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As part of the restoration of my 3.4 S I'm going though all the lighting at the moment.
The existing Lucas sealed beam headlights are gone as is one of the sealed beam foglights.
What have others used for headlight and foglight replacements?
Got a nice set of NOS Foglamps on Ebay for $100 & bought up a number of Lucas NOS sealed beams for them in case of failure. The FT6 sealed beam was fitted to many Lucas bumper mount lights etc. and to the Rover P5B. Be prepared to throw away some chrome outers. Fitted Lucas H4's for main lights with Xenon lamps. Remember headlights come in dip to the left for RHD cars & dip to the right for LHD cars. You can get the original headlight 7" sealed beams with the round centre Lucas logo from India new but you probably want something a little brighter.
My originals were sandblasted from high speed travel in South Africa. Mazda lighting were the last people to manufacture the genuine Lucas FT6 foglamp sealed beam.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jun 21, 2021 at 02:24 PM.
in my car I use a pair of 5,25" inch 100 watt driving / spot lamps instead of fog lamps which are useless in the USA. Not much fog around here. For headlamps I would recommend the European 700 with replaceable bulbs which are still available.
The H4 is also replaceable lamp obviously & prefocus.
The H4 is readily available dipping in the correct direction for RHD cars. Remember most of Europe is LHD.
Highbeam
Dip to left for RHD car.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jun 21, 2021 at 07:41 PM.
I am using Cibie H4 for the headlights, I find the standard 55/60W bulbs to be plenty bright enough for me. For the fog lights I put in cheap 5-1/4" sealed beam lights.
Mine has Wipac headlamps that take H4 bulbs. LED bulbs are now available that replace H4 and give a correct beam pattern with conventional reflectors and lenses. Search better car lighting (quick silver auto motive) and classic car LEDs. The better car lighting site lists an enormous range of upgrades.
For the fog lamps, it depends what you want to do with your car. The originals require regular care and attention to keep them working well and looking good.
Mk2 side/parking lamps: either replace, seal, rustproof and fit a bright LED or do a Callum.
For the fog lamps, it depends what you want to do with your car. The originals require regular care and attention to keep them working well and looking good.
Wipac quality is actually darn good.
What regular care do the fog lamps require on an S or are you talking Fograngers on a Mk2. I'm just interested.
Yes Glyn and C F, Mk2 Fograngers are slightly better than useless unless you take very good care of them. Essentially, because you almost never use them, when you do (about once in three or four years in the UK) the connectors have corroded so they don't turn on. The metal bezel is in the line of fire of stones and dust and every chip turns into a major bubble in the chrome unless you regualarly coat them with wax. Water is forced past the lens onto the reflector, the mirror finish disapears and everything corrodes. I realise the OP is interested in S types and sincerely hope their fogs are better. Sorry, but any mention of foglamps starts me on a rant. The ones on my DD6 are fine devices, except that situated under the bumper, they are perfectly positioned to be smashed by stones and pushed out of alignment when parking face on to kerbs. I could go on ...
As part of the restoration of my 3.4 S I'm going though all the lighting at the moment.
The existing Lucas sealed beam headlights are gone as is one of the sealed beam foglights.
What have others used for headlight and foglight replacements?
For my build I wanted high quality lighting as I often drive thru mountain canyons with fog well over the stated speed limits. For me doing the research the Jaguar 3.8s and other sedans all use the 7" round headlight which is used in so many vehicles. The vehicles that often spend for the best lights are Jeeps & Porsche; the best lights in my opinion are the Vision X 7" LED which is approved for all countries and will give you the light quality by themselves with no need for any other light. I did opt to replace the useless factory small round parking lights with PIA HID's to provide even more lighting but that is not needed but more light is never a bad thing Yes this setup is not stock but it provides great lighting like a high quality new car. Most new car's LED headlights are typically around $1200 to $2000 a pair so while these are expensive they are a great buy compared to any new car with comparable LED's.
Do not waste your time trying to upgrade bulbs as the lense/fixture needs to be designed for LED to give good lighting. Yes Datsun 240z's use the same headlight as our Jag's and some swear by the classic old school Hella 7" round and then upgrading to high wattage HID's or some have tried LED bulbs; that is better than what others have posted to your thread as a reply but the Vision X 7" round LED is a step up above that and worth it in my opinion. The other advantage is that these Vision X LED's also use a tiny amount of electrical AMP load so it really reduces the strain on the crappy Lucas wiring, etc. that these cars are known for being unreliable. Get the relay option Vision X sells that enables all 4 elements to light up when in high beam mode and man that provides incredible lighting!
https://www.headlightrevolution.com/...d_2?quantity=1
They are sold per light so yes it is around $700 or so a pair but worth it! I have over 4 cars using 7" rounds and tried many types and this is by far the best setup. I have driven with these for now over 150,000 hard miles on the Jaguar and no rocks have damaged it and they shine like new! Well built lens that does not fade over time. Headlight revolution also has their 7" LED round headlight shootout video and the winner is the Vision X 7" out of all the top out today.
Primaz, I agree with you totally on the Vision X 7 inch. They are the best solution. It's true that, until very recently, all the simple LED headlamp bulb replacements that have been on the market are illegal and dangerous. However, if the OP wants something that looks closer to original, has a long life, gives better illumination and reduces the current load, then the LEDs from Better Car Lighting have a lot to offer. Unlike the earlier LEDs sold as direct replacements for use in conventional reflectors, they are carefully designed to improve on incandscent halogen without breaking rules or causing dazzle. In fact, this supplier refused to offer LED bulbs for headlights until it's become possible to produce them with a suitably compact source. No, they'll be nowhere near to matching the performance of your lights, but they will be way better than what he's got.
Yes Glyn and C F, Mk2 Fograngers are slightly better than useless unless you take very good care of them. Essentially, because you almost never use them, when you do (about once in three or four years in the UK) the connectors have corroded so they don't turn on. The metal bezel is in the line of fire of stones and dust and every chip turns into a major bubble in the chrome unless you regualarly coat them with wax. Water is forced past the lens onto the reflector, the mirror finish disapears and everything corrodes. I realise the OP is interested in S types and sincerely hope their fogs are better. Sorry, but any mention of foglamps starts me on a rant. The ones on my DD6 are fine devices, except that situated under the bumper, they are perfectly positioned to be smashed by stones and pushed out of alignment when parking face on to kerbs. I could go on ...
Ah! Thanks for the clarification Peter. I know Fograngers can be trouble. The S Type sealed beam is trouble free (sealed) & the casings & harness etc. are completely sealed from water & debris.
I of course wanted to be totally original & even have a pair of new spare 7 inch sealed beams with the centre Lucas logo should I ever want to make the headlights original for a show etc instead of the H4's.
Like so.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jun 22, 2021 at 12:38 PM.
I think the decision on what lighting to fit depends on whether you are keeping the stock generator or upgrading to an alternator because some of those lamps consume more electric power than the generator can support at idling and also because some of those lamps require upgrading the wiring, an important factor to consider.
If you are keeping the stock Lucas generator, keep the lighting stock.
Well keep something that draws in the max. 55 to 60 watt area. If it outputs multiple times the Lumens (light) with low current draw (like LEDs) then it's fine. LEDs etc. are far more efficient than incandescent lamps.
Even good old Bi Xenon projectors which will light up the night for you (huge light output) only draw on average 35 watts.
The great thing about modern lighting is you don't need crusty high capacity alternators/generators to drive them.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Jun 23, 2021 at 08:11 AM.
Paddy and Glyn--too many years spent in Germany and not checking documents. While we do have pics of Hella on both MK2 and 'S' cars what I should have said was Cibie not Hella. Will post some Cibie pics soon.
Paddy and Glyn--too many years spent in Germany and not checking documents. While we do have pics of Hella on both MK2 and 'S' cars what I should have said was Cibie not Hella. Will post some Cibie pics soon.
the later S type came with under bumper holes for square mounted fog lamps, whether Cibie, Hella, Bosch or my favorites, Marchal, they all made square fog lamps. The ones I mean are shown in the Parts Manual for the S type.
I have a set of Lucas European 700 headlamps that came off a 1966 Swedish S type that ended in North Florida. The car was left hand drive so I assume the lamps are too. The lamps are beautifully made with replaceable low/high beam bulbs. Haven't tried them in my car but that is the plan. I understand you can replace the stock bulbs with more powerful ones like quartz or led. As long as I don't have to add relays or replace wiring, I want to fit them. A store in the Netherlands still sells the original bulbs.
Options for 3.4 S Headlights & Foglights
Yes this setup is not stock but it provides great lighting like a high quality new car. Most new car's LED headlights are typically around $1200 to $2000 a pair so while these are expensive they are a great buy compared to any new car with comparable LED's.
