I saw Timo's posting of Marvin's pic identifying how to get the low beams to come on with the high beams. I did Timo's 1/2 height bucket and the 90mm Hella are beutiful. I have a couple of questions for anyone who has done this mod.

1) The headlight wiring has dual wires - two tan two lt grn on the driver side with one set then going of to the passenger set. If I install a 15A50W diode do I need to pigtail both Hi beam wires with both Lo beam wires with a single diode - or do I need to do eacjh with their own diode? I was planning on installing the diode "before" the wires head off to the first head light. Is this the best way?

2) I went to a local electronics shop (two or three actually), and no one has this diode. Can anyone give me a part number and maybe a supplier for this part? My preference would be for a Canadian supplier, but if someone knows where I can pick up this part in Daytona or Sarasota then I'd be very happy to drive around to get it.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Dave

First, it's a 15 amp (or higher), 50 volt (or higher) diode.

Your questions were already addressed pretty thoroughly in this thread in The Mall. The discussion includes the diode circuit, specific diode listings and sources, and two relay circuits as an alternative to the diode circuit. It still remains to be seen whether or not the circuit breaker built into the Fiero headlight switch will even permit use of the diode circuit with 65 watt H9 halogen bulbs.

Finally, I highly recommend that you do a stock install of the Hella 90mm modules first. The high beams provide so much light already that you really don't need for the low beams to remain illuminated. The only circumstance where you will need to keep the low beams illuminated is if you have installed the expensive HID version of the Hella 90mm low beam modules. (Incidentally, don't even consider plugging a cheap Asian HID conversion kit into a 90mm halogen module! See this thread in GFC for pictures and a discussion of why it's a bad idea.)

Here are a few of comparison pictures of the DOT-compliant Hella 90mm modules under controlled conditions. The setup and exposure were the same in all pictures, and the distance to the wall was 25 feet, a standard distance used in DOT testing.

Baseline low beam for comparison ... the Fiero's OEM Delco H6054 headlight, a rectangular 65/35 watt (h/l) halogen sealed beam (this particular headlight has quite a few hours on it, and it is aimed too high):




Hella 90mm low beam module, 65 watt H9 halogen:




Hella 90mm high beam module, 65 watt halogen (aimed several inches too high):




Finally, the very expensive Hella 90mm HID low beam module, D2S HID capsule, DOT/SAE compliant (Holy **** that's bright!!!):




Edit: to update the wattage of the stock H6054 halogen sealed beams.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-16-2007).]

Thanks so much for the reply. I've got the 90mm Hellas in stock configuration and have aimed the headlights - so I'm ready to go to enjoy this new mod. I aimed the headlights in my underground parking lot - so I have not yet seen how bright the lights will be at night.

I'm towing my car to Sarasota next Monday and will get lots of testing time at D7. I'll heed your very sage advise and keep things stock for now.

It's great to know that the forum has individuals like you who can contribute a wealth of professional advice. I certainly appreciate it and respect you for the same.

Dave

Thank you for the compliments. I think you will be amazed at how much better the hella 90mm halogen modules will be than the stock Fiero halogen sealed beams!

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-12-2007).]

Wow, those HIDs are awesome! That is one of the best comparisons I have seen yet (lighting companies play to much with crap to make it look better at the cost of real world examples) and it has made me decide to try and hold out for the HID lights.

Someday...

------------------
2005 Smart ForTwo CDI
1986 Austin Mini
1986 Fiero GT 5-speed (waiting on a brake upgrade, I'm lazy!)
1975 Trabant P601
2007 Ninja 500

The HID's ones are nice.. found them for ~$480 A PIECE! yikes... maybe someday...

quote Originally posted by midengineracer: Wow, those HIDs are awesome! That is one of the best comparisons I have seen yet ... and it has made me decide to try and hold out for the HID lights. Someday...

Please remember that most of our driving does not involve sitting 25 feet from a wall, and that this is only one of many ways to compare headlights. It is a reasonable way to compare relative brightness, pattern shape, light distribution, and cutoff though.

I don't want to discourage you from converting to good halogen lights today. If you are more concerned about lighting performance than bling, the Hella H79567 is an exact (plug & play) replacement for the stock Fiero rectangular sealed beams. They will cost you about $85 a pair, including the H4 halogen high/low beam bulbs ... a very good value. They're what I have installed on my Formula right now. Here is a photo of this headlight's low beam for comparison with the photos posted above:



Even if you were to convert to the Hella 90mm round modules today, the most you would lose if you eventually converted to HID low beams in the future would be about $110 ... and even that assumes that you can't find a buyer for your old 90mm halogen low beams.

quote Originally posted by Coinage: The HID's ones are nice.. found them for ~$480 A PIECE! yikes... maybe someday...

You can cut the bottom-line cost just about in half if you're willing to do some careful shopping. Susquehanna Motor Sports will sell just the Hella 90mm HID housings for about $165 each (still too expensive, IMHO), and then you can find used OEM ballasts and new or used D2S HID capsules on eBay or elsewhere at considerable savings. But please don't be tempted to buy the cheap Chinese-made HID kits sold on eBay; you will get better value and far better quality buying used name-brand (Philips, Hella, Bosch, Valeo [Sylvania], Osram, etc.) HID ballasts and capsules.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-13-2007).]

thats not a bad price at... i may have to buy a set

Marvin is right on with the H4s. I sold my Bosch H4 to gt88 (lucky guy) for $40. He gets a great deal and I don't have parts collecting dust!

For me the Hella 90mm just look awesome, but the Bosch H4's gave a ton of light more than stock - and are direct plug and play - as Marvin said.

Dave

Excellent headlight aiming instructions are available from the Daniel Stern Lighting web site.

Basically, all regulations require that the low beam pattern be aimed slightly downward (below horizontal) with the vehicle loaded normally ... which is pretty logical. For DOT-compliant headlights marked "VOL" (e.g. the Hella 90mm low beam modules) and mounted within 80 cm (34.5 inches) of the road surface, DOT specifies a down angle of exactly 0.40 degrees ... which means that the flat top at the left side of the low beam must be aimed 2.1 inches below horizontal at 25 feet, 4.2 inches at 50 feet, etc. 25 feet is the usual distance used for aiming, but the exact distance is much less important than setting the correct down angle.

For the Fiero, this means that the top of the low beam from a properly-aimed VOL headlight will intersect the road surface at about 300 feet out. You may find that you will want to "fudge" the aim a little higher than the DOT low beam spec (up to 400 feet out, or a 0.30 degree down angle) to get the best lighting results. What I usually do is aim exactly to DOT spec, and then "fine tune" on the road as necessary.

Incidentally, this is one of the many problems with U.S. regulations. The down angle is virtually the same, regardless of how high the headlights are mounted. If a truck or SUV has its headlights mounted at 54 inches above the road and legally aimed, the low beam will still be right in a Fiero driver's eyes at 200 feet.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-13-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: Excellent headlight aiming instructions are available from the Daniel Stern Lighting web site.

Heeheehee... I knew you'd have the answers! Thanks a bunch - added a + to you as well..

Dave

quote Originally posted by DrCPU: Heeheehee... I knew you'd have the answers!

Heeheehee ... "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing!" -- Marvin McInnis

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-13-2007).]

Agreed! Well at least you can draw the line between a job that is poorly done and one where you KNOW it's well done!

Thanks for everything.

Dave

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: Baseline low beam for comparison ... the Fiero's OEM Delco H6054 headlight, a rectangular ~55 watt halogen sealed beam (this particular headlight has quite a few hours on it, and it is aimed too high):

Just so you know, Fiero stock headlights are 55W when the highbeams are on. The low beams are 35W.
Or if you want to express them in Lum's, Stock low beams are 700 lums, High beams are 1200 lums, the H9's are 2100 lums and most HID's start at 2400 lums.

Thanks for posting the differences between all the lights.

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 03-16-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Oreif: Just so you know, Fiero stock ... low beams are 35W.

Thanks. I've edited the wattage cited for the stock Delco H6054 sealed beams in my original post. I didn't realize that the stock low beams were that wimpy. No wonder 55 watt H4 and 65 watt H9 halogen bulbs in well designed housings are such an improvement, not to mention the HIDs.

You are also correct that lumens are a more important lighting metric than watts. The 2100 lumens put out by the H9 halogen bulb is about three times as much light as the stock low beams! The rated output of a standard D2S HID capsule is about 3100 lumens ... or about 4 1/2 times as much light as the stock low beams, but with the same low power consumption.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-16-2007).]

Aarrrggghhh!!! With all the discussion concerning keeping the low beams illuminated when the high beams are on, I finally realized that it can be done without a diode or relay at all ... using just a single wire jumper! You could even insert a simple SPST switch in the jumper if you wanted to be able to switch between standard "two light" high beam mode and "four light" high beam mode.



Please remember that all the discussion concerning the adequacy of the stock Fiero headlight circuitry still applies. I don't think that the stock headlight switch will survive the current demands of four 65 watt H9 bulbs ... at least not for very long. Adding a relay would still be a better solution, IMHO:

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 03-22-2007).]