Upgrade to Headlights

[DJT]

Rhd U.K. car (1973)
All head lamps H1.
Outers shrouded.
Appears to be all factory.
Isnt that usual?

That was standard for all Stags, but so many have been altered now. My first Stag had that arrangement. My current Stag had 4 x new H4 units fitted by the PO. These are now wired up 4 dip, 4 main through relays and provide excellent lighting.

[trunt]

I am wondering if SwissSteves car was originally a federal? if so then the headlights are wired differently to UK and non federal exports.. The federals are wired as Steve reports, dip is outer lights, main is all 4 but they also originally had sealed beam units which are pretty dim.

of course someone could have modified them, it’s pretty common I think.

Terry

Correction.. looking at the ROM wiring diagram for export LHD does seem to infer that they also had the same headlight configuration as the federal, I.e. outer dip and all 4 main. The diagrams show 2 dip and 4 main bulbs. RHD cars only show 2 of each.

[SwissSteve]

The car was a standard UK 74 MKII when I imported it to Switzerland so a standard right hand drive. No idea if the previous owners did any mods to the lights prob not. Once in CH I must have done something to the lights for LH drive but cant remember if I did it or the garage who put it through the MFK test

Guess I need to have a look the weekend how these arw wired up to know for sure. Couple of questions. Is my understanding below correct for normal operation


Headlights On

Outside lights on.

Main Bean

All 4 lights on

Intermittent Main Bean

As Main Bean

I guess even with the current config with 4 H4 lenses fitted I am safe just to order 4 x H4 LEDs and the same config should be fine just brighter
However is the Dipping LHD / RHD done in the Lense or deflectors on the bulb?.


Thx guys

[trunt]

The car was a standard UK 74 MKII when I imported it to Switzerland so a standard right hand drive. No idea if the previous owners did any mods to the lights prob not. Once in CH I must have done something to the lights for LH drive but cant remember if I did it or the garage who put it through the MFK test

Guess I need to have a look the weekend how these arw wired up to know for sure. Couple of questions. Is my understanding below correct for normal operation


Headlights On

Outside lights on.

Main Bean

All 4 lights on

Intermittent Main Bean

As Main Bean

I guess even with the current config with 4 H4 lenses fitted I am safe just to order 4 x H4 LEDs and the same config should be fine just brighter
However is the Dipping LHD / RHD done in the Lense or deflectors on the bulb?.


Thx guys

If it’s a UK car then no, it appears to have been modified. They have outers for dip, inners only for main. Someone probably linked the mains power from inner to outer.

[malc4d]

Steve.... you said it yourself. The car was adapted for the Swiss MFK, ( MOT, Inspection). The RHD headlights were changed out for LHD H4 lights plus a few other things so that it conformed. The most important thing in Basel was that you had to take a cloth to the underside of engine and gearbox to wipe off ANY oil while in line for inspection to make sure there was absolutely NO OIL. I even tried telling them that if there wasn't oil then there wasn't any oil in the engine. Didn't work, they still failed it

So from what you say, the lights are working correctly. Changing to LED will cost about UKP 250.00 for 4 H4 bulbs

[SwissSteve]

Steve.... you said it yourself. The car was adapted for the Swiss MFK, ( MOT, Inspection). The RHD headlights were changed out for LHD H4 lights plus a few other things so that it conformed. The most important thing in Basel was that you had to take a cloth to the underside of engine and gearbox to wipe off ANY oil while in line for inspection to make sure there was absolutely NO OIL. I even tried telling them that if there wasn't oil then there wasn't any oil in the engine. Didn't work, they still failed it

So from what you say, the lights are working correctly. Changing to LED will cost about UKP 250.00 for 4 H4 bulbs

My car lost its Old timer status last week at the MFK. There were some scuff marks on the hood as it rubbed going up and down. They wantes a new hood. They also said some blistering on fhe boot lid which was there for the last three mfk inspections over the past 20 years. Cut a long story short they did not notice a lot of my other upgrades so I am not complaining. The oil drips is a good one.

[richardthestag]

sorry about that Steve, sounds like a load of bureaucratic jobsworths who want you to buy an EV to save the local air but kill the planet

[SwissSteve]

Rhere is a lot of bureaucracy but I dont complain, thwre are many plus points in compensation :-)

[SwissSteve]

So the weekend is here and time available to take fhe lights out

All lamps have H4 bulbs fitted. The outer lamp has a single wire for normal headlamp and the inner one wire connected for full beam.

So easy to replace with 4 H4 LEDs. This should work

But it seems like a waste of H4 bulbs. My thoughts are to wire the normal headlamps in parallel and same for main beam. Will not be a power issue with LEDs and better lighting. At the moment each lamp has a filiment which is not used.

Is my logic sound or do I miss something?

Wondering if there will be a beam alignment issue when on dipped headlights.

Any thoughts?

kind regards

Steve