Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia Forum

Hi Great Knowledgeable People

Driving my Wife's Rav4 has spoilt my view of the headlights in the GTV6. The GTV6 certainly needs some work to see better in the dark.

Looking at the chrome reflectors, the high beam looks very shiny but the standard ones are not as shiny. I am assuming there is also the poss of voltage drop etc.

So open question, best way to fix them?

1. Do I source some new or compatible ones, if so any suggestions

2. Can I get the originals re chromed if so any suggested places to have this done in Melbourne

3. Rewire and add some relays for stronger volts supply

4. Add some of the wanky WRX style white bulbs


Any stories of what others have done would be great.

Catch ya

Shane

Shane.

Check out this thread.

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/alfetta-gtv6-1975-1986/35334-improve-headlights-light-gtv6.html


Cheers

Paul

Hi Shane, I had the same problem with my 85 gtv and 76 gt. I pulled the lens out carefully by cutting the silicon band out of the reflector cone , when you have done this you carefully wipe the reflector cone of any built up dirt(assuming it's not rusty) with asoft clean cloth and some metho (careful not to drink the metho ). The late series lights(81 on)
you can remove the centre reflector were the low beam sits behind. This will improve your lighting noticeably
Good luck John

Hi Shane
My 82 GTV had the same problem and as a result was rewired with relays put in. There was a noticeable improvement but it was still nothing to write home about, however that car had other electrical gremlins
as well God rest its soul. Maybe try this in conjuction with what has been suggested in earlier posts ie cleaning reflector etc

I still have an original road test of the GTV6 from the September 1984 edition of Wheels Magazine and they quote "the dipped beam is abysmal" so the headlights were ####house from factory I suppose. (But then again those journos complianed a lot about the GTV6(or any Alfa!) back then. Maybe the combination of mods may help
Cheers

Pep

Hi Guys

Some great suggestions there.

Hi Pep, I here where you're coming from with the comments by a motoring writer during test of the poor lights.

But if one of these dudes drives a GTV6 and then complains about anything other than the fact he ran out of road or time to drive it then he needs to be test driving sewing machines, not cars :-)

Relays and a damn good clean sound like a good start. As far as the metho goes John I always cut mine with orange juice, but I will remember not to do this when cleaning the lens.

Might do a couple of before and after pickies when I get to these jobs.

Thanks and happy driving.

Catch ya

Shane

Paul

Just read through the thread you sent so thanks for that - some great info there.

Catch ya

Shane

I was under the impression the "white bulbs" you tend to see on a lot of the rice rockets dissapate very quickly and are not particularly useful when it comes to seeing further ahead. My only problem was the beam not pointing in the right direction!

Yes agree Shane poor lighting and some dodgey electrics aside really loved the GTV still miss the thing. Would love to add a GTV6 to the stable one day. Good Luck with the headlight repairs and if you get dis  illusioned just start it and listen to that V6 and to hell with the headlights !  ;D

John,

I assume you mean you separated the glass parts? What did you use to re-seal the glass? Heat would be an issue.

Thanks,
Al Campbell

Hi Al , yes you use a stanley knife to cut away the silicon bead which holds the lens  to the cone. you may need to use a rubber hose through  the hole in the cone to push out the lens. Carefully bend the 3 lugs at the back of the cone and pull the guts of the light out.Once you have the guts out, remove the lo beam reflector and discard it. This will give you alot more light. When re-assembling , silicon the lens to the cone, then put the chrome dress ring back. Be careful when bending all the lugs as they have a tendency to snap off.
Good Luck John

The first step is to insert relays into the wiring so the headlights actually get the full voltage. After that you need to replace the headlights with modern ones. I bought headlight mounting hardware from a US car (which didn't use Carello). Hugh Harrisson is making adapters (but slowly). The other choice is to break up an old set of Caello's & glue the backs to a Hella / Narva / Cibie set.

Doug

Relay's will be first, then I'll look at changing to other inserts. I like the sound of changing the whole mount to BMW E30 mounts, or maybe something Japanese if they have screw adjustment from the front.

What does it cost to ship American Carello "buckets" half way around the planet?

AL.

Hi There,I have probably made about ten sets of lights for SA members and myself so I will try to explain how.
Take your old Corello and cut the back of the reflector off(pictures will illustrate) then break the glass and clean out all the original sealant,clean up the reflector and any rust then give it a coat of wattle rust converter and silver paint to finish.Note the special shape for the low beam cut out to make room for the parker light which you dont have to do on high beams or alfetta low beams.Buy yourself a set of the lights pictured(brand and part number is vital)2 of each,as these will actually friction fit into your old corello bases quite tight,you will need to remove the mounting brackets form the back,I do this by twisting the spotwelds until they break off. I prepare the old reflectors then get the new lights with the brackets removed and align them in a grill to make sure they are correctly aligned before squeezing them all the way into the reflector with pliers,if you think they are too tight you can stretch the old reflector a little by bending out the lip a little.I dont glue them or anything,just snap on the chrome or stainless trims over the lot and they are great.Just make sure your voltages are good and fit some of those fancy globes if you want!.If you look at my GT pics you will see the finished articles.

The lights are actually flat which makes them real easy to clear coat with 3m clear film for a permanent protective cover,good for sprints.
Cheers

Brilliant!

Thanks heaps.

Mate

Awesome info. Looks like a great solution.

thanks for all your help.

Catch ya

Shane

two q's after some investigation:

1. Where do you source the Motolite lights from, can't find them on the web, and

2. are there two diff part numbers for a reason (maybe one if left and one is right)

Thanks

Shane

I assume that one is low beam and one is high beam - low beam usually has a shield between the globe and lens, to cut down the brightness and bounce light back into the reflector, high beam doesn't.

Hi Shane,
The part numbers denote that one is an H4(high low beam) light with parker lamp and the other is an H1(high beam only).The H4 takes the normal type high/low globe and the H1 takes the normal single globe that the alfa has.I reuse the standard wiring for the H4 with the lugs changed to 4mm female spade lugs pushed onto the lamp with ordinary spade lugs to connect the parker lamp or you can solder the parker wires to the lugs in the gtv6 plugs,depending on what equipment and skills you have. On the H1 I use the standard high beam wiring.I buy the lights from Car torque Products but your local Sprints/Auto Pro/Supercheap etc should be able to source them for you.You can also fit Hella lamps etc of the correct diameter but they wont press in or  allow you to refit the chrome trim if you have it,you will have to do a little more fitting work and glue them in with silicone or uerethane.
Cheers
Andrew

No worries Mate. Thanks for that. I had in my head that I was only looking to do the low beam, but of course the diff part numbers are for low and high beam (der me ).

Thanks for all your helpful info and I also love the photos.

Catch ya

Shane

Hi Shane,
No worries,I thought I should include some more tips on the how.
When I said 4mm lugs I should have said 4mm wire 8mm blade spade lugs,the normal spade is 6mm wide and the bigger one is 8mm wide.You can use either but on the H4 globes the lugs are 8mm and on the H1 they are also 8mm.I use 8mm lugs on the H4 so that if you have to change a globe it is just unplug and replug,I use 6mm lugs on the H1 so that I can reuse original wiring when it is in good order by just cutting down the 8mm lugs on the new light with good tin snips,you should be able to see it in the pics.You can also see the tabs on the new light which I cut in the middle and then bend into a U shape and twist off with a good pair of stout-sharp pointy nose pliers(by sharp I mean new) for good grip.Just be sure when you get the RG2502 (H4Lamps) that they have the parker lamps in them,sometimes I get them without which is fine for older alfetta GTV'S but not GTV6 or later GTV,S.I will attatch a picture of a couple of Hellas as well.

Hi Edward,
If only you lived closer!!!
Cheers
Andrew

Andrew,

Do you notice much difference between the quality (w.r.t. illumination) of the Motolite & Hella?

The Motolites would seem to be the better solution: good fit, re-use the chrome ring. S so is there any advantage going to Hella?

Good stuff, thanks

AL.

Great thread!  This is what it is all about 8)

Yeah, I never thought i would find headlights so interesting....

Hi AL,
There is no doubt that the Hella is a better quality product but the difference in light output would be very difficult to see if all else is equal( voltages,globes,wiring etc) and the Hella is much harder to fit.The Motolites give excellent lighting on my own cars and as you said the beauty is that they will fit inside your original reflector allowing the chrome/stainless trim to be refitted.I don't think there is an advantage to using Hella's, some people may just prefer them.
Cheers
Andrew

i'll pay, you build.  distance is no issue :)