best new headlights for a stock 240Z

[Zs-ondabrain]

I gotta agree with Arne. The top 3 he mentioned are great. But if you feel a real need for an H4 bulb, like I use in my Z, I prefer the Euro look as apposed the Diamond cut. The Euro H4's are similar to the sealed beam bulbs. They are a round inner with the vertical and Horizontal lines that you're used to. The front glass is flat, as aposed to the round sealed beam, but they almost look the same.

But the difference is I have 90/100 H4's in mine and they have the blue tint to them. The reason companys tint them in blue is that blue is easier on the eyes, as studies have shown. Where as pure white is harder on the eyes, especially at night.

Halo's are just a style, so if you like 'em, get 'em. But don't upgrade your headlights without upgrading your headlight cicuit (upgrade harness)

Dave

[Arne]

The Euro H4's ... front glass is flat, as aposed to the round sealed beam, but they almost look the same.

Not all of them are flat lens. My Cibiés have a convex lens like a sealed beam. The lens fluting is much different, though.

But the difference is I have 90/100 H4's in mine and they have the blue tint to them. The reason companys tint them in blue is that blue is easier on the eyes, as studies have shown. Where as pure white is harder on the eyes, especially at night.

I'm not convinced about the "easier on the eyes" bit. There are plusses and minuses to the blue color from the driver's perspective, far more technical than what we probably want to go into here. And there is a huge difference in the type of "blue" light delivered by a tinted bulb as opposed to the "bluish" light of a true HID.

Blue tinted bulbs were designed for people who wanted the look of true HIDs in their cars that use halogen bulbs. Simple as that. Just for marketing and to satisfy an appearance desire.

Blue tinted bulbs have several drawbacks. The first is that ANY tint of any color reduces the bulb's effective output. Compare a blue-tinted 55/60 to a clear 55/60 of the same brand and the clear will have more output. Can't be otherwise. Remember that blue-tinting doesn't "tint" the light output, but in reality it blocks certain non-blue wavelengths, mostly yellows and reds. So less light gets out. Of course, you can compensate for this by using higher wattage bulbs as Dave is doing.

Another drawback is that because some of the light is blocked by the tint, the bulbs run slightly hotter, and therefore the service life may be slightly reduced.

Worst from the viewpoint of an oncoming driver is that the blue wavelengths are the ones that are hardest to control, and scatter the worst. That's why the sky or deep lakes are blue. So even when used in a high quality E-code light, there is noticeably more glare and light scatter. Highly annoying to oncoming traffic.

Just my personal opinion, but I'd be happy if there were no such thing as tinted bulbs.

Because

[Inf]

...

Just my personal opinion, but I'd be happy if there were no such thing as tinted bulbs.

...

Agreed. Every time I see them on the road, I find them blinding and distracting. I really dislike other drivers using HIDs also, because when they go over bumps it has the same blinding effect of someone flashing their high beams at you. It's not so bad if you're driving a truck, but in a low car like a Z, it's potentially dangerous.

[d240zx2]

You cannot go wrong with Dave's stuff, Stephen. I heartily recommend his HLH harness and his little $15 plug for the 280ZX alternator upgrade is drop-dead simple and, IT WORKS.

If you want a true "NEW CAR" look, suck your taillights out and send to him for his LED upgrade. Your neighbors will wonder where you got the new car.....

[jr260z]

Have you seen Trucklite's new LED bulbs? Low voltage draw, lexan bulb, 10,000 hour life guarantee. Bright clear light, Best price I've found is $260.00 each, but you do not need any special wiring or switching. The pic is the military version 24 volt, around $450.00 each.

[FricFrac]

Here is the road I'll be going down....

I want to be able to revert anything on my car back to "stock" so here is my plan of attack to reduce strain on the system...

1 - Interface to the stock headlight harness. Have the harness trigger a relay system for the headlights so that power is not run through the 36 year old switch but direct from the battery through the relay contacts. The relays I picked up from the automotive store draw 140 mA (tested). I think the stock column switch will be happier with 140 mA instead of 10A I realize this is what has been done before many many times and there are kits available (including a very cheap one from Black Dragon for $30 - the MSA one is $150) but I'm and Electronics Eng so I like to do my own electrical stuff and over-engineer it

2 - LED lighting. I know its not to some people's liking but you can do some pretty cool stuff (literally) and there is a huge drop in current draw. Using red LEDs in red marker lights is more efficient than a white light since the red lens is basically filtering out all light except red. My light over my console is 9 leds that consume 1/3W instead of the 10W from the stock Festoon bulb. Using LED lighting greatly reduces the current draw and does not require adding additional relays and harnesses and allows reduces the load on the 40A alternator so you don't need to upgrade it. There are plenty of places that sell drop in LED bulb that fit your stock connectors or you can make your own.

3 - H4 conversion with a twist. I've purchased a good set of H4 MSR assemblies to replace the sealed beams. Mine are aluminum reflectors/glass lens - beware of plastic lens/chrome plated (its actually aluminum but you get the idea) plastic. This conversion of course has been done before LOTS. My change is that I'll be runing a Bi-Xenon (high/low beam) HID H4 kit. You do need to be careful with HIDs as your H4 Lens assembly may not work well with the bulbs because there my be a lot of scatter if the focus isn't correct. That being said if you have a proper set up you will be drawing 35W on high and low beams with a much brighter light output. The H4 Bi-Xenon works buy running a full power (35W) but the low beam shields the bulb to reduce the lighting output via a solenoid. Just running HID alone is almost half the power of H4 bulbs on high beam with a brighter light output. Not all HID kits are created equal and you do get what you pay for. The kit I'm getting is a Philips designed balast with water tight connectors, etc. You can get kits starting around $90 but the kit I'm getting is $330 CND and well worth the money IMHO.

Edited September 5, 2009 by FricFrac

[Zs-ondabrain]

Well, While you're on that road, take a left...... You've basically written everything that I have already covered in many many forums and threads.

I am THE MSA supplier for the headlight relay Upgrade Harness that you've seen on their site. PM or email me for discounted or wholesale pricing. I also make everything on their "New Technologies" page, except for the fusebox's. I also do a full LED taillight conversion on all S30 taillights. Check these out........

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19193&page=2

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15179

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20151

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30704

There's plenty to keep ya busy and I make plenty to upgrade your Z into the 21st Century. Consider the price of replacing the 36+ year old 240Z wiring, combo and turn signal switches, fusebox and other related items when you look at the prices of my upgrades. Each one is hand built, with new parts and Guaranteed to work and be one of the best things you can do to your 240Z's electrical system.

[FricFrac]

Well, While you're on that road, take a left...... You've basically written everything that I have already covered in many many forums and threads.

I am THE MSA supplier for the headlight relay Upgrade Harness that you've seen on their site. PM or email me for discounted or wholesale pricing. I also make everything on their "New Technologies" page, except for the fusebox's. I also do a full LED taillight conversion on all S30 taillights. Check these out........

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19193&page=2

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15179

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20151

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30704

There's plenty to keep ya busy and I make plenty to upgrade your Z into the 21st Century. Consider the price of replacing the 36+ year old 240Z wiring, combo and turn signal switches, fusebox and other related items when you look at the prices of my upgrades. Each one is hand built, with new parts and Guaranteed to work and be one of the best things you can do to your 240Z's electrical system.

While that's an excellent sales pitch and you provide a fantastic service to the Z community I did point out several times that yes this has been done before. I also made several points that you didn't mention in your other threads. My points (again) are this....

- There is no need to upgrade your marker, parking, etc, etc wiring harnesses if you use LED technology. The current draw is a fraction of an incandenscent bulb. There is also no need anymore to have custom LED lights built as there are several aftermarket LED bulbs that plug directly into the sockets for your car. Not only do you not need to upgrade those harnesses you are also drawing less from your alternator reducing the requirement for upgrading it at all.

- The headlight harness is a great idea and I will be making my own as well. HID lighting is an excellent alternative by providing not only brighter lighting but also almost half the power draw of sealed beams and H4 bulb. Just by upgrading to HID you are cutting the strain on your column switch by half (although I would of course recomend a relay as well).

[Zs-ondabrain]

Being the Electrical guy that I am, I can totally appreciate everything you're saying. But at the same time I'd have to dissagree with your statement on the 2nd paragraph of "There is no need to upgrade your marker, parking, etc, etc wiring harnesses if you use LED technology" As I have LED's on every socket of the parking light circuit and they finally got brighter apon adding the PLH or Parking light upgrade harness.

Reason being is that the old wiring, connectors and lack of a relayed circuit caused a mere 10 volts at the rear drivers side sidemarker (one of the furthestpoints from the switch). Yes, LED's draw significantly LESS amperage but still reguire a true 12 volts, which most 240Z's do not supply.

I'm not here to argue the fine points, trust me. I appreciate almost all electrical, lighting, LED, ignition and alternator upgrades and or improvements done to the 240Z's. So Please do all of your intended improvements and get back with us. That's what it's all about here, Restoring and improving our beloved Zcars. Whether on a budget or unlimited bank account, we all try and help each other in some manner or another.

Have a great week-end and keep us updated on your progress.

Dave

[FricFrac]

Being the Electrical guy that I am, I can totally appreciate everything you're saying. But at the same time I'd have to dissagree with your statement on the 2nd paragraph of "There is no need to upgrade your marker, parking, etc, etc wiring harnesses if you use LED technology" As I have LED's on every socket of the parking light circuit and they finally got brighter apon adding the PLH or Parking light upgrade harness.

Reason being is that the old wiring, connectors and lack of a relayed circuit caused a mere 10 volts at the rear drivers side sidemarker (one of the furthestpoints from the switch). Yes, LED's draw significantly LESS amperage but still reguire a true 12 volts, which most 240Z's do not supply.

I'm not here to argue the fine points, trust me. I appreciate almost all electrical, lighting, LED, ignition and alternator upgrades and or improvements done to the 240Z's. So Please do all of your intended improvements and get back with us. That's what it's all about here, Restoring and improving our beloved Zcars. Whether on a budget or unlimited bank account, we all try and help each other in some manner or another.

Have a great week-end and keep us updated on your progress.

Dave

Good point - I guess it does depend on what condition the connectors in your system are like. Its possible that the wiring itself is deteriorated enough that its causing resistance but if that's the case that wiring needs to be replaced. If you are getting full voltage at the end of the circuit then you can just use the LED bulbs. You can also use LED bulbs at less than 12V depending on how the LEDs are set up. You don't "need" 12V - you need the forward biasing voltage of the diode which is anywhere from 1.5V to 4+ V. You also need some sort of current limiting which can be as simple as a resistor or a switching current source. You'll find many of the more expensive bulbs will have a switcher of some sort built in so variances in voltage will not affect the output. My point again is that you don't need to relay these circuits. You may need to replace wiring or connectors (major source of resistance). Relays draw more current than the LEDs do....

[FastWoman]

FAIW, I've just done a lot of upgrading to my electric, including the addition of headlight relays. My total cost for the headlight upgrade was about $5. Yes, I used cheap Chinese knock-offs of Bosch relays, which I bought off of Ebay. They're rated at 40A, so I expect them to hold up. If they don't, I can buy name-brand Bosch relays and swap them out in a few minutes time.

If you feel you can unwrap about a foot of wiring tree, identify the four largest red wires (but check your FSM, in case the 240 is wired with different color codes from my 280), snip them, solder/crimp in new connections to the relays, and wrap everything back up, you might want to consider this approach. This part of my upgrade project took me about 2 hr. I think about 2/3 of that time was spent cleaning oxidized copper wiring, so that I could solder it. Use a fine sandpaper, splay the strands, wipe, rearrange, splay, wipe, etc., until shiny. Crimp, and then infuse solder for a solid connection. I posted a schematic in this thread:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35588

It's pretty simple stuff. No need to buy an expensive kit to do it. If you want to go back to stock, you'll be able to reconnect the four headlight wires to each other, and you're done. That's not completely unaltered, of course, but the evidence will be wrapped up in a wiring harness where nobody will see it. (You'd be amazed at the misdeeds and bad original design I found wrapped up in my own harness.)

[FastWoman]

Hey, I had my Z out at night for the first time. (I don't really get out much.) Wow, my lights were beautifully bright and steady. That was the best $5 I spent in quite a while.