LED Upgrade for Mustang Headlights
Mark SimpsonThere’s little doubt about the benefits of LEDs for brighter and more dependable lighting, and thankfully this technology has found its way into the classic car market. While taillights and marker lights were the first to make the conversion to LEDs, these days nearly every bulb on most cars is replaceable with LEDs. Headlights were one of the last adaptations for this new technology, and manufacturers such as United Pacific Industries were ready to answer the call with a complete line of LED headlights and something for everyone.
Don’t get me wrong, United Pacific is more than just great lighting; they fully support the classic car market with over 7,000 unique parts to fit countless classic car applications. If you’re looking for a steel body for your ’32 Ford Coupe project, a tailgate for your ’77 Bronco, or an SS emblem for your ’72 Chevelle, United Pacific has the parts you need.
Fellow enthusiast Pat Hazel has spent years owning, restoring, and refining his classic 1967 Mustang, and in this time he had replaced almost every light bulb in the car with LED lights—that is with the exception of the headlights. Pat mentions that he’d always wanted to upgrade the headlights but hadn’t found a set he liked.
Thankfully, the folks at United Pacific industries had an extensive line of headlights to choose from, making the tough decision a little easier to make. Mark Simpson joins Pat in the Classic Car Restoration Club shop as they team up to complete the LED conversion of this great little car with a pair of LED Mustang Headlights.
You know, Pat, I've always loved the look of your car and it's as clean underneath as it is on top. Having worked on it, I know that this is a really solid original car. Must've took you a while to find it. It took me two to three years, and then I finally bought the one that I liked the best. Yeah, and you know, sometimes it pays to look for a good one.
And what I have also noticed is you've switched most of the lights over to LED. What made you decide to do that? The real bulbs that were in there were kind of dim and whatever. So I decided to switch to LED and make it brighter. Yeah, LED bulbs have the advantage of making it brighter, whiter light.
And they also, you know, can give you reliability and, you know, the safety of having nice, intense light. But I've also noticed that you haven't switched the headlights over to LED yet. And I know United Pacific makes a great LED bulb that would look perfect in this car. So let's install a set. United Pacific makes over 7,000 parts just for classic cars.
If so, if you want anything from front fenders for your '34 Ford or a set of great LED headlights for your '67 Ford Mustang, they've got you covered. And what I like about their products, you just look at the quality of this build. It's got a high strength, polycarbonate lens, aluminum back. You know, this harness will drop right into our existing wiring harness and they have a, you know, high quality polycarbonate lens, aluminum heat sink back for long life and durability. So let's get this set installed in this '67 Mustang.
We'll start with, you know, removing the bezel around the headlight so we can access the screws. Okay, now that we have this trim ring out of the way, we can get in here and actually loosen up the screws that hold this bulb retainer in place. And the great thing about these: you don't have to take them out, you just need to loosen them up enough so we can rotate this trim ring and with luck we can pull that free. Get that free, and unhook the bulb. Okay.
And there, we have the original factory headlight out. This actually looks like it's been upgraded once to a halogen bulb, but by switching over to LED, we'll make it even brighter and a lot more reliable. Simple plug in, tuck this back behind here. Maybe we can get lucky and just leave that up. Just see if that fits.
Now we're gonna have to tuck that in behind there. Kind of rotate it back and forth until you get it to lock in place. Then we can wrestle with that a little bit. Again, we want to get this trim ring back in place, and then give it a little turn to get it onto all the screws. Double check, make sure your bulb's still in the place.
Now tighten up these - this trim ring. Then we'll put the trim ring on. Get all the screws started before we tighten it up. Then go back and snug them all up. Make sure that they're, you know, holds in tight.
Don't want the trim ring falling off as you're going down the road. All right, Pat, why don't we, you know, go ahead and test this one out. Make sure we got good connections. Okay. Looks good.
Now hit the brakes. Wow. That's bright. Awesome. That's a nice addition.
I think this is gonna, you know - now that we've got one side done, we'll go finish the other one up. All right. We've completed the installation on the passenger side now. We've got both the headlights, you know, it's simple install, you know? But let's give it a test.
Go ahead, Pat. Turn on the headlights. Okay. Awesome, they're looking good. Okay.
Hit the brake lights. Perfect. Yes! You know, these United Pacific lights have 1600 lumens of power. So this is really gonna make a difference soon as we get, you know, this car out in the road.
Well, Pat, what do you think? Looks great. Best check will be tonight when I'm driving in the dark. Yeah, it really does - you know, and for a LED light, it's got all the style that, you know, doesn't really stand out, fits the era of the car. Looks right in place.
And United Pacific makes a whole line of LED lights that'll fit this car. So if you got a little different flavor, a little different style to your car, check them out. Great addition. Any classic car.
I have yet to find an LED headlight conversion that works. Heat is the enemy of LED lights and headlights are a bit to close to the engine and overheat very quickly and quit working.
Do the New LED headlights require re-aiming?
Do you need to upgrade the wire harness or install a relay to use the led lights? I have a 1992 Camaro that could use some brighter lights.