I got so interested in JeffTT's upgrade I just spent an hour shivering outside, playing with the lights and poking around under the bonnet. Geez I hope none of my bulbs blow as I don't have a hope of changing them.

 

Anyhow, my various proddings have sparked off a couple of q's which are vaguely tech so am posting them here.

 

Mine is a 1989 Jap import.

 

1) Has anyone done a JeffTT upgrade to a silver ZX? Does it look OK, got any pics etc?

 

2) Do I have it right that Euro bulbs will not fit my high beam / dip beam unless I attach an extra lead? I am criminally technically incompetent (can only find the right end of a soldering iron after it gets good and hot...) so will it be better for me to get some J-spec bulbs or is there a local source for adapted UK ones?

 

3) Does this apply to both high beam and dip beam bulbs?

 

4) Do I upgrade the bulbs to 100W before the JeffTT upgrade or the other way round? Or does it matter?

 

5) Jeff's upgrade write up also mentions the spotlights - are these spots or fogs? (if there is a difference?)What's the source / part no for the higher wattage (55W) he mentions?

 

Ah well. TFIF.

 

Cheerio all

 

PS The recipe for Nanny Ogg's famous Carrot and Oyster Pie contains carrots so you can see in the dark and oysters so you've got something to look at

well to point 1 yeah coogs has done this, you may be able to see then in the events poole meet - dunno but it does look good

 

perhaps email him for pics.

 

can't help you with the rest.

 

cheers

Martin

Gio,

IMHO the main benefit of Jeffs upgrade is from not from the silver foil, which is mainly cosmetic, but from :- cleaning the lenses, cleaning the reflectors, upgrading the bulbs and improving the earths. However, all accounts so far point to it being dramatic. I have cleaned out my headlights and even with only (decent) 55w bulbs then it does make a difference.

 

You can buy Jap bulbs, but they tend to be more expensive and pretty difficult to get ahold of. Soldering an additional flying lead onto an H3 bulb is easy and I'd be happy to do a few for you if you can't manage it. I'd also recommend www.powerbulbs.com for both top quality and speed of delivery.

 

Fitting 100w bulbs means more heat, I hear frequent reports of 100w bulbs failing more often than 55w ones.

 

I consider the spots to be spots rather than fogs. White light isn't much cop as a fog light, yellow tends to be better. Fitting new bulbs to those is easy, the standard is 35w, 55w H3 halogens go in without any mods.

 

[This message has been edited by AndyP (edited 01-03-2002).]

My local Nissan dealer got me new headlamp replacement bulbs for my 91 Jap import without any problem and not that expensive. I have since spoken to Regal Autobulbs (www.regalbulbs.btinternet.co.uk) who do HID and Phillips Blue Vision bulbs but as the Jap bulbs are not even standard H7's they are struggling to find a higher power equivalent bulb to fit. Anyone know what type the bulbs really are as there is nothing on the bulb to say, other than 12/55.

 

In case any one is interested, up until now my local Nissan dealer in Burton on Trent, has been getting parts for my import 300tt without a problem or getting things recon'd. However he tells me that Nissan are about to start to levy a £25 charge per query to any Nissan dealer who requests Nissan part numbers for an imported vehicle.

Having had the JeffTT upgrade I can only say good things about it because it was worth every penny....it has improved the night vision by about 300%, I honestly can't believe how good it actually is!

 

It's not a 'foil' thing.....

 

It involves upgrading your bulbs to 100w, the reflective silver covering and a damn good clean up of everything.

 

I would recommend the upgrade but it's upto you.

 

 

Matty.

 

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Bounce...Bounce...Bounce...Bounce...Bounce...Bounce...Bounce... (sorry no sound!) LOL

Gentlepeeps,

 

thankx all for the good pointers. As an ex-physicist, the foil shouldn't make much (any?) difference to the beam on the road. So I tend to agree that the general clean up and 100w bulbs would be the source of major improvement. But if you like the look of the be-foiled lights then that's just as good a reason to do it.

 

I'm going to ring round for a few prices based on your kind advices and post the results for info but being a lazy git don't expect it too soon.

 

toodly-pippo in the darkymost

 

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Just one point about the foil - this will help the headlamp casing keep cooler when using the higher wattage bulbs This would make it a necessary part of the job - I know I for one don't want to be buying new headlamp units due to the heat melting them!

 

Just a thought...

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

Good point, Andy. So it looks like if you go for 100w bulbs, you should do the foil thing.

 

BTW somewhere else in the forum someone mentioned 85w bulbs - has anyone got any experience with these?

 

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Interestingly I dismantled my light units cleaned up and fitted the 100 watt bulbs and put them back in the car and was disapointed with the result, it was only after then I took them back out and did the reflector mod that things really lit up, sorry to go against the grain here but the reflector mod is a VERY important part of the final result.

Good thought on the light unit heat disapation been improved though Andy, one thing which causes the higher wattage bulbs to produce increased heat is the cabling NOT been up to the job of suppling the extra current, as volt drop occurs and this inturn leads to higher current draw and so on till the bulb self destructs under the excessive heat.As stated before the main 12+v is ok it the switching earth which is poor on standard wiring and this is what has to be modified. All good points though. Jeff TT

Hi Jeff - I was thinking about offering to do a test with/without foil but you've already done that so thanks for saving the time!

 

Can you remember how the light improved by using the foil? Was it brighter where the light already was (eg brighter beam) or was the beam wider? Or both?

 

When you say the switching earth needs improving, is that something to do with the extra lead which needs soldering onto J bulbs or something you do when doing the mod to the lights?

 

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Hi Gio, the reflector mod improves the beam spread and reach,in fact the stock beam pattern is almost non existant, just those two circles of light 10 feet in front of the car, the two circles give way to a wide long spread that is more like new cars.I have had a test done at an MOT station and the beam pattern was perfect to pass so no problems there.

The improved switching earth is required because the dip beams earth is interlocked with the main beam relay and there is a potential for volt drop here due to the amount of connections and re-routing.

 

The extra cable that is soldered on the bulb for the Jap spec is also required for the UK models as the earth to these is even worse than Jap spec cars as for some reason Nissan put a smaller cable in ???

Jeff TT

G'day, Jeff

 

you're so right about the non-existent stock beam pattern. I think this is almost the worst I have ever seen (apart from my 2CV which at least I could get stock halogens from Halfords for).

 

Are there any before / after pics of the beam anywhere? (I've seen your before / after pics on zedworld which look nice on a dark ZX.)

 

Cheers - Gio

 

PS - FFS please don't tell anyone I used to run (walk?) a 2CV

 

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