What are some headlight upgrades you can do for a 1st Gen Camaro? I was thinking of buying some Diamond Cut Headlights they have on ebay. My brother has something similar on his 77 280Z. They have the angel eye effect like on BMW's. Any info is appreciated.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1967-81-CHEVY-CAMARO-CRYSTAL-PRJ-HEADLIGHTS-LIGHT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQitemZ80348 53838QQrdZ1

Here's a link to the lights i mentioned, they're actually a Projector Style Headlight. Pretty inexpensive also.

$5

I can't help but be a skeptic....

I believe this seller has his profits covered with the shipping and handling charge of $24.

Look & work great, but expensive! theyhttp://www.detroitspeed.com/Headlights10.html

Look & work great, but expensive! theyhttp://www.detroitspeed.com/Headlights10.html

http://www.detroitspeed.com/Images/Headlights-020.jpg

http://www.detroitspeed.com/Headlights10.html

Those look nice. $160 is kinda steep, compared to $30 including shipping for the others. Descisions, descisions.

All of those are halogen technology, actually just an H4 bulb.
But the brightest solution would be the Sylvania Silverstar replacement lights

H6024ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen
$19.95/each at Autobarn.com or your local parts chain.

Make sure you install two headlight relays like Mad Electrics's kits before plugging such lights in though.


I run the H6024XV which are 3 times brighter they say.

Looking at the Sylvania Spec Sheet
H6024 Wattage 40/60

H6024XV Wattage 55/65

H6024ST Wattage 45/50

Not sure how their ST is suppose to be the brightest when their XV is 3 times brighter and than the standard H6024. But I can tell you with the relays and the XV lights, the lighting is very good for a Halogen. The ST model is only rated though for 150 hours so I guess having the brightest lights means you lose alot of life. My XV's are rated for >850 hours.

From Sylvia:
Halogen XtraVision™ Headlights: Three times brighter! Twice the Life! Halogen XtraVision Headlights provide three times more light on the road in low beam mode than standard halogen headlights. They last twice as long as standard halogens – 850 hours compared to 320 hours.
Life at 14 volts.

If you check out their site
http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/ProductComparison/default.htm

The XV and ST have the same luminance, but the ST runs at a 4000k color temp where the XV run at 3200k color temp, but you lose life at the higher color temp. So its up to you if you can put up with a little yellow and have tons of light with great life expectancy (XV) or if you want to go with total whiteness, same brightness, yet sacrifice the life expectancy on the ST model.

BTW, that Ebay auction for Glass Par56 bulbs with H4 inserts has some small blue light inside it. Be careful because its illegal in California to be emitting blue light from your vehicle, plus the 'free H4 bulbs' are probably going to be pretty lousy when it comes to brightness. You could get an H4 replacement XV Sylvania bulb though from the auto store.

Again though be sure to run Headlight Relays, this will allow your bulbs to pull directly from the horn relay power post a 14 volt feed instead of trying to pull all that power off the overloaded Fuse Box under the dash.

http://69camaro.nextmill.net/electrical.html

All of those are halogen technology, actually just an H4 bulb.
But the brightest solution would be the Sylvania Silverstar replacement lights

H6024ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen
$19.95/each at Autobarn.com or your local parts chain.

Make sure you install two headlight relays like Mad Electrics's kits before plugging such lights in though.


I run the H6024XV which are 3 times brighter they say.

Looking at the Sylvania Spec Sheet
H6024 Wattage 40/60

H6024XV Wattage 55/65

H6024ST Wattage 45/50

Not sure how their ST is suppose to be the brightest when their XV is 3 times brighter and than the standard H6024. But I can tell you with the relays and the XV lights, the lighting is very good for a Halogen. The ST model is only rated though for 150 hours so I guess having the brightest lights means you lose alot of life. My XV's are rated for >850 hours.

From Sylvia:
Halogen XtraVision™ Headlights: Three times brighter! Twice the Life! Halogen XtraVision Headlights provide three times more light on the road in low beam mode than standard halogen headlights. They last twice as long as standard halogens – 850 hours compared to 320 hours.
Life at 14 volts.

If you check out their site
http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/ProductComparison/default.htm

The XV and ST have the same luminance, but the ST runs at a 4000k color temp where the XV run at 3200k color temp, but you lose life at the higher color temp. So its up to you if you can put up with a little yellow and have tons of light with great life expectancy (XV) or if you want to go with total whiteness, same brightness, yet sacrifice the life expectancy on the ST model.

Thanks for the info. I had Sylvania Silverstars on a 96 Vette i had. I was very pleased with those over the stock bulbs. I won't be driving my Camaro at nite that often. So the whiter, brighter ST model should be fine. :beers: Thanks again!!!

Yes! you need the relays whatever upgrade on bulbs you make I know from experience

I've tried four different headlights in my 69. First the originals they worked ok but I wanted an upgrade. Tried the Diamond Cut, they needed mods to the buckets and lights. Then the T3 lights- lets just say they didn't work. Then DSE Brightlights- no problems. Just what I ordrered fit out of the box.

Original T-3's all the way baby!! Just give it the gas and hope nothing is in front of you. :o .............

Are the DSE and similar lights legal? (DOT approved?)

I know everyone's saying it, but don't forget the relays, and not just the relays, but this would be a great time to assess your overall electrical system. I redid mine with all of Mark's suggestions and all new harnesses, etc. Wow, what a difference! He really has a wealth of information on his site and it is worth taking the time to look over.

Mike

About those relays... I have a '67 RS/SS and when I bought my Mad Mike's kit for installing a modern alternator - he told me you couldn't use relays with RS headlights. Maybe that was just with his kit or something. He said it had something to do with the same power going to open the headlight doors as to the lights themselves.

Is any of that true?

If you order the low buck head lamps, keep the bulbs they "recomend". Some low priced lamp assemblies have a weak housing that may get burned/deformed with the extra heat the more powerfull bulbs irradiate. These ones I'm using, together with a pair of bosch relays and 12awg wiring. Sorry, but I can't remember where I found them.
http://home.coqui.net/borench/images/body_15.jpg

Mine is a '69, so I'm not familiar with the electric headlight doors, but, all you would be doing is taking the wire going to the headlight and using that as a trigger wire for the relay, then the power wire to run the light would come from the relay back to the light. The door operation shouldn't have anything to do with that.

Mike

Brian, i just happened to be reading thru threads and came accross this one on the sylvania headlamps. i installed a pair several months ago without mad electrics relays. can you elaborate on what might go wrong without installing these relays and where might i find mad electrics web site ? thanking you in advance.
Dennis

Dennis, I know you didn't ask me - but here's the site for Mad Electonics:

http://madelectrical.com/

thanks for the direction., Dennis

Dennis, keep in mind you have like a 14-12 gauge wire running from horn relay to your fuse box. Very very small!! With your headlights draining power from the fuse box, they have to try to get their power thru that wimpy little feed. You also then have the interior light, dash lights, gauge lights, radio, running lights, brake lights, possibly ignition, you name it running off that wire that feeds the fuse box. If you get the relay kits, it allows the headlights to pull the power directly from the horn relay instead of the fuse box. The existing headlight wiring is then used to trigger the relay, thus no power draw from the fuse box. You will notice a difference in the headlight brightness (it makes it easier to draw power) and your interior lights and brake lights will be brighter because the headlights aren't robbing all the available power from the fuse box that is used by everything else.

http://69camaro.nextmill.net/electrical.html

Brian, thanks for the great explanation. i talked to Mark today and ordered two relays and he has me running a #8 wire from my one wire alternator over to the horn relay to further increase the output of the headlights and take a lot of the load off the balance of lighting. he staes the improvement of these relays will definitely be noticeable not to mention the reductuion of heat and load off the fuse block. sounds like a winner to me. thanks again
Dennis

Can you still use the factory headlight buttom to turn the headlights on or did you run a toggle or something? Fill me in, I am looking at doing this for my car and am a critical point in the install..... ( dash apart finished painting it) so I am putting it back together.

Headlight's switch drives the relays, instead of headlamps, so it last longer also due to less load on the switch internals.:thumbsup:

Ok is there a cheat sheet for wiring them in? I already have the relays.. The wiring diagram is what I need... :)

Original headlight wire(from switch) goes to terminal 86 on the relay, Terminal 30 on the relay gets fused power from the horn relay, terminal 87 on the relay goes to the headlights and terminal 85 of the relay goes to ground. Pete

One thing to watch for on the DSE upgrade, at least on my RS/SS car, is that the lights are too big to fit into the hole in the headlight bucket.

In my case I trimmed the lamp housing a little and opened up the hole in the headlight bucket (you might not need the latter), but its not a strict bolt-in, at least on my car.

- Dave

Here you go
http://69camaro.nextmill.net/temp/Mad_RelayKit.pdf

Page #8

Oh yeah, I should also mention that if you do this mod and add relays, spend the four dollars to get a CIRCUIT BREAKER. You do not want a fuse on your headlights...

The Mad Relay kits include fuseable links which works just fine the the head light application. Sure no Circuit Breaker that you can change out but a CB will pop more often than a fuseable link will.

hi guys it seams that you have all the info you need i just want to tell you what hapend to my 67 several years ago i installed hi intensity lights i got them off of ebay .they fit good i just pluged my connectors to them . well last year i took the car apart first i found the left connector on the bulb melted to the bulb i had to cut the wires to get it off . second when i took the light switch out of the panel the power wire was melted a couple of inches back from the terminal and the the area around the terminal was toasted allso. i put the car back together a few months ago i installed new high intensity lights they look like orignal light and intalled a relay harness got them all from classic ind. i also put relays under the panel so when i turn off the key it cuts the power to the light switch so that i dont leave them on i hope this may help tony

Do I not need to run a jumper wire from 30 to 87a? In one of the diagrams I have it show running a jumper wire from 30-87a.....

No, you won't use 87a. i just removed it for mine. Pete

I tired this this evening and its not working correctly. Currently this is the headlight switch wires... I took the green wire and ran it to the relay #86 then ran the end from the headlight to the #87. I ran #85 to ground and ran a test with it hooked to the horn relay + to #30 and got nothing.... Also ran white wire to other relay and got nothing as well. The relays click but that's it...... Also even with the relays hooked up the lights come on even without connecting my new +12 source!!! What's wrong... Pleasae help...



I also am not getting the gauge lights to come on now. What is the wire coming from the headlight switch for the gauges? I thought it was the orange one, but I'm not getting the gauges to light now....

http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7804

Oops That's my wires connected to my headlight switch... I could not figure out how to add an attachment.

just bought a pair from here with the replaceable h4 bulb same as dse for 107 shipped http://www.rallylights.com/hella/7in.asp

whytry,

Make sure you have a ground wire running from the battery to the passenger fender!!!! Else your headlights might not be getting a good enough ground to make them work properly.

OK I will try that, anything else I you can think of?

If you hear the relays clicking, but no lights, its most likely the missing ground or bad ground from the battery to the passenger fender.
If your fenders are off, all bets are off.

The Mad Relay kits include fuseable links which works just fine the the head light application. Sure no Circuit Breaker that you can change out but a CB will pop more often than a fuseable link will.

At 60mph when a fuseable link blows, you have no light. When a circuit breaker pops, it resets a second later and you have light.

Even the factory, which wasn't the epitome of safety in the 60s, saw fit to use circuit breakers for that very reason.

What size circuit breaker would you recommend for this? And where can I get one?

Brian, finished installing the relays and #8 power wire to the horn relay bar. Wow the finished job is such a great improvement. thank you for your explanation and guidance on this install.
Dennis

I used the MAD Electric relays on my original headlights, easy to install,world of difference well worth the money.

I finished mine too, it looks alot brighter. Now I am changing the headlights to the Sylvania's I think..

I do have a set of HID lights from a Lexus GS400 laying around.....hmmmm

If a fuseable link is popping, there is something wrong with your wiring. Circuit Breaker isn't going to POP BACK ON when the problem that caused the breaker to pop still exists. Good wiring job with fuseable links and you won't be having to replace a link.