Help Me Find 71 Dart Head Lights!

Dartnut said
Dan:
So, if i buy the nighthawks do i need to put in relays

Need to? No, because they're about the same wattage as the original-equipment headlamps. Want to? Yes, you want to put in relays even if you're using completely stock standard ordinary headlamps. See here for detailed explanation and here for an example A-body installation, but in a nutshell:

•Putting in headlight relays takes the workload off the headlight and high/low beam switches, since they're now powering relays instead of filaments, and relays take only a tiny amount of current to operate. It also greatly reduces the current load through the ammeter. So that's benefit number one.

•Putting in relays brings full power to whatever lamps you install, which greatly increases their intensity—light output is exponential to the power 3.4 with voltage change; 5% voltage drop gives 16% less light and 10% voltage drop gives 30% less light—and full power also makes them burn with a brighter white rather than a dimmer brown light color. Those "extra white/whiter light" bulbs and sealed beams just try to cover up the dim brown light by filtering it thru blue glass. Pfft. Wrong!

How about factory wiring issues when it comes to aftermarket headlights? Maybe 100w high beams.

Don't pick lamps by wattage. Wattage is how much electricity is going in the back of the lamp. That's not what lets you see. What lets you see is light coming out the front of the lamp, measured in lumens (total amount of light within the beam) and candela or lux at specific points (focus, formation, and intensity distribution of the beam). We do not talk about "candlepower", and those "million candlepower" lanterns you can buy for $20 at Wal*Mart don't produce a million of anything. Also don't pick lamps by breathless hype used to promote them; most of what's marketed as an "upgrade" is at best no better than a standard light, and much of it is not even minimally adequate for 25 mph, let alone normal road speeds.

You seem to be the go to guy when it comes to headlights.

That's me. I am not the only source for good lighting equipment (though that's the only kind I sell), and I do not have commercial discussions on the board, so if you would like to come to me for headlights or equipment, please contact me privately.

For more info, see previous threads here, here, and here.