Traxide Headlight Upgrade

[neophyteguy]

Hello,
I have just received a very quality bit of kit from drivesafe-the headlight loom upgrade kit. However, I have a query regarding installation. I have spoken with drivesafe about this and he has asked that I post this in a public forum. Please note, this is a quality bit of kit and all connections, wiring, etc. are top notch!

Ok, the problem is that I need to run 2 plugs (6 wires) to one headlamp and 1 plug (3 wires) to the other plug. The instructions for this are simple and there really isnt any way to screw it up (famous last words?). However, on the back of the headlights is a metal "cup/bucket" that only has one small hole in it where the original wiring is routed. There are no other access points to the back of the lamp where the cables need to terminate. I really dont want to make a massive hole in the side of these sealed "cups/buckets" that then has to be sealed.

I am keen to find out how others have done this as drivesafe has informd there are a number of these kits installed on Series II vehicles.

The first picture shows what I currently have and the second shows the plugs which I need to get to the back of the globe.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Please see the pictures below:

[tracker]

My 2000 mod disco 2 had a bloody great rubber boot which was removed and wires run through. What is you veh?.It looks like a hole saw jobbie(and some bog):D

[neophyteguy]

..........mine is a 71 IIa. Nothing much rubber on the back of the headlights on this one!

I am sure someone has done this before and can shed some light on this.

Cheers!

[JDNSW]

I have not done this to my 2a but I plan to. However, because the kit is not directly suited to the 2a, I will not be using the kit itself.

The first thing you have to decide is whether you retain the original lights (assuming they are still fitted) or change to ones using H4 bulbs that fit the sockets supplied in the kit. If you are retaining the existing lights, you will have to join the new wiring to the existing bulb sockets. I would do this outside the headlight dish, but not knowing Traxide's colour scheme, I can't tell you which wires to join. If you are planning to use H4 type bulbs which suit the supplied socket, I would run the wires through the existing grommets, cutting and rejoining them as necessary - the only wiring inside the dish should be the bulb sockets.

Hope this helps,

John

[isuzurover]

I rewired my IIA myself when I built it many moons ago. I ran 6mm diameter wire for all head/tail/stop lights (overkill I know - but I have ~0 voltage drop ;) ). I installed H4 bulbs/headlights, cut the grommets as JD suggests, and ran separate wires to each light from the relays (no way I would have been able to get 6 wires through the grommet.

I didn't bother resealing the gromets - with such thick wire they seem to still be relatively water/dust-tight

[HBWC]

cut and shut the wires to suit your perpose still may need a little triming

[Lotz-A-Landies]

..........mine is a 71 IIa. Nothing much rubber on the back of the headlights on this one!

I am sure someone has done this before and can shed some light on this.

Cheers!It must be a very early 1971 as most of them had the headlamps in the mudguards.

I have upgraded the headlamp wiring in most of my Land Rovers, however in this case I would be doing the terminations outside the headlamp bucket.

There are 2 options, either replace the nice fittings on the kit with bullet connectors and patch in as if you are doing it on the lamp.
or remove the original wiring from the bucket ( you will find three bullet connectors usually in front of the radiator) and pull the bullets through the front of the bucket, then if you can remove the individual terminals from the plastic fitting that goes on the headlamp bulb push them through from the back, add an appropriate rubber grommet and insert the connectors into the little black plastic terminal holder.

Diana

[neophyteguy]

The first thing you have to decide is whether you retain the original lights (assuming they are still fitted) or change to ones using H4 bulbs that fit the sockets supplied in the kit. If you are retaining the existing lights, you will have to join the new wiring to the existing bulb sockets. If you are planning to use H4 type bulbs which suit the supplied socket, I would run the wires through the existing grommets, cutting and rejoining them as necessary - the only wiring inside the dish should be the bulb sockets.


John,
The kit comes with plugs which fit my headlamps, so that isn't the issue. The H4 kits I have seen only change the reflector. The bucket piece wouldn't change at all, so I am in the same situation whether I go with an H4 upgrade or not.

I guess the best way to proceed is to pull the original wiring through the grommet and then try to replace this with the new wiring. Of course, this will require me cutting the plugs off which isnt the biggest of issues. I am sure I can arrange a couple of more from drivesafe.

Diana,
I have been told that the late IIa military versions maintained as many features to previous IIa versions so as to reduce the need for the army to carry parts for two models. I'd say you are spot on about how to proceed with getting the wires in. I dont like my chances of getting the grommet back in, but then I guess that isn't really going to be such an issue.

Thanks everyone-Ronnie

[JDNSW]

John,
The kit comes with plugs which fit my headlamps, so that isn't the issue.

If those plugs fit your headlamps, then your headlamps are not original (assuming it was the same as my 1970 one). Rover changed the headlight fittings after suffix A, but PMC retained the older Lucas prefocus type bulb for quite some time, possibly until the end of S2a production as part of the Australian content. Many of these have been replaced by either sealed beams or other later lights that use the 3 pin socket in your Traxide kit.

Diana - my 1970 ex-army 2a also has the headlights on radiator support panel, but it is clear from the amount of spare wire that the wiring harness was intended for headlights in the mudguards. Whether this was changed at the army's request during assembly or was a field conversion to use available bits, I have no idea.

John

[neophyteguy]

I knew Uncle Ho had explained this to me previously........Below is what he previously shared with me:

:I can't recall how many were built, but I do remember the fly leaf page in the front of the master book, which stated that vehicles which were destined for South Veitnam were to be fitted with the earlier type 2/2a radiator support panel and guards as well as associated wiring, this was for vehicles need to bring the vehicles up to Estabishment, I would say that it would have been 100-150 I don't think it would have been more. I was just to keep parts commonalty with was was in SVN stores, It was just one of those things that were in the front of the Master Parts book along with all the single page updates of part numbers and the P/n changes, even in the 60's it was chaos in the parts and production sections, more bosses and paperwork than was necessary" ---Thanks again for the info!

John, the lights have definately been changed then. It must have been done quite some time ago as it was done prior to the previous paint job. Hopefully this will make my life a bit easier......My plan is to just upgrade the wiring at the moment and then if I feel the need I can put in the H4 reflectors and bulbs in the future.

[drivesafe]

Hi Ronnie, you can remove the brass terminals from the plugs, with a small flat blade screwdriver.

You might then be able to push the terminals through the rubber grommet and reassemble the plug on the inside of the housing.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

...
Diana,
I have been told that the late IIa military versions maintained as many features to previous IIa versions so as to reduce the need for the army to carry parts for two models. ...I believe that is a bit of khaki mythology.

This is a 1971 workshop Land Rover.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/10/1278.jpg

Note cut mudguards not present on the SIII Land Rover contracts.

The headlamps in the mudguards came out in the chassis suffix G these were issued to the civilian market commencing in November 1969 and similarly in the military Land Rovers also in 1969. Just check the ARN lists for vehicles commencing ARN 176-533.

So unless I'm mistaken, if your 1971 has cross-eyed headlamps then it is possibly a retrofit.

[neophyteguy]

Thanks Diana!

I have actually been using some of the pictures in the REMLR shed as a reference. In particular, the photos listed at Series 2A 109 GS -REMLR (http://www.remlr.com/sheds/azshed.html) as this as an "immaculate" Landie. It has a chassis number which is 16 less than mine. The vehicle at the link above only has 7600 miles on it, so I wouldnt have thought there would have been a retrofit to it.

Here are the details for the truck listed on the REMLR site:
Make Land-Rover (Rover Australia P/L) Model LWB 109" Series 2A
Manuf. date January 1971 Production CKD RHD export
Army Census 6028B Engine 25350567K
Nomenclature TRUCK, UTILITY, ¾ TON G.S. WITH WINCH
LAND-ROVER SERIES 2A 109 INCH WB Contract number V113697
Chassis 25335056G ARN 178-405

Ronnie

[neophyteguy]

Drivesafe, the hole in the back of the bucket will most likely not even be big enough for the 6 wires, so I am sure the brass plugs will not fit through. I took one of the pins out of the adapter yesterday to have a look at this.

I will just have to cut the adapters, run the wire through (probably needing to expand the size of the hole in the back of the light bucket) and then reattach the plugs.

Can the pins on the plugs be crimped with a normal wire crimper?

[chazza]

Can the pins on the plugs be crimped with a normal wire crimper?

I have salvaged pins such as these before but not in this application. It is a bit of a fiddle but it is possible to open up the crimping and then solder the wire back on. My crimping tool wasn't much help, so I used long nosed pliers and a bit of gentle squeezing to make it grip the wire. Annealing the pins will make it easier to crimp them afterwards.

If the pins are brass, you can anneal them with an LPG torch by heating them to a dull red and quenching them in a pickle bath made from 1 part of sulphuric acid to 10 parts water; or 1 part hydroclhoric acid to 10 parts water. Pickling strips off the oxides from heating and allows the solder to stick. Rinse the part in clean water before soldering so that the acid can't wick into the wires and corrode them.

The acids can be bought from a hardware store and the pickle bath made in a glass or plastic jar,

Cheers Charlie

[neophyteguy]

Thanks Charlie! That is certainly one I will have to remember........I went to a few shops today looking for just the connector. Unfortunately, both auto parts stores and the auto electrician I went to only had the connector with pig tails (small bits of wire) attached. If I cant find any connectors in the next couple of days, I may go down the pickliing route.

Further to the question of how to get the wires into the light "buckets", I was able to get the grommet to pull through into the front part of the bucket. This was achieved by squeezing the grommet while gently pulling the wires towards the front of the vehicle. Once the grommet pulled through, it was easy to get the bullet connectors through.

I have now decided to put in one of the three way headlight connectors outside the radiator guard (or whatever you call the piece the headlights are in). This connector will go just before where the cables split off for the two headlights and the cable assembly supplied by drivesafe will attach here. This will then easily allow me to disconnect the connector if the radiator guard assembly needs to come off again. It will also get rid of any existing wiring which currently goes to the headlights. New wiring will be run from the backs of the globes to the relay.

The relay will be mounted on the vertical piece which is at a right angle to the where the headlights are mounted. This should make the relay accessible without making the mounting hardware too visible. Saying that, the left side is probably a better place to actually put the relay somewhere that it cant be seen as the vertical piece has a bit of an angle to it (hard to explain). However, ths would require more cables running across the radiator area as cables need to go back to the battery and the plug which I will have to put in.

Oh yeah, if anyone knows where I can get one of those plugs without the pig tails, please let me know!

Also, if anyone has any tips or queries, please let me know.....Cheers for all your help! --Ronnie