1935 Ford Coupe Headlights 6 Volt Options

[cfrye002]

Finishing up my restore on granpas car and am thinking of going a different direction than stock headlights, mainly for safety and ease of changing bulbs. Dealing with 6 volt positive ground, new stock wiring. Looking at this 6 volt system.

http://www.rodtiques.com/catalog.php..._Halogen_Bulbs

Has anyone used thus in lieu of the stock headlights and reflectors? How would they wire to the existing stockwiring?

[ford38v8]

Your stock system cannot handle halogen headlights. They won't be as bright as expected, and your wiring and charging system is inadequate. To improve your stock system, solder your bullet connectors, clean up your ground connections, and provide an additional ground direct from the frame to the headlight bucket. Check your results with a voltmeter, and zero in on any trouble spots. Your dimmer switch will be one of those trouble spots.

A noticeable improvement can also be made by installing headlight relays up front near the lights, powered by a 10 gauge wire from the solenoid, and activated by the dimmer switch.

Stock bulbs were 32/32 CP, but also available and still available today are 50/32 CP bulbs. The original sockets are better than any repop sockets, so clean up the originals. Repop reflectors may or may not be silver plated, which is required for superior reflectivity.

[jimTN]

Good advice above. The extra ground soldered to the reflector alone makes a big difference.

[cfrye002]

Thanks for the quick response...my wanting to change comes from repop headlight sockets...almost impossible to get the bulb into, using the original reflector. This option is appealing to me for the plug and play bulb...so when you say inadequate will it not work at all..or not as well as halogen I am used to seeing in modern cars?

[ford38v8]

Both, actually. It won't be as bright as halogen should be, your wiring is too small to handle it, and your generator would need to be set so high that you would fry your battery unless your headlights were on all the time. There's no happy medium with Halogen & 6 volt systems.

[cfrye002]

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Thanks for the info! Back to the drawing board!

[tubman]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Both, actually. It won't be as bright as halogen should be, your wiring is too small to handle it, and your generator would need to be set so high that you would fry your battery unless your headlights were on all the time. There's no happy medium with Halogen & 6 volt systems.

Wouldn't a 6 volt alternator (the Whitney being discussed elsewhere), a proper voltage regulator, and headlight relays solve this?

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by tubman

Wouldn't a 6 volt alternator (the Whitney being discussed elsewhere), a proper voltage regulator, and headlight relays solve this?

They may or may not, but by resolving basic issues, there are no further problems to solve.

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by tubman

Wouldn't a 6 volt alternator (the Whitney being discussed elsewhere), a proper voltage regulator, and headlight relays solve this?

The Whitney alternators are fairly low output. They say not to use them with halogen bulbs, however some claim to get away with it. There are other issues with changing out headlights on early v8s. The original lens and bulbs are focused and changing things around can result in brighter bulbs that spread the light in an unusable fashion.

[Jembow]

Forget halogens or original bulbs. I am sold on LEDs. My VW camper lights were awful even with new units. Original units were 1500 lumens, replacement LEDs are 3000 lumens and light up the world.
I have found LEDs which fit straight in the original holders on my 35 coupe . Turned the dynamo output right down 'cos the ammeter barely twitches when I turn the lights on. Much better than the original bulbs but now I need to get the reflectors resilvered.

[Jembow]

PS you still need good connections and good earthing

[glennpm]

Hi Jembow,


I like the idea of the LEDs. Do you have a bulb number that worked for you?


Thanks,
Glenn

[blucar]

A very simple solution to the old reflector style of head lights is to use 6v sealed beam lights, the conversions for same are very simple.
I would suggest a two brush '39 generator with a regulator, no problem with the fan. Check all of the wiring connections, install a relay in the system with a dimmer switch mounted on the floor.
I converted the head-lights on my '36 to the above system in 1953, the lights work good with no problems.

[glennpm]

Thanks Blue for the good suggestion.


Glenn

[Jembow]

http://www.dynamoregulatorconversion...bulbs-shop.php

That's the site I get my bulbs from, lots of useful information.

[glennpm]

This is an interesting site and light products.



Thank you Jembow

[Brian]

Thank you Jembow, I have ordered a pair to fit into my 35. LED headlight bulbs, unless original factory installed parts, are illegal in New Zealand, so it'll be interesting to see [no pun intended]. Lots of the other stuff I've put into my heap would also be considered illegal if any of the law enforcers even knew what they were looking at- they don't!

[Tinker]

Leds are a great source for high illumination and low amps. Really cool stuff.


Converted my house, besides only having to change bulbs.... never.




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[Tinker]

Originally Posted by Brian

Thank you Jembow, I have ordered a pair to fit into my 35. LED headlight bulbs, unless original factory installed parts, are illegal in New Zealand, so it'll be interesting to see [no pun intended]. Lots of the other stuff I've put into my heap would also be considered illegal if any of the law enforcers even knew what they were looking at- they don't!

Curious... Is it illegal to deviate from factory in NZ?




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[Brian]

Curious... Is it illegal to deviate from factory in NZ?

Yes, that is correct, under no circumstances are LED headlite bulbs allowed to be fitted unless the vehicle came from the factory so equipped.
Other vehicle mods, eg lowered suspension, engine/trans/diff transplants etc need to be certified [$$$], and a compliance cert affixed to vehicle. Bureaucracy run amok...
For example, with our old Fords, converting a mech braked Ford to later hydraulics, or installing a dropped axle would fall into these categories.
However, as I tend to be somewhat non-conformist, I like to modify my 35 as I please, without going through any of that hoo haa. I looks stock, and in all honesty, they don't know what they're looking at. Should I ever get pinged for LED headlights, it's simple enough to refit the current halogens I'm running at the side of the road. Easiest car ever to change headlite bulbs in. Doubt I'll get pulled over though....

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