PRMalo77

I have a 77 vette and my headlights are terrible. I was looking to put in some HID headlights but I don't know how or where to find some that'll fit. Does anybody know how to do this or have done this to their c3?

Ironcross

GE 4537 Landing lites......



available through the Internet, at private airfields or wherever small aircraft are serviced

bruiser

This kit is available.
http://cmc.speeddirect.com/items.asp?Cc=ELEC&Bc=

PRMalo77

Now with those do I need any special wiring or equipment or is it just a simple install I can do myself?

PRMalo77

Is this kit easy it install or should I have a shop do it? Or could I just buy the lamps and use the original wiring that the vette already has?

dembo

Got that kit on mine. The buckets had to be cut, but the rest is plug & play + it takes the strain of the instrument panel harness as it's fed by the alternator.
If you have the patience you can see the brightness, just running from the battery :
http://s494.photobucket.com/albums/r...rent=Movie.mp4
Regards,
Nick

megaclocker

Very interested about this too. Please explain

jb78L-82

A couple of comments:

Landing lights are a very inexpensive way to get more light from your highbeams but there are several drawbacks for road use: thet are still sealed beam ligts with poor light color(yellowish) versus halogens or hid's. They also do not have a proper beam pattern for tfe road. There are much better alternatives

The speed direct kit referenced above is very expensive for what you are getting.

I have Hellas lead crystal lens Euro lights with 55/80 lows and 100 watt halogen highs. The lows run off the standard wiring and switch but the highs arecon a relay off my Cs-144 140 amp alternator. I could easily run an hid conversion kit using my lenses if I wanted to but don't need to.

The single biggest and most important aspect for the best light output is the quality of the head light lense and reflector!

Hope that helps!

PRMalo77

Yeah the speed ones are very espensive for me right now. So the ones you have, the hella euro are cheaper? And do I have to do any major modifications to them in order for the to work or fit? I wonder if there are ones I just plug in and work. And can I get the hella euro's to show like blue lighting? And is halogen better or HID? I'm sorry for asking a lot of questions.

78IndyPace

The easiest and cheapest improvement is to simply replace all 4 of your sealed beam bulbs with halogen sealed beam bulbs. Did it shortly after buying my '78 about four years ago, and the improvement was significant. The halogen sealed beams (H5005 & H5001) are less than $8 each. I drive mountain roads at night, and they've been just fine, in my opinion. Since I changed to the halogens, I've also installed relays for the headlights that further improved light output. Here's a link to the relay setup I used:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ay-wiring.html

MotorHead

Putting mine in today, can't wait to flash them at the first "Look how bright my headlights are Lexus owning arshole" coming my way

dembo

Yeah the speeddirect is expensive, but the harness is of a high quality and everything you need is included. It wasn't on my to do list, but i had to get it to pass technical inspection (euro mark on lens and improved brightness)
Nick

BTAL

Is this an example of what you installed?

http://www.mesaperformance.com/web_s...cat/hella.html
5 3/4'' Round High inner beam
on 4 headlight cars 55w bulb 71156 $45.00 ea.

Ironcross

comments like above....I don't think he has ever used or seen the landing lights....there Aircraft lites, and are standard equipment in one version or another in all airplanes...I guarantee you can not out run these lites at any speed....they will illuminate interstate highway roadside reflectors as far as you can see....and they are not yellow, in fact there blinding bright and I use them with a 30 amp generator in my 62 and a 37 amp alternator in my 68....no need for fancy or trick charging components borrowed from other cars......patterns, I don't know because they lite up everything I can see but not too popular with cops if they happen to be coming towards you......

another plus if you want a little fun, the mystery is to watch people trying to figure out what they are......especially Vette owners.....

mauiwilly

Did the same thing on my 81'.....BIG difference

PRMalo77

are there any HID headlight kits that anyone knows about? im trying to aim for that cool blue look

jb78L-82

Yes, these are the lights that I have. I have had mine since 1983 on my car although I Upped the watts in the early 90's to the current low beam of 55W/80 watts (I don't think they offer this combo any longer in the H4 bulbs ( I am thinking of replacing these H4's (getting old now) with 80/100 watt bulbs) and 100 watt H1 highs). I ran a standard 20 amp relay on the highs only to take the current draw off of the OEM headlight switch and pull from the CS-144 140 amp alternator. I ran my lights for years with 55 watt bulbs across the board with the standard 12SI 63 amp alternator that came with my 78. The higher amperage alternator was used for other reasons and NOT just for the lights. A standard 63 amp alternator can easily run my 100 watt setup with just the relay for the highs which is necessary to reduce the current draw on the headlight switch. 360 watts pulls 27 amps for the physics majors out there!

I can assure you that I cannot even remotely outrun my headlights on high beam with a total of 360 watts of power out of the 4 Hella Euro lights.

No I have not see the GE aircraft landing lights in person on but have seen countless cars from the 60's with these lights in the high beam buckets.I have seen them on planes of course and they are NOT brighter than the Hella H1 100 watt Euro's and they do have the typical seal beam yellow halo light color as ALL sealed beam headlights do-no way around the color issue with a sealed beam light. All lights will appear white until they are compared to the more modern technology. Note the comments above from those that switch from a seal light filament to sealed halogens. The lights are brighter because a halogen bulb produces whiter light than a sealed beam filament, this from essentially the same lense and reflector. The Hellas (and Cibie/marchall's) produce brilliant light from the same amperage bulb because the Lense/reflector is superior to anything else produced. There is a reason these lights cost $45 each (they were $20 in 1983) and an aircraft landing light is $10. Like I said, an aircraft landing light is a cheap inexpensive way to get more light on the road with your high beams only, not the lows, but you get what you pay for with most things in life. I have a portable hand held spot light that uses a 100 watt GE aircraft landing light and it's beam pattern is nothing like the Hellas which are designed for road use.

My Hella Euro's were installed with no modifications to the headlight buckets-tight fit but after 28 years, they must have been all right!

Hope that answers all the comments and gives a clearer picture of some of the differences with sealed beams and halogens. I currently run a McClough HID conversion kit (real HID's, not bulbs that are made to mimic HID's) on my Chrysler 300 Limited that has the OEM projector lenses and these lights are pretty awesome as well. 5000K bulbs which are the brightest white light spectrum and designed for the highest Lumen output, not color preference.

captl27

Here is the Hella lights you need and they are legal and you don't even have to rewire if you don't what to.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=733

jb78L-82

Those are them-exactly. They were definitely not legal in 1983, not until the early 90's and the E code indicates that they can be used in Europe thus the term used above, Euro Hella's. BTW-no mention of DOT approved but not a problem in most places unless you live in certain states like CA where they bust chops on all this stuff. A friends 1981 BMW 528i who lives in San Diego and came OEM with sealed beams failed inspection in the mid 90's running Marchall Euro Halogens!

Mashman

I was sick and tired of not being able to see at night with my old sealed beams, so I ordered a couple of these for $15 a piece - http://www.bigrigchromeshop.com/Merc...Category_Code=

They come with high/low bulbs, but I decided to put in some Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs instead.

So, for ~ $75 total, I was ready to go, and what a difference! I had gotten to the point where I avoided taking the car where I would have to drive back roads at night, now that's not an issue.

The installation was very easy, and there was no modification needed. I believe there would have been some required if you replace the high beams, but I didn't have an issue with my high beams, they provide plenty of light, I just wanted to be able to see with only the low beams on.

These cases are of good construction, metal and glass - no plastic. The cut-offs seem sharp, I've had these on all winter, and have never been flashed with them, so I don't think I'm blinding anyone.