Fantastic.
Thank you!
I used the Rocketman kit that included the headlight door operation (HRKP-A - Headlight Relay Kit with electric motor control for 67-68 (dual motor)). I hid everything under the battery mount, and the black boxes mounted behind the grill are almost invisible. It is a great way to keep things well hidden to retain the original appearance. Of course the big give away on the headlight motors is that the doors now stay in perfect alignment. I did several articles covering electrical fixes in the first six issues of LCM. I also added the horn relay and that makes the horn about twice as loud…
Replacing the headlight switch may actually make things worse. If you are not tripping the breaker, as in Cyclone Lou’s case it is because over time the connections have all become slightly corroded adding series resistance. A nice clean new switch will have less series resistance than the old one. Recall that a short circuit pulls the most current. Every time you add series resistance to a circuit you are reducing the amount of current that flows through it. If the total current is enough less than 15 amps you probably won’t trip the circuit breaker.
Wattage is current times voltage. So two 35 watt low beam bulbs will pull about 5.8 amps of current (70 watts / 12 volts = 5.833 Amps) Add two 50 watt high beams that pull an additional 8.33 amps of current (100 watts / 12 volts = 8.33 Amps) For a total of 13.66 amps. This alone is enough to heat up the breaker over time and cause it to trip.
I have added relays to the headlight circuits to a couple different older vehicles. Really helps improve the performance on these older rides when eliminating all that voltage drop and giving the bulbs as close to 100% voltage as possible.
These plug and play kits make for a really nice setup and super easy but you can also do the same with some relays and a wiring diagram if you know what your looking at.
I’m sold. I already know the value of using a relays to power aftermarket lighting as have a set of PIAA light mounted on my off road ride that I’m sure would not even function without routing extra power through a relay.
The added benefit of having the headlight doors align is not one I had thought of and converting the doors to electric is a future project but Bob’s dual relay kit HRKP-A just ordered.
But now comes down to the detail of the headlights themselves. Again. Too bad someone like Scott Drake is not making FoMoCo replica lenses but aside from what WCCC has listed any suggestions on which halogen headlights as well as what color bulbs to use ?
BTW… Bob linked to this which is worth watching (thanks Bob) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ey1MA6leDU&feature=youtu.be --ssava - Might start watching about 5min in as sure sound like what you have going on.
Any input into going LED? Dont want to hijack the posting, just wondering if anyone has tried it? if so, brand?
WCCC has reproduction halogens with the FoMoCo logos if that is important to you. I haven’t been able to get any consensus on LED headlights but they are the future in my opinion. They should be DOT legal if your state does inspections. I also think they need some time in the market to prove that they are reliable.
Good video, and great instruction / how to doc! I’ve been wanting to do this upgrade as well since I do occassionally get caught out after dark.
Can anyone post pics of where they hid their relays?
Is there any benefit / drawback of going with the Full (2-relay) kit vs the Mini (1-relay) kit?
I imagine the little circuit breaker can be mounted using the same screw as the bottom corner of the Voltage Regulator, so you don’t have to punch extra holes in things?
A few questions regarding just bulb upgrades on a stock system…
What if you only put Halogens in the low/high slots (i.e. outer bulbs only) and keep the old incandescents in the inner high-beam slots?
How would that affect your power draw through the headlight switch?
Have you ever noticed mine? I used industrial strength double sided tape and mounted them to the underside of the gravel guard/splash shield.
I was thinking that would probably be a good spot to put them 
xr7g428 you are correct that LED will be the wave of future - or at least until the next plasma or quark or quantum based technology is developed. But looks like that an LED will fit in the same housing as halogens. If not i need to rethink and I hate when that happens.
Did miss the FoMoCo reproductions in WCCC’s online catalog:
WCCC does not list these for 67 but do come up for 71. But wonder why not listed as for 1967 or not included as part of the conversion kit WCCC offers?
Don is normally quite good on offering the pros and cons of aftermarket parts like this so kind of hoping he weighs in on this…Don?
But if not. Has anyone else tried this FoMoCo halogen reproductions on a 67/68?
There’s this LED kit but it’s hideously expensive compared to halogen:
[/quote]There’s this LED kit but it’s hideously expensive compared to halogen:
http://www.deltalights.com/?q=store#!/5-3-4-LED-Headlight-Kit-High-Beam-&-Adapters/p/29120228/category=2483197
[/quote]
Once spent stupid money like that on a Commodore 64 …but i date myself.
Figure worst case in converting to halogen is that i then get the bug to convert again to LED. Then again to smart laser system with night vision. By that time I’m hoping they can retrofit a 67 Cougar with Level 5 Full Automation as will need it by then.
But at least LED looks like it should be a direct replacement of the bulb unit. Even the original lights benefit from being powered via a relay and LEDs love a clean power source as well. Doubt if Rocketman’s kits will become obsolete once LEDs go mainstream.
Still would like input if anyone has it on the halogens units that WCCC has listed. Like LEDs now, halogens bulbs have come a long way in the last few years and don’t really need another Commodore 64 somewhere gathering dust in my basement if these are last decade tech.
Leds are the way to go IF you have the housing to support them. Much like HID bulbs in halogen housings never have as good of a light pattern as the halogen bulb they replace. Ive found the LEDs are better in the halogen housing then the HID but it can really screw up the light output to actually have less night vision on the road even if they are technically brighter.
I have Hella H1/H4 halogen conversions in my Cat, powered with a relay kit I purchased many years ago from Summit. Easy installation and the light output is impressive.
As a bonus, I noticed that the instrument cluster lights were somewhat brighter after installing the relay kit.
My relays are mounted to the back of the radiator support on the passenger side, near the battery. My horn relay is mounted there too.
You can say that again!! $350 per light. WOW. I dont drive mine enough at night to justify that. I will see if I can hunt down OEM lights at a good price and go from there.
There’s this LED kit but it’s hideously expensive compared to halogen:
http://www.deltalights.com/?q=store#!/5-3-4-LED-Headlight-Kit-High-Beam-&-Adapters/p/29120228/category=2483197
[/quote]
Thanks,
Charlie B.
You are spot on. I chased the ultimate HID conversion across a bunch of cars and bikes over the years. Just like with those, the LED bulb needs to do a really good job of getting the light source as close in shape and position as possible to the filament in a halogen bulb for there to be a chance of it working right in a halogen housing.
A relatively cheap way to do this would be to find halogen housings that fit the Cougar headlight bucket and LED bulbs that fit the above criteria. I’ve done that in a couple of late model cars with some success. Someone was making those with the correct FoMoCo embossing and pattern a while back but I cant find them now.
The racecar guys running LEDs use several LEDs to get a good spread and they mount them down low
These are the best thing I’ve found for aftermarket use but would require custom fitting. They are widely used on interstate trucks and buses
Seen these but they look ugly
https://hidkitpros.com/shop/5-round-sealed-beam-to-led-conversion/
http://www.mustangproject.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?ID=986fd3f2-523a-4d51-92ad-405faca6bf6b
300 bucks with 4 housings and a lifetime warranty on the led’s. 5000 lumens per bulb
looks very tempting