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Sun Feb 27, 2022 5:59 pm

I want to replace my headlamps with LEDs. I saw a few posts on the subject but nothing was resent. Vintagecarleds.com has some nice ones ( expensive )
Does anyone have any good recommendations ?
Thanks

Sun Feb 27, 2022 6:47 pm

I installed "H4 replacement" LED bulbs in my Hella headlights, but I was disappointed with the dispersal and with the cutoff pattern; not nearly as sharp and crisp as regular H4 halogen bulbs. The LED bulbs were very bright, but ultimately, I went back to H4 halogen bulbs.

Lately, I have seen several positive reviews for the Holley/Morimoto "Retrobright" bulbs.
I ordered a pair (in January), but due to supply chain problems, I don't expect to receive them until mid-March (at least).
(I only wish they had left off the Holley logo.)
They are a little expensive, but I'm an old guy, so every little bit helps. We'll see if they are worth it.

Meanwhile, here's a video from the super salesman:

Good luck, Mondshine

Mon Feb 28, 2022 7:40 am

Thanks for the info Moonshine. They are expensive, no doubt.
They don't show specifically VW Thing, but I am guessing the 73/74 Beetle is the same housing size ?

Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:05 am

yel-mel wrote: Thanks for the info Moonshine. They are expensive, no doubt.
They don't show specifically VW Thing, but I am guessing the 73/74 Beetle is the same housing size ?

Yep. The original (USA Thing) headlights are standard (6014) sealed beam lamps.

I will post again here (if and) when they finally show up. They are probably bobbing around the ocean on a container ship right now.

Here in Detroit, I don't drive the Thing until ~mid April, when it's barely warm enough for a top-down ride.
So I'm not in a big hurry to install these headlights.... Yet.

Stay tuned, Mondshine

Mon Feb 28, 2022 8:27 am

I have these from Aircooled.net

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/H4-LED-Headlight-Bulb-Conversion-Kit-PAIR-p/h4-led-kit.htm

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/7-H4-Halogen-Headlight-12V-CONVEX-Curved-Lens-p/ac945460ec.htm

They are much better than stock headlights while maintaining the stock look. I don't drive a lot at night but I am please with the visibility they provide.

Wed Mar 09, 2022 9:49 pm

I got the vintage car LEDs and they great! I have a daytime photo from the other day but they really light it all up. Nice quality too. They look like they could be factory

Thu Mar 10, 2022 5:22 pm

I replaced my headlights with something like this:
https://airheadparts.com/vw-part/head-light-h4-hella-12v-w-flat-lens/
Forgot where I got them. LEDs were more expensive at the time, and I figured I could put in LED bulbs when I was ready.
Yes, I know they aren't street legal in the US but no annual inspection where I'm at.
They are an improvement over the original and have a nice beam pattern.

Thu Mar 10, 2022 9:05 pm

I think the vintage car leds have the cutoffs so they do not blind the driver in front of you (I appreciate it). Most of the "non approved" leds do not have cutoffs and I can tell right away when one of those sob's are behind me.

I still use H4s with Cibie lenses because I like to have the cutoff and not blind the people in front of me.

Tue Apr 26, 2022 4:10 pm

Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:38 pm

I have received and installed my Holley/Morimoto "Retrobright" LED headlights.
Installation took less than 15 minutes; they go in just like standard sealed beams.

These headlights have a sharp cutoff, and light dispersal is even and wide.
However, I have only driven the car one time so far late at night when it is "fully dark" out. The weather has gotten cold (again) here in Michigan; when it gets warmer, I will post a photo or two.

By the way, photos of the headlights themselves don't provide any useful information.
Photos of an open road or a wall 30+ feet away, illuminated by the headlights, will illustrate the beam pattern and light dispersal.

Anyway, I have a good feeling about these headlights so far; more later if it ever warms up here in the World's Motor Capital.

Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:37 pm

Has anyone installed a pair of 6 volt LED headlights with good results? I've tried everything possible to get them to glow, even a tiny bit, including a whole new Wolfsburg wiring harness. Today I plugged in the original, 6 volt lights and they are super bright. The LED's are going back and the supercharged 6 volt original lights are going in to stay. New wires, clean grounds, and a good battery/generater make a huge difference. The LED's are probably great for 12 volt systems, but in my opinion, the 6 volt technology just isn't there yet.

Sun Dec 04, 2022 5:21 pm

I converted my 1973 Thing to LEDs using Vintage Car LEDs VC5000 bulbs and German Bosch DOT H4 housings (with the aiming nubs). I had bought the H4 housings separately a while back. At the time, the VC5000 were the only LEDs that didn't have a fan to keep them cool. I like the light pattern a lot better than the sealed beams I was using before. The light throw is better and the cutoff is sharper. An added bonus is the electrical load is noticeably less. I normally set my idle with the lights on, the BN4 heater running, and the wipers going. With the LED lights my idle rpm doesn't drop as much with everything on.

I don't know if they have changed this in their design since I bought them, but the bulbs I got could rotate and had a detent spring to lock it in one of many positions. It took a lot of guessing and checking to get the bulb oriented correctly so that the light pattern was correct. The bulbs that I later got for my bug at least had a silver sharpie mark to make sure I got the bulb aligned properly. One thing I discovered converting to LED in my bug was the passenger light was wired backwards with the highbeam and lowbeam switched. The old sealed beams were so bad that I never even noticed.

I've converted most all of the rest of my bulbs to LEDs at this point. I haven't done turn signals yet because I haven't seen any with built in resistors until recently. I hope to give those a shot early next year.

Mon Dec 05, 2022 8:21 pm

I tried to put LED's in my 6 volt '59 Beetle without success. The max voltage I could get from the fully charged, Optima battery was 6.3 volts. The LED was barely visible. Thomas at Vintage Car LED tried everything he could think of helping me out. Nothing worked. Even a new wiring harness wouldn't help. In the end, I got a refund on the lights, and put the old lights back in. They light up the whole backyard. The only reason I can think of is all the new wires that weren't there before. Great company that went beyond the call to help a customer.