Wal-Mart did not have the conversion kits. I've priced them at AutoZone for about $42 per pair. I've seen conversion kits on the internet for as much as $300 (has ballast and all that). Does the conversion kit install just like a headlight or do you have to remove much of the existing headlight housing. I am confused as to which conversion kit I would use for a 1983 Ford F150 (3 plug bulb)? Any input on resources for this conversion kit would be greatly appreciated. I would like to convert my headlights over to a halogen type bulb.

 

Wal Mart may not be calling it a conversion. It's just a pair of replacement headlamps that use halogen bulbs. No modifications required, unless you decide to go with the relay system described above which is an excellent upgrade and still a reasonable investment. Gives you the maximum available voltage to the headlights for highest output of whatever bulb you are running.

The $300 deal you've seen is probably the HID or high energy discharge lighting system, brighter and bluer than halogen.

 

would you really buy a coversion kit from wally ville. I wouldn't trust them to build a quality lenses with the proper spread and reasearch that goes into them cheaply. I would expect too spend around 100 bucks for a set of lenses. Hella makes some quality lenses

 

Good point. Stick with known brands. I made the mistake of buying a set off of ebay, they were nice and bright but the optics suck. Low beam is great but the high beams are all over the place and not focused down the road. Probably made in MF China.

 

I bought one of the $40 kits at Schucks, only thing was the housing was thicker, so I had to buy longer screws for the retaining rings. The kit usually says to use a H4 type bulb, but if you put it side by side with a 9003 bulb, they are the same plug and everything, and there are more options available with 9003 bulb. When I did my conversion, silverstar did not have a H4 bulb available. They might now, but I haven't checked.

 

Something else to check is the condition of the wiring harness from the alternator to the hot side of the solenoid and the voltage regulator. About a week ago I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden my tach started jumping all over the place. I kept going to where I was going and when I came out about 4 hours later the truck refused to do anything electrical. No lights, no horn, no crank, no nothing, not even a click, but as soon as I pop started it, everything -kinda- worked (tach still jumped, lights flickered, ignition wanted to cut out, but i only had to move it 2 blocks).

So, in my mind this all came down to no juice from the battery to the voltage regulator, but juice from the alternator to the reg. Well, the ring end on the wire that hooks to the hot side of the solenoid was toast so i decided to pull the whole harness out to check it out.

The insulation was worn through in 3 or 4 spots with green corrosion all over, some of the factory splices crumbled in my hands, others were so corroded my multimeter would barely take an ohms reading across them.

So, after all was said and done and that section of teh harness was straightened out, my lights are about twice as bright as they were before and maintain the same brightness. Before they got dim when I was off the gas and got brighter when I was on the gas.

So, before doing all of this relay stuff (which is still a really good idea), i'd say check out your main feed/charging harness and see what shape it's in. The last 20 years had been pretty hard on mine.

Justin

 

Good post. Hadn't seen that yet.

 

I tought i putt he info in here but i didn't see it. When upgrading ro trying to get your electrical system up to snuff it, the system works like an engine. On an engine you start with intake and exhaust. Well to me The + is the intake and the - is the exhaust. Clean and sometimes get larger wires to replace them so the juice can flow through the circuit.

On the + side i replace everything at the batt with larger 2/0 gauge, very fine and large at .75 diam


Also install a Large fuse slightly more than the alt output if you get a larger alt.

On the ground side clean everything up also. Like where it mounts to the frame then to the motormount. I also replaced that with 2/0. Also clean the body ground going to the motor. Theres a frame to body ground to IIRC.

Also on the stock alt pull th rubber boots back on the terms and look how thin and small they are, they look like something i use on my stereo, not something i would trust on my alt.

 

Thanks for the switch tips.

I replaced it a little while ago, but was affraid to istall new bulbs (since I would still loose my regular beams). But a salesman at my favorite parts store hooked my up with an explanation and conditional bulb deal. My highs now seam to work just fine.

I also got a good deal on some inexpensive driving lights, I be installing them this weekend... and when my headlights go out again (maybe sooner) I'm definately going for the HID conversion.