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The original front headlight lamps on my '82 C3 are certainly quite dim in comparison to today's standards. Anyone has done a headlight chnage and if so with what lamps? Thanks
The original front headlight lamps on my '82 C3 are certainly quite dim in comparison to today's standards. Anyone has done a headlight change and if so with what lamps? Thanks
I just installed a set of "Crystal Clear" lenses and H4 bulbs from Octane Lighting in Simi Valley California AND their relay kit with ceramic plugs for a total of $165. They have a website so I suggest you visit it and look their selection over. They made a HUGE difference over the OEM T3 lamps but to add 50% more lighting I wired them so all four burn on low beam too. The H4 bulbs contain the low and high beam filaments so all I had to do was add an additional 5/16" female spade terminal to the center plugs and I got those 5/16" terminals from my old plugs.
Last edited by 71VetteLover; Sep 26, 2017 at 03:57 PM.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2019 C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods)
Hi and welcome again.
Originally Posted by rrbnut
The original front headlight lamps on my '82 C3 are certainly quite dim in comparison to today's standards. Anyone has done a headlight chnage and if so with what lamps? Thanks
The most cost effective way to get the headlights as bright as possible is to install a relay.
The headlamp switch triggers the relay and the relay sends full battery voltage (on heavy gauge wires) to the headlights.
The most cost effective way to get the headlights as bright as possible is to install a relay.
The headlamp switch triggers the relay and the relay sends full battery voltage (on heavy gauge wires) to the headlights.
Yeah, as the headlight switch is so darned hard to get to it's much better to have the headlight switch simply energize a relay instead of powering all four lights. I have a BUSS 6-fuse fuse block mounted on my firewall so I used one of its empty terminals to power my relays.
Relays are the only way to get them brighter as you can get a full 13.5 to 14 volts to the lamps.
There are many options out there to do this.
I used Daniel Sterns kit. You do have to upgrade the wire size so that the full voltage doesn't go through your old wires. I did hack my wiring harness up to install them but I wanted a clean install. There are adapters that plug into your existing bulb plugs then go to the relays then back to the lamps.
So a search here. There are many threads on the subject.
I'm actually replacing the fuses with self resetting circuit breakers. They should be in tomorrow. It's just a safety thing and check you states inspection requirments as some states don't allow the headlight to run off of fuses and you will not pass inspection if you need one.
Last edited by theandies; Sep 26, 2017 at 05:26 PM.
Before blaming the wiring and original type lamps I suggest cleaning the grounds! The front lamp harness has three ground points:
1) On the inboard side of the alternator.
2) On the metal front cowl support between the headlamp door vacuum relays.
3) On the front, lower-left corner of the radiator mounting bracket. This one is a pain to access but probably the one most in need of cleaning.
If, after cleaning those three grounds you get strange lamp/electrical behavior (my fuel gauge would drop when I applied the brakes) clean the rear lamp harness ground in the left-rear fender near the radio antenna.
I had done the headlight relay mod with success using the 5000 series halogen replacement bulbs. They used to trip my headlamp switch before that mod.
I bit the bullet and went with the Speed Direct fabricated front lighting harness. Then changed to Hella H4 bulbs. I did not use the bulbs that were offered by Speed Direct. I had to modify my headlight housings to accept the rear of the bulbs. The wiring harness was an easy install. The bulbs not so much. It really lights up the road now.
Headlight question
