just upgraded my sealed beam to bosch's conversion h4
 

the unit i bought is marked E1 (ECE from Germany) instead of the regular DOT version. i've always hated the undefined beam pattern of DOT. its just a blotch of light on the wall and on the road. now that i finally got around to upgrading to ECE version... it has a really nice sharp cutoff like this __/

the beam dispersion was pretty smooth across the road and definitely surpasses my old sealed beam which were marketed as high output extended life from GE.

it uses the h4 bulbs which means i can upgrade to higher wattage bulb or what is called +bulbs (not those blue tinted ones). +bulbs are made more efficient compared to the standard halogen.

bought the kit from partsource here in canada for about cdn$90 plus taxes. will post some pic's once i find my dang usb cable for the camera... lol!

H4 white light lamps are super nice. I love them for the sharpness they give.

Happen to know if they make them for vehicles without sealed beam headlights?

I think I would be careful with higher wattage bulbs. We just had the discussion that the whole current is routed through the light switch making it vulnerable for meltdowns.
I have installed H4 bulbs that are 50% brighter than regular H4 bulbs in all my cars. Great output! They are made by Osram and Philipps. Bulbs with a wattage higher than 55/60 W are illegal here anyway.

Check this out on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...953712604&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...954086187&rd=1

i am already running a relay driven headlamp harness for both the lo and hi beams. so higher wattage bulbs will not damage my switch nor my wires. the wires on the harness are all 12gauge.

as for the aero's that came with the composite lamp. i believe you can swap out those for the older aero's headlamp buckets and headlamp trim. and you should be able to swap over to the h4 conversion. there's only 3 brands that i would recommend... cibie, hella and bosch. all other's i would be careful about... especially those so called "diamond back" ones. most of them are just for show and not really giving any benefits in performance compared against the 3 brands.

I've got a set of the Hella H4 bulb holders in my '84 EXP. Great lighting pattern when compared to typical American garbage. Since the EXP is apart for a while anyway, I plan to swap out the composite lamps on the van for the earlier style sealed beams then put the Hella H4 assemblies in it. I'll rewire the lighting circuits at the same time use proper relays so that bulb wattage won't be an issue...

I have been currently running Sylvania Silver Stars in my vehicles and have never had a problem with them. 100% better than stock for night driving. I am just curious how the H4 compares?

ok.. here's the pix as promised.

http://www.cloudcars.org/albums/albu...0643.sized.jpg
passenger side with bosch h4 conversion ECE.

http://www.cloudcars.org/albums/albu...0644.sized.jpg
driver side with GE high output DOT.

http://www.cloudcars.org/albums/albu...0645.sized.jpg
both sides installed with bosch h4.

pix speaks for themselves. i love these lights.

Nevermind, looks nice. :-X22

I need to think about new lights for my Aerostar :)

If anyone is contemplating the conversion back to sealed beams, I highly recommend it. I did it years ago, and never looked back. ANYTHING is better than those miserable composite headlamps. Lousy light output, the plastic gets dull, etc.

It's not a hard conversion, and you should still be able to get the buckets and hardware from Ford.

Does it require just the headlight buckets and bulb retainer rings, or do I need to switch the chrome bezels and turn signals as well? I'm going to start hunting junkyards for the conversion parts as soon as the weather breaks a little...

found a new image hosting site. photobucket! since i could not edit my previous post. i will put the new links here.

Attachment 205315
passenger side with bosch h4 conversion ECE.

Attachment 205316
driver side with GE high output DOT.

Attachment 205317
both sides installed with bosch h4.

Hi AeroPA:

What exactly do we need for the conversion? As I have never done this before, I won't even know what to look for at the junkyard.

Thanks,

You need the metal "buckets" that hold the headlights. You'll need the chrome retaining rings for the headlights. You'll need the hold down springs. You'll need the adjusting screws, they will fit in the holes that are already there.

The retaining rings will have rubber or plastic "skirts" around them. You will also need to obtain "old style" 3 wire headlight plugs, and you'll need to attach them to the wires from the existing plugs. It will take some basic electrical skills and basic mechanical aptitude. Take your time, and study everything over carefully before you put them in.

There will be a bit of gap around the headlights, but the rubber "skirts" will fill it in enough so that it shouldn't bother you all that much. You can pick up the older parking/turn signal lamp assemblies, but I wasn't going to spend that much money. I'm OK with the way they look now.