ga-gb light conversion

[75glnt]

hey guys, have a few options already on this topic. i was just wondering weather it's possible to hook/replace the hi-beam headlight with another hi-lo beam headlight so i have 2 constant hi-lo lights?

cheers

[GB_BB4C]

yes, just need to add the extra wiring in to the loom for it to work.

[75glnt]

awesome! cheers mate

[GB_BB4C]

Better option is to ditch the sealed beam lights, get some H4's, decent globes, relays etc and wire them in. Be much better in the long run.

[75glnt]

yeah thats what i was planning. i just need to find a full step how to because i have no idea when working with lights

[75wagon]

It'd be pretty easy to do, just make sure that the lights you buy, have hi and low beam.
As far as wiring goes, all you have to do is hook up the low beam wiring to the low beam, and the high to the high.

Dave...

[geezer101]

Yep, it can be done - but here may be some legality issues with running 4 low/4 high beam headlights constantly. Better check ADR rules for setting this up in your state. The more common set up is converting the stand alone high beams for driving lights and ditching the sealed outer low beam headlights for H4 combination high/lows. The aircraft landing lights look cool but they're illegal too..

[75glnt]

thanks dave and yea i know the aircraft lights are illegal, lol i have them on my pathfinder. lol, i shall look into the lagality of he 4 hi-lo's. im in qld so they'll probably winge about it like everything! lol. if its illegal. either i might do it anyway. or i'll just do the driving light conversion

[geezer101]

lol, I'm not Dave...I'd like to have a crack at modding GA sealed beams to H4 halogen inserts (maybe even integrate wedge globe parking lights into them ) Only problem with doing this at home is the chrome will more than likely peel from the reflector face inside the headlight during the soldering phase of the conversion.

[75glnt]

lol i know geezer,, i was thanking dave (75wagon) for clarifying my unasked question but i reakon that would happen aswell. unless you could cut a hole out with 2 tabs and glue a fastner to it like driving lights. my old hella spotties had that setup. could work?

[davetrees]

Why ? There's no advantage in having 4 low-beam lights that I can think of.

Also, hi/lo beams are by necessity a compromise in terms of lens design. The performance of a dedicated highbeam light will be superior to the high beam of a combination light ... so all you are actually doing is reducing the effectiveness of your highbeam lights by running 2 pairs of hi/lo lights.

You might want to check the road-legailty of such a setup, too.

Just my $0.02 worth ...

Dave

[75glnt]

hmm. good point davetrees. think i'll just go the driving lights and h4s. just thought it would look different with 4 lo-beam lights. and i checked on qld transport site, said nothing about it, doesnt say its legal though. might also be another loop in the system. cheers

[davetrees]

I would suggest the "keep it simple" approach ....

- Buy a pair of hi/lo beam H4 inserts (most also have a parking globe holder, if you need it)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HEADLIGHT-IN ... 45f9ff9700

- Buy a pair of H1 high beam inserts
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HEADLIGHT-IN ... 3ef0b2490f

Note : Hella or Cibie inserts are much better, but also cost heaps more. I have found these ones fine, and if you break one it doesn't hurt the wallet too much !

- throw away the globes that come with them (or keep them as spares) and buy some good quality globes. Any of the European brands like Phillips, Osram, Hella are good ... Narva are also OK ... but don't go anywhere near the cheap ones they stock at SuperCrap and the like. (Personally, I use Phillips "Crystal Vision" globes). Go 100w/90w H4 for the outers, 100w H1 for the inners. Don't bother with anything higher wattage than that ... the globes don't last.

- use good quality relays, and good thick wire between relays & lights (also the earths) and from battery to relays. Make sure you have at least 13v (not 12v !) at the back of the light .. check with a multimeter. Halogen globes are designed to put out their rated wattage at 13.8v, not 12v, and at 12v they are only around 80% efficient and it gets worse from there ....

- get your lights properly aimed ! Many workshops have headlight aligner boards, and the small amount you will pay to get them aimed accurately is well worth it compared to DIY ... the difference is very noticeable.

A setup like this will be more than adequate for road use.

As far as wiring it up etc goes, this website has lots of useful info ... http://www.rallylights.com/FAQ.aspx

Just as an aside, the eBay seller shown above seems to stock a few different rectangular H4 inserts ... he might even have some to suit a GA ? I have bought a bit of stuff from him over the years & found his service to be good.

[gaz914]

Small snag in the plan, Hi/low have a different "lug" pattern than Hi beams, so you actually can't* fit them in each other's backing 'shells'
H4 lamps and relays FTW.

cheers
Gaz

* Obviously you can if you bodgy it

[75glnt]

thanks again davetrees i'm looking at the ones on ebay and how do i wire in the realy? cut the wire netween the loom and light, add the relay, earth it out then connect that too the lights?

[davetrees]

and how do i wire in the realy? cut the wire netween the loom and light, add the relay, earth it out then connect that too the lights?

Not quite as simple as that !

If you don't know how to wire the lights up (it isn't all that hard, and there are plenty of "how to" guides on the net) I suggest you get a professional to do it for you, or at least someone who knows what they are doing. You will generally need THREE relays - 1 for low beam, 1 for high beam on outer lights, 1 for high beam inner lights. Don't forget to fuse them also - either use relays with built in fuses, or put a fuse in each power wire between battery & relay.

I have found this article one of the clearest to follow ... http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... elays.html

On my GB, I used the stock power wires to the RH outer headlight as the "trigger" wires for the high & low beam - I just cut them at the back of the headlight. ( Don't be tempted to use Scotchlocks or similar to tap into the wiring - they make crap connections)

Also - very important !!

I should have mentioned .... don't even think about using 100/90 or 100 watt globes if you are still running the stock (35amp ?) alternator ... you will need to upgrade it or you will flatten the battery in no time ! If you are running a stock alternator, stick with the standard 60w/55w globes in the outers & 60w inners.

4 x 100w highbeam = 400w divided by 12 = 33amps .. there will be nothing left to run the rest of the car electrics !
4 x 60w highbeam = 240w divided by 12 = 20amps .... which leaves you 15amps for everything else (which is still a bit marginal IMHO)

[75glnt]

thanks for that, and yea the altenators been upgraded, i dont know what off though (bought it like that) if i gave someone a code thats on it. could you help me out? cheers

[davetrees]

Don't worry about codes .... it will have it's amperage on the casing somewhere

[523SBS]

G'day, goin a bit against the trend here, but does anybody have a recommendation of good OEM style replacements for the Hi and Lo sealed beams for a GB? I'm trying to stay ridgey-didge with the old candles here.

Cheers guys

[75glnt]

what's oem mean? lol

[geezer101]

what's oem mean? lol

Behave yerself... I think the point 75glnt is making is that you will be struggling to find single filament high and low beam replacement sealed headlamps. If you do, they'll either be the pre-loved examples or some obscure new stock on eBay from a land far,far away.

[davetrees]

5.75" sealed beam inserts are easy to find .... any Authobarn/Repco/Supercheap should have them.

... but why would you bother replacing old crap lights with new crap lights ? Halogen lights of the same wattage will be far superior and look the same (and you could get away with using them without relays, but I wouldn't recommend it). Halogen inserts may well be cheaper than sealed beams anyway (or at least no more expensive)