NA Twin Headlight Setup

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:23 pm

I have just purchased a 1990 NA 1.6 with dreams and aspirations (and nightmares of parting with large wads of cash) of modifying this wee beasting into a track day car and eventually Targa car.

How ever in my quest for success I have discovered a little annoyance that I don't think I can live with, which is the pop up headlights, and how far they actually rise up, sitting in the car it seems like a mountain has just popped up on either side. So have been hitting the web in hoping to find a solution. Have found a couple, but they are all overseas. One is from Australia, form the US, and the other from the UK (website addresses below, have had to put in long format because this is my first post).

Has anyone in NZ done one of these low profile conversions, is there anyone in NZ that supplies them or makes them, or do I have to get them in from overseas. Which then I am left with, which one is the best option, cause there is a large price difference between the three options.

mx5parts dot co dot uk / product_infophp / products_id/510
gomiata dotcom / bsplowprheki dot html
mx5mania dot com dot au / product707 dot htm

Dez · Post by **Dez** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 12:40 pm

Where are you located in NZ.? I have a set of lowpros on the wife's car. Got
them from MMMiata some years ago. You might like to look @ them before you
commit the $$$. We are in Blenheim which I suspect is well out of your way
though. As far as lighting the road, stisfactory round town with well lit
streetlighting. diabolical on the open road & country roads at the speed
limit. constantly outdriving the lights. Replacements on breakage difficult to
get here as they use a motorcycle style unit. My conclusion: good lookers,
lousy performers. Hmmm sounds like a lady I knew once......
Quoting Donovan <electrical@mx5forum.co.nz>:

I have just purchased a 1990 NA 1.6 with dreams and aspirations (and
nightmares of parting with large wads of cash) of modifying this wee
beasting into a track day car and eventually Targa car.

How ever in my quest for success I have discovered a little annoyance
that I don't think I can live with, which is the pop up headlights,
and how far they actually rise up, sitting in the car it seems like a
mountain has just popped up on either side. So have been hitting the
web in hoping to find a solution. Have found a couple, but they are
all overseas. One is from Australia, form the US, and the other from
the UK (website addresses below, have had to put in long format
because this is my first post).

Has anyone in NZ done one of these low profile conversions, is there
anyone in NZ that supplies them or makes them, or do I have to get
them in from overseas. Which then I am left with, which one is the
best option, cause there is a large price difference between the
three options.

mx5parts dot co dot uk / product_infophp / products_id/510
gomiata dotcom / bsplowprheki dot html
mx5mania dot com dot au / product707 dot htm

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http://www.mx5forum.co.nz/viewtopic.php?p=45025#45025

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ham · Post by **ham** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:17 pm

You make like to go to the garage section and look at the car belonging to sprsta. Looks pretty cool but unsure of performance.

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 6:34 pm

i am thinking of changing them soon

so may be up for grabs

<----------------click here

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:48 pm

Thanks Des - Up in Auckland (have updated profile to reflect this) so yeah, a bit out of the way to have a look. I don't know if those other ones use different lights, as all 3 seemed a bit different, but that was just from the pics. The ones in pommy land were slagging off the US ones, saying that they lift when open and doing over 100kph. Out of the comments that I read on the Pommy site, no one said that the lighting performance was rubbish, just that the they were a right pain in the butt to install, and some bits were missing in the kit. I had a quick look on the mmmiata site to see if I could find your ones, but I could see anything obvious, so they might have dropped them (or I was just having a boys look as my wife likes to remind me)

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:51 pm

sprsta wrote:i am thinking of changing them soon

so may be up for grabs

<----------------click here

Look at the pics in the garage, looking for the units that are still pop ups rather than fixed settings. What is the lighting performance of those lights you have in there at night time? Plus in the pics in the garage, was I looking at two different cars, or have you put the dash and centre console from a NB in your car?

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:22 am

yes she is an nb on the inside

they arent bad at night i think they are better than the factory semi sealed units
would be even better with a set of HID retrofits

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:27 pm

about the only road legal ones here in NZ use the hella 90mm units. i beleive there is a firm in the states that uses these 90mm units. the dot motorcycle ones are illegal in NZ.to convert them from LHD to RHD you just pull them apart and flip around the projector blind.
they are vailable as seperate units from (rallylights.com???) or susquehanna motorsport. hella NZ stock them but it is faaaaar cheaper to get them from the net and frieght them in.
you could always modify the stock buckets to fit these units. in .
I have always looked at doing this but the outlay of $500+ for the lights put me off.

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:15 pm

i used a set of 90mm narva ones they are the same as the hella ones but much cheaper
brought in nz and made for nz roads

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:28 am

Hmm not a bad price either. it's been a while since i looked into them and the narvas weren't available.
definitly worth a look with some modified stock buckets...

http://www.twinlight.com.au/SPARE%20PAR ... %20LOW.JPG

http://www.twinlight.com.au/SPARE%20PAR ... 20HIGH.JPG

here's the hella kit from Duetto:
http://www.duettomotors.com/miata/light ... rofile.htm

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:28 pm

Same photo on the Aussie site, so would assume it is the same kit and lights? But the US price is half of what the Australian site is charging for what looks to be the same thing.

I would assume that the Australians would have similar regulations to do with headlights as we do here.

http://www.mx5mania.com.au/product707.htm

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:23 pm

the U.S and RHD lamps have a very slightly different low beam cut off pattern to each other.(SAE pattern versus ECE)
In australia they are very anal about things like that and lights etc have to have the correct approval markings etc.
this would mean that they would probably have to source the lights themselves from an approved aussie source not from the U.S.(=EXPENSIVE)

like i said the hella units can be converted from LHD to RHD by flipping over the cutoff sheild inside them. of course you'll then have a RHD SAE version cutoff as opposed to the RHD(ECE) approved cutoff pattern but no one will know.the basic difference between the two is that the U.S SAE type allows slightly more light towards the centerline of the road than the ece version. this shouldnt be a problem if your lights are correctly aligned vertically.

everything you ever wanted to know about headlights:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp#I ... .93present

and info on the 90mm units and cutoffs:
http://faqlight.shopower.com/hella-90mm/

Euen · Post by **Euen** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:22 am

I guess you could always try something like this.

sprsta · Post by **sprsta** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:41 pm

i had a bluebird just like that one.
i think i paid less for a second hand headlight than those two torches would have cost

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:06 pm

Hmmm, think I might need something that lights up the road a bit better

Timmo · Post by **Timmo** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:45 pm

Donovan wrote:Hmmm, think I might need something that lights up the road a bit better

3 torches?

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:47 pm

Yeah, that should do, maybe those LED ones, so it looks like an expensive euro car

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 11:17 am

I am back on the hunt for a set of low profile pop up lights again. Have decided that I just get a set of RHD ones and swap/replace the lights around, but when I was talking to one of the suppliers in the US, they said that the cradle/brackets wouldn't fit in, let alone being able to swap around the lights.

Seems a bit strange, I wouldn't have thought that there would be any difference in the LHD and RHD pop up mechanicals/brackets etc, just the lights that are in them.

Anyone know either way?

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:25 pm

if you fit the ones that use the hella units then there is no reason they won't fit. the housings are the same.
the nly difference as i said above is the cutoff pattern...the DOT ones i dont think you can convert to RHD but the ECE ones you can
Have a look at the links i posted above for the hella part numbers for the ones you want...

read this...
http://faqlight.shopower.com/hella-90mm/

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:52 pm

I have been doing some calling around and a bit of surfing on the net. It seems the twin headlight setup that they do in the US, use the Hella 90mm 12v 55w light assembly, which had screw sets that you can easily change them around between LHD and RHD. These are $87USD a light for low beam, and $78USD for the high beam. Can't buy these in NZ, only the 24v version of these.

Narva do a 90mm 12v 55w (as well as the 24V units), but they are $280+GST retail. I have made an assumption here that this is for a set, rather than a single light assembly. Same price for high and low beam. Again adjustments for left hand or right hand side.

Moss Motors, make a twin light headset using Hella H9 60w 90mm lights for $500USD. They make these LHD and RHD sets, but only sell the LHD ones in the states, and do the LHD and RHD unit in their UK office, but for 500 pounds!!! Talk to a technical guy in the US office, and he said the lights can easily be swapped around to be setup for RHD, and said he know of several people that have done it in the past.

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 10:23 pm

theres two different low beam housings as far as i can make out...the U.S LHD DOT compliant one using an H9 lamp and the EURO ECE compliant onewith an H7 lamp... i have heard that the DOT compliant one cannot be flipped over but the ECE one can....something to triple check if ordering from the U.S...
http://faqlight.shopower.com/hella-90mm ... for-UK.jpg

this rally lights link(susquehanna) i posted seems to suggest the same with Two different low beam housings both LHD.

http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult ... goryID=359

of course me being a cheap ass i'd probably just buy the lamps from suquehanna and have some fun hacking up the stock buckets to use them....

Skilfil · Post by **Skilfil** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 11:17 pm

Don't worry I've been thinking of modifying the stock ones myself, they seem so pricey? I'm sure it can't be too hard to make one up. Famous last words..

Donovan · Post by **Donovan** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:51 am

I have talked at length with the guy in regards to the twin H9 lights, and he has assured me that they can be setup for RHD, so I can only go on what he says. Since they make up both LHD and RHD sets for the US and UK markets, I assume they know what they are talking about, unless of course I was just talking to some plep who was pretending to know, and in fact doesn't.

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:34 pm

the twin buckets are wider than the stock ones..i had some really good pics of an install that seem to have disappeared of the internet...
still doable if you cut up the stock ones and add a bit of sheet metal to hold the lights