Found a doner van with sealed beams of the same year, (1998) so I pulled the headlight buckets, hold downs, ALL of the hard and plastic ware behind the buckets and the bezels. Test fit? Perfect 👌😊

 

Good going---as I say I much prefer the sealed beams. Lubricate the adjuster screws or buy new ones---those things can be a world of pain when trying to properly aim the headlights.

 

Also make sure you can free up the trim ring screws. Those are a real pain if they get stuck.

 

Great suggestion---IF those screws or the chrome retaining rings become unusable they can be found as new parts through most any parts houses. I like the OEM so it would be from them or nice pieces from the scrap yard.

 

Yep, I'm going to clean up the whole schmear and take my time. In my thread "Blueberry is mine" I have some 'before' pictures posted.

 

For the guys with the clouded aero lights. If the clouding is on the outside surface you can sand them down starting with some 600 grit sand paper. Work your way finer. Then polish them. Once you have them were you want them, polish wise. Clean them thoroughly and then spray them with some 2K clear coat ( using spray gun or rattle can ) . I've done this on many vehicles with good results. They stay nice and clear for years. This takes a little time and elbow grease but saves having to buy replacements.

If the clouding is inside the lens you just need to replace them.

 

Vinegar rinse has worked for me in this scenario.

 

How long does that last? I've noticed that just polishing the outside of the lens doesn't last very long without applying a good clear coat over it. Never had much luck with fixing the inside of the lenses.

 

Good question, but I don't know the answer... I've yet to have to do it a second time on any of the cars I've rinsed. I'm at about 25k miles and 3 years on the E350 (since I purchased used with 9yrs and 60k miles on it), and I haven't noticed a need to do it again. I think the haze is a function of using the bulbs inside the lens (off-gassing or ???) more than UV damage from sunlight. I don't drive much with the lights on and don't have DRL, so I may not ever have to do it again! :-)

I learned the trick years ago with the Hella H4 halogen replacement headlights/housings for sealed beams (the old round headlights!).

 

Well, it turned out that the sealed beam trim and grille.does come in different colors. Mine was chrome, but there's also grey and black. The trim I got earlier was black, so I had to find a matching grille, only $20 locally. Tomorrow in heading back to another yard to get a relay extension of a power distribution block, so that ALL of my lighting will have full battery power.

 

... just need to find a hole under the hood near the battery for the roughly 8x7v4 dingus.

 

I've definitely learned a lot about E series headlights here.
This thread has me curious about increasing the brightness of the stock aero headlights on my 2004 E150.
( I hope this isn't too off-topic for this thread )
The beam pattern is ok (not great), and the brightness of the lights isn't all that great.
Reading here, sounds like the Hella h4 halogen bulb is an option.
Also sounds like there might be no suitable LED bulb that will work, and keep a decent beam pattern.
I haven't yet measured the voltages at the headlight bulb connectors, could be low.
Any ideas about making the headlights brighter ?

 

An increased wattage bulb will get it brighter, but will break DOT rules and heat up the wiring, yet is often the choice of many tuners, it's why they blind you, now Sylvania makes several options, the brightest, they don't last as long, but seem to have a whiter light.
https://www.sylvania-automotive.com/

 

Thanks maples01, I'll look into the Sylvania bulbs.

 

To be clear, the Hella Vision Plus are only the glass housings with fluted lens. Hella does also manufacture H4 bulbs, but I prefer the brightness of the 140/100 Flosser bulbs. Properly aimed, of course unlike the pattern of some of those HIDs, they are amazingly fantastic.
As far as the suspected heating up the wiring, this is NOT so, if wired up with relays, as I mentioned earlier.
Right now I've been waiting to hear back from Hella as to the proper size for the 6054 sealed beams