Lighting Up...

[RedexR]

My main LeMans mods are now completed , I will now be able to see in the dark as well as the rest of you..Halogen conversions for the old girl , they are actually period Wipacs ones as well , listen out for the quirky Klaxon by the way !

Edited by RedexR on Monday 2nd June 21:40

[Muntu]

Nice car Redex, my dad had a metallic green 69 1600GT, have got a picture of it somewhere

[Robscim]

Redex,

Great car. takes me back to my Mk II Cortina (sadly only a 1600 super!). I fitted Quadoptics to it in the early 80's and they transformed the car. I wonder where you found those lying around!!

Hope to catch sight of you during the trip - I'll be in the blue cerb!! E* CAB

I loved my old Cortina!!

Cheers

Rob

[a.christie]

You sure that dynamo can take extra driving lamps AND a klaxon or have you got the 70 acr alt?

Good luck on the trip and remember Old Fords Never Die

Ali

[RedexR]

Still on Dynamo I,m afraid...guidelines are - never attempt to start the engine with lights , radio or anything on , if in doubt always park at the top of a steep hill ! , thanks for your comments , its interesting that people actually rate these cars now as I remember the ridicule I got in the eighties : Dagenham dustbin , poor mans Rolls Royce etc etc , judging from your comments perhaps these were the cars that actually got you INTO cars , and all the tinkering etc , one thing I do know she always gets a smile wherever I take her , LM will be a blast !

no thats not me in the picture by the way...

Edited by RedexR on Tuesday 3rd June 20:07

[rlw]

Jeez - don't those wheels look tiny now...

[//j17]

You're only half done RedexR!

Now you've fitted the lamps, take the bulbs that came with it out and chuck them in the boot as emergency spares.

Then fit a set of these babies - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OSRAM-NIGHTBREAKER-H4-PAIR-9...

They make a clear difference and basic halogens really struggle against current car headlights.

One other thing - have you added relays with your halogens? (I'm guessing they wouldn't have been fitted as standard in '67ish). Using the 40 year old wire to switch the relay and brand new wire to feed direct from the battery (via in inline fuse) makes another jump in headlight brightness.

[RedexR]

I,m Using Xenons , standard 55/60 Watt rating , I,ve heard all about people putting higher wattage bulbs in and melting wiring looms , Relays ? my car doesn,t even have a fusebox as standard equipment,or mirrors lol

[DeanoX]

Even with standard halogens I burnt out 2 main/dip switches on my MG Midget. Scary when all the lights go in the middle of a very dark french lane at night.(not Le Mans unfortunately).

I'm now fully relay'd up for Mains, Dip Beam, Spots, Horn, Electric fan and most of the ignition fed accessories.

Needless to say that now means I have 310W of power on full beam :-D Puts all the modern cars to shame ! (just cant idle with everything on ;-))

[//j17]

Adding relays is simple enough.

1) Buy from Maplin.
2) Find a handy bolt near where the headlight feed splits to left/right lamps.
3) Pull out feed connector and connect to coil side of relay. Connect other coil side pin to earth.
4) Run big cable from battery, via inline fuse to switch side of relay.
5) Run wire for other switch side relay pin to where you unplugged in step 3.

Now when you flick the light switch a low current runs around the coil side of the relay (and through light switch/40 year old wire). This low current closes the switched side of the relay and 55W flows along 5 minute old wire from battery to bulb.