Wicked Bright Headlights

OK, now that I've gotten your attention, I've been working with a few people lately (Andreas in Boston, and Bruce Stumpp in PA) regarding re-wiring their cars to get brighter headlights. I've also seen that Ron O is trying to do the same thing on his IM. I likened their existing headlight power to that of my old '57 VW beetle, where the headlights on HIGH seemed like I had a single candle stuck on the hood - not a lot of light!

What I've concluded so far is the following:
1. Changing to just brighter bulbs isn't enough - you probably have to improve the wiring to the headlights as well, as the more-powerful H4 conversions seem to be power-starved with just a bulb change.

2. BOTH the (too small) wiring and the headlight switch are points of resistance, especially if you have long wiring runs with older, re-used VW-style fuse blocks and an older VW-style headlight switch.

3. The best solution is to incorporate headlight relays fed directly from a fused battery connection, with heavier wires (to increase available power) between the battery, the relay(s) and the headlights. Ideally, this kit will use the existing headlight and dimmer switches and cause NO difference in operation from present.

4. There isn't a readily available kit to do this, especially for those of us who are not electrical technicians.

OK, so here's the deal>>>>>> I'm thinking of creating just such a kit, that would have relays for headlights, and optional relays for foglights (lo-beam only) and/or driving lights (Hi-Beam only), and be pre-wired with connectors and lengths of wiring to replace existing headlight wiring. It would be fused with a beefy lead to the battery, and could include a different battery + connector with an extra turn-screw connection (similar to those used on boats) so that you could easily get power for all of your lights.

I can't guarantee that it will give you lights bright enough to melt the paint off of the car in front of you, but if you think your lights are now too dim it should improve them to about year 2000 standards and would provide more than adequate power for a set of H4 Halogen replacements.

Ideally, this relay box kit, complete, should come in under $75 USD (maybe less) plus shipping and would have installation instructions. Also, it should be installable in less than two hours, with common tools, the most exotic being channel-lock pliers and a screwdriver. It will also be small enough to fit under the hood, preferably in the battery well in the front, and be inconspicuous.

If I can develop this, would anybody be interested?

Just polling...........Gordon

Gordon, count me interested. Eddie

Yes, count me in too! John

If anyone is interested in how much brighter your lights will be by just adding a light relay (if you don't have one already), you might be interested in reading this:

www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/brighter-headlights.shtml

Thanks to Bruce Stumpp for that link!

Andreas

Gordon, North Carolina could use some brighter lights, count me in.

Gordon,
Sounds like a great idea. That is one the things that has always bothered me about older cars.
Jim

Put me down as interested..

Can you add the option where you converge the beams into a pseudo-laser strong enough to melt the ABS plastic that those rear spoilers area made out of?

Just a thought..

Brian.

Count Paul in...did more than a few miles home from Knotts with NO LIGHTS.

Every notice that the older you get the dimmer your headlights seem?
Ron

OK, looks like it'll be worth at least looking in to and working up a prototype and cost estimate. Let's see.......24 days to Carlisle.....maybe I can have a few protos done and bring them along.......I'll start checking part sources tomorrow.

BTW: Years ago, the lights on my '57 Beetle were SO BAD I got one of those 6V Lucas "Flamethrower" driving lights (just one) and mounted it in the middle of my front bumper, ran it through a relay with a dash switch. For those not familiar with these lights, they throw a very intense beam that's about 2 lanes wide at 2500 feet. Turn that sucker on and you could pick out squirrels in the road a half mile away!! Of course, when you turned it OFF for low beam, along with the glare of the oncoming lights and the pitifull glimmer of the original VW low beam, everything on your side of the road went black.

Thanks for the interest and I'll let you all know how I make out.

Gordon

Paul, I was just about to pull off the highway at the next off ramp and go look for you when I saw you silhoutted by the car behind you. Your car was beautifully back lit! What a ride! hey WideRidezz. thanks again for dinner.

Gordon - its my understanding that VS cars have a relay already - that being the case, will your system be an improvement over the exhisting set-up?

Dale: Don't yet know. I haven't seen a VS close up for wiring to know what they've got in there, but I'll check out a few at Carlisle.

I've come across a few sources of connector blocks and relays and should be sourcing parts soon. If I can get the stuff in time, I'll try to make a prototype or two and bring them along to Carlisle.

The intent is to have a beefy headlight relay, fed by a VERY beefy and fused feed direct from the Battery, and then run somewhat heavier wires than usual from the relay to the headlights. All this should overcome the resistence points I've been seeing in some existing set-ups and also provide much better support for high-powered H4 conversions (which seriously tax existing wiring/switches/relays). I'll also have the option of additional fog/driving light support built in.

So, now to answer your question - Probably, but I can't say for sure until I try it out in a couple of VS cars to be sure. I'll be looking for VS recruits at Carlisle (I hope! along with IM's and CMC's)

gn

Bitchin' brights

Bitchin' !!

You know, those are the slickest driving lights I've seen yet. Are they projectors? How much brightness do you lose through the grills?

I've been thinking about something for the front of mine, but don't have a full bumper (Nerf Bars) so nothing has looked right, so far, but those would be Bitchin!

Mike, don't those lights block the air flow to your radiators? You'd better watch your water temperature gauge closely!
Ron

water??? Damn, I knew I forgot something......

So Mike, what kind of lights do you have behind the grills? They look great!
Ron

The big lights since they are H4, I changed the bulb for Tungsten BLUE which is a bright white. $17.98 each bulb. Quite a bit brighter. The fogs are a Tungsten bright beam that I bought at Canadian Tire, $69.00 a pair. They are SUPER bright and look amazing. I mounted them on the horn brackets. Wired the switch which has a little LED on the end to an existing hole in the dash. Now that people see the front, BRAKE light is next.

Wicked Bright Headlights Update

OK, I've spent the past week or so designing a more powerful, relay switched headlight harness for Speedsters, regardless of manufacture. The specification I used is in my post up above, modified to delete a separate box and to minimize the number of relays to two for the basic system, adding only one more for fog/driving lights for a total of three relays. The price goal for the basic system, complete with relays, fuses and all new, beefier wiring was $75 USD or under.

After researching and pricing a bunch of relays, connectors, fuses and wire, I finally discovered that "Painless Performance" had already created an H4 Headlight conversion harness that did everything I was trying to accomplish. Better than that, Summit Racing has them in their catalog for $77.95 with free shipping - Right on the cost goal and probably cheaper than I could manufacture and sell them. Painless has a better product than I could probably produce, since they have better, machine crimped connections and so forth, so I highly recommend their harness.

Having found that, I decided that the goal was reached and my job was done.

Check out the 30815 harness at Painless Performance:

www.painlessperformance.com/catalogframe.htm

Click on "Headlight Relays" and look for the H4 headlight conversion harness on the right. With this set-up, your existing headlight wires are replaced by the painless harness, and one of the old headlight sockets plugs into a special adapter on the Painless harness to provide relay power and proper switching for the system. Everything plugs right in - very little work to install it, other than attaching the fused power lead to the battery. Instructions are supposedly provided.

You can buy it at Summit Racing through their 800-230-3030 toll-free number for $77.95 USD and shipping is supposedly free in the USA. Tell them you want the Painless Performance 30815 headlight harness.

I tried to get a quantity discount from Summit and struck out big time (unless we want to buy 100 or more of them!!) but it may be found at other suppliers in your area (or they can order it) and it may even be cheaper - BTW: Autozone has them listed at $83.95 USD

Just for the hell of it, I've attached the schematic I drew up below - it's pretty much a dead ringer for the Painless approach, with the addition of an optional relay for driving/fog lights which could be easily added after the Painless harness is installed.

Hope this helps!

Gordon

Just looked at the schematic JPG and it sucks.......I'll try to get a better one tomorrow (it's getting late here)........gn

Just looked at the schematic JPG and it sucks.......I'll try to get a better one tomorrow (it's getting late here)........gn

Gordon,

Good work hunting this down. I'm really pleased with the results of installing relays for my high and low beams and driving lights. makes a major difference. I haven't had the car out on the road yet but have been shining the lights out of the garage into the yard. It's finally down off the jackstands and ready to rock.

For those of you contemplating a headlight upgrade, I found this web site:

www.humanspeakers.com/audi/headlight-simple.htm

Which gives detailed directions for upgrading to relays for your headlights. Really good write-up on this subject.

Also, here are a few other notes from my recent upgrade experience on several cars:

Wiring it this way still makes the same use of your light switch and dimmer switch, so it acts like nothing has changed except that the higher current is no longer going through your aforementioned switches and the relays are providing more power directly to the lights. If you wish to add either driving lights or fog lights later on, you'll need another relay for each set (driving or fog) which get their "turn-on" signal from the high (driving) or low (fog) beam lead coming from the original headlight.

Mount the relays as close to the headlights as practical (I usually mount them in the trunk next to the battery so they stay dry), and mount them such that the contact tabs are on the bottom (mounting tab - if they have one - is up) to keep any moisture out.

If you replace the headlight sockets within the headlight buckets, make sure you get a pair of "low profile" sockets. "Normal" American headlight sockets have the three leads coming straight out the back of the socket which is about 1 inch high. "Low Profile" sockets have the leads coming out of the sides of the socket and are a little less than 3/4" high - this makes a BIG difference of fitting into a CMC or VS headlight bucket as there isn't a lot of extra clearance in there with the additional length of the 85+ watt Halogen H4 bulbs. If you choose to re-use the existing sockets that should be OK if they are in good shape, even if the wires are smaller than the 12 gauge specified in the directions. The short run of smaller gauge wire will not be a problem.

I tapped directly off of the battery for power to the relays, but I used a Radio Shack automotive in-line fuse holder (P/N 270-1234) with a 15 amp fuse in there (if you're running 100 watt bulbs, increase that fuse to 20 amps) and made the lead between the battery and fuse quite short (3 inches). To get a battery tap, I replace the battery "+" clamp with a marine one which has an extra terminal lug with a wing nut on it - makes life a lot easier. I only use a single fuse for both relays - they will not both be on at the same time so it's OK. HOWEVER! If you add driving or fog lights later on, you should have a separate fuse for each for safety sake.

As for grounds, I always run a separate ground line back from each headlight and attach to a really good, clean and solid ground point either under the front of the car, or up under the dash, whichever is easier and more solid (from a grounding point of view). For ground wire I use another length of 12 gauge but a different color (brown is used by VW).

Guess that's about it. Get good relays, like Hella or Bosch 30 amp ones and stay away from no-name brands or the AutoZone stuff - the cheaper ones simply can't take the current of H4's for long before they either weld shut (making them stay on all the time) or pit and corrode and won't make contact. Good ones will last for years.

Gordon

Right on, Gordon. Your guidance on installing the relays made a huge difference in how bright my headlights (and new foglights) are. Driving at night is now fun. As Mike Cochrane would say - Bitchin' lights!

Bitchin' DAWG....

Just read where the high performance/intensity headlight are passing airbags as the most stolen item on cars.
ed

Why the hell are they stealing AIRBAGS???????????

To sell to body shops. Air bags are big $$$.
Ron

Just realized I posted the wrong photo, this one shows the BRIGHT lights.