7 INCH LIGHTS - WORK WELL...look Great

Duckworth · Duckworth's Garage

A few thoughts to pass along to anyone considering swapping out their 7 inch headlights.

Everyone and their uncle seems to think that the '8' inch are a necessary upgrade. Bigger bulbs are one way to go, but consider a few things before abandoning your 7's. My car is an '80 and it has H4's. Apparently '78-79 models were not.

The nice thing about 7's are how beautiful the flat glass is on the outside. Add to this a fluted casting on the inside that is visible when standing near the car. The 'domed' 8 inch just don't have that vintage look. That said, you have to work on the 7's in aiming their light because the pattern of light is spread -being a linear pattern left to right. Therefore, you have to set them up in the garage with cardboard in front to, basically - move both beams to share coverage of the road...directly in front of you. This enhances your visibility.

Next came working with the fog lights to 'assist' the headlights. This is trickier, but worth the effort. Tough thing is that the angle of the bumper where the left fog sits means that as you raise the light - it will bother other drivers, because the travel to the right of the road is limited by the receding angle of the left-front bumper. So the fix is to take the left fog the full direction to the right - and then unhinge it from adj. screw and insert a skinny1 inch alum tube to aim it further to the right. So now, this gets the light to work with the other 3 lights as a team....4 lights working in tandem with one another.

No, it's not the super-light of the bigger reflecting 8's - but it's big step upward. Btw, the stock 55 watt bulbs keeps the heat range down and plastic cool. I also got a 'bump' upward by checking voltage and finding that terminals were down on voltage...to 10.5 volts. I cleaned and soldered 5 - 6 marginal looking wire-ends, tightened terminals - and glad to see--- 11.5 volts appear at the voltmeter...
Wiring clean-up takes some time but it boosts the light by 10 - 15%.

The whole job must be done in stages because the adjustments take time and trial runs to test the results. I did it in stages - spanning a few weeks. 60 minutes in an afternoon won't cut it...

Rixter · 05-21-2007, 02:18 PM

gonna have to agree to disagree on this one on a number of issues

all 928s were intended to use the h4's, US cars got the 7" (and thus the stupid trim ring) as part of USDOT requirments,

while a 7" light might be nice on crowded roads, and bother other drivers less, the h4 is FAR superior for unlit, backroads driving... in fact, if you were to use 1 h4 from a lhd, and 1 from a rhd you'd get the best coverage you can imagine
also, the earlier euros had a hydraulic adjuster to account for higher traffic areas (you could point them down further, or up when on dark roads without traffic)

the S4's were fitted with 8" lights as well, but h5 version

have a nice day!

Danglerb · 05-21-2007, 06:28 PM

I can't say I am 100% with any lighting options from the factory. Porken did some interesting things, but I am not motivated to change the chrome rings yet. 8" lights seem too big to me even closed, open it doesn't look right to me either.

I haven't been happy since I read someplace that the headlights up reduce the top end something like 5 mph.

rhjames · rhjames's Garage

Mmm....

Rixter is on to something----

I have two sets of 8 inchers, both rhd and lhd, but never thought about combining the two......

Interesting thought it is.....

may just try------

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rhjames · rhjames's Garage

Come on, D----

do you have some place you're going to run yours "top end" at night?

That should be interesting........

Danglerb · 05-21-2007, 09:05 PM

Bars close up about 2 am, commuter rush starts about 5 am, and for maybe an hour in the middle you get fairly empty freeways and Banzai runners in SoCal. Used to anyway, I haven't looked into it in years, but that was when the 200+ mph cars would come out to play.

I don't like the 8" look, and as the only bit of chrome Porsche put on the cars keeping it original adds to the appeal for me.

rhjames · rhjames's Garage

yeah, I'm familiar with the night runners......

we just go out to Ft. Stockton and do it (Pecos Run) in the daytime-----no speed limits, no cops, run what you bring as fast as you can.....

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Duckworth · Duckworth's Garage

Rixter, the 7 " lights are in fact H4 from '80 onwards, are they not ?

By the way, with lighter color cars, that trim ring is a beautiful thing that integrates the headlight with the fender. Most cases, I would agree that less junk on the car, the better. But chrome is way cool on the front (eyes) of a 928.

More importantly, the 7" glass is practically 'art' all by itself. The casting that is seen is close to 'phantom rolls royce' in appearance.... But, I don't like what all the refraction does to the available candlelight. Because, as is the case with (ex.,) Buick Century, - the light is scattered too far left and right. This is the main problem - not the sealed beam, or H bulb inside.

For example, if Porsche had just simplified the idea of a 'rounded' funnel of light 'directly' to the road in front of us, and not complicated things by trying to create a swath of light (left and right) ....... that would have been the ticket.

Whoever has the 8" - do you have tons of light ? I personally haven't been in a 928 with them, so could use some input there.

DanielDudley · 05-23-2007, 05:34 PM

S4 headlights are fantastic as far a stock setups go, and I was very pleased with mine. There are a number of 7'' bulbs available now, starting with the new Sylvania Halogens that are an improvement on the old halogens, and the focused Hellas. I just got a set of those, but havent been in the real dark yet, so I can't comment on them.