Holley Retrobright Headlights

[b_hill_86]

Not sure if anyone is interested but thought I’d throw this out there. Holley’s RetroBright LED headlights are supposedly great products but in my opinion WAY overpriced at nearly $200 each. Can’t see spending $800 on headlights for our cars BUT I happened to see they updated the 4x6 lights’ wiring somehow to not require an adapter harness for some applications and they have the old ones listed for $80 each!

I picked up two for my lowbeams. For now I’m going to keep my high beams incandescent and maybe use relays for them if I decide to get that fancy but for as little as I drive at night I figured the hi/low LEDs plus the incandescent hi’s would be good enough for me. Maybe someday I’ll upgrade the others.

Anyway, if anyone is interested I’d have a look as I’m sure these won’t last. And once I get mine and some time to play with them I’ll post an opinion.

[roadking77]

Can you post a pic. of the lights? I am all for anything that will brighten the road ahead, but I can probably count on one finger the number of times I have driven my car at night  If they look stock or at least close that would be good. I dont care for the halo light thingies.

[b_hill_86]

Here is a link. They’re technically available in three colors including the yellow lens, and two clear lenses consisting of either a bright white which is more akin to modern lights or classic white which more resembles the color of incandescent lamps. The ones on sale are only the classic white ones for the record. Worked out as that’s what I wanted and they’re allegedly still brighter than stock and have a smaller draw than incandescent.

https://www.holley.com/products/clearance_parts/parts/LFRB120

[5th T/A]

Brian, I saw these when they first came out and thought they were too pricey. I rarely drive this car in the dark but at this price it seems like a worthwhile upgrade. I get the impression we need the H820 adapters for our cars. Did you order them as well, or do we just need to move the wires around in the connectors?

[b_hill_86]

From what I can tell the adapters come with these (and somehow are not needed with the new version though I haven’t figured out how they accomplish that) but for a short time I ran some aftermarket housings with H4 bulbs, which appear to be wired the same as these Holley lights, and re-pinning the stock connectors was not difficult to do nor to revert back to stock as I did. I’m currently running stock incandescent sealed beam again.

I created a diagram a while back showing the pin locations of the stock 4656 vs an H4 but since you really only need to know the stock locations here’s a snapshot from the factory manual. Notice both the hi-lo plug and hi-only plug have a blk-lt grn wire. That’s the high beam circuit. The extra wire on the hi-low plug is for low beam. (Blk and tan which is also a decent beer I might add). This is for 77 only but later years will at least share the same pin locations if not the wire colors.

[5th T/A]

Thanks Brian!

The stock bulbs are pretty dim by today's standards, so I just ordered a set of low beams.

[b_hill_86]

Awesome! I hope they work out for both of us. I’ve never read anything negative about them other than the price so here’s to hoping. Mine should be here Thursday. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to swap them in this weekend and maybe go for an evening drive.

[roadking77]

Thanks, those look decent enough. I will wait to hear you guys review them.

[Wallington]

Had a quick look, they look alright. The best way to judge a modern headlight on an older car, is to see them when turned off! And they look perfect.

[b_hill_86]

First impressions are pretty good. My only complaint is the lens isn’t glass though the housing appears to be metal or some sort.  For the original price of these, I think I’d have been disappointed realizing the lens isn’t glass had I paid that. Hopefully they’re nice and bright though and don’t look out of place next to the high-only lamps.

My car is going in for paint correction in a couple weeks so I’m not sure if I’ll install these before that. Realistically I probably will then put the old ones back in during paint to be safe lol.

[5th T/A]

I hear what you are saying about expecting glass lenses. To my knowledge most modern cars have a plastic or polycarbonate lenses from the factory. I would also guess they go for a lot of money. It seems that many of the plastic lenses haze up as they age, probably more so if they spend a lot of time in the sun.

I am just looking for something that looks close to the original factory lenses with more candle power and a similar color temps that the original lamps had.

[b_hill_86]

True, most modern assemblies are some sort of plastic. Now that you mention it though the other day I took note how the foggy haze that used to seem common appears less so. I’m sure things have improved over time. Hopefully these hold up. They certainly won’t see the day to day usage a daily driver would so I’m sure they’ll be fine. That said, I can’t imagine it would’ve been much to manufacture glass lenses like sealed beams of today. Ah well, I’m still happy I got them so far. Excited to try them out and will post my thoughts.

[FormTA]

Thanks for posting Brian! On abside note for others not wanting to spend the $$ I have been running modern halogen bulbs in  lenses I got off ebay or Amazon (can't remember). The housing is metal with glass lenses and I am running a relay harness so I don't stress the stock wiring.  They are pretty darn bright for me. I drive early morning and it's been really dark and they seem pretty decent. The brights are extremely bright and light up the whole road.

Not trying to derail this post, just showing others that there are options for these cars so you can see at night. The stock stuff is extremely inadequate and a headlight upgrade is well worth it.

[b_hill_86]

No derail at all. In fact, if you have a chance feel free to post up a picture of them. I can confidently say I would never have paid regular price for these. I just can’t justify it. Truth be told, a wasn’t thrilled about $160+tax and shipping for two lights but I’ve heard enough good things to take a shot.

I would’ve preferred to find a cheaper option that was as adequate, which I’m sure is out there, but I just don’t have the time lately to research and try different things especially for how little I night drive in my car.

I will say, I installed them last night and they seem significantly brighter though I had to test with the engine off so I don’t have a great comparison yet but pairing them with the incandescent high beam they might stand out a little. Hard to tell in my garage. I’d like to see what yours look like Luke. Maybe a more modern H4 housing would look better next to the RetroBrights than the sealed beam.

[FormTA]

I went and looked at mine. They say "Octane" on the glass. These appear to be the ones I have from Amazon.  Looks like price wise they are $135 if you order the relay kit too.

Sorry about the bugs but here is a closeup of mine and the link I think are mine.





 
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=octane+lighting+4x6&crid=VF1O9VQMWI7N&sprefix=octane+lighting+%2Caps%2C202&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_16

[b_hill_86]

Got a little time today to mess with things and overall, aesthetically, I’m fairly happy. As you can see, comparing the RetroBrights in the outer spots with the incandescent sealed beam in the high beam spots there’s a bit of a different look. Not enough to bother me I don’t think though. I’d wager most people would never notice. Maybe someday as I mentioned I’ll look for a new high beam housing that matches the Holley better for a good price.

If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d even notice if the inner high beams didn’t work at this point. Which leads me to my test drive tonight. Posting some pictures and links to videos. Short version is I’m very satisfied. Regular price? Probably still satisfied but even more so at the discounted price. These are BRIGHT. My aim was way off when I bought the car years ago and I adjusted it a bit “by eye” a couple years ago and some more tonight. Probably could be better but I’m good with it for now.

I also like the fact that the color temperature very closely matched an incandescent. The modern bright white is great but not the look I want on a 46 year old car. It’s a shame these are so pricy normally but they do a good job no doubt.

https://youtube.com/shorts/K1OqJ6OuOMc?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/WDRAgaESP9M?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/cf4DfVOv9-w?feature=share

Sorry I don’t have any comparisons to the old ones. I just didn’t have the time to spend so when the opportunity arose to install, test, record and post about these I opted to get it done now. Maybe if I do reinstall the sealed beam when the car goes to paint I’ll try to take some pictures and video for comparison purposes.

[FormTA]

Looks great! I noticed your dash lights are really bright. Are those LED too? You should have stopped over, I was out in my shop until 10 pm tonight. 

[b_hill_86]

Thanks! As for the dash lights, no they’re not LED. I suppose some of the bright look can be attributed to my iPhone but they’re pretty bright in person as well. I’ve always found them adequate except at dusk or just after when it’s not completely dark out. The housings are unmodified as far as I can tell though.

And yea, one of these days we’ll have to meet up. If my daughter, and the weather, cooperates tomorrow evening I plan to take another ride if you happen to be out and about. I gotta get some miles on my new clutch.

[5th T/A]

Brian,

Excellent write up with pictures. I think your last video post really shows how much of an improvement these bulbs are over stock. Also, nice looking TA!

I installed mine yesterday but did not take my car out for a nighttime drive to evaluate the headlight performance. In the daylight in my garage, I could see considerable improvement with the Holley bulbs. I did post some pictures comparing the stock bulb brightness to the Holley on Friday, but they have disappeared from TAC?

I want to thank you for finding the Holley bulbs on sale. At $186.11 shipped and with tax, I think it was a good deal. Retail would have been in the low $400's, more money than Iwas willing to spend. I like the fact that the Holley bulbs look like they could have been factory. I also like the warmer color temperature over what most LED bulbs have today.

[b_hill_86]

Glad to have been of help! Today I took my car ona. Few errands and made sure to park so I could look at the lights on my approach. From a distance you can’t even tell they’re different. As you get closer, I notice but I suspect most won’t. I’d love to get another set for the inners but can’t justify the cost. I agree though, regular price is just too rich for my blood.

If you don’t make your own thread, feel free to post your thoughts and photos here. I suspect you guys with the 79-81 nose may see less noticeable difference between the sealed beam and Holley’s due to the separation of your headlights. Maybe not but I’m curious to see if so.

[Wallington]

Now you just need to paint gold into the Holley logo, wipe the sides, and leave lights on to bake

[5th T/A]

Walking up to the car with the headlights off, the difference between the original bulb and the Holley is minimal. I don't think you would notice unless you were asked to compare the two.
I had a truck load off mulch delivered Saturday, blocking my driveway and preventing me from doing a nighttime road test. I haven't driven my TA at night since last year, so it would not be a fair comparison anyway.

This picture of my garage wall is with a Holley bulb installed on the driver's side. The high beams are turned on. The upper beam is the Holley bulb and the lower is the factory driver's side high beam.

IMG_1728 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr

Only the driver's side Holley bulb installed, high beams turned on. I didn't realize the passenger side high beam bulb was burnt out until now. I don't see myself spending the money for the Holley high beams. I briefly thought about buying another set of Holley low beams to replace the factory high beams. I think Brians videos should pretty much answer anyone's questions as to how well the Holley replacement's work.
IMG_1733 by Lawrence Alexander, on Flickr

[b_hill_86]

Looks good! I also thought about adding a set of the low beams to replace the old high beams which would probably be awesome at night but the single set of Holley’s are plenty of light for me during the few times I’ll drive in the dark. Money to spend elsewhere I suppose.