

How about city lights? What is a city light? It's a European-type parking lamp, a small 5W bulb sticks through a grommet in the lamp's reflector into the lamp itself. Ground one of its wires, and run the other of its wires to the parking lamp feed. The city light illuminates the whole headlamp in a "pilot light" fashion; this makes for large-area parking lamps that WORK, and if a headlamp bulb ever burns out, oncoming traffic still sees you as a double-track vehicle. If you use the city lights to REPLACE the dim amber parking lamps common on US vehicles (which you should not do if your '68 or later American-spec vehicle does not use one bulb to handle front parking lamp and front sidemarker lamp duty) the turn signals now go "BRIGHT-off-BRIGHT-off" instead of "bright-dim-bright-dim" when the lights are on. City lights are especially useful if you have fog lamps. On foggy days, you can put on the city lights which will show other drivers exactly where your car is, and switch on the fog lamps so you can see. Note that city lights are a legal form of parking lamp in the USA. Also note that city lights aren't used on vehicles with flip-door (hideaway) headlamps.

Optional: thin-shell polyurethane impact guards to prevent the lamps being rock damaged or "sandblasted" in normal daily use. For use only on vehicles NOT equipped with hide-away (flip-up/flip-down) headlamps.

Prices at http://lighting.mbz.org/prices