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  1. #1
    Chris Wood
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    Smile Hella headlight conversion

    As some of you know a while back I posted about using Hella 90mm modules to replace the old sealed beams; some liked the idea, most did not. I was browsing e-bay and found a set of the low beam modules, placed a bid (that was actually the price for one from rallylights.com) and won the auction. So I HAD to go ahead and do the conversion--but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be (is it ever?).
    The only thing that I didn't think of in advance is that the low beams in our cars have two filaments in them--so they have two hot wires; the Hellas do not so I had to add another relay so that the low beams would stay on when the bright lights were on--so I ripped out ALL of the headlight wiring and rewired the new set-up.

    My main objective was to keep the car's parts intact in case things didn't work out, I wouldn't have a lot of scrap on my hands. When I recieved the lights I noticed that they wouldn't fit in the headlight bucket without modification--not good! It really increased my "puckerfactor" to take a cut off wheel to a $75 light.


    Next I had to modify the back of the headlight bucket to allow the bulb housing to sit further back making it flush in the front. This did not destroy the bucket, a sealed beam will still sit in there and function.


    I also had to cut off the end of the Hella adjusters--they were crashing into the back of the headlight bucket, and I did not want to plasma holes in the bucket. I didn't need the extra adjustment anyway. This pic also shows the material that was removed from the Hella light housing.


    Here is the back of the filler panel that I made to adapt the Hella light to the factory headlight trim ring. I used the mounting plate that comes with the lights as a template, wrote a program for a CNC plasma that I have access to and plasma burned the parts out of 14 gauge material. The trim ring is FREAKIN THIN, TIG welding that was fun!


    Here is a shot of the unpainted part from the front, sorry so dark.


    Here is the finished part, sealed, painted, and mounted with a plexiglas cover.


    Now I can't wait to get the high beams; they are not as long as the low beams. I shouldn't have to modify the headlight bucket at all, and no re wiring!

    There is a place near me that is a Hella dealer-that is where I got the low beams and will be ordering the high beams from on Monday. http://www.yellowandbluelighting.com...0/Default.aspx

    Cost: I paid $73 for BOTH lights, bulbs, mounting plates, and Hella's watertight connector. I will pay $123 for the same set up on the high beams. Total-$196
    Last edited by Chris Wood; 11-10-2007 at 11:59 AM.

  2. #2

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    Kudos to you on tackling a project like this! You're going to like being able to see.

    I still say that wold look better if you didn't see the round bulb. Doesn't go well with the rest of the (square) body. Some smoked headlight covers would finish the project nicely.
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  3. #3
    Chris Wood
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    Quote Originally Posted by FoxChassis View Post
    Kudos to you on tackling a project like this! You're going to like being able to see.

    I still say that wold look better if you didn't see the round bulb. Doesn't go well with the rest of the (square) body. Some smoked headlight covers would finish the project nicely.
    Thanks for the comment, I'm sure that I'll get many that don't like it. I am still getting used to the look of it, and feel that it will look better when BOTH of the lights are in.
    I'll post up some night time pics when I get 'em.

  4. #4

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    I'd be interested to see it with lights. Good job so far.
    1986 LX conv. w/ '85 GT 5.0L, 600cfm Holley, MSD, K&N, ceramic shorties, 2.5" O/R h-pipe, Superturbos, MM sub-frames, 3-core radiator, 3g Alt., Mark IIIV fan
    best 1/8 mile 9.56 @ 71.63mph - 2.1 60ft
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  5. #5
    FEP Super Member 82mustang's Avatar
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    looks good, very interesting project..i'm a big fan of being able to see the deer before you hit em..
    86' Coupe Street/Strip Never Ending Project-351w, 4 Wheel Disk, WC T5, etc...

    Link to my car Pics:
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  6. #6
    FEP Power Member fred414141's Avatar
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    did you consider silver instead of black to maybe better mimic the original rectangular shape of the sealed beams?
    i like what i see,please post up a full frontal pic.............of the car!!!
    '83 glx vert with '82 gt frontend


    if you aren't trying to blow the horn with the signal lever and reaching for the key release button on your other vehicles,you're not driving the fox enough !

  7. #7
    Chris Wood
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    Quote Originally Posted by fred414141 View Post
    did you consider silver instead of black to maybe better mimic the original rectangular shape of the sealed beams?
    i like what i see,please post up a full frontal pic.............of the car!!!
    Full frontal comming up! Yes, it's funny that you mention that b/c I just came inside from washing the car and while I was standing there looking at it I thought the same thing. Gonna wait 'til I get all the lights done and see what it looks like.

    Last edited by Chris Wood; 11-10-2007 at 04:54 PM.

  8. #8
    FEP Power Member fred414141's Avatar
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    damn that look is wicked!!
    '83 glx vert with '82 gt frontend


    if you aren't trying to blow the horn with the signal lever and reaching for the key release button on your other vehicles,you're not driving the fox enough !

  9. #9

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    Looks good, Im kinda biased on what it will look like finished, It looks tyght at the sametime it looks like something from some 80s/90s resistance future movie like TankGirl or Road warrior. i think it could grow on me. All Im doing is buying the sealed beam conversion headlights that look stock but allow halogen and xenon bulbs. I think Mustangrestoration has them, I forgot.

  10. #10
    Chris Wood
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    Thanks for the kind words fellas. Huge difference at night-tried to take some pics while driving (yea, I know-not the smartest thing to do) and thought that I might get pulled over b/c of the swerving. Pics don't do it justice-I love 'em. Can't wait for the high beams.

  11. #11
    allenpul
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    Do you have pictures of the finished product?

  12. #12
    FEP Power Member slow84lx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by allenpul View Post
    Do you have pictures of the finished product?

    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/album.php?albumid=3


    Check out his photo album. It looks very nice.

  13. #13

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    I like it!

  14. #14

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    SOmebody dug deeeeeep for this thread.

  15. #15

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    Chris:

    I'm right in the middle of doing the same retrofit on my '86 5.0 and I have a couple quick questions for you. Regarding how you mounted the projectors to your mounting plate, I see that there are 3 adjusting / mounting screws that secure the projector to the plate. Were you able to retain the adjustment ability of those 3 screws or did you end up hard mounting the projector with those 3 screws and using the adjustment screws on the stock headlight bucket? FYI I'm using different projectors, but they are a similar size and use a similar 3 bolt mounting system.

    I'm also curious:
    -Did you stick with Halogen bulbs or go with HID's.
    -How do you like the beam pattern & cutoff?
    -Do the stock buckets give you enough adjustability to properly align the beams.

    I'm just getting ready to pull my buckets out to open them up in the back and start fabricating my "round peg square hole" mounting plates. So any insight you could give would be greatly appreciated.
    Last edited by fatchick1o9; 08-29-2010 at 02:35 PM. Reason: because my grammar sucks

  16. #16

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    Not sure if I would do i myself, but pretty cool none the less.
    Tony

  17. #17

    Default

    Never fear. I'm doing it the right way like Chris did. Using quality projector and taking my time to make sure the fit & finish are spot on. I've had my 4 eye for 15+ years and have intention of doing a 2 bit hack job or some low quality "dangerous to other drivers" ricer crap conversion.

    It's just that re-engineering a round projector into a square hole is gonna take some time & thought so I want to make sure i get it right the 1st time.

  18. #18
    Chris Wood
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatchick1o9 View Post
    Chris:

    I'm right in the middle of doing the same retrofit on my '86 5.0 and I have a couple quick questions for you. Regarding how you mounted the projectors to your mounting plate, I see that there are 3 adjusting / mounting screws that secure the projector to the plate. Were you able to retain the adjustment ability of those 3 screws or did you end up hard mounting the projector with those 3 screws and using the adjustment screws on the stock headlight bucket? FYI I'm using different projectors, but they are a similar size and use a similar 3 bolt mounting system.

    I'm also curious:
    -Did you stick with Halogen bulbs or go with HID's.
    -How do you like the beam pattern & cutoff?
    -Do the stock buckets give you enough adjustability to properly align the beams.

    I'm just getting ready to pull my buckets out to open them up in the back and start fabricating my "round peg square hole" mounting plates. So any insight you could give would be greatly appreciated.
    Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I missed your post. Yes, I was able to use the adjustment that is in the Hella lamps as well as the factory headlight bucket's adjustment. I used some decals from some of the roundy racing scene to kinda disguise the round peg in a square hole thingy. I absolutely love the light that these things produce, they are halogen, not HID. I think a good set of HIDs would be awesome in this configuration. I had a set of the E-bay specials in my other Lighting once, I put them in and drove around the block, and pulled them out, and promptly sold them-they sucked.

    Here is a pic of the small aluminum box that I fabbed up to cover the relays and wiring.


    Here is a pic of the finished product
    Last edited by Chris Wood; 02-14-2011 at 01:59 PM.

  19. #19

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    No worries man. I actually got mine installed in the inner highbeam location. I ended up having to use a combination of the projectors's adjusting screws and the mustang bucket adjuster screws. I'm currently using 100w halogen bulbs in the projector but I have some Morimoto digital hid ballast & bulbs from theretrofitsource.com sitting in my garage. I just have to wait 'til the winter / rainy season stops so I can install the ballasts and Bi-xenon lamps in the outer buckets

    Here are a couple pics of my install.





    And of course they are protected by clear covers form GTS.

    Last edited by fatchick1o9; 02-14-2011 at 02:25 PM.

  20. #20
    FEP Power Member Ray Dog's Avatar
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    Did you ever think to finish them off with the fake stick on lights for drag cars?
    Ray
    86 Mustang LX 3.8 Convertible (bought new}
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