[vertigto]

Looking for some feedback/experiences on replacing the original headlights in my 70 GTO with either halogen or LED. The car will likely see very limited night action with the amount of deer in the area.

I realize LEDs are much brighter, but wondering if a halogen like the Sylvania SilverStar H6024 would more than suffice (or Xtravision 5001)? Obviously much less expensive (for 4) than LEDs and supposedly brighter/whiter than most halogens.

Convince me...

[nytrainer]

Not the same year but I used Halogens. The key for me was to do an easy relay mod. Night and day difference for me.

[jerry455]

The first time I tried using the Silver star Ultras was in my Fiero. What a difference. I was driving 100 miles a day and most of it in the dark. I could not believe what a difference they made. They don't seem to make the Ultras any more for these applications. I bought some Philips Crystal vision lights for my 1976 Firebird and they are quite a bit brighter than the old halogen bulbs. I have been upgrading the lights to LED bulbs throughout the car but the headlights are more than I want to spend right now.

[padgett]

Been using SiverStar Ultras for decades now. Philips +130s are pretty good. Ran a test with HIDS and the halogens put more lumens on my garage door. Have reservations about LED headlights, have little fans in the back and concerned if the fans fail pla$tic headlamp$ may melt.

[vertigto]

Originally Posted by padgett

Have reservations about LED headlights, have little fans in the back and concerned if the fans fail pla$tic headlamp$ may melt.

Hadn't considered that possibility...good point.

[ZeGermanHam]

I don't know if it's different with these sealed beams, but I've used Sylvania Silverstars on numerous occasions in multiple cars, though never a car with sealed beams. I was lucky if I got 6 months out of them with fairly low usage hours, and no I didn't touch the bulb during installation. The Xtravisions last much longer in my experience.

Agree with padgett's comment above about the fans used to cool LED headlights. I don't have any personal experience with them, but I just don't like the added complexity. I might take a gamble on them if they were made by a highly reputable company and not some no-name company as most are. But LED headlights wouldn't be my choice for a few reasons.

My vote would be for a quality set of halogens and add a relay to the forward light harness to pull power directly from the alt/battery and get full voltage to the lights.

[vertigto]

Another good point about longevity. Maybe the Xtravisions might last a little longer...I don't need the brightest available for the limited night driving I'll be doing. Just brighter than the OEM T3s.

Do the Xtravision sealed beams come in a combo high/low beam (i.e., 4 needed) or specific high beam (2) and low beam (2) models?

*Edit: Seems like Advance Auto shows two low beam models (H5006 and H6024) and one high beam (H5001). Guessing the H5006 and H5001 would make a better pairing?? Wait...O'Reillys says the H6024 is a low/high beam. So which would be better...4 of the H6024s or (2) H5006 and (2) H5001?? Looks like the H6024s have a longer life rating, but discrepant information between Advance Auto and O'Reills.

[JLMounce]

I have a set of Dapper Headlights with the 30w LED bi-xenon bulbs.

I've got quite a bit of time on them at this point and the quality is definitely there. They have actual glass lenses, a metal bucket along with aluminum heat-sinks and fans. Never a problem in any temp or in rainy situations. I opted for their OE glass which is as close as you can get to an OE look while retaining the projector lens.

Installation is cake and no different than installing a sealed beam halogen, unless you've opted for a halo, in which case you've got some extra wiring. It all plugs into the stock harness and mounts in the stock sealed beam buckets. No relays needed, they draw less power than the original sealed beam lights. It really is a pretty slick setup. Main issue is the price point, they aren't cheap. But quality parts aren't typically cheap.

If you're going to be driving at night any real amount, I highly recommend the upgrade to LED. If the car isn't really being driven at night and you're not after some of the aftermarket look of halo's and such, just get a quality sealed beam and maybe consider wiring them on a relay. Most cars will only register about 10.5-11 volts at the headlights after the rest of the car sucks up the current. That extra couple of volts does really help.

[vertigto]

Minimal night driving...I think deer here are kamikaze and I don't want to gamble with a new resto.

Leaning toward the Xtravision H6024s based on advertised life and for matching external appearance. The H5001 and H5006 look a little different in the lens patterns.

What am I missing here...I hate overthinking silly stuff?

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by vertigto

What am I missing here...I hate overthinking silly stuff?

Consider doing the relay mod! Also, how many amps is your alt?

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Minimal night driving...I think deer here are kamikaze and I don't want to gamble with a new resto.

Leaning toward the Xtravision H6024s based on advertised life and for matching external appearance. The H5001 and H5006 look a little different in the lens patterns.

What am I missing here...I hate overthinking silly stuff?

Originally Posted by ZeGermanHam

Consider doing the relay mod! Also, how many amps is your alt?

Yup, if you're going with a halogen, definitely do the relay mod. You can find instructions, or purchase a pre-built kit from various places.

quick search yielded this which has decent reviews. You want to make sure you're searching for a 4 headlight system.

https://www.amazon.com/LIGHTING-Cera...24434358&psc=1

[vertigto]

Alternator is a Powermaster 12si-style 100 amp.

Does the relay kit require modifications to the stock harness? Really would like to avoid hacking up my new M&H harness.

[ZeGermanHam]

There are a number of kits available, but I'd recommend the kit sold by American Autowire: https://www.americanautowire.com/sho...ncer-relay-kit

They're a well known company which sells quality products, and has good customer service.

Here's a video showing the install process: https://youtu.be/bcY2CG07wi0

[padgett]

" I was lucky if I got 6 months out of them" Interesting, I put a set of SilverStars in my 88 Reatta in 2001 and are still there.

[Gator67]

I've been researching headlights for my 70 Formula project for a while, and decided to go with LEDs. I really like that they draw much less power, and no need for relays. I'm probably going to go with Dapper LED Seven. There are less expensive options (Philips, Truck-Lite, etc.) that are available immediately, but the Sevens are super slim (and should fit in the buckets without the need to mod them) and with OE glass option, they look right at home in an old car.

[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by padgett

" I was lucky if I got 6 months out of them" Interesting, I put a set of SilverStars in my 88 Reatta in 2001 and are still there.

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is. I've had them in a Nissan Maxima, Subaru Impreza, and BMW 3-Series, and they were short-lived in all of them.

[Vid]

Bulbs and relays aside, I recently replaced all of the bent, rusted, cracked and stripped headlight adjustment screws that were present on my ‘69 LeMans with nice new repops and wow what a difference. It’s an equally impressive night vision upgrade when the bulbs are all aiming where they’re supposed to.

[vertigto]

Silly question...how much of a difference is there if you don't use relays with sealed beam halogens?

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Silly question...how much of a difference is there if you don't use relays with sealed beam halogens?

Depends on how much loss you have in the headlight wiring now.

If you can get to the plug on the back of the passenger's side headlight WITH THE LAMP PLUGGED IN...

Attach a voltmeter black lead to ground.

Turn on low beam headlights.

With the engine running at a high idle use the red lead to measure voltage at the battery + terminal. Record this as "measurement 1".

Now touch the red lead to left pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 2".

Now touch the red lead to right pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 3".

Now touch the red lead to center pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 4".

Report the 4 measurements.

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Silly question...how much of a difference is there if you don't use relays with sealed beam halogens?

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

Depends on how much loss you have in the headlight wiring now.

If you can get to the plug on the back of the passenger's side headlight WITH THE LAMP PLUGGED IN...

Attach a voltmeter black lead to ground.

Turn on low beam headlights.

With the engine running at a high idle use the red lead to measure voltage at the battery + terminal. Record this as "measurement 1".

Now touch the red lead to left pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 2".

Now touch the red lead to right pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 3".

Now touch the red lead to center pin of the socket of the passenger's side right outer headlamp. Record this as "measurement 4".

Report the 4 measurements.

As Bill mentions, it really depends on how much parasitic loss you are seeing at the bulb.

The way the factory harness is arranged, you send power from the battery, to the dashboard harness and on to the headlight switch. That switch then routes power from the switch back through the dash harness, across the bulkhead connector and through the forward light harness where it reaches the bulbs.

Sylvania doesn't list there lumens per watt, but common information on sealed beams has them at upper 6 lumens per watt, google says 6.6

For a 40 watt sealed beam you're looking at 264 lumens...assuming you're achieving 40 watts at the bulb. That's roughly the same as a decent hand-held flashlight. The 60 watt high beam is producing close to 400 lumens. Much more appropriate for being able to see in the dark, but you're running on your high beams all the time and again assuming you're pushing 60 watts to the bulb.

Since volts and watts are measured together V+A=W if you reduce voltage, you reduce wattage. Lets say your alternator is pumping out 13.8 volts through the system. To reach 40 watts at 13.8 volts would require roughly 2.9 amps.

Now imagine you're still pushing that 2.9 amps through the system, but your voltage at the bulb has dropped to 12.5. That gives you 36.25 watts on your low beam, now producing just shy of 240 lumens. Now your backyard flashlight connected to the front of your car has old batteries in it. It's a 10% drop in light output.

All this of course is a gross over-simplification of what is truly going on, but you can see that the more load you have on the car's harness, the worse shape the wiring and connectors are in, the more voltage drop you're going to have at the bulb and that all still assume you can carry the amps as well.

FWIW a quality LED will produce about 100 lumens per watt. A 30 watt LED should produce close to 3000 lumens and because the light is directed there's very little unrealized lumens like you get in a sealed beam. You lose about 30% of total lumens in a sealed beam to about 10% loss in an LED.

If you're dodging dear in your area, which headlights do you want on the front of your car?