LED headlights

[mtnjag]

No problem. Hope to have some clarification mext week for those who may be able to benefit in some way.

[Tbob]

I'll check them out. But my understanding from postings here is that a full 12v is not supplied to the lights through the stock wiring.

Do you know does the Z have more depth than the S1 Etypes in the covered lights headlamp bucket?
I think the space is opened up in the 69.

The voltage supply figure may be anecdotal. Best bet is to measure the voltage you have at the plug.

The Z bucket is the same size as the E bucket. (At least in my S2. Can’t speak to S1) Clearance is an issue with both cars, so I was happy to find a set that fit.

[mtnjag]

I think the S2 has a larger bucket. The Vintagecarled website lists the 69 and up E as an application for their complete LED headlamps but not the S1. Covered vs uncovered I suppose makes the difference. They certainly appear different.
Again, I will be checking this out with them, sounds like someone there has done some research.

[Heuer]

The S1 have sloped buckets to clear the front whels. The S2 has deep curved buckets as clearance is not a problem.

[mtnjag]

About 3-4mm longer than the H4 bulb from back/outside of mounting flange to tip of plug spades, run cooler. Will be very close one way or the other. So I ordered a pair and will see if they fit. If they don't fit I can return them. $115 for the pair with free/included shipping.

One of their complete headlamp kits (lamp and bulb) has a Hella Lens so the bulbs should work well in my Hellas. Hope they fit in the buckets.

[militateormitigate?]

FWIW just my own experience, I'd lose in any technical debate. I have a pair of LED bulbs in my S2, also one each in 7 motorbikes. They're all Daylighter 1 or 2's for the common 3-prong fitment, sometimes known as P43t, supplied by Paul Goff, norbsa.com.
The bulbs are particularly useful in some of my older bikes with very marginal alternator outputs. Friends also have Goff's bulbs, including for Ba15d and BA20d, Bosch fit and pre-focus for bikes going back to 1935. No failures reported in use yet. They're the first LED bulbs I've tried with an acceptable dip cut-off and light scatter, although the Daylighter 2 can be fited in its mount one of two ways and the 'wrong' way gives a hopeless result.
For the S2 and a couple of the bikes, I used the Daylighter 1 type. This is because the car has Wipac Quadoptic headlamps, the only type I personally found shallow enough to fit in the buckets. But the Wipac has a dirty great heat shield inside and the Daylighter 2, which is brighter but has its heatsink at the front, would foul on it. Goff's website goes in to all this in some detail.
Both types are around £40 each and draw c 25w. As a test, I found current draw at 1.9-2.1A, regardless of whether receiving 14-14.5v at the battery or 11.5 (!) at the headlamp sockets. I understand they work at 100% efficiency between 9 and 32v, anything below 9, they simply will not switch on.
The Daylighter 1 works with both main and dip on when main is selected, so that's c 4A, but the Daylighter 2 with either/or is still better. The headlamps only fit back in the bowls with little clearance with the Daylighter 1, as the heat sink is at the rear of the bulb, hence why it will fit inside a Wipac. As another test, I left a headlamp on and fitted in the bowl on for about a hour, the heat build up was in my opinion, acceptable and that was without any cooling air getting in around the bucket from being driven. Again, just my experience, make of it as you will.

Alun

[militateormitigate?]

Sorry, meant Daylighter 1 can be fitted either way round in its mount, affecting the result, Not the 2.

[mtnjag]

Received the Vintagecarled bulbs model VCm3. Replaced the halogen bulbs in one of my Hellas with the LED bulb, plugged the lamp in and offered it up to the headlamp mounting bucket.,They do appear to fit. Dropped into the mounting slots and did not rock.

Unfortunately I just had surgery on my wrist and could not clip the hold down ring into place with just one hand operational. But it seemed to be fully home.

Wanted to give an update as it will be a couple of weeks or more until I can fully mount it.

[mtnjag]

Was able to install the Hella H4 headlamps with the Vintagecarled bulbs model VCm3 fitted into the shell.
They fit nicely.
Turned the lights on high beam for about 15 minutes while car sat in garage and felt no heat from the bucket or surrounding area.
Light is very focused with sharp cutoff.
They seem to be a good alternative to Halogens and relays. Low amp draw, operate well on sub 12vt supply, low heat, bright at 3000Lumens, well focused. However the light is white, not classic yellow
I would expect they would be a good choice for a generator car.
Be a bit till i get it out at night but I’ll report when i do.

[warneginen]

Is the screen still available? I started to upgrade my Toyota CH-r, and now I need only a new screen. I have a cheap complication in the car, so I have the smallest screen possible in this car model. I started upgrading the car by buying the LED lights from vont.com. My basic lights were too weak, and I wouldn't normally see the road while driving at night. Once, I almost got in an accident, I decided that I don't want to risk anymore, so I bought some LED lights to see the road better and observe every obstacle.

[Threadbear]

Not really relevant to LED but a general headlight query. My 68 car ( no glass covers) was supplied with Lucas sealed beam units. My father who owned the car before me swapped for Cibie Biodes, which are great but are losing their sparkle. I decided to replace them with H4 units. I bought a pair of "Lucas" units but when I fitted them they didn't clamp up tight. I tried a pair of Wipac units (Land Rover spec) and sane result. I have noticed 2 things with both of these, firstly the glass front bowl sits in a recess in the metal reflector rim whereas on the Biodes the reflector sits in a recess in the glass, which is therefore thicker and same as the sealed beam unit, so the whole rim is thicker. Secondly the "clamping distance" on both is around 10 - 10.5mm, whereas on the Biodes and sealed beam units its close to 12mm. Anyone have any thoughts on how to solve this please? TIA

[dlgis]

I fitted H4 Osram Silver led bulbs to my series1 last week. It has the PL700 headlights. I found a converter on ebay to adapt the 3 eared H4 light to the old fashioned bulb type that was in the PL700s. They are significantly brighter than the old bulb. Not sure if this helps but thought I’d run it up the flagpole

[Laicey]

I put some LED headlamps in a different car with notoriously bad headlamps after completely losing sight of the road at night on the A1.

I found out a couple of things. Firstly they can be extremely bright. I was a bit spooked so went for bright ones and 70W is far too much even for my feeble projector headlamps. It's as bad as an Audi for oncoming traffic. 35W would be plenty, and half that probably enough.

Another care point is while projector headlamps have a feeble light output it is very precisely directed. A normal reflector headlamp outputs twice as much light but the beam is not so well controlled so an even lower output might be sensible. I guess the covered headlamps in the S1 could make that even more of an issue.

I'm going to see some E-Types next week. Maybe I'll be able to try it out for myself rather than offer (hopefully useful) speculation.

[Terry Sturgeon]

Hi Layne I was wondering how the LED bulbs from Vintage Cars Led worked out, now that you've had them for a couple of years?

Terry

[mtnjag]

They have worked out well. I was going to take a pic but we have had fog early evening though morning so no opportunity. I'll get a picture on here when the fog leaves and I either stay up late enough, get up early enough, or the days get shorter!
I do have Hella lens from late 80s, not the knockoffs on the Vintage site.

[Terry Sturgeon]

Thanks Layne. Are the knockoffs that Vintage LED offers the same depth as your old Hellas?

[mtnjag]

Sorry, don't know. I've never seen them. You can get real Hella E codes without bulbs, mine are E cones, for reasonable cost. They are not made in Germany anymore as far as I know but "probably" the same dimensions as the old ones. Better chance there than with a knockoff I guess.