JPhil

or, "How a Balding Middle-aged White Male with Failing Night Vision Became Able to See on Midnight County Roads."

PARTS:
1) Wagner #4049 bulb (w/o filament shield) $17
OR
1) Wagner #4537 bulb (w/ front filament shield) $13
1) Bosch relay $7
1) 15 amp circuit braker $6
2') red 12g wire
3') black 12g wire
10') green 12g wire
10') green 14g wire
10') black 14g wire
10') 3/8" loom
misc. connectors & fasteners as needed

MECHANICAL:
I mounted my circuit breaker and relay on the driver side fender well adjacent to the alternator. The circuit breaker has two mounting tabs, the relay one, so I mounted the relay off one of the c-brkr tabs with two #10 machine screws with fender and flat washers and nylock nuts.
I pre-fabbed the wire connections for c-brkr and relay first, then installed the 14g green and black and 12g green wires into the loom. Run the loom following the vacuum lines and OEM wiring harness along the fender well into the nose, up and across the top of the headlite vacuum actuators. My light is on the passenger side, so I tucked the loom through on the top driver side of the passenger side vacuum actuator into the headlite area behind the high beam. Don't forget to secure the new loom when you're all done, but not just yet.
The 4049 bulb locating lugs match the OEM headlite bucket indents, the 4537 lug does not. I made a new indent opposite the side adjuster screw using a cut-off wheel and pliers. Easy. Set it with the filament horizontal.
The 4049 bulb has both spade and screw terminals, the 4537 screws only. Use the screw terminals with 5" pigtails made from the 12g black and green wires. You'll probably have to do some carefull bending and maybe some snipping of the terminals to get clearance to the bucket. The 4049 is a little shallower than the 4537, so no backing plate clearancing should be needed, but for the deeper 4537 I took my die grinder to the backing plate and quickly had adequate clearance for the terminal connections. Figure in movement of bulb for aiming purposes.
Check carefully both old and new wiring in the headlite assembly for binding and clearance to moving parts and springs. Without the OEM headlite connector plug in place, there is now nothing to hold the wires in place either. I twisted mine up into a loop together and loosely zip-tied them near the end of the protruding loom. They must be free to move with the assembly without problem or else all the smoke will escape from them and your lights won't work anymore.
Insulate the center relay terminal #87A ("normally closed") with shrink tube. This terminal is hot when the relay is NOT triggered.
I insulated the terminal posts of the circuit breaker using two little pieces of vacuum hose with a dot of silicone sealer in the ends.

WIRING:
The red 12g comes from the power post of the horn relay to the "bat" terminal of the circuit breaker, and from the "aux" terminal to the relay terminal #30.
The green 12g comes from relay terminal #87 ("normally open") thru the loom to one of the pigtails on the bulb. The other pigtail plugs into the black 12g and goes to a secure ground. I used the horn grounding screw located directly behind the OEM harness in the center of the hood opening "V" just below the body (This screw also holds an OEM metal harness clip). You can probably tuck this ground wire into your new loom.
These wires provide a dedicated, overcurrent protected circuit for the higher electric load of the new bulb.
The green 14g comes from relay terminal #86, and the black 14g from relay terminal #85, through the loom where they plug into the corresponding sides of the OEM headlamp connector plug with a pair of spade connectors. Be sure to insulate the exposed part of the connectors.
These wires use the OEM high-beam circuit to trigger the relay.

NOTES:
#4049: 150 watt; 12.5 amp; 300,000 candlepower; 15* X 7* beam; 15 hr life
#4537: 100 watt; 8.3 amp; 200,000 candlepower; 11* X 6* beam; 25 hr life

The 4537 bulb may have a shield on the side or the front of the filament (side shield MIGHT be #4537S--I've got one of each, but both boxes say only 4537). The side shield bulb threw a donut shaped beam, a dark center with a ring of light around it. No good for me. The front shielded bulb throws a nice full rectangular beam. Check the bulb before you take it home. The 4049 bulb is unshielded, throws a nice rectangular beam.
The 4049 is definately brighter than the 4537, almost too bright. It shines WAAAAAAY down the road, but street signs reflect back almost blindingly bright. Going up a narrow canyon, it's brightness was actually distracting, and the long narrow beam does not help see around curves at all. When you click back to low beam, it's suddenly really really dark out there.
The 4537 is not as bright but still shines a long, long way. It is more than adequate for high speed driving, yet a little "friendlier" to use. I replaced my 4049 with a 4537 and prefer it, although it, too, is for straight roads and does little good in the twisties.
You probably won't find either of these at the local parts store, although a quality NAPA-type store may be able to order them. You may find them at a local airport but they'll be expensive. I got mine off the shelf from a NAPA "jobber" store which supplies the local airport.

These websites have good related info:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

http://www.madelectrical.com/

DISCLAIMERS:
*This is what I did on my '73 L-48 coupe. Your car may differ.
*This will increase your electrical load by about 30% or 50% when lights are on. Keep an eye on your electical and charging system. Old and/or marginal systems may develop previously unrevealed problems.
*"FOR OFFROAD USE ONLY" These lights are BRIGHT and ILLEGAL as hell. Believe me, one is enough.

Have fun,
John

1971corvette

I believe I have found a set that will bolt in without using the relays ,I dont have a number in my head now ,but I remember it saying the power consumption is very close to the stock so not to much to worry about.I will be trying this in the near furture.

If you say one is bright enough then maybe I will run just one.

C3 4ME

I have a set my uncle gave me that are supposed to be just a remove and replace of the stock ones. According to him, they are illegal in all 50 states, but he has run them on 3 pickups he's owned without any trouble.

jdmick

Woa, I guess you were determined to see at night. I know my headlights are lame but I was just considering putting in some halogen bulbs.
You might want to consider submitting this one to corvettefaq.com.

BKbroiler

Personally, not too interested in the topic, but it is very well written.

JPhil

Keep in mind the OEM circuit breaker built into the headlight switch is rated at 20 amps, and it is probably old and tired as well.
To figure loads, watts=voltsXamps, amps=watts%volts
Old wiring means increased resistance which means more heat in the wires which increases the chances of the smoke leaking out.
I had scars on my fingers for years from learning these basics of electricity!

John

Aflac

part # for the highbeams are 4537! just happened to have the # sitting on my desk right now! If memory serves me right, thats a sylvania part number

corvetteatv7

got pics???

JPhil

Sorry,no photos. Don't have an electronical camera, don't know how to do it (it's about the limit of my computer capabilities to do this!) and besides, the job is all done and been running for a while now, I just finally wrote up my "paper".
What's going on with corvettefaq? The last several times I tried to go there, it was down. Have to admit, I'd be honored to have a paper there.
And finally, yes, I still want to install some of those Cibies like Daniel Stern lists, but this is a heck of a lot cheaper!

John

SHAKERATTLEROLL

Ooooooooops sorry the bulbs are made by GE 4537 100 Watts 13 Volt 200,000 candle power two screw connectors. Bulb Connection has them for $9.95. Sorry I have never dealt with the company just found it with a quick search.

norvalwilhelm

A picture doesn't show much. I did this a while ago and just cut into the stock wires running to the lights. The stock wires instead of carrying any real power now just turn the relays on and off. I run a wire directly from the back of the alternator through the fuses to the relays.
My light switch and dimmer switch should last forever carrying only millamps instead of amps.

1971corvette

Calling the electrical guru's

GE H7635 12.8V (3.3 amps) 50 watts 128,000 to (160,000)candlepower

do you still need to use alternate wiring to run the above lamps ??


link maybe = http://www.vintagebonanza.com/landing_lights.htm

turtlevette

I'd use that up on one trip.

70 LS1

I agree, the bulb life seems a little short. I may do it anyway and mount them where the front plate should be.

Wrencher

I replaced my regular sealed beams (low beam) with off-the-shelf halogens that help some, but to solve the old eyes problem that I am also afflicted with, I mounted a couple of surplus spot lights (off of patrol cars, the ones that mount on the door post) side-by-side where the license plate normally mounts on a bracket. They plug into a relay powered by the high beams.

I only mount them when I know I'll be doing a lot of driving on secondary roads, and they're easy to unbolt since they are also WAY illegal! My best result with bolt-in headlights was on my Mustang with the old 7" sealed beams. Nothing s****d as bad as those, so I replaced them with Bosch H4 halogens (legal in motorcycles) that bolted right in. Those are smokin' good lights

Hans

mandm1200

Since the job has been done awhile ago, how long are they holding up for you. 25 hours is not very long. If they can go 100 hours or so, that would be too bad. I don't drive it all that much but still would not want to be concerned about changing lights as a preventative measure or keeping track how long the high beams weer on.

bb69

Before everyone goes looking for super bright aftermarket headlights, you need to realize that a large part of the improvement comes from the wiring. In a stock system, the current goes from the alternator throught the dash and headlight switch, all the way back up to the headlights. There are some connections along the way. As all this wiring, and connections, gets older the resistance goes up. I redid my wiring very similar to the way JPhil did, and my stock lights are plenty bright now. With the brights on, they lit up my whole street. I'm not saying don't go with brighter lights, that's your choice. I'm just saying that you need to upgrade the wiring first. You will probably be amazed, and may decide you don't need a light that will be illegal. (Of course, if a cop is going to hassle anyone, they should hassle the people with poorly adjusted beams who blind everyone.)

Ken

Ironcross

I use GE 4537`s and I did not require any relays or extra wires on either my 62 or 68. Jphil`s installation guide is ok, but I actually removed the spade terminals from my original 4001`s and resoldered them to the 4537`s alowing me to retain and use my original bright beam plug. Yep they are illegal, but I have sold them to Cops. I had one customer come from Flint when I was stocking them. A picture of the 62`s headlight is in the link below. They are really instant daylight and not outdrivable at any speed.

JPhil

I have never had a bulb go out on me. If you actually logged the time your hi-beams are on, it's probably not as much as you think unless you make a lot of midnite high speed runs up and down the Alcan Highway. In typical populated areas, you just can't turn these on for very long before another car appears on the horizon. This hour rating is for airplanes, which is much stricter as well. I ran 3 1/2" landing lights on my motorcycles for years before this, on numerous midnite interstate runs, and never had one go out. The 4537 in this car I ran for about a year, the 4049 about 6 months, admittedly without a whole lot of extended usage.
I guess the short answer is, "I don't know."

John

Pete76Shark

I agree, upgrading the wiring and adding relays so you get 14v directly to the headlights is a big help. Idid this and also installed aircraft landing lights as my highbeams and they light up the world for 100 miles... I would not suggest installing new highbeams without the wiring upgrade..