Griffith 500 headlamp upgrade

[GPW41]

Hi all,

I am posting here on behalf of a French friend who has purchased a Grif 500 and wants to improve the lighting.

I searched around and found this

http://www.sportmotive.com/partsales/headlamp.html

Does anyone have any experience of this modification or are any of the twin lamp alternatives out there better?

Thanks in advance for your views

Dave

[Pete Mac]

I have the H4s. I bought the car with them fitted. Because I have nothing to compare them against, all I can say is the lights on my Griff are fine and I have never had an issue of poor lighting with these H4s. Pete

[griffdude]

GPW41 said:

Hi all,

I am posting here on behalf of a French friend who has purchased a Grif 500 and wants to improve the lighting.

I searched around and found this

http://www.sportmotive.com/partsales/headlamp.html

Does anyone have any experience of this modification or are any of the twin lamp alternatives out there better?

Thanks in advance for your views

Dave

The Sportmotive kits are very popular & IMHO subtly improve the look of the front of the car- less 'piggy eyed'.

[MPoxon]

I would personally go for the Sportmotive kit. It is the same as what TVR fitted to the last 100 special edition Griffs so you can look at is as an OEM upgrade. I am personally not so keen on the twin lamp conversions as I prefer the original look of the car.

I know a few people who have the sportmotive conversion and they all say the difference is night and day (excuse the pun)

[bluezeeland]

In the 'best Griff thread' there is a nightfire red car with the twin lamp conversion and another ocean haze 500 without a conversion.
As Matt says, not impressed with the looks of the twin, and the originals look somewhat faint.
Hence I will go for a 7" conversion. Has anyone ordered from Sportmotive in diy ? If so, what are the things to look out for ? Mine has 'smoked' lamp covers, which have also gone 'milky' so want to change for clear, new ones

cheers

Frank

[V8 GRF]

I have the 7" conversion from Sportmotive fitted to my car. The difference is literally 'night and day' between the standard 5" and the new 7". You can actually see when driving in the dark. Mine were fitted by S&D so I don't have any detailed knowledge of fitting them but I believe they were happy with teh quality of teh kit supplied.

I also think they give the front end a better look, the standard front end is a bit weak imo, the 7" pods locate the headlights lights slightly further forward which just fills the pods out.

[bluezeeland]

Hi David,

Txs ! Considering the fact I need to change the covers anyway I think it makes sense to change the pods/lamps in one go, especially when the light-yield is better.

I will order a set from Sportmotive, and let you guys know how I fare !

cheers

Frank

[V8 GRF]

Forgot to mention I have smoked pod covers and apart from looking good They don't seem to have any noticeable effect on the light.

The other reason I like this conversion is that it keeps the look more or less standard, as opposed to the twin light set-up, added to the fact it was something TVR did themselves on the 500 SEs.

[bluezeeland]

Agree,

the fact that the pods are smoked is ok (allthough on an ocean haze it probably looks better with clears) the milkyness is what I don't want ....

[ronspeedsix]

Done the upgrade this year myself and very happy with the looks. As I did the upgrade when I bought the car I can´t tell the difference with the original lighting.

It´s a straight forward DIY job. But you have to be very careful when cutting the sealant to take the old pods out. The covers and the paint/body are easily damaged. A tiny piece of the body(!)broke out when cutting the sealant. As mine was for a respray I didn't bother as it was easily repaired.

When the old pod is out it is quite simple.
If you want more info please ask.

Ronald

[bluezeeland]

ronspeedsix said:

Done the upgrade this year myself and very happy with the looks. As I did the upgrade when I bought the car I can´t tell the difference with the original lighting.

It´s a straight forward DIY job. But you have to be very careful when cutting the sealant to take the old pods out. The covers and the paint/body are easily damaged. A tiny piece of the body(!)broke out when cutting the sealant. As mine was for a respray I didn't bother as it was easily repaired.

When the old pod is out it is quite simple.
If you want more info please ask.

Ronald

Highly appreciated, Ron !

What sealant did you use ?

[Doc Toad]

+1 for the Sportmotive kit, my 500 had standard lights - the pre-cat has the upgrade. Major improvement functionally and cosmetically.
Definitely wouldn't go for the twin light option, its a TVR not a Saxo

[GPW41]

A unanimous decision for the Sportmotive modification.

Thanks to all who responded.

Dave