When our classics were new – headlights weren’t that bright but back then we didn’t know any better. Drive a modern car with modern headlights and it’s painfully obvious how dim the stock headlights are on a classic car. Luckily, there are several options to upgrade the headlights on your classic to make them shine brighter than ever!
If you want to keep the factory bulb for a stock look, that’s no problem. In these classics the power for the headlights comes from the distribution block under the hood, all the way to under the dash, through the switch, and back to the headlights. Not only is this a long draw, but the power feed is what also feeds the rest of the dash – meaning it all has to share the power and puts quite a load on that wire.
The easy solution here is to add relays. When you wire in relays it takes the load directly from the battery or alternator and goes straight to the headlights. Wiring them up is a pretty easy job, and companies like Painless Performance even make a kit to make it even more plug-and-play.
Relays are simply an electrical switch. You can turn on and off a high draw electrical system such as headlights, using a very small draw. We generally see this with horns as they can draw a lot, but the connection at the actual horn button is minimal. Simply put you have the power from the battery, then wires to the headlights. The power from the headlight switch trips the relay to turn on so your headlights are getting battery power.
Adding relays to your stock headlights will make a big difference in brightness. However, it’s still an old-school bulb that can only be so bright. If you’re wanting to go even brighter, you might consider a replacement headlight bulb.
These modern headlights are much brighter than anything factory. The drawback used to be that you’d have to cut the buckets your headlights sit in to fit them. However, modern ones have solved that issue to make it a plug-and-play installation.
For example, Holley offers their “Retrobright” LED headlights. These can be had in a modern bright white, a classic white(think stock), or even yellow. In a matter of an hour, you can swap out your outdated bulbs for modern ones and nobody will be the wiser – but you’ll be able to see at night!
If you need help with upgrading your headlights, be sure to hop on SS396.com or give our friendly techs a call at (203) 235-1200 and they will be happy to help you brighten your days!
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