FINALLY!!! IT IS DONE!!! scroll to bottom...

I'm attepmting to convert my headlights from sealed beams to H4, and H1 lamps. We are finalizing the build thread on a local forum I attend, and will post the link with pictures, diamgrams, etc...

Light output is MUCH better!

Modified by 86 720 at 6:49 PM 2/1/2010
Modified by 86 720 at 10:13 PM 4/13/2010

Can not wait for the photos!!

Hope it comes with a night shot.

for xmas I got a HID kit from DDM Tuning, put it on my mustang, would love to put HID's in my truck, where can you get those seal beam conversions to H1 lamps?????

Here's a few teaser shots...

Sealed beam on left, 4x6.5 Conversion headlight on right. $16.95 each on ebay.

Conversion headlight setup. Wiring are for separate internal small lamps that you can either wire with the headlights, or separately. I've decided to do them separately from an LED switch inside. These came with blue ones. You can also see the new H4 lamp. The H4 is a standard no frills lamp from Walmart, $10 each.

drivers side headlight setup, you can see the internal blue lamp. Light distribution is MUCH better with these. There is more horizontal throw, with the same verttical throw from the sealed set.

I've ordered a set of HID H4 lamps from DDM, 6K, and will post when they arrive.

Currently have a set of HID on my Titan from DDM and they are good!

Total cost of materials(rounding): $150.00

This mod will also free up the two headlight fuse spaces in the fuse box by the hood release latch. You can use them for other future mods. In my case, fog lights and one for the two inner lamps in the new housings...
Modified by 86 720 at 8:06 PM 1/17/2010

thanks for the info, so off to Ebay to get those lamps, also very happy with my HID kit from DDM 6000k kit is on my mustang, can't wait to set up my truck with the same:)

There was a delay in shipping from DDM, but I should have the new H4 6K lamps by Saturday. These are the regular H4 lamps, and NOT the H4 hi/lo lamps. Those are an extra $20. I wanted to keep the inner lamps functional, and will use my current set of H lamps as the brights. I probably won't need them since the HID H4 lamps are MUCH brighter in terms of lumen output and won't provide much additional "light" than the HID. BUT if I ever sell the truck, or it is wrecked, I can unplug the HIDs and keep them.

The only problem I see so far is the lamp selection. This will be an upgrade from sealed beams to dual H4 lamps per side. The housings I got from e-bay will only fit the H4 base. H1 lamps will not fit becuase they do not have a triangular base that will fit in the housing. I cannot find a 4x6.5 housing that will accomodate an H1 lamp, nor can I find an adapter plate. The H1 lamp base is smaller than the openning of the housing and will go all he way thru.

There is also an issue with the switch that has arisen. Apparently when you turn on the headlights, the "brights" lamp illuminates in the dash. This is because a ground has been applied and thus completing the circuit. This correlates to the H4 lamp as the prongs are reversed from a sealed lamp. The ground pin is on the right on a sealed lamp, and he ground pin is on the left on an H4 lamp. So when you turn on the headlights, the lamp was getting ground from the hi beam pin, thus you would get the "brights" indicator in your dash. Pushing the stalk back and forth from headlights to brights did not matter.

Anyway, hopefully this weekend I will finish and post all the information.
Modified by 86 720 at 1:26 PM 1/28/2010

The lights on my 85 are way better than my 2000 Wingroad. Had considered changing them but they are a ticiketable offense here.

86 720 wrote:There was a delay in shipping from DDM, but I should have the new H4 6K lamps by Saturday. These are the regular H4 lamps, and NOT the H4 hi/lo lamps. Those are an extra $20. I wanted to keep the inner lamps functional, and will use my current set of H lamps as the brights. I probably won't need them since the HID H4 lamps are MUCH brighter in terms of lumen output and won't provide much additional "light" than the HID. BUT if I ever sell the truck, or it is wrecked, I can unplug the HIDs and keep them.

The only problem I see so far is the lamp selection. This will be an upgrade from sealed beams to dual H4 lamps per side. The housings I got from e-bay will only fit the H4 base. H1 lamps will not fit becuase they do not have a triangular base that will fit in the housing. I cannot find a 4x6.5 housing that will accomodate an H1 lamp, nor can I find an adapter plate. The H1 lamp base is smaller than the openning of the housing and will go all he way thru.

There is also an issue with the switch that has arisen. Apparently when you turn on the headlights, the "brights" lamp illuminates in the dash. This is because a ground has been applied and thus completing the circuit. This correlates to the H4 lamp as the prongs are reversed from a sealed lamp. The ground pin is on the right on a sealed lamp, and he ground pin is on the left on an H4 lamp. So when you turn on the headlights, the lamp was getting ground from the hi beam pin, thus you would get the "brights" indicator in your dash. Pushing the stalk back and forth from headlights to brights did not matter.

Anyway, hopefully this weekend I will finish and post all the information.

Modified by 86 720 at 1:26 PM 1/28/2010

How are you going to run dual H4's per side, they are a 3 prong bulb. Why are you not trying to use an H7 for the 2 prong size? H1 these only have 1 prong on them.

I found it was a lot easier to just by the Sylvania Silverstar's the bolt right in and are a great improvement form the standard bulbs.

dogred wrote:
How are you going to run dual H4's per side, they are a 3 prong bulb. Why are you not trying to use an H7 for the 2 prong size? H1 these only have 1 prong on them.

I found it was a lot easier to just by the Sylvania Silverstar's the bolt right in and are a great improvement form the standard bulbs.

These are going to be custom wiring harnesses. I'm not going to be using the stock headlight connectors or wiring, therefore it doesn't matter which lamps I use unless they don't fit in the headlight enclosure which the H1s don't. Mostly because of the potential usage of higher wattage lamps than stock.

just got my headlamps in, found them on another website and they also have a small blue lamp setup (194 style bulb) gonna get my HID"s b4 pulling it all apart. you gonna splice into your crn lamp and make them like daylight running lamps?

deejaya wrote:just got my headlamps in, found them on another website and they also have a small blue lamp setup (194 style bulb) gonna get my HID"s b4 pulling it all apart. you gonna splice into your crn lamp and make them like daylight running lamps?

I'm going to wire them to a separate LED switch inside next to the steering wheel, so they will be independant.

I received my HIDs from DDM, BUT when I opened the package, I saw the pigtail was two prong and a different connector. SO I will now need to find the right connector. Too bad I bought the custom 14ga. 3-prong connectors online. Guess I can use that for my 510. I'm thinking they are two prong because I did not get the hi/low lamp, just the low lamp.

Had some delay in getting things done...

I received the HID lights from DDM, however they did not have an H4 connecting plu on them, but a 9006 plug. Nothing turned up at the local parts stores for connectors that matched my wiring gauge which is 14. I've upgraded the wiring so I can have some room and for future use if needed.Found a parts place online, that I ordered from before, which allows you to select up to 12 ga. wiring with different connecting plugs; H4, 9005, 9006, etc. So I currently have a set of 9006 plugs with 14 ga. wire pigtails coming to my house. Should be here by the weekend.

As its unlawful and a ticket-able offense here to use HID's on vehicles to which they are not original equipment, some of us add a relay to each light to maximize the current and amp input to the light. It works well also.

hey Mesa, whats the latest on your HID conversion? I too got my DDM kit and its 2 prong top and one side, I also t-tapped my corner lamps in, and the small blue 194 lamp comes on with the running lamps. So those headlamps accept a H4 bulb so I got that from DDM 35W 5000 bulb,install went together nicely, went to turn it on and both headlamps flicker like a strobe light troubleshoot info on the DDM website points to a add on harness to get more direct power to the ballast so it will fire up and stay on. Gonna call monday to verify, any luck on yours? Damm I want those headlamps to work right badly! cya DJA

Add a 4 pin relay to the set up. It takes a direct supply from the battery and sends it to the electrical item and is switched by a signal from the light switch.

thanks for the info, the HID harness from DDM tuning has that relay your talking bout with it for $15.00 of course its out of stock gotta wait for it,went to Ace today and bought some cheapee Sylvania H3's bulbs just so I have headlights

I ordered the wrong set, and am currently waiting for a correct set to get to me...

Did you use the stock wiring assembly for your headlights? If so, that is why your lights are flickering as not enough juice is getting to the lamps. I bypassed the stock wiring and am running it from a 6 relay cluster.

got my hid harness from DDM ($15.OO it just went on sale to $10 bucks) it has a relay wired in plugged it in between the ballast, mounted the relay on the fenderwell next to 2 other relays by the battery, then hooked it up to the battery terminals. Then turned it on...voila! pure clean white light and no flickering, on high beams the inner stock lamps come on and the hids go off. Finally works, cool to have an 86 truck with pure white hid's lighting up the road.

deejaya wrote:got my hid harness from DDM ($15.OO it just went on sale to $10 bucks) it has a relay wired in plugged it in between the ballast, mounted the relay on the fenderwell next to 2 other relays by the battery, then hooked it up to the battery terminals. Then turned it on...voila! pure clean white light and no flickering, on high beams the inner stock lamps come on and the hids go off. Finally works, cool to have an 86 truck with pure white hid's lighting up the road.

Sweet!

Got my inner lamps wired in, still waiting for some time to finish the HIDs though...

Teaser... Controlled by LED toggle switch in the cab...
Modified by 86 720 at 8:44 PM 4/7/2010

that looks freakin sweet!

Headlight housing I bought off of ebay for $16 each. They are 4x6.5 and fit in the headlight surround trim nicely. Notice they are crystal clear, looks much better than sealed beams.

The back of the housing unit. The bottom wires are for the 194 lamps that make the headlights turn blue. These are pigtailed together, positive to positive and ground to ground. They are than run to an LED switch inside the cab with a fuse.

Since I abandoned the stock wiring harness in favor of larger power and ground wiring(for HID), I had to have larger pigtails as well. The parts stores only had 16 or 18ga. pigtails, thus I had to order out some custom made ones. The ones on the left(long tube) are incorrect. The H4 HID I got from DDM came with 9006 male sockets(far right) instead of H4 sockets. These are custom made from an online store using 14ga. wiring. You can have them shipped in pieces for the extreme DIYer or pay an extra 0.50 cents per pigtail for assembled ones.

The lo/ho beam switch grounded the signal when hi beams are to be activated. In order to save the contacts of the switch, a master headlight relay was added. Then another to switch from lo/hi beam

The electricity flow has been highlighted to show Lo beam flow through the circuit:

The electricity flow has been highlighted to show Hi beam flow through the circuit:

The relays were placed under the dash behind the steering wheel. I placed them inside the cab for better protection from the dust here.

Final result: H4 headlights, only the passenger side. Please note the car was leaning to the right as the roadway was dipping that way.

H4 HID single lamp: These are 6K HIDs so they are a little blue, however they have not completely warmed up to their true color yet.

Dual headlights, still not completely warmed:

After they have warmed up and at operating temperature.

Although it's hard to tell in the photo, once they headlights have been properly aimed, they provide MUCH better light output, and throw the light further.

I have to give credit to my friend and fellow Datsun enthusiast Ben510 for doing a lot of the work here, and for coming up with the wiring diagrams
Modified by 86 720 at 10:49 PM 4/13/2010

Those look awesome. Wish it wasn't ticketable down here.

Been awhile since I finished it. I had a little concerned because of the excessive heat here in AZ. I was afraid the lamps might overheat the enclosures, but so far everything is working out well and not overheating anything. It's also been raining here a lot, and there has been no moisture buildup either.

I have both DDM HID lamps in both my trucks and am VERY pleased with them.

Pretty sick. Im not really in need of ever getting HIDs, but super nice install.

Hi Guys,

I decided I would change my sealed beams in my 720 to H4 bulb inserts today to get some better light for the country roads.

I went about this the typical way with 2 4pin relays, new wiring, trigger relay using current low/high beam etc. Done it to a few other cars no issue in the past but hit a bit of an issue. Does it sound like I've done this a similar way to the above or have I missed something?

Below is part of what I've pasted on another forum asking about this issue.

PIN 86 trigger from original low beam.
PIN 85 ground to battery.
PIN 30 - constant 12v from battery.
PIN 87 low beam connection on bulb.

PIN 86 trigger from original high beam.
PIN 85 ground to battery.
PIN 30 - constant 12v from battery.
PIN 87 high beam connection on bulb.

However I'm stumped with how our sealed beams work considering the results i'm getting from my multimeter. (please note this is without any of my modifications, just multimeter straight into the drivers side 3 pin sealed beam connection.)

Ground never has a postive voltage (as expected.)

The wire I believe is low beam has 12v when the lights are turned on and 0v when the lights are off or highbeam/pass is engaged. (as expected.)

The high beams however have a constant 12v when the headlights are turned ON and when the highbeams/pass is engaged but 0v when the headlights are turned off. (from memory 12V when pass mode is used.) I can't see how this would work if the high beam always has 12 volts as they would always be on whenever the headlights are on.

I have plugged in the sealed beam again and it switches between low and high every time.

Is there something different then most cars with the 720 headlight circuit or am I just having a bad day and overlooked something obvious.

86 720 wrote: There is also an issue with the switch that has arisen. Apparently when you turn on the headlights, the "brights" lamp illuminates in the dash. This is because a ground has been applied and thus completing the circuit. This correlates to the H4 lamp as the prongs are reversed from a sealed lamp. The ground pin is on the right on a sealed lamp, and he ground pin is on the left on an H4 lamp. So when you turn on the headlights, the lamp was getting ground from the hi beam pin, thus you would get the "brights" indicator in your dash. Pushing the stalk back and forth from headlights to brights did not matter.

The prongs on the standard lamps are reversed from the H4 Lamps. On the standard prong, when the hi-beams were grounded, it completed the circuit and thus illuminated the hi-beams.

I abandoned the existing stock wiring harness and ran new wiring to the headlights in this mod. it freed up two circuits in the panel, It gave me full output power from the new 6-circuit relay panel in the hood, plus I didn't have to use the existing 20+ year old wiring.

yeah i just did this the other day. I ran all new wire for my lights as well.

pretty sure this is what my relays looks like. not saying this is the only way to do it, just what i did.

86 - ground
85 - headlight switch
30 - 12V from battery with in line fuse
87 - to PIN 30 on second relay
87a - nothing

86 - ground
85 - high beam switch
30 - to PIN 87 on first relay
87 - power to low beams
87a - power to high beams

slightly different setup with the relays that you were using, but it works great from me.

-cedar

You guys are a lot of help. I bought an HID kit when I bought my 84 720 and I couldn't figure out why my lights were only working on highbeams. (Halogen highbeams). Now I know how to fix it so after I'm done installing an alternator I'm going to reinstall the bulbs. I'm going to start coming here more often.