Got a little work done on the '66 today. Installed my new turn signal switch, put new horn brushes in, and finished grinding the top of the new power steering column so I could reinstall my original horn ring. When my horn still didn't work, I bought a new horn relay from NAPA and now it works great. I also installed a set of Cibie lamps with H4 bulbs and upgraded my wiring harness with relays. My lights are every bit as bright as a new car now. My old lights were so dim they looked yellow.

 

I know this thread is worthless without pictures, so here you go:
I still can't believe how bright the lights are now.

 

I put a '79 tilt column in my '66. Sure would have like to have kept the original steering wheel and horn ring, but couldn't make it look right with the tilt. I like your headlight mod. I 'm going to add that to my to-do list. Thanks for sharing!

Mike

 

Just saw your second post. Those lights are great!



Mike

 

Thanks. I bought a pre-made harness that was plug and play so it was pretty simple to install. All the original truck wiring is intact. The only modification to the truck was that I had to drill two holes in the passenger side apron to mount the relays. I wish I had done it sooner.

Mark

 

You purchased which pre-made set? Bosch/Tyco style relays?

 

I bought my harness from Reenmachine. He designed them for Mustangs, but they work fine for our trucks. The harness was very well made. It wasn't cheap and you could make your own for a lot less. I have seen an article on FTE which describes how to make one. Here is the link if you are interested:

Reenmachine :: Modern Lighting :: H4 Halogen Headlights & Wiring Harnesses :: High Power Relay Headlight Harness, 2-Light H4 System - The website for reenmachine Incorporated, builders of exotic custom vintage Ford Mustangs with a high-tech hot rod i

 

Did you wire the turn/parking lights to come on when the headlights are on, they turn off
when the headlights come on from the factory?...looks good that way, I was just wondering?

 

Good eye. That was a little mod I did a few months ago. I ran a jumper wire on the headlight switch from the tail lamp circuit to the parking light circuit so that the parking lamps are on whenever the tail lamps are on. It only took about 10 mins to do. I never liked the fact that the parking lamps turned off when the headlights came on. It looks better this way in my opinion.

Mark

 

Do you think that the new headlamps will add more current thru the on/off switch ??I replaced my headlight switch and the headlights on bright for very long kicks out the reset on the on/off headlight switch. I do not know if the headlights were messed with by previous owner or not... I learn a lot by what all everyone else trys....Dan

 

No, the relays and the new harness take the load off the headlight switch. Even if you don't go with the H4 style lights like I did it would still be worthwhile to upgrade your headlight harness so you can get full voltage to the headlights. Here is a link on how to make your own harness:

Whiter Whites, Brighter Brights .: Articles

 

I just can not imagine #18 wire anywhere in that circuit....Why not upgrade the 18 to 14,, and all the other- 2 sizes larger.... It is probally fine,, but 18 seems very marginal..Good article....Dan

 

Let me see if I got this right...all the article says is add the relays and modify from the relays all the way to each lamp-Right ?? Tie in the existing wiring in at the relays-correct ?? The options of hi-beam flash, and forced low beam sw,, I need not worry about...When my headlights started going out and flashing,, I was told to replace the switch,, I put in a new Borg-Warner..I was glad,, the old stock switch was PITIFUL !!! fell apart. Now as I said, sometimes after 15 minutes of hi-beam,,the new borg will reset...so looks like your article will solve my situation........If I understand that all I have to modify is from relays to lamps,, I am going to do this tomorrow....I did not realize there was as much 18 gau. wire in a truck(stock)..I just assumed it was 14 gauge minimum size...But I will use 14 minimum....Thanks !! Dan

 

When you make the new harness to run power to the headlights, the only function of the old harness is that of a trigger to tell the relays when to deliver power to the lights.

 

It would be ok to use 18 gauge for the trigger wire with very little voltage. All other wires I would use 12 gauge which I have seen spec'd in many articles I have read on this. The trick is to get top quality relays that say Tyco since they bought Bosch. Also to find headlamp sockets with 14 gauge pigtails rather then the more common 18 gauge.

If you want to see a nice harness in the making complete with pictures and explanation then look at this Dodge truck link. The guy even put it into a .pdf file so you can save it like I did.


Installing Headlamp Relays - Dodge Diesel - Diesel Truck Resource Forums