73 super beetle sealed beam upgrade

Lingwendil

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Well, the cadillac was totalled by a driver fleeing the scene of an accident and hydroplaning into me, so the insurance has paid me out, and I just picked up a 73 super beetle.

I was digging around on Amazon for a set of street legal (American market LHD) H4/9003/HB2 style 7" sealed beam upgrade lights. I need to replace the sealed beams anyway, due to passenger side low beam being out.

I was looking at these, but from what I can tell they are E code housings, so I assume they are not for me eh?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001G72SKQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1457218047&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=h4+7+inch+headlight&dpPl=1&dpID=51Japi47DSL&ref=plSrch

So, seeing that my budget here is from about 75~90$, what would I be best off using? I want a glass lens for sure, no lexan or polycarbonate silliness.

Also, I'm looking at a set of lights for off-road use, and like the rally style lights you see on a bunch of the autocross beetles. Any suggestions on those? This would be for the occasional camping trip, and would be run off of a dedicated fused circuit with relays triggered by a separate switch in the dash.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
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-Virgil-

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You have to be extra careful when you're working with a tight budget, because there's a lot of garbage on the market, much of it "bargain" priced, and all of it hyped as an "upgrade". If you need a US DOT-certified unit, then this is the one to buy.

street legal (American market LHD)

This is actually three different factors, not one. A DOT-certified headlamp is street legal throughout the United States and Canada, but other types of headlamps are also street legal in Canada and in a variety of individual states. And it's a mistake to refer to "LHD headlamps". "LHD" means "Left-hand drive". It refers to the placement of the driver's seat within the car. That is not relevant to the headlamps. What matters is where the vehicles are on the road. In North America we have RHT, that is Right-hand traffic: vehicles keep to the right no matter where the driver's seat is.

Also, I'm looking at a set of lights for off-road use, and like the rally style lights you see on a bunch of the autocross beetles.

Given your tight budget, your money would be much better spent putting in headlamp relays and better bulbs in those headlamps I linked.

This would be for the occasional camping trip

Relays and good bulbs in the headlamps will serve that need extremely well.

You might send an email to Daniel Stern (that "relays" link goes to his site) and see what else is available for '73 Super Beetles.
 

Lingwendil

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Oh- don't worry, the auxiliary lights aren't part of this budget, those are an eventual consideration.

That budget is also just for the housings, I have a few pairs of H4 bulbs (even a set of extreme visions New in pack)I can use, I'm just looking at getting a pair of housings for around 90$ or so.

I'm in California, if that helps. Not likely to make any out if state trips in this car.
 

-Virgil-

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Then go ahead and get the linked headlamps, use your Xtreme Vision bulbs...and do put in relays!
 

StarHalo

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You're going from a Clinton-era Cadillac to a Beetle that precedes bumpers, and you're worried about headlights?

[Oversize signature image: Image limit is 20KB, this is 31.7KB/30.96KiB]
 
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Lingwendil

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Well, after rolling my 61 beetle twice and walking away I'm happy in a 73. The 61 had lap belts and flimsy tube bumpers, and a ragtop sunroof. VW beetles are not the best car in accidents, sure, but that's another subject entirely. I've seen worse accidents involving modern vehicles...

So, back on topic, I'll go ahead and order those headlights. They will be getting a set of relays for sure.

Also, I'm toying with the idea of adding a third brake light in the bottom of my rear window, and was thinking of a 6~12" led strip of some sort. Any suggestions? The only things I can find seem to be the flimsy adhesive sorts, and don't seem to have a housing to diffuse the light very well.
 

-Virgil-

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Also, I'm toying with the idea of adding a third brake light in the bottom of my rear window

Bottom's OK. Top's better.

and was thinking of a 6~12" led strip of some sort. Any suggestions?

Forget it. We don't get to just "decide" any random light into a vehicle safety lamp because that's what we want it to be. There are design, construction, performance, and durability requirements for each and every vehicle lamp, including the CHMSL (3rd brake light). Use a real one.
 

Lingwendil

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Bottom's OK. Top's better.



Forget it. We don't get to just "decide" any random light into a vehicle safety lamp because that's what we want it to be. There are design, construction, performance, and durability requirements for each and every vehicle lamp, including the CHMSL (3rd brake light). Use a real one.


Those look exactly like what I want. I'll have to check the angle of my back window to see what will work best, cool.

It may be an old bug, but no reason not to put some good lighting and safety considerations into it. This will be my daily driver/commuter car, so it will get from 100~190 miles a day put on it, and mostly late afternoon and evening in light to nonexistent traffic. I already plan to swap all the old lenses out for stock (oem is still available thankfully) replacements and putting in new bulbs all around.
 
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fastgun

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Have you seen the Andretti beetle? That is a rocket in disguise at +500 hp! But, I would take a 73 Super any day!
Good luck with your project. Keep at it and you will find that there are some tremendous lighting options for the rally market.
 

Lingwendil

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Dec 24, 2015
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So, ordered the Hella H4 housings, installed them, aimed them, and they are very nice quality! they have a nice weight to them and they fit perfectly. They work extremely well and IMHO are very much worth the money if you drive an older 7" sealed beam car.

I also ordered a pair of these:
http://www.eagleeyelights.com/catalog2/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_26&products_id=101

I still need to fabricate some brackets to mount them above my bumper, make up a relay harness and add a dedicated switch in one of the existing dash blank-off plates, but they are very nicely made. They match the look of the car (not my primary objective, but its nice when they do) well, and should make some nice lamps for poor weather (limping home in heavy rain/fog at low speeds, sometimes it can get so thick here that you puff along at 15MPH max) and I will possibly add a set in clear (maybe in 6"?) for occasional off-road only use, but that's not for a while. Any recommendations on a nice pair of H3 bulbs for them? These will of course be only for camping near-field visibility, heavy fog or wet road use, not general supplemental lighting.

Also, when aiming such lights, do i set them up the same as my headlights, or should i angle them down any differently? I've read a bunch of conflicting views on the matter.




here's the car btw, I've since removed the 'eyebrows' from above the headlights, and tossed them in the trash while installing the H4 housings.

1473957.jpg
 

Lingwendil

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Thought I would give a little update... I put in the Hella H4 housings linked, and the Philips bulbs. also put on the amber fogs, mainly for the look, but they are nice for occasional use. Surprisingly, they give off a very crisp white light with just a subtle hint of yellow, as you would expect, very nice. They are a great addition, even with the infrequent use they get. I have them aimed just a little lower than the main headlamps for near-field illumination in fog, dirt backroads, or on poorly marked roads, and they work extremely well for that type of use. They are mounted up on top of the bumper to make them less susceptible to rocks and debris.

Here's a terrible picture full of glare, but It's a good indicator of the color the fogs put out...

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They are mounted with some angle brackets that were purchased from the conduit section at the hardware store. There were already suitable bolts on the bumper bracket, I simply replaced them with longer grade-8 hardware and put the brackets in. Super sturdy mounting.

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There was already a pair of empty relay socket locations in the stock fusebox, so I ran a separate relay for both the main headlamps, and the fogs. I ran a new feed to the battery from the fusebox, and new feeds up to the fogs. The existing wiring for the main headlamps was still in excellent condition with nice bright terminals, so I simply cleaned all the connections for good measure, and once hooked up slathered everything with dielectric grease to keep them that way. There was a nice blank-off spot in the dash to put in a lighted rocker switch to control the fogs, and since I had everything apart I threw in a second switch for future additions later on.

I got rear ended while sitting stopped at a light by a girl on her cellphone, and that forced my hand into buying new taillights, and I'm glad I did, they are very nice and bright, which takes advantage of the relatively large size of the late Beetle tailights for sure. Look at how huge these suckers are compared to early beetle taillights! Keep in mind looking at the damage that I was hit by a Nissan truck going around 50MPH, that bumper is nice and tough. This would have been incredibly more damaging had I been in an earlier beetle with the small bumpers. Since these fat ones have a huge thick reinforcement inside them, it wasn't too bad at all. I spraypainted up a pair of fenders I bought from someone in my club for $40, and ordered up a pair of new OEM tailights.

Before-
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Too large

Too large

After-

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I love this car, and I've put over 18 thousand miles on it already! Here's a dirty glamour shot I couldn't resist taking around the corner from work-

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I think I'll replace the front turn signal lenses next, they look a little sad compared to the new taillights. I also just got a disc brake kit to put on it, to replace the original drums. While it's up on jacks for that, it's getting new adjustable height struts and new bushings, and will get a subtle 2-3" lowering up front, which greatly improves handling and stability in these cars. Should be fun! later this year once i repair the rust by the rear windows it's going in for paint.
 
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Alaric Darconville

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You might want to just point us to the gallery instead of showing this many pics. You're using over 2MB in the remaining pics (I changed two to URLs because they exceeded 800px on a side).

The foglamp-shaped lights might result in some specular glare for other drivers from the bumper itself-- and could result in some backscatter-- they're mounted low and above the bumper so closely that light may reflect off of it. These lights may make better decoration than anything else and should remain switched off.
 

Lingwendil

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Dec 24, 2015
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The fogs are only used on backroads, dirt, or such uses. They are never switched on when there is oncoming traffic. I may try and get them up and over the bumper more when I pull the bumper soon to paint the brackets and figure out a better mounting solution that doesn't require me to drill holes in the bumper itself.
 
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