SWB U.S. LED Headlights

[jaudette3]

A customer of mine in Alaska sent me a set of SWB U.S. headlights to restore - with a twist. He was more interested in having bright lights than in originality. Daylight hours in Alaska can be short and there are lots of critters roaming around. This is what we came up with:







These are mega-bright LED 7" units from Truck-Lite. They're being used on everything from motorcycles to Ferraris to Jeeps - and now on a vintage Porsche.

Cheers,
John

[Merv]

Very impressive John. Is it a difficult and expensive modification? Are they dippable?

[jaudette3]

Hi Merv...

It's pretty straight forward. I start with Hella buckets, which are starting to get harder to find. You can also use the older 356 and VW buckets with the 4w city lights and remove or leave them. Buckets are bead blasted and either painted or powder coated (I'm starting to lean toward powder coating as it's bomber and I've found a color that is a close match). The Hella lenses are available new, as are high quality chrome plated brass trim rings.

The lights are standard 7" and they drop in without modifications. Very bright with both high and low beams.

I'm thinking of making these available. I haven't figured out pricing yet but it will probably be around $900.00 for set. It's so easy to swap out headlamps that it might make sense to use these when doing a lot of night driving and swap back in originals when it matters. Makes sense to be careful with these valuable cars. I'll bring a set along to Rennsport in case anyone is interested in seeing them

Cheers,
John

[Merv]

Thanks for the great description John. I did find the Truck-Lites here in Australia at a reasonable price but was wondering how you did the reflectors and mounting of the lights. Will be back to check with you soon. Obviously here I would need RHD lights.

[MJHanna]

I used them on my 914 they bolt in just like a sealed beam head light bulb. They require not relay as they draw less than the sealed beam. The glass over them looks better as the front face sticks out farther than a normal headlight.