5.75" 4 Headlight System Upgrade?

[annularnos]

Other than relays, what is everyone doing for a decent 5.75", 4 headlight system upgrade? I want good illumination for occasional night driving returning from shows and cruise nights. However, I do want to keep a mostly stock look. I was considering Cibie H1 and H4 with a convex lens, also possibly Hella Bifocal H1 and Cibie H1. I know the Hella Bifocal H1 has a flat lens so that really doesn't help the stock look. Are the Cibies worth it considering they are only 5.75"? I've heard that it's difficult to make a decent high/low beam in a 5.75" size? Any help appreciated.

[Chryco Psycho]

I see no problem with making a good hi lo 4.75" headlight , a lot of modern ones are smaller now .
Numerous options  buy a good glass reflector & the headlight options are vast now , H4 is very common with a variety of types of bulbs even HID systems with almost anything for wattage output

[mr_340]

I picked up a set of Delta's I think the number is 1129 hi-beams & 1139 hi/lo beams. 

I got the hi/lo's from summit on clearance for about $35/pr a few years ago. then picked up the Hi beams from classic, i think they were around $30ea.

Gary.

[shawge]

I went with the Cibie H1 and Hella Bifocal H1 and really like their performance, definitely add the relays.

I noticed that there are two versions of the headlight buckets - small and large diameter bucket holes.  My car came w/ the small diameter so I did have to trim the headlight buckets a little for the Bifocals.  The larger hole version would not need trimming.

No trimming needed for the Cibie H1s.

Have you seen this?
http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/electrical/75871-howto-5-75-sae-headlight-upgrade-hella-h1.html

 
 

[annularnos]

I went with the Cibie H1 and Hella Bifocal H1 and really like their performance, definitely add the relays.

I noticed that there are two versions of the headlight buckets - small and large diameter bucket holes.  My car came w/ the small diameter so I did have to trim the headlight buckets a little for the Bifocals.  The larger hole version would not need trimming.

No trimming needed for the Cibie H1s.

Have you seen this?
http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/electrical/75871-howto-5-75-sae-headlight-upgrade-hella-h1.html

After great thought, I'm leaning towards the Hella Bifocal H1 and the Cibie H1. A few questions for you, if I may.....
What vehicle did you install them in?
Did you connect the parking lamp on the Hellas?
Did you go with the flat or convex lens on the Cibie?
How much did the mod detract from the stock look?

[shawge]

I have them on a 70 Challenger. 
The parking lamp is connected and tied into the side markers.
I went with the convex Cibies, due to recommendations about performance.  I think it would be hard to tell if the headlights were flat with the 70 Challenger's trim around the headlight unless you get up close.   The H1/H4 headlamps do look a little different than the sealed beams.

Here's a pic testing out the trim fitment, Cibie on the L, Hella on the R

[1 Wild R/T]

Not cheap but these are very high quality & I've used them for many years....

Low beam   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FPYWPE/?tag=bradfordbikeh-20

High beam   http://www.amazon.com/Hella-E-Code-Conversion-Headlight-Replaceable/dp/B000FQCWXM/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

[annularnos]

I have them on a 70 Challenger. 
The parking lamp is connected and tied into the side markers.
I went with the convex Cibies, due to recommendations about performance.  I think it would be hard to tell if the headlights were flat with the 70 Challenger's trim around the headlight unless you get up close.   The H1/H4 headlamps do look a little different than the sealed beams.

Here's a pic testing out the trim fitment, Cibie on the L, Hella on the R

Great pic! Thanks. Do you know if the Hella Bifocal is available without the city light?

[shawge]

I am not sure if they are available w/o the city light.  It is not required to install the bulb or wire it up.  The light could be put on a separate switch.

[annularnos]

I went with the Cibie H1 and Hella Bifocal H1 and really like their performance, definitely add the relays.

I noticed that there are two versions of the headlight buckets - small and large diameter bucket holes.  My car came w/ the small diameter so I did have to trim the headlight buckets a little for the Bifocals.  The larger hole version would not need trimming.

No trimming needed for the Cibie H1s.

Have you seen this?
http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/electrical/75871-howto-5-75-sae-headlight-upgrade-hella-h1.html

Checked my headlight buckets today. The openings measure 3.25" in diameter. Do I have the large or the small opening?

[shawge]

That sounds like the larger opening.  I'll take some measurements tonight after work.

[annularnos]

That sounds like the larger opening.  I'll take some measurements tonight after work.

Corrected my post above.....the openings measure 3.25" not 3.75" as I originally said.

[shawge]

The holes in my buckets are 2.5" in diameter.  I had to trim a small amount of the low beam buckets for the BiFocals.  With 3.25", it looks like you should be good to go.

[annularnos]

The holes in my buckets are 2.5" in diameter.  I had to trim a small amount of the low beam buckets for the BiFocals.  With 3.25", it looks like you should be good to go.

Great! Thanks for checking. One last question...did you have to make any connector modifications at all?

[shawge]

The Cibie have H7 male blades on the rear plug.  I used ceramic H4 female connectors (it's what I had on hand) with the middle connector left open.


The Hellas have 3 wires (-ground, +lamp, +park light) coming out of the rear plug so you can tie it to the harness any way you want.  For other folks w/ the smaller headlight bucket opening, the headlight bucket shown here has been modified.  The lip in the lower portion of the opening was ground away.


I wanted a plug and play setup with no modifications to the stock wiring.  I used relays and made my own harness to trigger the relays off of the stock hi/low connector.  Weather-pack connectors tie the harness to the lamps - I did this to make changing bulbs easier.