Another entry in the list of places where I have outsmarted myself trying to improve things…
When I got the Imperial the rear springs were sagging a bit. As part of rebuilding the rear suspension I replaced them with new springs – along with replacing all of the suspension bushings, new shocks, and adding a rear sway bar. I had a choice on the springs: standard or heavy duty. Well, heavy duty is better so I ordered that!
The new heavy duty springs raised the rear end significantly. Producing two side effects: first was causing a mis-alignment in the drive shaft. On older Imperials this is known to produce a noticeable vibration on acceleration between 25 and 30 mph. Yup, I’m shaking. Badly. I’ve removed one leaf from the springs which helped. Really need to take out another leaf but this is a difficult job I’ve been procrastinating on. Driving the car has made the situation better as the suspension pieces settle in and this problem is almost gone. Guess I’ll keep driving and see if it goes away completely.
The second problem is that the headlights are pointing down at the road giving you what seems like ten feet of light in front of the car. Nowhere near enough light for safe driving!
I upgraded the standard sealed beam halogen lights that came on the car with a new set of Hella headlights that use modern H4 bulbs. These Hella headlights are direct replacements for the old style 5-3/4″ sealed beam headlights, get good reviews, and have a much better light pattern than the old sealed beam headlights. They are also significantly brighter.
I really wanted to go with a set of Holley RetroBright LED headlights which are modern headlights that can be installed on old cars. They are fully street legal, unlike many of the cheap LED headlights you can buy online. The Holleys get great reviews and look like the way to go. Unfortunately they are $200 apiece. The Hellas, on the other hand, are under $200 for a pair. And I probably won’t drive the Imperial at night that much…
Knowing about the aiming problem and considering how sharply down the headlights were pointing I really cranked the alignment setting up when installing the new headlights. I used the brute force method of turning the headlights on and adjusting the beam against the toolbox on the back wall until it looked good.
Which brings us to a couple of days ago. I finally decided to fire up the Imperial after dark and check out the headlights. The Hi beams (old headlights) were still pointed down into the road. The Lo beams (new headlights) were doing a great job of lighting up the tree tops. Yeah, other drivers are really going to like that…
The good news is that, on average, the headlights are aimed properly!
Last night also got dark (amazing how that works!) so I headed out to the workshop. Measured to the top of the headlights and marked that on a yardstick with a piece of tape. Set the yardstick up in front of the headlights and turned them on.
The new Hella’s have a great pattern – very sharp horizontal cutoff to the left to avoid blinding other drivers and a rising cutoff to the right to help you better see things. And the cutoff was well above the height of the headlights meaning that they were pointing up. Yeah, not good.
I adjusted the aim so that the cutoff was an inch or two below the tape. Then moved over and adjusted the other Lo beam. Head out around the block and see how this adjustment is.
Much better! I can’t see the treetops as well and the light cutoff on the left side is providing reasonable range and doesn’t seem to be high enough to bother other drivers. Visibility to the right is better, but doesn’t go as far as I would like when turning corners. Hi beams are a mix – good from the Hellas and the old headlights still point down.
Back into the shop and tweak the adjustments. Turn the passenger side Hella farther to the right. Adjust the old headlights so that their beam is closer to the tape mark – these headlights have a much rounder pattern so this adjustment is more approximate.
Head back out on the road and admire the headlights. The low beams provide good visibility. I’d like to have them brighter so looking into some high output bulbs. Bulb choice is one of the reasons for choosing the Hellas – any H4 bulb will work in them. Including the 100 watt “off road only” bulbs. Well, there are also a number of legal choices to try.
The Hi beams are great – they really light up the road!
With things checking out driving around the neighborhood it was time to take a longer drive. The good news is that I can see much better now. Not as good as the headlights in modern cars but entirely usable. Even better none of the other cars are flashing me – a good sign that the headlights aren’t blinding them.
Now there is no reason to fear sundown!
Update:
I went ahead and ordered a set of Sylvania 9003 SilverStar Ultra High Performance Halogen Headlight Bulbs – these got good reviews as one of the brightest bulbs available without getting into the 100 watt offroad lights. They are noticeably brighter than the standard H4 bulbs.
Got in a good night time drive – headlights are working well. The instrument panel is easy to read and the HVAC push buttons are clearly lighted. Life is good!