…well, strictly speaking, just the bit of my life that lies in front of The Duke. Got some snazzy halogen headlights fitted this week. Pretty simple job, though it did cost a little more than expected.

It all started because I needed to replace the old rusty reflectors in my original lights. After a huge amount of fruitless research, I found the part number embossed on the front of the lights themselves - “FV 157942”. Found them on the P A Blanchard’s website for a whopping £55 for the pair. That’s a lot of money to repair lights that will be about as bright as a pair of glow worms in jars balanced on the bumper. So I decided to investigate the idea of fitting some much brighter Halogen bulbs.

Looks rather smart with his new eyes.

Found everything I needed, including relays, lights, wire, connectors and 24v bulbs on Vehicle Wiring Products, who I have to say are pretty darned good. Less than 24 hours after ordering everything I needed (for £70 or so) everything I needed was on my desk. Well, almost everything…

Turned out I only ordered one light! So I had to spend another £25 on another identical light which, within 24 hours of me realising my mistake, was on my desk! So, it cost me about £50 more than originals would have cost, but I’m very happy with the results.

A pair of 24v relays close to their new home.

Decided to use relays to lower the current which flows through the headlight/indicator stalk. This has been suggested time and time again on the forums, seems like a good idea. Not mounted the relays yet, but the plan is to put them on the radiator housing, just under the bonnet. That way they’re nice and close to the lights themselves, which seems to make sense.

Worth mentioning that I also replaced all the wiring for the lights, removing the bulky military bullet connectors and nasty old cables.

Halogen bulbs look much brighter and have a much purer white than the filament bulb in the sidelights.

Looking quite smart I think.