Recently installed LED Headlights into my '81 and thought I'd share my experience for anyone else interested.

I order a pair of H4 and H1 LED bulbs from superbrightleds.com

They are technically ment for off-road use only in the specifications.
I also had to order conversion enclosures for to fit H4 and H1 bulb so I ordered and from amazon.
E-rated and for on-road use in Canada only according to the description.

My biggest concern was whether there would be a cutoff built into the bulbs or the lens so that I wasn't blinding oncoming traffic and risking police attention. The Hella conversion lens' I ordered sounded like they were focused lens' and also sounded better quality than a lot of the cheaper ones, having aluminum backing and glass lens instead of plastic.

Everything came in same day and I started assembling the bulbs into the lens and making the boots fit and seal as well as I could.




H4 LEDs. packaged very nicely.





It was pretty easy to adapt the H1 Lens grommets for the heatsinks and wire of the H1 LEDs





The H4s were a little more difficult because of the larger base on the LEDs. Ended up having to cut a large oval to slip the whole base through for the grommet to sit all the way down on the lens backing.





The H1s from the front.


The H4s installed very easy. They slipped right into the buckets and plugged into the factory wiring. The H1s However had a deep backing on them that had a larger diameter than the rear structure of the headlight assembly which originally only have a plug running through it. I had no should but to drill out the whole by drilling smaller holes all the way around the knocking out the excess metal. After that, they slipped right in. It plugged right into the factory plug but instead of a socket like the H4s it had to short leads at the end with pins attached. No biggy, just doesn't look as professional.




one H4 in. It is so much brighter than the old halogens sealed beams that were in it. This picture doesn't really do it justice. The H1 is still hanging down since I still have to take it out and drill out the assembly.





This is just the H4/Low beams a few feet away from the garage door. Again a huge difference in the brightness. I can also tell how there is a cutoff at the top of the beam. Not sure if that U shape of the cutout is normal though.





This is how much I had to drill out the area for the Lens to fit through. The bottom part became so thin that it just broke off when removing the excess from that area.

I left the original wiring alone since the LEDs required less amperage than the original halogens and they work great. They probably still need adjustment though. I feel like they are aimed too high right now, but haven't had a chance to find a flat surface that I can safely park about 25 feet away from to properly align them.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up for us. I have this mod way down the TO DO list, and I am concerned about blinding the oncoming traffic too.Let us know how it all works out for you after a few trips at night. Nice details and great pics showing us what to look out for.

 

Great write up. Thanks for the info.

 

Nice write up!

Those Hella Euro Lead chrystal Lenses (made in Germany) lights are the exact ones I have had on my 78 since 1983! Those lights are top notch even today...the lense of the light is probably more important than the actual light source (bulb) in producing top quality light output. Yes you are correct that these lights are E rated (European approved) and have never been legal in the US primarily since Hella probably never went through the hassle and cost to get them approved in the USA but believe me they are superior to any 5 3/4 inch round assembly sold and approved here AND no one will know the difference. When I put them on my 78 in 1983, no light was approved for use in the US except sealed beams....scary! These Hella's had been used for years in Europe as an approved headlight in the 60's/70's and were way ahead of the lights approved here at that time.

I still use 55/60 watt halogen bulbs in my lows and 100 watt halogen bulbs in the H1 highs primarily since I hardly ever drive my 78 at night any more and these Hellas are still a match for modern day HID's in terms of lumen output....but can't match the HID's/LED's for color (pure white light). I do have Superbrightled bulbs in the taillights of both my 2001 grand prix and 08 Chrysler 300 and HID headlight conversions on the 300 headlights (OEM HID projector) and Grand Prix (true HID's with an HID projector mounted in the OEM headlight housing (theretrofitsource.com). Of the LED conversions some have done recently, I certainly like what you did the best but I am wondering about the low beam pattern on your garage door since it appears that you have 2 "hotspots" on either side of the main beam focus? I would be interested in your feedback about these LED's once you can get them on the road and whether you have a true Z beam cutoff with those lenses like I do with the H4 Hella lows? I am wondering if the LED bulb source/placement (actual LED's) in the lense is throwing off the light dispersion? Let us know. Maybe not....

 

I wouldn't call that much of a cutoff. A good low beam pattern should have almost a flat line or a line that is flat on the drivers side and kicks up on the passenger side. Get further from the door and the left side of that beam likely shines right into oncoming traffic.

 

I have the Hella housings in mine too, they are vastly better than factory equipment.
I'm impressed with led lights but I find it hard to believe they are better than my current set up, but they were a bit more work.

 

Looks great, How did it turn out?
Thinking of doing something similar myself

 

I did it and went back, The light spread was horrible.

 

I thought the picture above was a little suspect myself...I would think though that the light spread would Ok with the Hella low beams since there is a shield that covers the bulb with the reflector controlling the light disbursement? The H1 Hella highs have no shield cover the bulb..

 

I used the same LED's in the picture.

Only switched to H4 Bulbs and it's perfect. Only worry about the wiring at this point but I rarely drive at night.

 

Ok I am confused. In your first post you said they were horrible? Did you go back and just use the low beams like I previously mentioned with LEDs or did you switch back to the H4 bulbs in the lows and left the LED highs in the Hella's?

Also, no worries on the wiring on the highs since LED's pull 5X LESS current than a halogen of equivalent output. I have no issues running 55/60 watt lows with my Hella's and 100 watt Hella Highs (Highs are on a relay), taking the current draw off the wiring and switch...When I first installed my Hellas in 1983, I ran 2 H4 55/60 watt lows and 1 55 watt hella halogen high beam and 1 sealed beam high...otherwise the switch circuit breaker would flicker the lights on and off...did this until I installed the relay on the highs for the 100 watt halogens. Thanks

 

Started with the LED in Hella housings. Had a beam patter like above. Removed the LED and used a GE Nighthawk H4.

Normal pattern now.

 

Yup, normal ecode cut out with proper halogen bulbs looks like this. Anything else in these Hella housings will blind incoming traffic.

 

could this be a piece of the puzzle why so many led headlights especially aftermarket conversions blind the on coming drivers?

 

Phew saved me some trouble! Thanks for the LED Experiment
I just ordered the Hella housings and going with halogen for now.
Will deal with 100w HB and relay setup later.

 

This is correct. Those camel humps the LED produces are not.

 

Im still trying to find resonably priced true projector style lights that will bolt in with minimal work to use Bixenon hid lights without blinding oncoming traffic. with HID only true projectors with the built in cutoffs work. everything else scatters and annoys people. Ignorant people that use hids in standard lensed housings with no regard for others give them a bad rap for everyone. I would assume the results might be similiar with the leds since the produce a different pattern and a more intense light. Especially as the led tech improves and gets brighter. The brighter ends of the led pattern above are from the side facing mounted leds in each led bulb and the way they reflect in the housing.. you need a projector lense to refocus the light into the correct beam pattern.

Part of the issue is where the actual light source sits in the housing.. some bulbs stick into the housing too far and some not enough which totally effects the pattern. also in this case the light is actually emitting sideways from the leds in the bulb.

 

The 'jw speaker' brand led h4 replacement lights, though pricey, are the best 5.75" high/low lights you can buy, and all the benefits of led. Using LED or HID bulbs in halogen housings will not give correct light spread.

 

I used these in my 2001 Pontiac Grand prix OEM headlights (the OEM halogens are atrocious)...these are true HID projectors with the correct beam cutoff that you retrofit into the OEM housing...these lights are OEM quality HID's but require some work to install but can be installed in any headlight housing:

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/

 

Even putting HID's into halogen projectors messes with the cutoff. The change is not nearly as bad as what happens with a HID in a halogen reflector housing, but the projector typically loses the straight line cutoff it has with a halogen. If the HID bulb uses a halogen bulb code then it and the projector are not a proper HID design. For example, H code or 90XX series bulbs are halogen designs so the HID bulbs with those codes are "retrofits". D code bulbs like D1S, D2S, D2R are HID original designs so the corresponding projector housing was actually designed for them and not for a halogen.