Perhaps you could 'shed a little light'?

[bigjimmer]

Hello all,

My breadknife is moaning that the lights aren't bright enough on her car. She may be making sense this time, they are pretty much useless on dip and aren't to great on full beam. I was considering trying to get hold of some halogens (will i need a specific type?) but wasn't sure whether the battery/alternator would cope. Or another idea was to get some small spots, but again i was concerned about the potential power problems.

Has anybody else overcome this problem or have any suggestions? I would appreciate any ideas for a quiet life.

[Chris Lakin]

m8 sound slike you just need some new ones, the chrome backing has gone, mine has on my BIS, You can drive round with ur lights on full beam, as bright then as rest of cars.

you can get brighter ones though, dont klnow much about that

regards

Chris

[126dave]

if you get late fsm ones or just bis ones,they are set up with halogen bulbs,i got some cheap (10.00 euro) new ones from germany,and just swopped my r/hand drive lenses onto them............. :cool:

[fiatfsm]

mines a late UK FSM, 1987 and that doesnt have halogens.

[126dave]

MMMNN....dunno FSM,i picked up these lamps from germany,had to get halogen bulbs from my local lucas house to fit,my normal candles would'nt fit in the hole!............also my late bis has the same lamps.really bright lights,def no need for spots etc.........

[PaulB]

I'm running halogens on a 500 (1969) with no worries as the original bulbs were like birthday cake candles. Just get bulbs with a wattage rating as close to the 126 bulbs as possible so you don't fry the wiring. I think later 126s had relays, which avoid the extra power running through the ignition and light switches - I strongly recommend fitting relays for that reason, If you want to fit relays its all very simple and I can produce a wiring diagram if you need one.

The alternator produces more than enough power.

If you go somewhere like Halfords, they'll have a guide by the bulbs which will show you which halogen bulbs to fit in a 126 - its the wattage that's important - the size is near universal for cheap old cars.

I am looking at brightening up the rear end as the lights crap there too. Anyone tried LEDs? They take less power than bulbs but are brighter. Never tried them though.


EDIT: heres a relay diagram from another site - let me know if you don't understand it. I'd put a fuse per relay and third relay so there are one for each dip or one blown fuse is lights out. Its easy enough to find relays with inbuilt fuses now.