@@GTArmstrong The swap itself was plug-and-play, so it was fairly easy. Funny enough, the bulb was not broken. Instead, the earth cable was broken so a new bulb didn't solve things. Haven't really tested the new bulb, but they feel a little bit brighter.
I have revived the black plastic shrouds. I cleaned them with soap, used isopropyl alchohol and then coated them with ceramic coating. That turned out real nice. I used Carpro dlux coating.
Great Update for our cars and great Video. As a second, the H4 harness is highly recommended to get the most out of your new lights and remove that strain from the factory harness. If you are not able to buy one, Could go over some details with you on making it.
Hi Devin! Thank you, and thank you for the offer to figure out a new harness - I was under the impression it wasn’t needed but, because you guys have a great deal more experience, I must listen! I’d prefer to make one - a lot more learning available for all of us in that.
You're going to want to upgrade the lighting harness as well. The stock wiring is 30+ years old and all the current runs through the headlight switch in the dash. The upgraded harness runs grabs the power straight from the battery or alternator and eliminates a lot of voltage drop from the stock setup. There are kits out there and instructions to make your own on the forums and here on UA-cam (edredas' channel).
@@GTArmstrong I've heard that LEDs draw less power so it's often the go to move to avoid upgrading/refreshing the wiring harness. I was reluctant to do the wiring harness, but it definitely gives you peace of mind, and I consider it one of those safety upgrades similar to doing fuel lines.
The faster you go the shorter your light gets, good at 70, not enough at 120-130. I liked the low beam, straight across, lft to rht to the center then a 45 degree up that lit up side road really good. Plenty on High beam.
@@RickyBobby615 - It's interesting that it would be designed to do that - I'd think the other way around makes much more sense...there's obviously a use case but I don't see or understand it. You're much more considered than I am when it comes to this - haha - I just had two broad criteria: More light - anything was better; and don't blind oncoming traffic. 😅 Thanks for sharing and helping those that might be tempted to go with the Cibies
I changed my head lights to Cibie’s from Bosch and installed LED bulbs (30 watts?). The lumens are far superior and the lighting is about 6000 K. I had 80/100 watt halogens and the LEDs are brighter and whiter. Use VRP for revitalizing Vinyl, Rubber and Plastic.
The odd headlamp retainer looks like a Lucas 7 inch unit normally fitted to Austin Mini or Mgb. 7 inch H4 lamps are ten a penny and available in various styles, so not sure why you went with old Jeep ones.... You can revive the shrouds with a heat gun on a low setting.
Thanks for your keen eye and insights. Jeep - I like the lenses and they were available where I live. As for using a heat gun - I’ve heard that this might revive over the short term but the longer term damage to the materials results in degradation that can’t be fixed - any experience with this?
@@GTArmstrong Understood. Well, I used the heatgun method on the non painted part of the door mirror (after taking it apart.) It worked fine on that. The plastic had gone sort of whiteish, and you could scratch the white off with a fingernail. The headlamp surrounds do seem to be a harder type of plastic. They're probably not subjected to UV light either, as they're only exposed at night. Maybe it's worth trying a white vinegar and water solution for them first - I've read this is another method for thermosetting plastic but haven't tried it.
Sadly conversion to LED in Europe is still forbidden, since regulation is a bit slow sometimes. Ill just have to settle with new light bulbs. The sealed beam units might have been mandatory in the USA to improve visibility and convenience. I think this was the reason why pop up headlights became such a big thing. For renewing the plastic trim you can try to use some detailing stuff that makes rubbers and plastics black (does wonders for the spoiler). If the plastic is only faded(UV damage), it might be worth to try and heat it to melt the surface a bit. If you want to make a new part and you don't have a 3d printer, then resin casting might be a easier option, since you don't have to mess with 3d software.
Oh wow - I didn’t know that about the EU… but the LED look can sometimes look really out of place anyway, so maybe it is for the better 😅 As for plastics - I’ve heard the heating process can degrade the plastics even further - it’s a short term solution. Do you have experience with this?
@@GTArmstrong Looking back at it, heating the plastic might not be great for you, since you get way more sun in South Africa. That might only last the summer instead of a year. And I wanted the LED replacement bulbs that just change the amount of lumen and light temperature instead of whole housing with the LED ring light. (which indeed looks horrible on the 944)
@@ThePlazmaBeast - okay, I’ll give that a skip unless I hear otherwise from someone locally. And yes, I did think about those same bulbs but went down the path of least resistance this time around.
Your left-side headlamp bucket is not correct to a 944. The right-side bucket is correct - the one you dismantled first. Both of the headlamp buckets should be the exact same. Also, the fact the left side did not have the connector is a bit suspicious. Often this is a sign that assembly was damaged at some point. Regarding not switching to LED… not sure that makes sense. LEDs will draw about 80% LESS current and run brighter, and nowadays you can pick what light ‘color’ you want. Not switching to LED leaves the full current passing through that old tired wiring. True you can add a supplemental relay set up, but the wiring, even with an off-the-shelf upgrade loom, wiring it to the car isn’t as simple as made out. On a turbo this alternator has a cooling duct that blocks access to the + terminal, meaning the simplest power source for the headlamp relay is difficult to get to. Wiring back to the battery is both a long run, meaning you need thicker wire, and ugly. The plastic surround is easily resurrected. I prefer AutoGlym Bumper and Trim gel. Works great on all external plastic.
Thank you for your insights, Neil. Yes, I've sourced another bucket and will be installing soon. As for LEDs - half of this decision is about availability of parts - here in SA, we don't have a huge amount to pick from and getting items here is an expense that often isn't worth it...or, raises our prices significantly and make some options much less appealing. So any LED solution I looked at I simply didn't like... The other half of the decision for me, specifically, is what is going to offer the greatest educational return - where will I learn the most - and replacing a harness or sourcing power off the alternator, albeit a pain, is the journey that I'm interested in. Upgrades are easy; education is sometimes a little tougher. Thanks for helping me along this journey with your insights and experience! And thanks for the top tip on the plastic resurrection - that we do have in SA 😃
If I'm not mistaken, only the US spec cars have sealed headlights. Will swap the bulbs on my car tomorrow, so I'll see if that's the case.
Ah, interesting! How did the swap go? What did you discover?
@@GTArmstrong The swap itself was plug-and-play, so it was fairly easy. Funny enough, the bulb was not broken. Instead, the earth cable was broken so a new bulb didn't solve things. Haven't really tested the new bulb, but they feel a little bit brighter.
I have revived the black plastic shrouds. I cleaned them with soap, used isopropyl alchohol and then coated them with ceramic coating. That turned out real nice. I used Carpro dlux coating.
Thank you, Lars - this is valuable!
Would love to see a video of adjusting the fuelling via the AFM
Hmmm - let me do some spark plug reading and see if that says any adjustment is needed…
So glad you did not go LED.
Headlamp shrouds are quite robust, clean & protect.
The headlights are retracted most of the time.
Yeah - sometimes it can look okay but I’m not a fan. Any recommendations on products you’re a fan of?
@@GTArmstrong Meguire's Endurance Tire Gel the Black plastic and rubber will shine up nicely then remove excess with a clean towel.
@@commotoed - Excellent, thank you!
Great Update for our cars and great Video. As a second, the H4 harness is highly recommended to get the most out of your new lights and remove that strain from the factory harness. If you are not able to buy one, Could go over some details with you on making it.
Hi Devin! Thank you, and thank you for the offer to figure out a new harness - I was under the impression it wasn’t needed but, because you guys have a great deal more experience, I must listen! I’d prefer to make one - a lot more learning available for all of us in that.
You're going to want to upgrade the lighting harness as well. The stock wiring is 30+ years old and all the current runs through the headlight switch in the dash. The upgraded harness runs grabs the power straight from the battery or alternator and eliminates a lot of voltage drop from the stock setup. There are kits out there and instructions to make your own on the forums and here on UA-cam (edredas' channel).
Thank you very much! I’d definitely have done it if installing LEDs but do you think this is necessary after just changing out the bulbs?
@@GTArmstrong I've heard that LEDs draw less power so it's often the go to move to avoid upgrading/refreshing the wiring harness. I was reluctant to do the wiring harness, but it definitely gives you peace of mind, and I consider it one of those safety upgrades similar to doing fuel lines.
@@Seagrams - it's an excellent point and one I have been a bit blasé about. Did it take a long time and what was the worst part of it, for you?
@@GTArmstrong if your bulbs draw any more power than the stock ones, definitely do the upgrade.
@@aarrrrrimapirate - Rule of thumb 👍🏻
Put a Cibie on my Z1 Kawi back the 70's, was running my light down at high speeds.
Hi Ricky - When you say "running your light down at high speeds", what do you mean?
The faster you go the shorter your light gets, good at 70, not enough at 120-130. I liked the low beam, straight across, lft to rht to the center then a 45 degree up that lit up side road really good. Plenty on High beam.
@@RickyBobby615 - It's interesting that it would be designed to do that - I'd think the other way around makes much more sense...there's obviously a use case but I don't see or understand it.
You're much more considered than I am when it comes to this - haha - I just had two broad criteria: More light - anything was better; and don't blind oncoming traffic. 😅
Thanks for sharing and helping those that might be tempted to go with the Cibies
I changed my head lights to Cibie’s from Bosch and installed LED bulbs (30 watts?). The lumens are far superior and the lighting is about 6000 K. I had 80/100 watt halogens and the LEDs are brighter and whiter. Use VRP for revitalizing Vinyl, Rubber and Plastic.
Thank you for sharing these details and your experience too - a valuable addition!
The odd headlamp retainer looks like a Lucas 7 inch unit normally fitted to Austin Mini or Mgb. 7 inch H4 lamps are ten a penny and available in various styles, so not sure why you went with old Jeep ones.... You can revive the shrouds with a heat gun on a low setting.
Thanks for your keen eye and insights. Jeep - I like the lenses and they were available where I live. As for using a heat gun - I’ve heard that this might revive over the short term but the longer term damage to the materials results in degradation that can’t be fixed - any experience with this?
@@GTArmstrong Understood. Well, I used the heatgun method on the non painted part of the door mirror (after taking it apart.) It worked fine on that. The plastic had gone sort of whiteish, and you could scratch the white off with a fingernail. The headlamp surrounds do seem to be a harder type of plastic. They're probably not subjected to UV light either, as they're only exposed at night. Maybe it's worth trying a white vinegar and water solution for them first - I've read this is another method for thermosetting plastic but haven't tried it.
Sadly conversion to LED in Europe is still forbidden, since regulation is a bit slow sometimes. Ill just have to settle with new light bulbs.
The sealed beam units might have been mandatory in the USA to improve visibility and convenience.
I think this was the reason why pop up headlights became such a big thing.
For renewing the plastic trim you can try to use some detailing stuff that makes rubbers and plastics black (does wonders for the spoiler).
If the plastic is only faded(UV damage), it might be worth to try and heat it to melt the surface a bit.
If you want to make a new part and you don't have a 3d printer, then resin casting might be a easier option, since you don't have to mess with 3d software.
Oh wow - I didn’t know that about the EU… but the LED look can sometimes look really out of place anyway, so maybe it is for the better 😅
As for plastics - I’ve heard the heating process can degrade the plastics even further - it’s a short term solution. Do you have experience with this?
@@GTArmstrong Looking back at it, heating the plastic might not be great for you, since you get way more sun in South Africa. That might only last the summer instead of a year.
And I wanted the LED replacement bulbs that just change the amount of lumen and light temperature instead of whole housing with the LED ring light. (which indeed looks horrible on the 944)
@@ThePlazmaBeast - okay, I’ll give that a skip unless I hear otherwise from someone locally.
And yes, I did think about those same bulbs but went down the path of least resistance this time around.
Your left-side headlamp bucket is not correct to a 944. The right-side bucket is correct - the one you dismantled first. Both of the headlamp buckets should be the exact same. Also, the fact the left side did not have the connector is a bit suspicious. Often this is a sign that assembly was damaged at some point.
Regarding not switching to LED… not sure that makes sense. LEDs will draw about 80% LESS current and run brighter, and nowadays you can pick what light ‘color’ you want. Not switching to LED leaves the full current passing through that old tired wiring. True you can add a supplemental relay set up, but the wiring, even with an off-the-shelf upgrade loom, wiring it to the car isn’t as simple as made out. On a turbo this alternator has a cooling duct that blocks access to the + terminal, meaning the simplest power source for the headlamp relay is difficult to get to. Wiring back to the battery is both a long run, meaning you need thicker wire, and ugly.
The plastic surround is easily resurrected. I prefer AutoGlym Bumper and Trim gel. Works great on all external plastic.
Thank you for your insights, Neil. Yes, I've sourced another bucket and will be installing soon. As for LEDs - half of this decision is about availability of parts - here in SA, we don't have a huge amount to pick from and getting items here is an expense that often isn't worth it...or, raises our prices significantly and make some options much less appealing. So any LED solution I looked at I simply didn't like...
The other half of the decision for me, specifically, is what is going to offer the greatest educational return - where will I learn the most - and replacing a harness or sourcing power off the alternator, albeit a pain, is the journey that I'm interested in. Upgrades are easy; education is sometimes a little tougher.
Thanks for helping me along this journey with your insights and experience! And thanks for the top tip on the plastic resurrection - that we do have in SA 😃
Beautifull 944
Thank you. She needs some work but progress is being made!
VHT or back to black on the housings. Don't chip your headlight lids putting them back in!
Thank you! Yes, iconic looks don’t need paint chips 😅
Magnetic tipped screwdriver. Dammit! I wish I saw this a week ago. I lost one screw!
That is a frustration!!