H1 Headlamp Questions

[josephvman]

I ordered some Phillips H4 bulbs for the '84 Targa I got last week, only to realize when I wen to install them that I have H1's in the car! I've never had H1 headlights before and have been digging around in the posts trying to educate myself. I see there are separate hi and low beam bulbs, but does anyone know what the wattage is supposed to be for each? I'd like to order the Phillips X-treme Vision 55w for the low-beam, but Phillips doesn't appear to make a bright bulb for the hi-beam. Any suggestions for someplace with a good selection of quality H1 bulbs?

I've ordered a headlight relay kit from Pelican, even though it's probably not necessary given the bulbs I'll likely run. I can see the benefit of bypassing the stalk switch though, and at some point if I want to change to H4's and run higher wattage bulbs I can.

I struggled reinstalling the lights and didn't realize there was a chrome ring holding the lights in and the painted ring covers it with a single screw at the bottom. Is this the way these are supposed to be fitted? It took me a few tries and eventually I pushed on the chrome ring/headlight and it sort of snapped into the bodywork, and I screwed the painted trim ring over it. Everything seems tight, but I'm surprised that there's just one screw holding it all together.

[Arne2]

H1s were used only through the early '72 cars. Porsche changed to H4s as soon as the first dual filament H4 bulbs were available. Years back, there used to be 100W H1 bulbs, but they were hard to find.

If you have painted trim covers, you should really have a special pair of inner/outer screw for each light. But other than that, you have it correct.

Tell you what, since the H4s I have for my early '72 911T are not correct for my car, I'll trade you for your H1s. You can keep and use the painted covers, so no painting necessary. Seriously, you can thank me later. ;-D

[RSTarga]

You certainly hit the lottery with those H1's They are worth some money, although, from my experience the H4's are better and easier to adjust.
Arne is correct, one screw holds the headlight in and another screw hold the cover over the chrome.
Make sure the headlight is securely hooked onto the lip at the top.
You can get the bulbs from Daniel Stern, (do a search).

[RWebb]

I never heard of a painted trim ring on H1's - are you sure that's what you have?

The struggle to get it seated correctly DOES make it sound like you have H1's tho. And yes a single screw at top holds the entire expensive & irreplaceable assembly in...

Do yourself a favor and put a big heavy zip tie or nylon cord in there to hold each H1 so it only drops a few inches instead of onto the road if it comes loose.

The rubber seal is also tricky to get right.

[Arne2]

Randy, the painted trim cover used with H4s on black trim SCs and Carreras will also fit over the chrome ring on the H1s. Exactly the same part and fasteners.

[donporfi]

check this post, you can see there the screw that holds the two rings.

Assembling Euro H4's

[josephvman]

Yeah, I'm beginning to figure that out! I may end up replacing them with new H4's, for more flexibility with bulbs and I'm going to install the relay kit anyway. It took me a few tries and a lot of extremely bad words until I got the lights to "pop" onto that lip and screwed down the outer ring, and some kind of "safety line" isn't a bad idea.

I'll contact Daniel Stern when I'm ready. The car is fantastic and needs basically nothing mechanically, but headlights are pretty far down on my list after some minor cosmetic paint issues, new tires, radio/speakers, and exhaust system/chip.

Here are few pics from my first purely fun drive on Sunday:

Originally Posted by RSTarga

You certainly hit the lottery with those H1's They are worth some money, although, from my experience the H4's are better and easier to adjust.
Arne is correct, one screw holds the headlight in and another screw hold the cover over the chrome.
Make sure the headlight is securely hooked onto the lip at the top.
You can get the bulbs from Daniel Stern, (do a search).

[Arne2]

A few final thoughts. H1s are fussier to aim, but can give better lighting than H4s with equal wattage when wired and aimed correctly. But to get best output requires accurate aiming, and wiring mods to make the low beams stay on with the high beams.

H4s mount to the car exactly the same as the H1s you now have. So there will be no difference there.

H1s are desired by many owners of '72 and older 911s, since they are more 'period correct' than H4s. This even though the shape and look of the two different lights is the same. Recently the asking prices for good H1s seems to have softened noticeably (just like the prices on the early 911 cars themselves). Still have good value, but not the somewhat stupid prices of a couple years ago.

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by josephvman

I ordered some Phillips H4 bulbs for the '84 Targa I got last week, only to realize when I wen to install them that I have H1's in the car! I've never had H1 headlights before and have been digging around in the posts trying to educate myself. I see there are separate hi and low beam bulbs, but does anyone know what the wattage is supposed to be for each? I'd like to order the Phillips X-treme Vision 55w for the low-beam, but Phillips doesn't appear to make a bright bulb for the hi-beam. Any suggestions for someplace with a good selection of quality H1 bulbs?

I've ordered a headlight relay kit from Pelican, even though it's probably not necessary given the bulbs I'll likely run. I can see the benefit of bypassing the stalk switch though, and at some point if I want to change to H4's and run higher wattage bulbs I can.

I struggled reinstalling the lights and didn't realize there was a chrome ring holding the lights in and the painted ring covers it with a single screw at the bottom. Is this the way these are supposed to be fitted? It took me a few tries and eventually I pushed on the chrome ring/headlight and it sort of snapped into the bodywork, and I screwed the painted trim ring over it. Everything seems tight, but I'm surprised that there's just one screw holding it all together.

H1's just use 2ea H1 bulbs. Same bulb for Hi or Low beam. The Phillips X-treme Vision is the absolute best bulb for your H1's. I have that setup for my H1's along with the relay upgrade and could not be happier. I also have the painted trim ring covers on them painted body color. I've used H4's in the past, but a well aimed set of H1's
is far superior IMO.

[RWebb]

and BTW, the big benefit of H1's is the ability to aim the high beams differently from the low beams

set the lows for traffic and the highs for max range on a lonely hwy

the BiXenon in my Boxster S seemed even better than the H1s and we may be near the end of their superiority reign...

I've had sets on two different 911s and am not a fan of running both beams at once - I like to focus far away on high beam and putting the lows on at the same time attracts the eye to be closer to the car

you could easily add a switch to do both options tho

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by RWebb

and BTW, the big benefit of H1's is the ability to aim the high beams differently from the low beams

set the lows for traffic and the highs for max range on a lonely hwy

the BiXenon in my Boxster S seemed even better than the H1s and we may be near the end of their superiority reign...

I've had sets on two different 911s and am not a fan of running both beams at once - I like to focus far away on high beam and putting the lows on at the same time attracts the eye to be closer to the car

you could easily add a switch to do both options tho

You are absolutely correct, DON'T run both high and low bulbs together.
The brightness of the nearfield low beam light spoils your far away high beam vision.
It causes your pupils to constrict and far vision suffers!

[josephvman]

Thanks! So if the wattage is the same on each bulb, is it only the placement of the bulb in the reflector that makes the difference and the appearance of a bright high beam?

Since there are individual wires for high and low, does the standard relay setup you'd use for the H4's work for the H1's?

Originally Posted by uwanna

H1's just use 2ea H1 bulbs. Same bulb for Hi or Low beam. The Phillips X-treme Vision is the absolute best bulb for your H1's. I have that setup for my H1's along with the relay upgrade and could not be happier. I also have the painted trim ring covers on them painted body color. I've used H4's in the past, but a well aimed set of H1's
is far superior IMO.

[darrin]

Originally Posted by josephvman

Thanks! So if the wattage is the same on each bulb, is it only the placement of the bulb in the reflector that makes the difference and the appearance of a bright high beam?

Since there are individual wires for high and low, does the standard relay setup you'd use for the H4's work for the H1's?

As I understand it, by using separate bulbs/reflectors, the high beam and low beam dispersion patterns can be better optimized/presented.

As for the relay, a h4 bulb has two filaments and separate power wires for each filament (although a h4 plug has only 3 wires, the two filaments share a common ground), so wiring the relays for a h1 headlight should be no different than for a h4 headlight (one relay for high beam circuit and a second for low beam circuit)

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by josephvman

Thanks! So if the wattage is the same on each bulb, is it only the placement of the bulb in the reflector that makes the difference and the appearance of a bright high beam?

Since there are individual wires for high and low, does the standard relay setup you'd use for the H4's work for the H1's?

Yes, the placement is what makes the high beam more focused and intense.
Yes, the relay setup is wired just the same as the H4, they both use the same
three pin connector plug.

[josephvman]

I had a fun day playing around with the Targa. I installed the headlight relay kit from Pelican, which was pretty easy. The hardest part was fishing the wires behind the fusebox, but as soon as I found my needlenose pliers with the 90-degree bend I was able to pull them through. My '84 US car had wiring that matched the instructions perfectly. I also replaced all 4 H1 bulbs. In my garage things looked instantly better with the relay, even before I changed the bulbs, but it's just now dark enough for me to take the car out to see how they look.

I also replaced the trim pieces for the front seatbelt mounts at the B-pillar, which was easy.

Here's my list of upcoming things to do:

-Replace rear seatbelt trim.
-Install new radio & speakers
-New Tires
-Install M&K cat bypass and muffler, and Steve Wong chip.
-Replace driver's side seat foam and cracked piping, refinish leather on both seats.


It's going in the bodyshop in a couple of weeks for the following.

-Refinish chewed up front latch panel.
-Repaint front end.
-Replace dented rear under-bumper panel.
-Remove dents & refinish side rocker covers (prior jacking dents).
-Refinish black paint on Fuchs.
-Refinish mirrors.
-Paint-correct rest of the car.

Once it gets back I'll Xpel the full front of the car.

[Hotshot]

Originally Posted by josephvman

I had a fun day playing around with the Targa. I installed the headlight relay kit from Pelican, which was pretty easy. The hardest part was fishing the wires behind the fusebox, but as soon as I found my needlenose pliers with the 90-degree bend I was able to pull them through. My '84 US car had wiring that matched the instructions perfectly. I also replaced all 4 H1 bulbs. In my garage things looked instantly better with the relay, even before I changed the bulbs, but it's just now dark enough for me to take the car out to see how they look.

I also replaced the trim pieces for the front seatbelt mounts at the B-pillar, which was easy.

Here's my list of upcoming things to do:

-Replace rear seatbelt trim.
-Install new radio & speakers
-New Tires
-Install M&K cat bypass and muffler, and Steve Wong chip.
-Replace driver's side seat foam and cracked piping, refinish leather on both seats.


It's going in the bodyshop in a couple of weeks for the following.

-Refinish chewed up front latch panel.
-Repaint front end.
-Replace dented rear under-bumper panel.
-Remove dents & refinish side rocker covers (prior jacking dents).
-Refinish black paint on Fuchs.
-Refinish mirrors.
-Paint-correct rest of the car.

Once it gets back I'll Xpel the full front of the car.

I have a red 86 targa like yours and like you I want the H4s. I’m gonna keep the chrome rims as I like the retro-ness of it. I may have missed it but did you start out with sugar scoops like mine?

I to have a list of things I’m doing electrically. PO put the SW chip in and all that. I’m fusing my floor blower motors. Check and see if yours are. Lot of guys on here do that mod.

Your to do list has many things I’m doing so I look forward to reading about it.

If you do your seats, I made a write up on that.