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SABAN
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Hi i'm new

Post by SABAN »

hi i'm new here. i've owned a couple of tf tg's but went away from them for a while. now i have a td 4 door with a lot of mods, fj20 turbo 5 speed supra box and a 4 link coil over 9 inch rear. i have a question thought it'd be best to ask in here, is the a headlight conversion i can get to upgrade the square seald beam units in mine?

thanks johnny.
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Germinator
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Post by Germinator »

Those TD square headlights are difficult to find and they were only ever made in semi sealed beams, never in halogen. there are no aftermarket sources for the lights. The lights are not a general standard size, they are unique to the Gemini. Problem you will find is the reflective backing is often damaged and although people try and fix it by using frosted silver paint, it isn't the same as the original chromed finish. I don't think it would pass roadworthy criteria with painted reflectors.

Another mod people do is to remove the globe and fit H4 halogen globes in their place. The problem with that is halogen lights need special lenses and reflector to withstand the extra heat of halogen globes and the focal point is different for the H4 globes. What this does is cooks the light housing and leaves the focus all out of whack causing incorrect focus of the beam. That spreads the light pattern badly and can also dazzle oncoming traffic.
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Post by Cazz »

Germinator wrote:Those TD square headlights are difficult to find and they were only ever made in semi sealed beams, never in halogen. there are no aftermarket sources for the lights. The lights are not a general standard size, they are unique to the Gemini. Problem you will find is the reflective backing is often damaged and although people try and fix it by using frosted silver paint, it isn't the same as the original chromed finish. I don't think it would pass roadworthy criteria with painted reflectors.

Another mod people do is to remove the globe and fit H4 halogen globes in their place. The problem with that is halogen lights need special lenses and reflector to withstand the extra heat of halogen globes and the focal point is different for the H4 globes. What this does is cooks the light housing and leaves the focus all out of whack causing incorrect focus of the beam. That spreads the light pattern badly and can also dazzle oncoming traffic.
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Post by RedGemCoupe »

Welcome to OzGemini.
You can convert the TD headlights to the earlier round headlights, buckets and surrounds. You can usually find the round headlights on 4 wheel drives etc with H4 lamps.
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Post by Dusty Gem »

While I don't have the same experience, I think one way to get better light is to convert the front to round lights with the lights and grille from a TX or TC, and then put halogen inserts in. Apart from many donor cars which had 7" round halogen headlights, they are also available new from manufacturers such as Cibie, Hella or Narva through auto accessory stores. They give much more light than any sealed beam, given that the technology is more than 30 years newer.

Another way of getting more light is to put in relays and heavier wire to rewire the headlight circuit. Any voltage drop has a drastic effect on light output - eg 15% less voltage gives only 53% of the light output compared to full voltage. There's a post here about it: viewtopic.php?t=1524 .

Edit: Too late, someone's already beaten me to the bit about the round lights!
84 TG Gemini SL/X 5 spd, Koni 'reds', urethane bushes, extractors, Davies Craig thermo fan, Crane Cams ignition, re-graphed distributor; 98 Honda Civic Vti-R, Koni Sports.
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Post by troyrotor »

ive done the wire upgrade worked well.

also ive cut out the sealed bulbs and soldiered in hologen bulbs make a big difference
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Post by SABAN »

thanks for the informative replys. it's nice to know there are forums where people try to help. cheers guys!

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Post by dbart1961 »

I put those crystal round headlights off Ebay on mine with H4 globes. Also wired a relay on low beam and another on High but i find the lights are crap. Stay away from blue globes unless you are willing to spend 200 bucks for the good ones.
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Post by Germinator »

I do know a bit about Halogen globe technology, was lucky to have been through a Hella training course when I was working at Autobarn. Two things really matter with halogen globes:
A/ keeping the globe absolutely clean (never touch the glass globe part and if you do, wipe it clean with metho on clean paper tissue)
B/ ensure you have full voltage at the light globe.

Any grease off your fingers will burn onto the glass envelope which can cause the globe to blow prematurely.

Low voltage accelerates the death of halogen globes too. Ever find your globe looks like a mirror going on inside? That's what low voltage does. Halogen globes 'burn' the wire filament inside and it reacts with the gas inside to create a really bright light, as the gas cools it deposits the metal vapour back on the filament. Look at a used globe, note the wire filament seems to have tiny balls of molted metal on it :) When teh voltage is low, the molten metal vapour deposits on th einside of the glass and the element gets thinner till it breaks.

With all the choice of H4 light globes today I personally agree with steering clear of fancy coloured globes. Avoid high wattage globes, they produce heaps of heat that kills the light housings. My suggestion is to use Hella XDP1260/55BL - H4 Premium Xenon Halogen Globe - Plus 30 or Hella XDX1260/55BL - H4 Premium Xenon Halogen Globe - Plus 50. They have a clean bright white light and don't generate excessive of heat. You won't get more light from using 90/110 watt globes.

Fit relays to provide full battery power on both high and low beams.


Now those incredibly bright headlights you see that have a coloured tinge are NOT just a different globe in a standard headlight. They are a new technology light similar to the overhead lights you find in factories. They are called HID (High Intensity Discharge) xenon lights and are very similar to mercury vapor lights except they use a fast ignition technology and don't require long time to ignite them. They use less power to produce more light and require a special light housing and a ballast to run each light. instead of a metal element heating white hot and glowing the gas inside the lamp glows. The same technology also not makes instant start metal halide lamps a possibility. You see them used in shopping malls a lot.
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Post by dbart1961 »

Good write up Germy, so the lights I have are not the issue of my poor lighting but more so the s*#t globes I have. I also tried brighter globes but found they were useless. I will source the Hella ones you are talking about and give them a try.
Is this them?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Pair-Hella-12V-6 ... 2c560e40ca
OH crap. Took a chance and purchased them but didn't realise they were "cool blue"
Bugger
Regards, Dave
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Post by Germinator »

Too many words, can't handle it!!!
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Post by Dusty Gem »

I just thought I’d add a bit more about better halogen globes. There are actually three “premium” globe manufacturers in the world currently – Philips, Osram, and General Electric, who produce the majority of vehicle “OEM” headlight globes. They make the best halogen car globes, and do the most research into improved halogen globes, such as +30/50/60/80/90 or HIR (Halogen Infra-red, a GE technology). Osram and Philips globes are the easiest to get in Australia, and in many cases, their premium bulbs are re-packaged by other brands. Hella globes are always made by other manufacturers – typically Osram, or recently Autopal, an Indian lighting company.

The best “standard wattage” (55/60W) H4 globes at present are the Philips X-treme Power globes http://www.xp-lamp.com/ , which are +80% globes, and the Osram Night Breaker bulbs, which they claim are +90%, but which independent tests by lighting laboratories have shown are very similar in output to the Philips X-tremes. Both are fairly pricey (typically $50-$80 per pair), but as they are +80/90, are superior to any +50 bulbs. Narva re-package the Osram Night Breakers as Narva Blue Power bulbs, which are widely available in Australia from auto accessory places such as Repco, Autobarn, Bursons etc. In fact, the Osram Australia website actually says as much http://www.osram.com.au/osram_au/Profes ... index.html ! Note that they aren’t the typical “blue coated” headlight bulbs – the majority of the Night Breaker/Blue Power bulb glass is clear, so they don’t have the reduced light output of most blue-coated bulbs.

I’m currently running Philips X-treme Power H4 globes and a headlight wiring loom with relays on my Civic, and the result is far superior to the standard globes and (very thin) wiring. I have +30 Philips (Narva re-branded) globes in my Gemini, but it will get some Philips X-treme globes and re-wired relay looms when I get around to it. I can’t believe how stupid the Holden relay wiring is – I’ve got electrical engineering qualifications, and it beats me why they did it like that. As one of the other forum members noted, if either relay fails, you’ve lost both low and high beams – crazy! I would have re-wired them before now, but the Gregory’s service manual is no help at all with the headlight wiring circuit. Obviously it was a bit too complex for them, so they left it out! :oops: I now have the Isuzu PF60 service manual, which shows it.

Finally, if you want the best halogen inserts for the TX/TC/TE/TF headlights, the Cibie halogen inserts are the best. The Hella and Autopal (Narva/Hansa) inserts are good, but the Cibie ones are better, according to overseas lab testing. Unfortunately Hansa Parts, the Aussie Cibie distributors, are pretty ordinary with their distribution and advertising, so they are hard to find. Many rally/motorsport parts suppliers can get them though – in Hobart I can recommend Autocraft. I used to have Hella inserts in some previous cars I had, but a friend’s Cibie headlights in a Renault put them in the shade, so to speak. :D

-Don
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Post by dbart1961 »

I just put the Hella ones in recommended by Germy, $25.00 delivered off Ebay, and they are pretty good.
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Post by Germinator »

The reason I suggested the ones I did is they are easy to get hold of at most auto stores and they are value for money. You'd be pissed off to have a globe you paid $40 for blow in a short time and I took into consideration the cars many people here drive are firm suspension with ultra low profile tyres so jarring the light globes is going to be an issue. I just think it's logical to go the middle ground sometimes, nice clean white lights with an affordable price tag.

You can pay mega $$$ for lights but they all break. :wink:
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Post by dbart1961 »

Germinator wrote:The reason I suggested the ones I did is they are easy to get hold of at most auto stores and they are value for money. You'd be pissed off to have a globe you paid $40 for blow in a short time and I took into consideration the cars many people here drive are firm suspension with ultra low profile tyres so jarring the light globes is going to be an issue. I just think it's logical to go the middle ground sometimes, nice clean white lights with an affordable price tag.

You can pay mega $$$ for lights but they all break. :wink:
My headlight globes only last a few months because of the jarring you mention :(
Regards, Dave
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