DECENT DRIVING LIGHTS FOR A ZED.

[Hunter]

I really need some decent driving lights for my zed. The original lights just are not good enough on wet dark nights down here in Tassie.

 

I am looking for fairly descrete option that actually light up the road, unlike the high powered candles that are in the Zed. Possibly mounted in the front spoiler.

 

The other OVER THE TOP but AUTHENTIC option may be to put some of those big bulging bonnet lights that you see on the old Zed rally cars. (as in picture below.) Would anyone have any measurements of these?

 

I would appreciate if people could post some pictures up STANDARD LIGHT UPGRADES or AUX DRIVING LIGHTS they have fitted to their zed.

 

Has anyone had any experience with HID vs Halogen?

[PZG302]

If you are using the standard sealed beams first thing to try would be to convert to H4 halogen lights with the standard 55/60W bulbs. Next step would be to replace the bulbs.

 

In my old Fairlane I had the H4 conversion and ran 90/120w in the low beam lights with 100w in the high beam lights. On high beam I could see about 2km down a country road, but needed to upgrade the alternator with 440w of light on high beam draining a fair bit when the wipers were on and the stereo blaring.

 

I also had 75/90w H4 beams in my first 260 road car which worked fine in terms of light and how far down the road you could see. Again both lights ran fused relays.

 

Also if you go to a higher power rating than standard then you should run a couple of fused relays in the lights so the power is only between the lights and the relay and battery and not through the whole circuit.

 

For a single raly you would need a 20 amp fuse, or 25 amp for voltage drop and for running twin relays you would need 10 amp fuse, though I would go for a 12 or 15 to account for some voltage drop.

 

For my Charger I will be running the single rectangular headlights, in H4 with 90/120w bulbs and the realys literally hanging off the back of the bulbs as I want minimal voltage drop and also the old Vals originally had no relays so that the current went from the battery to the switch to the lights, there have been plenty of dashes that melted.

[620Z]

I put in a relay and got 90/130watt globes put in. Now she is like a normal car. 

[RBZ 260]

GOt H4 Conversion with diamond reflector (similar to that hondas used on their cars, glass lens is clear not diffused while the diffusion is done in the reflector check ebay fairly cheap)with 50w/90W philips globes.

 

cant complain just as good as my S14.

 

now not sure if its the H4 GLobes or the Lens itself or the R32 wiring that i have in the car. but the headlights cost me 45+PH for a pair. Philips globes i had lying around from previous wrecks. but they around the 30-40 mark as well for a decent pair.

[Zedman240®]

I'm was thinking whether or not to install some H4 HID globes in my zed. The only problem is you lose high beam (unless you have a bi-xenon system $$$) and you have to modify the headlight bucket that holds the headlight insert because the plug and cable that goes to the globe is pretty chunky. You can see on eBay there are hundreds of cheap sets; the only thing I'm worried about those cheap units is the quality of the ballasts. I have Hella ones which are used by most of the European car makers (BMW MercB, Audi etc) and apparently last for years. Advantage of HID is the lower wattage; 35W but high start current approx 20A. HID vs quartz halogen there is only one winner...HID! One 35W globe is equivalent to 100W QH and globes last for around 10 years. If you could afford some HID driving lights, you can have them as high beam and fry anything at 1000 paces!

[stevo_gj]

Here is a comparison of older headlights to the newer H4s.

[Hunter]

Thankyou for all the replys. This will help me.

 

I currently have H4 Lights on one of my 260Z's that  I will look at swapping for the time being.

 

I am still going to look for some small diameter round driving lights that I could mount flush in the front spoiler. Possibly up to four (this will change the look of the car, but I think it might look good.)

[zedevan]

the previous owner of my car had a beam made up that goes between the bumper mounts under the grill, using the same bolts, and mounted some hella 150watt driving lights there.

 

I've also retrofitted e46 xenon projectors (only low beam) into some 7" housings (pictures in a thread here somewhere), which was a huge improvement over the sealed beams - and the proper way to do HID's as the lense has the correct focal length for them, and you dont blind oncoming traffic as you do by putting hid's into reflector housings which aren't made for them.

[Moviefan]

 

I am still going to look for some small diameter round driving lights that I could mount flush in the front spoiler. Possibly up to four (this will change the look of the car, but I think it might look good.)

 

The previous guys have given you great options that are worth pursuing but for mine additional larger lights would be the go as well as H4 conversion.

 

Generally ,with normal lights you get what you pay for and with driving  lights its all about the reflector (Shape and Quality).

 

Larger round ones work best and 6 inch (deeper dish) is really the absolute minimum for decent lights. You will have clearance issues with the bonnet with lights that size i think. You will also have to think of providing power to the lights as the 240z alternator was underpowered by todays standards  and the upgraded 260z alternator was not much better. 400 watts extra of lights might be stretching it.

 

I have seen light bars from time to time on eBay in the States that were made to bolt on to the car in place of part of the front bumper. From memory  this option was used by some of the Z guys that rallied in Australia in the 70's but there were not many z's as the  510 became the factory choice . I can't remember any rally cars at all in australia in the 70's and 80 with pods. .I have also seen a light bar on Ebay made for Z's that attaches from the area around the towing points and come up to be in front of the Valance /Bumper. (similar to the one on  the celica photo) Not hard to make .The Aussie z in the 72 Southern Cross than ran second used a split bumper /lowered light bar arrangement? i think. Last Photo

 

One like that will is on my long list of things to do .

 

You could also mount something to the existing bumper  to extend the lights out so you have bonnet clearance but in my experience these types of setup always vibrated to much without bracing but that was playing in the dirt and maybe on tarmac they would be acceptable.

 

I am not a expert but i think that the safari cars used pods but the rally cars in Europe used the split bumper or the light bar coming from underneath as in the pictures below.

 

To go with  pods its more complicated .

 

Pods  are available like the ones from Topstage.com  (www.topstage.com) under (custom and racing) or from

( www.roadraceengineering.com/lightpodinfo.html)are  four lights pods and they look like they are made for Cibie Turini or Phiaa Inserts. .

 

The lights are going to cost you at a guess $1000.00 Plus . You may find that many of the rally specialists stores in Australia Like GP cars also carry pods and if not the UK ones will have pods available but i fear that they might be the four light units.

 

You could also obtain pods from a Ces Evans RallyGlass Products in Vic once upon a time. I think his Phone number is 632 94434. Not sure what is available from Ces.

 

If you were handy with some MDF and Fiberglass you could make them yourself.

 

 

I hope that this gives you some food for thought and as a last comment what are the laws regarding extra lights in Tassie.

 

Queensland  states only two additional lights.  NSW and VIC give you four i think.

 

Cheers.

 

John

 

 

 

 

[dazzed]

H4s are great what else could me more simple how far do you want to see, these are more than ample, any more and sounds like rewiring the whole car

[ZED660]

Hunter,

 

Check out the article in this post on Headlight relay upgrade. 

http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm

 

This is a common fix for Z's to improve their lighting and if you couple it with H4's as some of the others have indicated you will see a marked improvement.  If you are wanting to still fit spotlights, check the under side of your front bumper in the centre section just inboard of the over riders and you may find two holes which can be used to mount spots.  I have used them in the past and found them quite suitable.

[zzzzed]

this is what i have. They work fine

[maddos]

Definately the relay option. Pretty simple to engineer as has been pointed out and gets to the root of the problem. Swap globes all you like but unless you get a good supply I found it to be a waste of time.

[zedevan]

zzzzzzzzzed my car has the same lights but they are mounted on a beam running between, and mounted to where the bumper is screwed onto the car's body.

 

i dont imagine the beam would be very light, but could easily be redesigned or have some of the weight taken out which is something i should do, along with mounting the ballasts for the HID's somewhere else.

 

they aren't aimed correctly in these pics but you get the idea. the 35watt hid's are brighter than the driving lights http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=399.0;attach=288 shows the difference between the orginal sealed beams on the right, and hid's in a decent projector on the left

[Hunter]

Thankyou for all the feedback there certainly is plenty of food for thought.

[RBZ 260]

im after a set of old school style 5" proper steel/chrome bezel but dont seem to find any. all new ones are these are black cheap gay plastic ones. even Hella and Lightining force are gone el cheapo with plastic housings. 

 

ebay has nothing, autobarn repco supercheap, 4wd accessory stores ive checked didnt have any.

 

if anyone knows a store that has one or even second hand good condition ones let me know.

 

edit: just found out that the ones they use on new minis will be good too but they are not factory option so where do they get them from?

[RBZ 260]

Found and bought some on EvilBay... .now cant wait to get them.

 

hehe been a while since i checked on ebay for them. lots to choose from.

[Hunter]

Nightstalker make metal chrome ring spot lights with a metal back.

[Toecutter]

I've always thought the round Mini spotties would work nicely on a Zed. Will be ineterested to see how they look mounted on your car.

 

Sulio

[RBZ 260]

yeah i ended up going for the smaller Mini style fog lights. 98mm diameter. should be on my door step anyday.

 

they are stainless steel not metal and chrome that can rust and peal after a while.

 

can't wait to fit them . it will hide my intercooler piping and silicone hose 

[Dingo Dave]

If you want driving lights to go somewhere. get light force. there is nothing close to the productivity of light force. they rip everything else. plus you can adjust them from pin to wide and anything in the middle. cant break them eather.

[RBZ 260]

yeah i agree light force are good but it will kinda cover 40% of the grill. not sure if i like the rally look.

 

 

was doing some work today on the Z fixing my leaky air condtioner piping (didnt tighten a join on the compressor bloody retard) after retightening the pipe got the A/C regassed now i got AIR cold AIR for 40C days going home from work.

 

so while i was allready dirty sweaty on 40C temp i thought i mount the driving/fog light on the Z as well.

 

so after making the brackets to have it positioned where i wanted here what it looks like.

what you guys think?

 

 

[zzzzed]

looks good these should brighten things up a bit

 

[620Z]

They don't look to bad John. 

[Hunter]

Very Nice