After reading a bunch of threads and looking at what the vendors offer, I am little confused on what to order to upgrade my headlights
And instead of ordering something and then someone on here after the fact pointing out that I made a bad choice, I would appreciate if someone could confirm a good setup with the following choices:
Looks period correct
Doesn’t require re-wiring or adding relays
Brighter than the really pathetic dim yellowish light I have now, which is probably original
Lasts more than a couple months without needing to replace burnt out bulbs (some really bad reviews on Amazon of brighter bulbs that burn out quick)
Hi.,…look up danielsternlighting.com on the net. He has everything you need to know about headlights and his site is educational. I do not know if the tri bar ever
came with the E type in the US… I personally think they look better on older cars.
I went with one of his Cibie and one of his upgraded lamps. He also has relay kits.
abe
The reproduction Lucas PL700 tri-bar headlamps have very poor optics compared to the originals so whilst they may look good the light output will be compromised. They were originally fitted to both RHD cars and LHD cars except those destined for USA, France, Austria and Sweden which had the Lucas F700 lamps. Try and buy original Lucas PL700’s if you can but you will then be limited to the 410 fitment tungsten bulbs which are pretty useless.
You can tell the difference between an original and a repro unit because:
Repro’s have ‘700 Headlamp’ moulded into the lower edge of the lens whereas originals do not
Originals have ‘Made in England’ moulded into the glass, repro’s do not
Originals use a 410 fitment tungsten bulb whereas repros use H4 fitting halogen bulbs.
Originals have a shiny metallic back whereas repro’s have a dull grey back.
You will be limited in your choice of headlamps for the S1 because of the depth of the bowl housing which also has a flat on it. The only reflectors I could find that would fit were those produced by Wipac. The only way of significantly improving the S1 headlamps is to run a dedicated high capacity cable to the headlamps via relays - voltage is king! To quote Daniel Stern:
"Headlamp bulb light output is severely compromised with decreased voltage. The drop in light output is not linear, it is exponential with the power. For example, let’s consider a 9006 low beam bulb rated 1000 lumens at 12.8 Volts and plug in different voltages:
The Europeans take a slightly more realistic view with their voltage ratings; they consider output at 13.2v to be “100%”. The loss curve is the same, though. When operating voltage drops to 95 percent (12.54v), headlamp bulbs produce only 83 percent of their rated light output. When voltage drops to 90 percent (11.88v), bulb output is only 67 percent of what it should be. And when voltage drops to 85 percent (11.22v), bulb output is a paltry 53 percent of normal! "
In the case of the E-Type consider the path the current has to take to get to the bulbs - battery, 17A cables, fuse, main switch, dip switch, bonnet plug, terminal box, bullet connectors and bulb socket - the voltage drop is significant. I have done the relay conversion and my headlights are now about the same as my Range Rover Sport and they make the E-Type a joy to drive at night. All those period comments about the cowls dispersing the light upwards proves to be false - it was lack of volts all along. So no combination of modern bulbs or reflectors is going to make any significant improvement and I have pretty much tested.tried them all. Full instructions on how to do it (and it is really very easy) can be found here: http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4919
The single biggest improvement you can make is to get full voltage to your headlights, which if you check you will probably find that it is 1.5V to 2V down on your battery terminal voltage. This factor alone will result in very poor lighting. If you are adamant about retaining an original outer appearance, you should install a relay (this can easily be hidden) and by getting that full voltage to your headlights, you will notice a marked difference.
If that isn’t sufficient, your best option is the relay and a pair of Hella H4’s. at least you will be able to see the road at night.
Fit a pair of relays fed by some chunky fused wiring direct from the alternator and have it properly earthed back for the return path. Use the original loom’s blue/white and blue/red to drive the relay windings. It may be non-original, but it improves on the original design substantially for all of the reasons David pointed out.
