7" headlamp upgrade

[antonyj]

Looks like its go go go for anyone wanting to update to the later bigger lamps.

Cant wait to get mine in .....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TVR-Griffith-SE

[Ballistic Banana]

Keep up at the back Clicky

well worth it if you have the originals as they are like tea lights

BB

[antonyj]

Hey , I only live a few miles awau but you knew first.

Hmm how does that work....

You getting them BB?

[Seasider]

Marvellous job about time someone done a kit

I can confirm that the difference having 7" lights even with standard H4 bulbs is amazing although I do have the Mod-Wise power upgrade on mine so both sides get full Voltage

Worries me that in the article it says just power the main beam from the original spots using a relay. This will leave the dip beam on = lots of heat and possibly blown bulbs, I'm told. Mine have a switching relay to cut the dip (You might want to point this out on the Griff Pages BB )


Some pics/info on mine here & here





edited to highlite because of the later posts

Edited by seasider on Thursday 16th November 21:39

[Ricardo Bertone]

Good advice Seasider.

I am waiting on a pair from Ian at Sportmotive but can't decide whether to put the main beam onto both pairs.

Have you used the same Hella units? Are they easy to adjust?

I also have the Mod-wise brighter lights kit - should I bother with the bigger bulbs? Will my Vision Plus bulbs fit the new units?

Ricardo

[Seasider]

Ricardo Bertone said:

I am waiting on a pair from Ian at Sportmotive but can't decide whether to put the main beam onto both pairs.

If you can cut the dip, i would, it's like daylight

Ricardo Bertone said:

Have you used the same Hella units?

I presume so, the part numbers i used are in my thread, don't know what he is using.

Ricardo Bertone said:

Are they easy to adjust?

Depends what adjuster he's made up i suppose.

Ricardo Bertone said:

I also have the Mod-wise brighter lights kit - should I bother with the bigger bulbs? Will my Vision Plus bulbs fit the new units?

I think you'll find you dont need to & you keep legal & no they wont H4=Double filament You will have spares for your spots

------------------------------------------------------------------
I would be interested how the rear of the pod with the lense fitted are covered/sealed to stop dust/flies getting in the pod

Also if the original curved arch plate fits without touching the units...

Edited by Seasider on Friday 17th November 07:41

[richb]

Del, you've probably been asked this before but with the 7" units and H4 bulbs you obviously have dipped and main in one unit so do you simply wire the other (mouth ones) main units to come with the H4's? Rich...

[Seasider]

richb said:

Del, you've probably been asked this before

Thats why i put the 1st post up

[david beer]

The wiring of them is quite involved as the dips must go off when the mains come on, you can have the two pairs on full beam but the gains will be slight until you re-wire. And of course any mention of bigger wattage or HID are a no no, not legal no matter who tells you they are, but of course each to his own.

[antonyj]

Surely by relaying the mains in the new 7" lamps off the lower lamps , the timing and switching will be correct?

[david beer]

With the original set up, the dips stay on when going to full beam, with H4 you must switch off the dips or the bulbs will last minutes !! For Dels car it involved a relay both sides so that when the fulls come on, the dips went off. Dels original wiring only turns on the new relays.

[barreti]

Can you get these units or similar without High Beam in them so you mimic the workings of the original lights but bigger.
Or could you just use units like these, put in the high beam bulbs or they would look daft, but not actually wire them in?

[antonyj]

Ian, I would imagine , jut not wiring them would work

[seasider]

antonyj said:

Ian, I would imagine , jut not wiring them would work

Agreed but the full 4 light main beam is so bright you need if sports loom doesn't do this i'm sure i know someone who can

david beer said:

With the original set up, the dips stay on when going to full beam, with H4 you must switch off the dips or the bulbs will last minutes !! For Dels car it involved a relay both sides so that when the fulls come on, the dips went off. Dels original wiring only turns on the new relays.

We are talking sparky god

[richb]

david beer said:

With the original set up, the dips stay on when going to full beam, with H4 you must switch off the dips or the bulbs will last minutes !! For Del's car it involved a relay both sides so that when the fulls come on, the dips went off. Del's original wiring only turns on the new relays.

Presumably one could wire the H4's properly to dip and switch the original mains separately as auxiliary driving lamps, perhaps using the (redundant) dash lamps on/off switch?

[seasider]

richb said:

david beer said:

With the original set up, the dips stay on when going to full beam, with H4 you must switch off the dips or the bulbs will last minutes !! For Del's car it involved a relay both sides so that when the fulls come on, the dips went off. Del's original wiring only turns on the new relays.

Presumably one could wire the H4's properly to dip and switch the original mains separately as auxiliary driving lamps, perhaps using the (redundant) dash lamps on/off switch?

Rich, the 7" dip & 2 x mains is soooooooo good you wouldn't believe it

[sportmotive]

Hi boys thanks for all the positive comments on the kit, just to answer a few questions and hopefully put some minds at rest, yes we forgot! (how could we!) that the dips stay on with the mains on a Griff so, you will need a double pole double throw relay for each side which will switch the dip off and the mains on and power the lower mains as well. We are working on providing this as an extra kit but the simplest option in the meantime is to just run the new larger lamps as the dip which still means you can run an 80w H4 bulb as your dip. The lamps are sealed from behind using an aluminium foil tape which we provide in the kit, this needs to be applied around the seam where the lamp fits into the pod to seal out any dust, they are a tight fit anyway but this is a further protection, it may sound crude but it works and this is how TVR did it on the SE, we know because we've had one in which is where we copied the pods from. All this is unseen inside the nosecone and yes the original inspection covers fit without a problem. The lamp units provided in the kit are the ones used by TVR in the SE and are originally designed to be adjusted from the front which is obviously impossible once fitted in a Griff headlamp pod, this is simply fixed though by "slotting" the back end of the adjusting screw so that they can be adjusted from behind in the normal way using a screw driver, the adjuster will work just the same from behind as from the front.The lamps come complete with new mounting plates and adjusters, our full fitting instructions plus our help and advice is only a phone call away....cheers Ian

[david beer]

Granny, eggs and all that but surely the easiest way to stop the dips staying on is to find the link in the fuse box(i know its not at the switch). For Dels car it was easier as a one off to do it at the light, with more time i would of made a plug in kit for the fuse box. Of course you meant 55w for 7" dips !, without a wiring mod its not 55w anyway, more like 40W. Iam sure the HID boys are watching this one !! Still much prefer the idea of a "legal" light improvement.

[seasider]

david beer said:

For Dels car it was easier as a one off to do it at the light, with more time i would of made a plug in kit for the fuse box.

I thought it was a relay thing in the fuse box

david beer said:

Of course you meant 55w for 7" dips !, without a wiring mod its not 55w anyway, more like 40W.

The biguns are even better with the extra power

[seasider]

sportmotive said:

yes we forgot! (how could we!) that the dips stay on with the mains on a Griff

sportmotive said:

We are working on providing this as an extra

Speak to David

sportmotive said:

The lamps are sealed from behind using an aluminium foil tape which we provide in the kit, this needs to be applied around the seam where the lamp fits into the pod to seal out any dust, they are a tight fit anyway but this is a further protection, it may sound crude but it works and this is how TVR did it on the SE, we know because we've had one in which is where we copied the pods from.

I did the same but the back plate of the 7" light still has holes, i have a very good fix

sportmotive said:

All this is unseen inside the nosecone and yes the original inspection covers fit without a problem.

I reversed my covers, it gives a bit of clearance

Top job Ian

about time someone offered a kit rather than doing it the difficult way

Edited by seasider on Tuesday 21st November 21:20