Sealed beam to H4 upgrade

[GordonC]

Hello, I’m hoping to replace my sealed beam headlights with H4 units, a conversion I’m sure many of you have done.

I’m unsure which headlights to get, I have seen the Wipac ones in ESM, and the Lucas ones (now in stock) in Dynamo & Regulator Conversions. Have any of you used these units and would you recommend them?

Thanks in advance
Gordon

[svenedin]

Yes I have tried both the Lucas and the Wipac H4 headlights. Both are all glass and well made. The Wipac units have the addition of a mask inside that seems to result in a better beam pattern but for the purist the lenses do look slightly different to the Lucas which is much closer to the appearance of a genuine Lucas sealed beam unit.

With my current Wipac units I am using LED bulbs from Classic Dynamo and Regulator Conversion Ltd. These are expensive but do give good light output especially on full beam. The reason for using the LED bulbs is not just for better light output but to reduce strain on the loom and switches as I do not wish to add relays.

My friendly MoT tester let me see the beam pattern on the beam testing machine and actually adjusted the beam slightly for me free of charge (I took the bezels off as they are awkward to re-fit).

The main problem I now have driving at night on dark country roads is that the windscreen is very old with thousands of tiny scratches which scatter the lights of oncoming cars. Despite my upgrade to the headlights I really dislike driving my Morris at night and avoid it if possible.

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

I had the same problem recently, except it wasn't at night - it was the setting sun causing the problem!

[Bill_qaz]

I have wipac units,which also have the sidelights wired in so my front inicator/ side lights could have orange lenses fitted.
Standard H4 bulbs work fine.

[panky]

I fitted Wipac Quadoptics and it's well worth doing. I also modified a relay kit to fit to take the load off the ancient wiring and switch - which made even more of an improvement in light output, not SUV night sun output but a nice bright white light that points in the right place.

[GordonC]

Thanks for your reply Stephen, I’m new to MM ownership and have learned so much from reading this forum. I enjoyed your thread which started with “better than nothing rust treatment” ending with a restored front end and reconditioned engine!

I have a 1970 Traveller which has been restored a few years ago, but as always there’s a lot of little things that I would like to do. The headlights are very dim by modern standards so they would be better changed - I will look at LED bulbs too for the same reason as you.

I think the Wipac lights will be my choice.

Gordon.

[GordonC]

A second thank you post - I have just seen the rest of the posts - thanks to all. Wipac it will be.

Gordon

[svenedin]

Thanks for your reply Stephen, I’m new to MM ownership and have learned so much from reading this forum. I enjoyed your thread which started with “better than nothing rust treatment” ending with a restored front end and reconditioned engine!

I have a 1970 Traveller which has been restored a few years ago, but as always there’s a lot of little things that I would like to do. The headlights are very dim by modern standards so they would be better changed - I will look at LED bulbs too for the same reason as you.

I think the Wipac lights will be my choice.

Gordon.

Glad you enjoyed that thread Gordon. Yes, what started as an attempt at preservation turned into restoration. It was just too far gone once I could see everything with the engine out. This Winter the rest of the car will get done all being well and by Spring it will be a mostly completely restored car. Finally, I can go to shows and it will be amongst the tidiest rather than the roughest!

If your existing sealed beams are very dim this may be due to poor electrical connections, especially the earth connection to the inner wing. At the best of times though, they are hardly very bright! Even in 1989 when I first got my Morris I thought the headlights were awful.

Stephen

[Mervin]

I fitted a pair of Wipac lights. The glass units with a slightly convex lens.
I also fitted a pair of Philips Ultinon Classic l.e.d. H4s which give a similar light output and beam pattern of a H4 Halogen. They are not cheap and my reasoning was to reduce the load on the old wiring.