H4 Conversion and LED Elements - The Journey Begins!

Discussion in 'Sparky's corner' started by knucklebusted, May 5, 2018.

  1. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    I got the parts in for the LED high beam conversion but haven't started on it yet. May hit it later this afternoon since it is Mother's Day.

    Here's the adapters I bought that have an H4 connector and the loose leads. I plugged one into the other so you can see how I'm going to keep from bending or mangling anything to get the high only. The bonus is if I blow a low beam, I can swap the bulb out with one of the "high" beams since it isn't used.

    20180513_101931.jpg 20180513_101857.jpg
     
  2. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    I changed over to LED's because this car is my daily driver, and I work 3rd shift, so to work and home is dusk/dawn. The marker and tail lights are twice as bright and being seen is important to me. Plus the added advantage of lower current draw.
     
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  3. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    Yes you need 2 led flashers. My turn signal flasher is by the parking brake
    The 4way flasher is on the upper right side of the fuse panel.
     
  4. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the leg work knucklebusted. I will be doing this sometime in the near future. Looking fwd to some pix after u get it done.
     
  5. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Finally finished up the high beams. I did have to resort to using the standard H4 bulbs with the adapters above. I heat shrink wrapped the exposed parts of the connector spades that stuck out for a bit of peace of mind.

    The H4 goes in the high beam without any real modification so that was a bonus. All done, buttoned back up, bumper adjusted and grill tightened back down.

    I know this picture doesn't mean much but it surely blinded me and my phone while trying to take it. Four LED high beams on just battery on the car. I still need to drive it and check the patterns on a good wall some where but I'm tired, hot and need a bath.

    For reference, that is a 90W halogen at 1/2 brightness on the garage roof line and a 60W incandescent on the garage door opener.

    20180526_202202.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2018
  6. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    Nice ! looks really bright. I could have used them the other night when I got caught in the rain at night. Thnaks for posting all this.
     
  7. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    OK, finally got it out on the road at night. Going to have clean the bugs off!

    Here's what the low beam and high beam look like. I think the lows need bringing up a bit more because they seem to be peaking well before they get down range much but I need to find a better place to aim them.

    The high beams! WOW! DAYLIGHT!
     

    Attached Files:

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  8. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    Those look nice and bright . The low beam do look like they need to come up some, but much brighter then the old bulbs !!!
     
  9. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Yes, I adjusted them up quite a bit and they really light up the night.
     
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  10. TheSilverBuick

    TheSilverBuick In the Middle of No Where

    How good is the high beam spread? My concern is deer off to the side of the road more than what is further down the road.
     
  11. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    You can see in the second pic that it spreads out pretty good. Not sure how to demonstrate it but it really lights up the place.
     
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  12. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    So, it's been a few months, how are they doing ? any issues ? things you would do differently ? Its almost time to park the car for winter and this will be on my winter projects list. Just wondering how you're liking it ?
     
  13. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    It is just now getting to where I'm using them a lot. I haven't taken them out if that's what you are asking. They are very bright and the only real issues I've had are with aiming (still not 100% right) and with old 48 year old wiring. The connectors are a little flaky and I've had to respring them and clean up the contacts.

    Other than that, I'm pretty happy with them.

    If I were to change anything, I might investigate a different housing to see if they are any different. These are fine but I did have to make changes to the backing nubs to get them to align properly as I mentioned in the earlier posts.
     
  14. sailbrd

    sailbrd Well-Known Member

    subscribed
     
  15. bostoncat68

    bostoncat68 Platinum Level Contributor

    I Finally did the same -- low beam only. (My main issue is the low beams so that was my priority -- and no one makes an H4 headlight with the notches in the right spot)

    Used (2) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NZUQ56/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Headlights and the Aux Beam LEDS that Greg suggested from Aux Beam. ( see the first post) Everything fit without major issue. Nice and bright -- huge difference. I also noticed my connectors are a little wimpy. I gave them a contact cleaner bath to try to help with flickering
     
  16. rjm

    rjm Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the update Greg. I haven't been able to respond until now, power had been out for 50 + hours, and step daughter had twins Sunday, so I've been a little tied up, but thanks
    for the update !


    Bostoncat68, Did you have issues with the little alignment tabs on the headlights like Greg did on his ? If not I will go with the ones you used .
     
  17. bostoncat68

    bostoncat68 Platinum Level Contributor

    @rjm I had no issues but understand I only did the low beams. I don't think anyone makes a headlight lens replacement with the right tabs for the high beams. I rarely use the high beams so it was not a priority. It is funny to flip on the high beams now, they look like 2 cigarette lighters behind glass compared to the LEDs...
     
  18. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Anyone at the GS Nats can look mine over. Friday night if you come to Bruster's you can see them in the dark.
     
  19. Buick 72

    Buick 72 Well-Known Member

    I wasn't able to make it out to BG this year so I couldn't check it out in person. Would you mind posting a picture looking down at the back of the headlights so we can see how much clearance there is between the assembled headlight/bulb and the core support?
    Thanks
     
  20. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    I will try to get one in the next day or two. It required no cutting or bending though.
     

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