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If you intend on driving at night then Octane is the way to go. I switched to halogens to improve over stock but I dont drive in the dark often so I couldnt justify the Octane cost.
For decades on my '71 I have replaced the high beams with GE Penetrators which are essentially aircraft landing lights. They are incredibly bright and night driving is a breeze. The one thing that has to be done, though is to bend the high beam tab on the low beam bulb so it no longer connects to the wiring harness. The Penetrators take just enough extra voltage to blow a fuse if the low beams light along with the Penetrators.
Halogens, and relays. My headlights were going off and on during night driving. Finally figured out that I was pulling to much amps with all other extras we tend to put on our corvettes. Elect. fans, etc. Put relay for each headlight mounted in the center area space nest to the battery. All works fine now. And easy job compared to most things on a 68.
My upgrade. Over 30% reduction on High Beam amperage draw and 1000% better light intensity and pattern. Electrical Plug and Play, but I had to add a new opening in the light dish for the tab on the bulb. Low cost Amazon Belt and Road. Company gave a lifetime warranty if I registered the purchase. I did and they confirmed the warranty via email. Still waiting to see how long they last. Most of my driving is at night, so I use them a lot. I will report back.
My upgrade. Over 30% reduction on High Beam amperage draw and 1000% better light intensity and pattern. Electrical Plug and Play, but I had to add a new opening in the light dish for the tab on the bulb. Low cost Amazon Belt and Road. Company gave a lifetime warranty if I registered the purchase. I did and they confirmed the warranty via email. Still waiting to see how long they last. Most of my driving is at night, so I use them a lot. I will report back.
Impressive! Would you happen to have a link to those headlights?
With older Corvettes the most cost effective way to get more light is to simply add a relay to the low beams and the high beams and supply the bulbs with full battery voltage. If you ever put a voltmeter on the light connections while the car is running and alternator charging, you would see the low voltage that is delivered to the head lights. There are some out there that drop down below 11 volts and even worse. When the headlight is supplied full battery voltage they make over 30% more light. That is with the "original" headlights, which is a significant difference in the amount of light.
I have seen companies who sell pre-made harness' that allow you to use higher amperage head lights. Those harness' are expensive and you could do the same job at home with some parts like new relays and the wire and connectors. The headlights are protected by a automatic circuit breaker so if they are turning on and off by themselves, then it is likely that you are exceeding the designed load on the circuit. If the circuit breaker was not doing it's job then you were likely going to do some damage to the wiring harness in your car. Overloaded circuits can even lead to a fire so be very careful.
Bright headlights are a great thing as long as they don't blind the drivers in the on-coming traffic. I like to see well but not at the cost of the other drivers getting blinded by the brighter than normal headlights.
Bright headlights are a great thing as long as they don't blind the drivers in the on-coming traffic. I like to see well but not at the cost of the other drivers getting blinded by the brighter than normal headlights.
THIS!
Wish more people would think this way.
That said, I added relays and halogens to my car many, many years ago.
Thanks again everyone for your experiences and thoughts. It is so nice for this 76 yr old veteran to be able to get good solid information this way. Trying to get back to summer of 1970 when I picked up my 1970 Donnybrooke Green Coupe, LS-5, Close ratio 4 speed, 370 gears, Saddle interior. Ordered it in Vietnam, picked in up at Gene Jantzen Chevrolet in St Louis. The salesman said if I order the LS-6 option I may not get the car. Turns out he was correct. I am seeing that there were few if any made with the LS-6 in 1970.
don't have to guess and look up and deal with all the marketing jazz, you guys have done all that. SO, I found the 2 wires that came together to blow my instrument lights fuse based on excellent recommendations of how to troubleshoot. I am on my journey to fix it. Involves a new plastic connector and re wiring all the wires into it. Of course I can't find the exact one but I have a generic GM one coming that looks like mine. As I am learning on my journey, it wouldn't be a simple, easy to get to 2 wires that I could just repair and move on with. Have to lie under my steering wheel and splice and insert all of them and hope this is the only spot in the circuit.
The advice on voltage to headlights is priceless. I would have bought some new headlights and wondered why there were not so bright. I will check the voltage at the bulb and likely install some relays. As I am not very good with electricity I am hoping I could get some advice on parts, what and where to get and some pics of where you put them and where in the wiring sequence they are. In the engine compartment?, under the dash etc. I have no clue. Help.
If you need a little help with headlight relays contact "madelectrical.com" they have excellent tech pages designed for the average guy and explain how you can do it. And they sell kits .
Halogens, and relays. My headlights were going off and on during night driving. Finally figured out that I was pulling to much amps with all other extras we tend to put on our corvettes. Elect. fans, etc. Put relay for each headlight mounted in the center area space nest to the battery. All works fine now. And easy job compared to most things on a 68.
Where did you buy your relays? Do you have a link on the ones you used?
Looking good Piersonpie.
