Seems like a 96/97 headlight conversion would be much simpler than trying to fit something from a completely different car.
Better headlights
- Thread starter CDsDontBurn
- Start date
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- Sep 12, 2023
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- North Ridgeville, OH
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- 1997 Thunderbird 4.6, 1998 Mark VIII LSC
Cougar guys have it easy, they can just swap in Grand Marquis headlights.
Now that’s funny
Generalee0527
4th Gear Poster
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- Jan 4, 2024
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- 239
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- SW GA
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- 97 Tbird, pbr front brakes, Sport edition 4.6 w/ 369k total miles by me the one and only owner.
I have an empty header panel from a '97 I can measure. It will have to be tomorrow evening as I'm spent having adapted a 3g alt from an escort into my energy conserving 2.3l, 5 speed ranger since that was all on the pick a part lot. Had to shim up a longer bolt on one side and notch the existing bracket. Swapped the pulley and put an eyelet on each charge wire and put a spade connector on the field and bingo. 14.8 volts at idle. $40 beats $180.
CDsDontBurn
PostWhore
I adjusted my headlights earlier tonight, and light output seems decent now. There's still much more room for improvement though. I'd need to go through a dark mountain road like I did when all this got kicked off to see how the LEDs and headlight adjustments made improvements over the stock setup.
Lows
Highs
Compare this to Post 39 and how focused the light was in front of my car.
Lows
Highs
Compare this to Post 39 and how focused the light was in front of my car.
CDsDontBurn
PostWhore
On Monday, I made a post about my friend having given me a belated birthday gift for some "better" LEDs compared to what I had already purchased.
Well, I installed them because why not. All I have to say is, God damn! These are the lights I needed!
I will go ahead and say that on my initial install, they were installed upside down because the light was projecting up into people's line of sight. I was unaware of the situation until i got flashed. In the moment, I was like "these are my low beams, bitch! Here are my high beams!", only for my light pattern to project downwards to the floor as soon as I hit the high beam switch on my stalk. Then I was like "my bad" LMAO.
Low beams, installed upside down:
High beams, installed upside down:
After making this discovery about my light pattern, I went back home and redid the install. I made sure the "filament" was oriented 180° opposite of how I had them initially. On the initial install, I had them with the gray bar on the top side. On the reinstall, I had them with the gray bar on the bottom side. As seen in this picture, this orientation is "upside down " causing the light output to point upwards.
So I redid the install, and the light output is far better now. I can see everything ahead of me and not be driving in the dark.
Low beams, proper install
High beams, proper install
The only thing I feel that needs adjustment now is the headlight housings themselves. If you recall from earlier posts here, I made adjustments to my headlights with the set of LEDs I purchased myself to point upwards a little bit. With these new LEDs I was gifted, I feel the light output is so strong that they need to be readjusting back to near stock location. Otherwise, I feel these LEDs are great and amazing!
Thank you to my longtime friend for having bought these for me for my birthday!
Well, I installed them because why not. All I have to say is, God damn! These are the lights I needed!
I will go ahead and say that on my initial install, they were installed upside down because the light was projecting up into people's line of sight. I was unaware of the situation until i got flashed. In the moment, I was like "these are my low beams, bitch! Here are my high beams!", only for my light pattern to project downwards to the floor as soon as I hit the high beam switch on my stalk. Then I was like "my bad" LMAO.
Low beams, installed upside down:
High beams, installed upside down:
After making this discovery about my light pattern, I went back home and redid the install. I made sure the "filament" was oriented 180° opposite of how I had them initially. On the initial install, I had them with the gray bar on the top side. On the reinstall, I had them with the gray bar on the bottom side. As seen in this picture, this orientation is "upside down " causing the light output to point upwards.
So I redid the install, and the light output is far better now. I can see everything ahead of me and not be driving in the dark.
Low beams, proper install
High beams, proper install
The only thing I feel that needs adjustment now is the headlight housings themselves. If you recall from earlier posts here, I made adjustments to my headlights with the set of LEDs I purchased myself to point upwards a little bit. With these new LEDs I was gifted, I feel the light output is so strong that they need to be readjusting back to near stock location. Otherwise, I feel these LEDs are great and amazing!
Thank you to my longtime friend for having bought these for me for my birthday!
Those look good! I agree with you that they look to be aimed high. When I switched to HID bulbs I pointed them down a bit so it's not bothering other drivers.
How much better do you think those expensive bulbs are over the cheaper ones? I have thought about switching to LED, mostly because it's a lot less wiring
How much better do you think those expensive bulbs are over the cheaper ones? I have thought about switching to LED, mostly because it's a lot less wiring
CDsDontBurn
PostWhore
Significantly better. The difference is literally night and day difference between the two sets of LEDs. Like, don't waste your money on the cheap Amazon ones and go for the expensive ones I linked.
CDsDontBurn
PostWhore
And the link so it's in this thread directly.
Did you grab new housings?
If not, how cloudy are the ones in there?
If not, how cloudy are the ones in there?
CDsDontBurn
PostWhore
Negative. Gold Bird housings are 9.5/10.
I'll take a picture in the day time. For now, here's one slightly older.
Grog6
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- 2x 1996 Cougars, 1997 Tbird 4.6's all.
I got a wild hair last night,and am looking to see if I can pull enough vacuum to redo the reflector inside the headlight. I I have spares. I'm going to bake them apart and take a look at what's up with them. So, 100degrees for an hour, or 200?
- Joined
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- 1991 Mercury Cougar LS 5.0
200 is what I remember seeing
