Holley Retrobright LED Headlights

Anyone have firsthand experience with these? I know they are way expensive when compared to a $20 pair of sealed beam halogens, but after swapping the halogen headlight bulbs for LED's in my 2017 F-150, the night time driving experience is so much better that I can't ever consider going back to halogens. I spend a lot of time driving very dark & winding hill country roads at night, deer and other wildlife pop out of nowhere, so good lighting is important. I've also just ordered new LED bulbs for my Tacoma that are the same ones I used in my F-150, and am considering these Holley (Made by Morimoto) units for my '56 F-100.

I hate the look of the other LED sealed beam type headlights, but these actually look like an original sealed beam. I haven't seen any real negative reviews or comments other than the upfront cost, and I'm a believer in the "buy once, cry once" mantra so I'm strongly considering this purchase.

 

We were looking at them for my son's driver Catalina. We ended up grabbing a H4 conversion setup from the big river website. Gl*** housings, H4 halogen bulbs come in the kit. No headlight bucket modifications required, and the sealed beam sockets plugged right in with minor t*******. He opted to stick with the standard color temp. (The kit comes with these and "blue" bulbs that were popular 20 years ago).


They are indeed brighter than the stock sealed beams. We could put H4 LED bulbs in these housings as well. Total cost was right around $100 for the full kit. They are hard to differentiate from standard sealed beams, even up close.

I will be doing these on my project cars too. The cost/performance ratio is quite nice with these.

 

Do you have a link for these?

 

I’m going to be getting the Holley bulbs for my Shoebox. I was reading about them the other night and I like the idea that you can get modern lighting for the oldies. I ordered the LED panels for the taillights and bulbs for the turn signals/parking lights in amber for something a little different. It won’t be until next spring before I put them all in whenever I convert it over to 12v and put my new motor in.

 

https://www.amazon.com/LIGHTING-Hal...4&sprefix=octane+h4+conversion,aps,236&sr=8-2

 

Link is dead, but I found their website.
https://www.octanelighting.com/auto-lighting/headlights/

I'm curious how the light output would compare from the Holley Retrobright to the Octane Gl*** housings with LED bulbs. A gl*** lens would be far superior to a polycarbonate lens for me, but does it ruin the beam pattern with LED bulbs is the question.

 

I think I was one of the first ones to get a set. I've have them in my 48 Ford for well over a year and living in the desert it is black out here at night. They have made my 77 year old eyes almost enjoy night time driving. I also have a set of the H4 conversions in my Econoline. The light is similar but the pattern isn't near as nice as the Holley's. The H4 kit was from Headlight Experts

 

3 sets of Holley Retrobright LEDs and planning for a fourth when the current build is done. Great performance and no modifications to install in headlight bucket, incredible bright light, plus they basically look like original bulbs (short of a concourse build of course). Very happy with them, currently installed in 4 headlight setups on 65 Sport Fury and 69 Road Runner. Expensive, but the best system I have found for looks and installation, I can’t stand the look of modern lights in a cl***ic.

 

That's a good question. If we decide to move to LEDs, We'll put in a set of Hikari LEDs in these housings and not care about color temp. I have run these in all of the dailies for 5 or so years now with no issues. I don't know if the Retrobrights have replaceable bulbs if that is a consideration.

For our needs and budget, the Holleys are a non-starter at this time. If we have longevity problems with the Octanes, then I may revisit.

 

My wife’s firebird have the original gm t3 head lights, very very dim, replaced them with bulbs that look like the Holley ones (not Holley). Now we can drive the car at night, night and day difference. Sorry I don’t know the brand, got them on the auction site, a few years ago.

 

The Retrobright bulbs are replaceable, you buy the light with pigtail as a direct replacement.

 

Am I understanding correctly that the Retrobright housings stay in place and the "bulb" is replaceable, like a modern car? Is it a standard bulb or proprietary to the Retrobrights?

 

I put the cl***ic retro brights in my 68 C10 and what a world of difference. It’s my best nighttime cl***ic to drive with how well it lights up the road without being blinding like new cars. Plus still has the cl***ic color of light

 

They have a replaceable LED, but it may be a proprietary design, I havent been able to cross reference the part to determine what it is exactly.

On my 2017 F-150 I used Sealight Scoparc 6k LED's. They are a direct replacement of the original H11 low beam halogen bulb, and the reviews were excellent. I did have one fail recently, which ****s because they've only been installed for about 9 months. It turns out they had already discontinued that exact part, and upgraded to a different fan type, so I bought 2 more for $30 and then reached out to Sealight about my issue and they refunded me the $30. Now I have the two upgraded LED's and a 9 month old older version as a spare in the glove box as well as the original halogen bulbs.

Serviceability is key for me. I don't like being stranded or SOL with a bad bulb, so I always carry extras in every vehicle. This is also why I'm starting to lean towards the gl*** lens H4 type that Octane Lighting sells for 3 reasons...

1: Lower Cost
2: Gl*** Lens
3: Any H4 Bulb or H4 LED will pop right in, no proprietary BS.

 

Replacement LED bulb with the pigtail attached, the main housing stays intact to the car. It appears to be proprietary.

 

I've used four sets of Holley lamps and have been really happy with the looks and the light output. Pricey, but worth it.
Holley lamps can use any H4 bulb but the bulb performance can vary greatly from one brand of bulb to another.
One of the most important aspects is the placement of the LED emitter. It needs to be precisely placed in order for the reflector and lens to produce the correct pattern. eBay H4 LED bulbs from places like the FuYung Lamp Company aren't very good.
I've also tried using other generic H4 style lamps with H4 LEDs and found that the better name-brand LED bulbs like Phillips and Sylvania give pretty good results.
The Cibie replica lamps from places like Busdepot.com are an economical alternative, too.

 

The big problem is the spread pattern on the gl*** off most retrofit ones make it just a ****py flood light....brighter isn't better if it isn't focused. You need a focused beam to see ahead at freeway speeds just like a sealed beam but more lumens. You need increasing amounts of light when the pattern is a flood just to light up ahead of you, then you end up blinding anyone who's coming towards you.

I didn't even see this post before I made my post, but check it out.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sealed-beam-headlights.1324784/

 

Agreed and that is one of the benefits of the Holley. Excellent light and engineered to perform properly and the spread pattern is effective, even plenty of light when running half moons. Also, no flashing from oncoming traffic for blinding them.

 

I also live & drive on on dark 2 lanes so this sounded like a good idea. I had to look them up & at 193$ a piece, plus tax, S&H for our Elco I just can't afford that.
I like that they offer a cl***ic yellow, I can't stand the look of bright white LEDs on old cars.
If I'm being picky I'd prefer they weren't branded Holley right on the lense. Functionally they look to work great though.
If these are popular enough, perhaps Summit or someone else will offer a house brand at a better price point soon.

 

Really happy with the cl***ic yellow version, agree on not caring for the bright white look for an old car. I wasn’t happy with the Holley logo at first, but after installed, the car pretty much eats it and only noticeable if you are looking for it, not too bad at a glance or walking around the car. They are pricey though.

 

So those Holley retrobrights are plug and play?
I looked into aftermarket lights a few years back and you had to wire in a regulator ( or something) and those were prone to fail from what I was reading at the time. But these were also for a newer OT vehicle.

 

With the RetroBrights it looks like you have to use their replacement cartridge only ($130 for one) and the pattern on the lens is odd. Remember LED does get dimmer over time. They have a UV Treated Polycarbonate Lens just like new cars that yellow over time if left to sit outside. But they have a 2 year warranty.

I would like to see them in person in use at night first, they have way too much photoshopedness on their website pics and videos for my liking to make a informed judgment call.

They look like you just plug them in, but with any higher powered accessory you might have to upgrade your generator (if you're running one). Then comes the issue of more current going through your stock switch, which might require relays. They don't give a spec but do say "Low Draw/Extended Life - Less current draw and 6x the life of halogen sealed beams"

Instructions for them:
https://do***ents.holley.com/3c233232178335fcd43b345400cc9b148a309ddc.pdf

 

Good points. The gl*** housings won't have a good beam pattern with LED bulbs. That certainly leads me back to the Holley lights.

 

Same, I'd go with the cl***ic color temperature for sure. I also would prefer no branding. A knock-off would be fine if it cost less, had no branding, and had a similar look to a gl*** lens.

 

These are LED's, so much less amperage being used than a conventional halogen headlight. A typical 110W(low)/130W(high) halogen sealed beam would use 9-11 amps each, and these LED's are 20W(low)/35W(high), so only 1.6-2.9 amps each.

 

Years ago in a C10 I bought Hella H4 conversion bulbs with gl*** lenses for the 6054s and added H4 LED bulbs and they had an excellent pattern and a sharp upper cutoff so they didn't blind oncoming traffic

 

Good to know!

 

The octanes do have that sharp upper cutoff as well. I'll try to grab pics sometime this week.

 

I did watch a few videos NOT sponsored by Holley, they look pretty decent light wise. Wide spread with a hard cut off on top, still would like to see them in person. It's good to see they're that on low amp draw, even the sealed beam extra power halogens would rough on a generator.

 

That was my first question. I ***umed they would be less with them being an LED. I’ve already added relays to my wiring to give the headlights full voltage and this would be icing on the cake with increased brightness at night and more electrical power available for the rest of the car.