T-3s Not Bright Enough

[Donald M.]

Lately, night driving with the '67 has caught up with my old eyes and the time has come for more light from the headlights. I want to replace the current repro T-3s with a set of Halogen lights. My first question is does any manufacturer make a round really bright Halogen sealed beam other than those available at the local Auto Zone or Walmart? Secondly, should I coat the sealed beam wiring terminals/connectors with silicone grease to prevent corrosion?

[William C.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

I use GE round Halogens in my '62 and they are much brighter than the old T-3 setup. I don't know how bright you want to get, but remember the circuit breaker in the headlamp switch in your planning. years ago, I bpt a set of 100 watt aircraft landing lights in my high beams and the breaker kicked the lights off on a (very) dark road in the middle of the night. Standard Halogens will work just fine.

[Joe L.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Don-----

The "brightness" of headlamps that are legal for street use is something that's controlled by DOT. I believe that all of the manufacturers make headlamps which are pretty much at the maximum of what's allowed. I believe that the limits for low beams are much more definitively prescribed than those for high beams. Of course, if where you drive is anywhere near like where I drive, you are using only low beams about 99% of the time.

The major manufacturers of sealed beams are GE, Wagner, Bosch and Sylvania. If there are other brands out there, I'd guess that they are actually manufactured by one of these. In fact, for the older "round" sealed beams (2 and 4 lamp systems), I would expect that "manufacturing consolidation" will occur very soon, if it hasn't already. In other words, only 1 or 2 of the major manufacturers will actually make them and the others will package them in their own boxes. Sealed beams are a commodity item, but the older 2 and 4 bulb round systems are becoming a "niche" item as demand dwindles. As far as manufacturing goes, commodity items and "niche" items are totally different things.

I found years ago that Halogen is a big improvement over old style bulbs. The biggest part of the improvement is on the high beams, though, which, of course, are not used very much. If one can't see well enough with Halogens with the high beams on, then that person should probably not be driving.

[Patrick H.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

The very first items I purchased for my 71 back in 1996 were new halogen lamps which I purchased at Wal-Mart. I still remember buying them. I had used my headlights for the first time at night and thought they were not functioning, even when I tried the brights. But, I was used to newer halogens. I removed the 3 original T-3s still in place (plus one replacement), and haven't changed the halogens since. What a difference they made!

Patrick

[Dick W.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Sylvania has their "Silver Star" series lamps that are supposedly brighter than regular halogen

[Gordon Peterson #4961]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

I want my '63 to be as original as possible - don't we all.

But I found myself driving around in the evenings trying to see and at the same time slowly burning out an orignal set of T-3's! So I bought a set of Sylvania Halogens (H5001 and H5006) at the local auto parts store for $5 apiece. Out with the old, in with the new. I stuck those originals right back into the Sylvania boxes for protection and put them on the shelf. You won't BELIEVE the difference it makes. Better than my everyday car because there's four of 'em out front instead of only two!

Do it.

Pete

[Kevin M.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Nothing like the look of vintage almost yellow T3's coming at you, especially all 4. I can always tell old lamps because of the brightness. Think about how much darker it was back in the 60's. I know in my neighborhood there's a lot more streetlights than there used to be,. When I visit mom there are still none, gets down right scary even with halogens on a moonless night..

Kevin

[Gregory G.]

Try Cibies

Cibies are replacemebt lights that use normal h4 bulbes. I had these in my cars back in the 1980's. Great lights.

[Howell Jaynes]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

As to the not too bright T3's on your 67. Maybe your eyes are less sensitive with age, true, but your 39 year old car may be having some aging problems also. Your electrical wiring connectors may have oxidized and are just not delivering the full alternator voltage to your T3's. Your T3's are powered by a circuitous electrical circuit that includes the headlight swith in your dash panel,the firewall fuse panel, etc.

A solution is to use a relay, that when you turn on the headlights, the relay connects the headlights directly to the alternator. This avoids the voltage drop through the headlight switch in your instrument panel and all the parasitic losses of connectors through the firewall. Of course this is not a proper NCRS solution. Actually, I'm a C3 owner and I need the T3's for my fiber optics to work. If I have this problem, I think I'd try to hide the headlight relay somewhere so the non-stock change won't be obvious.

Yes, I'm aware that some people have put 150 watt aircraft landing lights in their cars! They have a basically narrow beam. I think the recommended configuration is to just put one in on the passenger side of the car. They are narrow beam and should only be used on desolate roads.

[Brian M.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Why aren't the Repop's Hologen?

[Donald M.]

Thanx to all for the advice! *NM*

[Dick W.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Be careful about aircraft landing lights. The load on the switch could cause the internal breaker to trip and leave you in the dark. Also the local constabularies in some areas take a very dim view about this type lighting. Don't ask me how I know about the above. Running about 80 mph and yer headlamps going out ain't no fun.

[Frank C.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

For years I had to do lot of night driving on desolate roads. I installed the landing lights in high beam location only and used a separate circuit because of high ampere draw I didn't want them drawing thru my headlight or dimmer switch. I ran that for years with no problems, but as I would spot an oncoming car even a mile away I shut them off because I knew if it was a Smokey I was in trouble.

[Gerard F.]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Don,

The repros from Lectric Limited are much brighter then the originals and look almost exactly like them. I got full points on them at flight judging on my 67, but maybe they just missed the hard to find DOT mark. But $30 a piece and you have to buy a full set.

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Edward Boyd]

Re: T-3s Not Bright Enough

Rsearching the brightness issue regarding halogen headlights shows that the major manufacturers make several different types of headlights. The higher the temperature of the bulb the whiter (or brighter) the light. Unfortunately, this equation comes with the penalty that higher temperatures bring greatly shortened bulb life. I suggest that anyone interested in replacement go on a manufacturer's web site and check the ratings and estimated bulb life for themselves.