Replacing Head lights

[owenk]

Does anyone have any experience with switching out the sealed beams on a 240? I am also thinking of placing driving light behind the grill. Has anyone had any experience doing this?

Thanks

[kmack]

There are pretty much 2 ways to pull the headlights out.

1- pull the retaining ring off through the headlight extension (from the front of the car). Might be a little difficult since the ring screws may be hard to see (and they are a little small), but it can be done.

2- pull the headlight assembly out through the backside of the fender (out through the wheel-well). There are 4 screws (most likely phillips-head type) that hold the assembly onto the fender. You'll need to clean the area real good before attempting this. The heads of the screws will be clogged with dirt and road-grime. Take your time and don't strip them out.

Once you have the assembly out, removing the headlight sealed beam is relatively easy.

[owenk]

I should have been more detailed in my origanal post. What I am looking for is anyones experience with replacing the sealed beam units with a newer type of light.

[kmack]

You can replace them easily enough with a halogen unit. My car at one time had the Hella conversion.

Fit is nice and looks great, but unless you take the added current out of the column switch (by using relays), you'll burn it all up. Mine has done it once already.

[EScanlon]

kmack:

Were you using a higher wattage bulb than that that is "standard" for the car? I've read in several posts that if you are just replacing the lights with the same wattage (voltage is the same) as what the car had originally that you don't need to do a complete rewire.

Since that's the phase of my project right now, I want to make sure.

Thanks in advance.

Enrique

[kmack]

EScanlon, I'm not sure what the wattage is(was). I still have the lights, but I'm not using then right now.

I do know that from 6" away, you could feel the heat coming off the lights. They were that bright. Could possibly be the reason why my wires all melted into one big glob and why I saw smoke coming from my steering column!:eek:

Eventually, I want to put them back in, I think I put in the relays just for safety reasons and it can't hurt with 31 year old wiring.

[owenk]

I am looking at some headlights called Crystal Headlights and they claim to be the "LATEST EURO DIAMOND CRYSTAL STYLE" they come with Bright White bulbs with a hood. Does anyone have anything to say about these lights?

THanks