H5 Headlight refresh (before & after pics)

[MIK911]

Wil--any pics of your Cibies mounted in the valence? esp: side/angle shots?

thanks

[Quicksilver]

Originally posted by dmwallace
Seeeu911:

I would be interested in your comments after running the "improved" H5s for 2+ months now. Are you still satisfied with the light output? Have you had any heat-related issues from the 80/100 bulbs?

The H5s have a connector with very small blades that are a bit marginal with 80/100 bulbs. I ran 80/100s in my H5s for 4 years and burned up 2 connectors.

To make them reliable you need to make sure they are clean and that the female connectors have a tight grip.

BTW - Had to work to keep my H5s clean. (Not sure what the issue was.) I was never happy with the beam pattern even when they were perfectly clean. Switched to H4s and they put as much usable light on the road with 55/60s as the H5s did with 80/100s. I now run the H4s with 80/100s and it is so much better.

Driving in fog really points out the difference. The H5s wasted so much light upward that they would blind you in the fog. The H4s keep the light down where it can be used.

[Early_S_Man]

Seeeu911,

Wayne is quite right about the marginal Faston 0.187" connectors being a potential problem!

Although there are high temperature replacement H5 connectors available from Calterm at Advance Auto Parts, and probably others ... my suggestion is to just replace the connector with three individual female Faston 0.187" terminals. Make a diagram [laminate it and attach to the headlamp relay socket in the trunk with a Tywrap] with the color code for the wire to each bulb terminal and be sure to follow it carefully each time the assembly comes out for cleaning or bulb replacement. After cleaning the bulb tabs ... a bit of silicone grease can help control future corrosion on the connectors.

[Wavey]

Originally posted by Quicksilver
The H5s wasted so much light upward that they would blind you in the fog. The H4s keep the light down where it can be used.

And that is exactly the difference between H5s and H4s. The H4s have much better control of exactly where the light is going. They create a nice flat horizontal cutoff that brilliantly lights the road and the shoulders without bouncing wasted light upward. I have a set for my Carrera and haven't installed them yet. But I used them on many cars from the mid-70s until the manufacturers started designing cars with non-standard headlights. I still have a near-new set of 4 of the small round H4s in storage that would fit 4-headlight cars (ie: VW Scirocco, BMWs, etc).

[jyl]

I was quite happy with my cleaned-up H5s using 80/100 bulbs, and ran that way for appx 2 years. I think H5s can be perfectly adequate. But finally a plug socket burned out and I took that as the signal to switch to H4s. Swap in progress now.

I too would like to see pics of Wil's Cibie 35s. If they fit in the Carrera fog light enclosures, I'd like to go that route.

[javadog]

For what it is worth, the reason the H5s and earlier sealed-beam lights aren't as good as the H4 or H1 lights is because of the US regulations. There is a fundamental difference in the assumptions made by the weenies at the US DOT as to where the light put out by a headlamp should go, when compared to their European cousins. The Europeans think as much of it should go on the road as possible and very little should be distributed anywhere else. The US idiots, think that a significant portion of the light should be directed upwards.

The best way to see the difference is to drive down a hill into a valley, where the road then climbs back up another hill. The US lights will do a fair job of illuminating the road ahead that goes back up the hill, whereas the Euro lights will not.

No amount of farting around with different bulbs will help a US light much. The lens and reflector design cause the light output to be what it is. The H5 is a little bit better than the earlier sealed beams. If you are happy with an H5, so be it. Although, you ought to see what a well aimed H1 is capable of, before you make up your mind completely.

By the way, the single screw that holds a Euro light in place is more than adequate. Most of the actual holding power is from the lip on the headlight bucket. Properly installed in an undamaged bucket, a Euro light will "snap" into place as it is pushed down, which is what holds it to the car. The screw essentially just keeps it from popping back up to where it can be removed. I'd wager the only mounting problems are with a car or light that has sustained damage.

JR

[dmwallace]

Seeeu911:

Just wanted to report back that I did use your check list today to clean the H5's, along with installing SilverStar bulbs, the dessicant packet parts and a Sucro relay. Everything went very smoothly thanks to all of the posts on this topic. The headlights look much brighter in the driveway. I'll be taking a short drive tonight and then will get them aimed tomorrow.

[dmwallace]

After getting the headlights aimed I did a drive last night and can report that there is a noticeable improvement in the headlights from the H5 cleaning process discussed here along with new SilverStar bulbs and the Sucro relay. From reading other threads it seems clear that the H4 upgrade would be a further improvement, however the cleaning process/new bulbs/relay has helped out enough so that I can defer the upgrade for awhile.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread as the details on how to do this was a big help to me.

[Wil Ferch]

Coming back late to this thread....

no ... I don't have pics of my Cibie 35's installed....but it looks a lot like Zoanas' Hella 450's...

Correct...due to the curvature of the valence, the inside vertical edge of the light is somewhat "inboard" of the valence hole...and the outside edge of the light is somewhat "outside" the hole. I don't see this as particularly a bad thing, especially with the black housings of the '35's. The Hella's having a more grey tone plastic housing may make it more desirable to try to refit the OEM fog aero covers.

-Wil

[ZOA NOM]

Originally posted by Wil Ferch
no ... I don't have pics of my Cibie 35's installed....but it looks a lot like Zoanas' Hella 450's...

Silly, it was me that asked. I know what mine look like!

[Wil Ferch]

Well....Mik911 asked too.... I saw that post and answered ...

... I see now that you asked too...sorry...was looking in reverse order coming back to this thread...

- Wil

[ianc]

Why do people recommend alchohol? Dries faster?

I just used a water\detergent mix and mashed it around with a rag on a stick then let it dry in the sun. Big improvement certainly.

I'd like to polish the outside of the lenses to get some of the small chiplets out. Any suggestions on something easily obtainable?

ianc

[87coupe]

The water detergent mixture will leave a residue if not thoroughly rinsed, will not dissolve the dirt/contaminants as well, and will take much longer to dry completely. The alcohol method doesn't require using the "rag on a stick". I would recommend adding epsom salt or uncooked rice to the alcohol if you have a really dirty lense or stubborn dirty spots

[dmwallace]

87coupe, who started this thread, came up with the alcohol idea. It worked well for me although I did blow some air in to accelerate the drying process. If I did this again I would look to use some denatured alcohol, which if memory serves is 90% alcohol vs. 70% for regular isopropyl, as it would cut through the gunk even better and dry faster. Someone suggested adding rice to the alcohol, I decided not to attempt this in case I couldn't get every grain out.

Re. polishing the lens exterior - I recall a posting somewhere here where someone discussed doing it but can't recall what they used. Perhaps try a search on headlight and polish?

[87coupe]

Originally posted by dmwallace
Someone suggested adding rice to the alcohol, I decided not to attempt this in case I couldn't get every grain out.

Good point. Make sure you thoroughly rinse.

[upon3pr]

Hi!

I have mine posted for sale, but one is slightly off-color. I tried the Isopropyl cleaning method on inside and lense still looks off. Is it just an old faded lense?

I am reducing the price due to the difference in color, but any thoughts on this?

TIA

[javadog]

Some plastics to yellow with age. Some of that can be reversed using hydrogen peroxide (in higher concentrations than what’s likely to be in your bathroom) and UV light or sunlight.

I’ve never done this with an H5 headlight lens, but I have successfully treated other yellowed plastics.

If you have to sometimes be careful with solvents or chemicals of any kind and plastic. I once found out the hard way by soaking a plastic mirror housing in isopropyl alcohol to remove a painted layer. I ended up destroying the plastic part entirely. Oops, who knew?

[upon3pr]

Pretty sure my lenses are glass though. Thanks for the advice nonetheless!

[javadog]

Sorry about that. I always used H1 and H4 lights, never the H5. I thought the H5’s had some plastic parts in them. Maybe it was the housings… it’s been a while since I was around one and I can’t say that my memory has improved with age.

Do you think that the glass itself has yellowed? I can’t see that happening. Is it possible that what is behind the lens has yellowed and you’re simply seeing that, through the clear glass? Or were the assemblies made at different times, perhaps by different suppliers?

[ADDvanced]

I think the yellow is on the reflector; probably corroding.