7" headlight with 60/100w bulbs.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Sun May 06, 2012 5:00 pm

Has anyone thought of going with old school 7 inch headlights mounted in buckets, say from a VW karmann Ghia? I see that you can get 80/100w 9007 which would be the easiest way but I think the pattern in the stock headlights SUCK! 80 watt low beams with a crappy pattern= tickets or getting shot.

infernicus · **Posted:** Mon May 07, 2012 8:57 am

That sounds like am awesome idea!
I've been thinking of very similar ideas. I just haven't played around with anything yet.
I was thinking of getting a set of the cheap $40 eBay set to play with.
It would be great to be able to drop a new set of lights in.
I told myself I'm going to make a projector retrofit actually happen, lol.
We'll see, haha.

Good luck!

candpliberty · **Posted:** Mon May 07, 2012 10:45 am

I saw some light buckets for a baja bug fiberglass fender with a flat flange all the away around with springs, and a chrome bezel. It looks like it would be perfect. Seems to be very reasonably priced: http://www.pacificcustoms.com/AC941410.html
But would it be a improvement? I always had Cibie or Marchal lights in everything I owned with 5 3/4" or 7" lights back in the day. They were killer but I wonder how they compare to the new stuff.

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2012 3:57 pm

I've run 80/100 watt Hella off road bulbs in our headlamps with a dedicated separate circuit with relay.
Two problems though.
1. Even with H/D 9007 plugin socket the sockets overheat and melt.
2. The bulbs get too hot for the plastic reflector and started to burn the reflector. Leaving a dime sized brown burnt spot on the reflector surface.

I ended up bending that chrome bulb shield that sits in front of the 9007 bulb out of the way and that really increased the headlamps light output with a stock wattage bulb. Re-aimed the headlamps and so far have not been flashed by on coming drivers.

The next modification that I am going to do is retro fit a set of seven inch round Truck-Lite LED headlamps into our Rig.
These: http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/st ... &langId=-1
Not inexpensive, but then again I doubt that I will ever need to replace them again.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2012 5:53 pm

I decided to go with Cibie(metal reflectors, better optics) domed 7" halogens with 65w/80w mounted on repro VW headlight bucketshttp://www.wolfgangint.com/Parts/Baja+Bug+Headlight+Buckets/Type+6/. I like this articlehttp://www.moabjeeper.com/articles/technical/listing.cfm?articleID=482 and talking to Daniel Sternhttp://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html. I'll order the buckets after I check to see how feasible it is but I don't see much of a problem. I think this'll be the biggest bang for the buck. Coincidentally I worked for the importer of Cibie when I was a teen.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 12:29 pm

I got the buckets. The bucket itself is made of plastic. It doesn't look cheapo. Nice and thick. The rest is steel. Perfect for what I need. Looking at the stock lights, it should be a breeze to convert. Now, where can I find a couple of hundred bucks for some lights and bulbs?

infernicus · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 3:57 pm

I can't wait to see what you come up with.
I like that when you have an idea, you follow through with it in a timely manner, lol.
All my ideas take a little while to actually get started.

Good luck!

candpliberty · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 4:13 pm

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

It helps when one is retarded, I mean retired. Not having to work is good but I have to figure out what to do with an extra 40 hours per week. Doing nothing costs a lot of money! I figure I can get the most of my earnings by paying someone else as little as I have to.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Tue May 29, 2012 7:51 pm

The OE headlights come out soooooo easy. take off the grill, 2-10mm hexhead screws, a quick tug and out they come. Since this is my only ride, I have to keep it more or less operational. I've made some cardboard patterns, Cut some mounts out of some old central A/C cabinet panels and made some stiffeners out of 1/4" round stock. I don't want any bounce in the headlights! Pictures to follow.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:58 am

I dumped the Cibie e-code idea because of the cost. It's tough to justify 220 bucks for 2 headlights and 2 bulbs. I ordered a pair of Hella e-codes with 70/65 Osram Hyper bulbs :idea:

for 130.23 shipped through Susquehanna Motors in Fleetwood, PA. I have $14.00 for a piece of 18 gauge steel for the mounts, $60.00 for a couple of headlight buckets from Wolfgang International in Redding CA, (5) 30-40amp relays($13.99, few bucks more than 2) plus a pair of Amico ceramic H-4 plugs ($7.85)from Amazon. $226.07 so far. I need some 10 gauge wire, connectors, paint and some welding wire. So I'll be in this project about 240 bucks. :roll:

but it'll be worth it. :5SHOTS:

audiboy86 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 08, 2012 6:23 pm

What are they looking like pictures please because improve headlights would be great and I hate the idea of unreliable HIDs.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:34 pm

Geez, hold your horses. :roll:

I've been waiting for the headlights to get here from PA. They're someplace arounf Illinois right now. I started out with cardboard and cut out some patterns, left and right. Then I made some rough metal units. The outside of the mounts were pretty easy but the inside(the shape of the bucket was a little tougher. I ended up cutting out a rough opening and patched it in with some sheet metal scraps to get the shape perfect. I drew a horizontal and vertical line through the pattern and kept the reference lines from getting rubbed off. I made some rings out of 1/4" round steel to stiffen the plate and plan on adding some fender washers and weld some 3/8" round tube as spacers to mount the headlights flush to the openings in the grill with the mount screw/bolts running through them..

I stopped because I want the headlights in my hands before I go any further. I felt the A/C cabinet metal was a little thin so I used them to transfer the pattern to the 18 guage I bought at lowes. 12x18"?, The biggest piece they sell., enough for 2 mount plates, barely! All the lines were eyeballed, checked, cut and eyeballed again. I put the sheet metal on the table, put the bucket on top of that and hovered over the 2 with my eye and marked it with a sharpie. I still have to get wire and inline fuses.

infernicus · **Posted:** Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:02 am

Looking good! Keep it coming.

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:34 am

If you guys want better performance from your stock Liberty headlamps...
This one is free*!

Remove the light bulb, get a flat head screwdriver and simply push the chrome
head lamp bulb deflector that sits in front of the head lamp bulb and push it down
and out of the way of the bulb*.
This will increase the light bulbs output dramatically!
Even with stock wattage bulbs.

*If you want, you can remove the headlamp assembly completely from your Jeep
and place the complete unit in your oven and heat the headlamp assembly enough
to soften the adhesive that keeps the reflector attached to the lens.
Then you can simply remove the bulb shield from the reflector housing.
The bulb shield has a sort of bayonet mount and needs to be pinched slightly on
each side with small needle nose pliers to be removed from the reflector.
Then re-assemble the headlamp assembly and yo are good to go.

Like I said, the amount of light output from stock 60/55 watt light bulbs is very noticeable.
Better than Hella 100/80 watt when the bulb shield was in place.
Re-adjusting the the headlamps is recommended.

I have a set of brand new Phillips 60/55 watt "High output" bulbs that I removed the "Blacked out"
coating on the tip of the bulbs too see if I can get even more light output from stock wattage bulbs.
All I used was a fresh X-acto knife razor blade to carefully scratch it off.

Was this modification legal?

I highly doubt it!

But I don't really care!

candpliberty · **Posted:** Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:37 pm

Got the ceramic H4 plugs but found they had something less than 12 gauge wire. sooooo...............
i made a cut in the silicone jacket to get it off.

The tools to take it apart.

I took them apart, took off the stock wire pigtails(on the right) and replaced them with the wiring harness(on the left, no splice at the headlights) and soldered the wire ends on.

Finished!

wiring harness, 2 lowbeam relays, 2 highbeam relays. all 12ga except relay controls

Ecode Hella's

infernicus · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:38 pm

Looking good. I love the harness.

candpliberty · **Posted:** Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:24 pm

Thanks. I got some corrugated plastic wire conduit to run. My Dad in law is in town so I've been hanging with him. He's 91 so he's numero uno.

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:18 pm

Finished yet?

candpliberty · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2012 11:59 pm

lol, Let's see, laptop takes a dump, buy laptop and set it up with all the stuff. Jeep a/c compressor goes out in 110F heat. Grand daughter who lives with us graduates from H.S. we have a party for 30 at our house. I cook. We help her pack and see her off to Chicago. We still have the wife's parents and we're taking them to San Diego. Dude, I'm not done with it yet!
But I did lay the harness in, and managed to start installing the mount plates, making spacers to bring the light out to the proper fitment in the grill facia. Did I mention it's 43C out side? :5SHOTS:

Ryn7 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:01 am

candpliberty wrote:

lol, Let's see, laptop takes a dump, buy laptop and set it up with all the stuff. Jeep a/c compressor goes out in 110F heat. Grand daughter who lives with us graduates from H.S. we have a party for 30 at our house. I cook. We help her pack and see her off to Chicago. We still have the wife's parents and we're taking them to San Diego. Dude, I'm not done with it yet!
But I did lay the harness in, and managed to start installing the mount plates, making spacers to bring the light out to the proper fitment in the grill facia. Did I mention it's 43C out side? :5SHOTS:

Yup, so true true Eh?

Well so far it's looking really good!
I look foreword to seeing the completed project.
43º C. Send some of that heat up here to B.C.

7" headlight with 60/100w bulbs.

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