Technical Halogen Lights

[MattGibson]

After driving home in the dark tonight I wasn't exactly blown away by how powerful the bulbs in my Bambino's headlights are. Has anyone here fitted halogen bulbs to their 500? I realise relays would need to be fitted to stop the wiring loom burning out, but wondered if there are any halogen bulbs which would fit a standard 500 headlight?

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

There are halogen bulbs with old fashioned sockets, but I suggest to replace the complete headlight units with specific halogen ( H4) units.
Shouldn't be to hard.
Very common practice on seventies motorcycles, it was just a direct swap, I don't remember to have ever fitted/ change relays at all...!!

 

[tbiggham]

I have the halogen bulbs with old fashion sockets its a great thing now cause the parts are easy to find here in Italy but I plan on converting to the H4 unit when I move back to the states

 

[MattGibson]

Peter, I'm not sure there are complete headlight units available in the right size. The closest I could find would be a 5 3/4" headlight. If anyone knows of a unit, I'd love to know where I could order a pair from. I know places like Fiat 500 Ricambi sell complete halogen light sets, but it's just the headlights I'm after.

tbiggham, do you know where you ordered your bulbs from?

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Try Ebay...!!

 

[MattGibson]

While at the Goodwood Revival this weekend I picked up a pair of 60/55 watt 410 fitting halogen bulbs. If anyone is thinking of doing the same and would find it useful, I can post a 'how to', along with what my impressions of them are.

 

[kalsig]

Troy, Are the halogen bulbs a great improvement?
Thanks, Ken

 

[MattGibson]

Ken, I've not had chance to fit them yet, but I'll let you know once I have.

 

[usafstud]

While at the Goodwood Revival this weekend I picked up a pair of 60/55 watt 410 fitting halogen bulbs. If anyone is thinking of doing the same and would find it useful, I can post a 'how to', along with what my impressions of them are.

A how to would be beneficial to noons like me

 

[MattGibson]

I (and by that I mean my Dad) started uprating the wiring today. There would be a good chance of burning out the contacts in the dashboard headlight switch, so we decided to fit relays to prevent this. We've put together a unit comprising of four relays, as well as an additional fuse box. The four relays are as follows:

- Nearside dipped beam
- Nearside full beam
- Offside dipped beam
- Offside full beam

The existing wiring for the lights will now be used to trigger each relay.

The unit looks like this:

We were a bit stumped for where to install, as there isn't that much space up front near the headlights. The spare tyre got in the way, so eventually we decided to fit it to the strap which holds the fuel tank in place:

We ran out of time to get it wired in (plus the soldering iron died), so it will have to wait now until the weekend.

We also put the multimeter across the lights to see what voltage we were getting. Considering it should be around 12v, we were a bit suprised to get only 9.1v
This would go someway to explaining why the lights are so dim! There is obviously a bad connection or earth somewhere, so the next job will be a full check of the wiring. I'd also noticed that the indicators and window wipers slow down when the car comes to a stop, so there is definitely something suspect going on.

I'll give an update after the weekend, when hopefully everything should be working.

 

[MattGibson]

The lights have now been fully wired up and I had a chance to test them tonight. I can honestly say fitting the halogen bulbs has made a HUGE difference. Where as before I could barely see three metres in front of the car, the light emitted by the new setup is almost on par with a modern car. No problems at all now with visibility, even when driving on pitch-black country lanes.

When I get chance I'll post some before and after pictures, along with a wiring diagram, if anyone else fancies doing this.

Matt

 

[Bambino]

What was that old Corey Hart song? I wear my sunglasses at night??

Chris

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Looks good, although a tad of a bulky install. Done similar on my Panda's but with micro relays

 

[MATTSDAD]

Hi Matthew,
here is the wiring diagram as promised.
If anyone is thinking of doing this I can write up a more detailed description of the conversion plus a list of the bits needed from Vehicle Wiring Products which I tend to get all my bits for the MGB

 

[gusgurner]

Hi Matt

I have just scraped through an MOT here in France and the guy doing the re-test was less than happy from the output from my conventional set up.

I replaced the reflectors and lenses new bulbs and even fitted a new alternator. Thanks to huge help from John and Chris managed to trace the various problems to get a good out put to the lights with all new cleaned contacts etc. Still the test guy was not happy so one alternative could be just to fit Halogens for the purpose of the next test and hope it doesn't blow a fuse or burn out the switches.

But if you have seen superior lighting and recon its worth while then subject to investment might look to go down the Halogen route.

An interesting post even though all seams straight forward maybe a list of bits may be useful the wiring diagram certainly seams self explainitory. Reading all the posts is looks easy.

As a result i have looked to source the parts Axel Gertsl or webshop.fiat500126.com do sell the bits they have a complet H4 Glass conversion kit for all lights Headlights, Rear and side its 298 € its a bit steep but they haven't recommended a wiring upgrade!!! I did find a cable connection for H4 which looked like it has relays but this is specifically for the 126 H4 lights.

In addition you can get various Halogen single or double filament bulbs for 500's but no recommendations for beefing up the wiring and in the customers also bought section there is no other electrical items.

I can see where you are coming from, better to be safe than sorry or than to burn the switches or have an electrical fire.

So in short how is your set up working out? Still happy or had any further problems?

Cheers

Gus

 

[jjacob]

You absolutely need to use relays if making the conversion to Halogen. Actually using relays with the factory lighting is not a bad idea also, it saves the switch from carrying any significant load.

Question for Matt or Matt's Dad: Do you really need four relays? I would think that one 30 amp relay for the high beams and one 30 amp relay for the low beams would be fine.

John

 

[gusgurner]

Thanks John

Check out the connector from Axel Gertsl

http://webshop.fiat500126.com/index...fo/2993-1-set_of_cables_for_h4_headlamps.html

If not mistaken it could provide an easy hook up between the existing cabling and the new Halogen bulbs 10 € a pair and 2 x 19.90 € so for 50 € and shipping could switch to Halogens or is that just too simple!!

They also appear to use two relays per side.

Cheers

Gus

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Question for Matt or Matt's Dad: Do you really need four relays? I would think that one 30 amp relay for the high beams and one 30 amp relay for the low beams would be fine.

Yes you do, as each circuit should be fused seperatly (as it is from factory). Doing it your way means you've only got 2 fused circuits, meaning you loose everything should there be a fault, rather than just one side

 

[jjacob]

Thanks John

Check out the connector from Axel Gertsl

http://webshop.fiat500126.com/index...fo/2993-1-set_of_cables_for_h4_headlamps.html

If not mistaken it could provide an easy hook up between the existing cabling and the new Halogen bulbs 10 € a pair and 2 x 19.90 € so for 50 € and shipping could switch to Halogens or is that just too simple!!

They also appear to use two relays per side.

Cheers

Gus

Hi Gus,

I could be wrong, but I think this kit is complete and is for both sides and for high and low beams, they don't really say in the description. They are most likely using one relay for high and one for low as I posted previously. I do not know if this is "plug and play" for the 500. I have not looked closely at the terminal styles used on the 500 vs. the 126.
While I agree one relay per circuit, per side is good, this is not often done on OEM headlamp circuits using halogen. If you look at modern production cars from the '90's there is usually one relay for high and one for low or one relay called a combination relay that does both in one housing. Fusing is also done in a similar fashion.
Please do not think that I am saying one relay and fuse per circuit is wrong. Absolutely not. I just think that it is overkill, and that is purely my personal opinion. Either way would be correct.
John

 

[MattGibson]

So in short how is your set up working out? Still happy or had any further problems?

Cheers

Gus

Gus,

I've been out quite a few times now at night (although not as many times as I would have liked, considering how bad the weather has been in the UK over the last month) and I'm still very happy with the conversion to halogen. I've had no issues with it and it makes driving at night a lot easier and safer.

I had a look at the conversion on the Axel Gerstl site, but as I only wanted to change the headlights to halogen (to keep the car looking as original as possible), the kit seemed a bit expensive for what we were trying to achieve. I'm trying to remember how much the bulbs, relays and wire was, but I'm sure it was less than £30.

I'm still very much a novice when it comes to vehicle wiring, so if you have any questions I'll run them past my dad.

Matt