Headlight Upgrade for a Land Rover Defender

My son is in the last stages of importing a Land Rover Defender from Australia. (For those interested, it is a '93 110 4dr RHD diesel 5 speed that he is bringing to Oregon through an outfit that specializes in such Imports - austousa.com.) This will be used for commuting to work on a range of roads from side streets to highways and periodic fishing/hunting/camping outings off-road. The vehicle comes stock with 7" round sealed beams that I wish to upgrade. My initial considerations were:

• Cibie H4 7" lamps - the simplest option but I'm thinking I won't be satisfied with the compromised low beam performance
• Hella Bi-Halogen 90mm Hi/Lo - but, and this may seem petty, I don't like the looks of a projector lens with the adapter to 7" in a vintage vehicle
• Hella Bi-Xenon 90 mm Hi/Lo - same projector complaint as above, with better performance but much higher cost

Here's what I'm settling on along with my questions - Hella Bi-Focal H1 low beam 5.75" adapted to mount in the stock location and independently mount a pair of Hella Rallye 4000s in the Euro beam configuration for high beams. (Both driven by properly sized wires, relays and quality bulbs.) I read Virgil say that Hella has discontinued production of the Bi-Focals but they are still being shown on Rallylights website and an outfit in Latvia that sells on ebay. (I haven't tried contacting Daniel Stern yet to see if he still has the truck version with tempered/hardened glass lenses.) Here are my questions:

1. Were there different Bi-Focals for right hand traffic than for left hand? (I would need to know this if I purchase the ebay ones.)
2. Does anyone make an adapter to install 5.75" lamps in a mount designed for 7" ones?
3. Is it wise, or even legal, to paint the low beam lenses to yield a selective yellow beam?

The vehicle comes stock with a 7" round sealed beams that I wish to upgrade.

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It should be more than just a wish -- a vehicle from Australia will have headlamps (whether sealed beam or another kind) for left-side traffic. Not safe or adequate for use in America's right-side traffic.

Cibie H4 7" lamps - the simplest option but I'm thinking I won't be satisfied with the compromised low beam performance

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Koito's 7" round headlamp is enough better than the Cibie to be worth going after. Stern has them, at least from time to time.

I don't like the looks of a projector lens with the adapter to 7" in a vintage vehicle

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OK, so skip those. There are still plenty of other good choices, including a pretty wide variety of LED headlamps even if you ignore the even wider variety of garbage in that sector.

Here's what I'm settling on along with my questions - Hella Bi-Focal H1 low beam 5.75" adapted to mount in the stock location and independently mount a pair of Hella Rallye 4000s in the Euro beam configuration for high beams.

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Eek. I can't imagine why you would (1) do it this way, and (2) think it would look less goofy than the projectors you object to. There are so many good options for 7" high/low beam headlamps that you'd be ahead in every way to pick one of them.

Were there different Bi-Focals for right hand traffic than for left hand?

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There were no Bi-Focals for left-side traffic, at least not in uni-fit 5.75" form factor.

Does anyone make an adapter to install 5.75" lamps in a mount designed for 7" ones

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Not that I know of.

Is it wise, or even legal, to paint the low beam lenses to yield a selective yellow beam?

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Stern might still have some selective yellow Bi-Focal units. Legal? That's a bit of a gray (or yellow) area in many states, but on the whole it seems unwise, and in Oregon the law explicitly requires white headlamps.

Great feedback, Virgil. I was approaching the upgrade as a nice to have but you made it clear it is a must. I'll contact Stern about the Koito's. Do you have any other 7" Hi/Lo options you recommend I consider?

As far as H4 lamps go, the flat-front Koito "N" is far and away the top pick. Aside from that, the usual list of major-brand LED units.