1972 Road Runner/GTX restoration

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

Hella was/is the OEM lighting/electrical supplier to the European car manufactures. In Europe back in the 70's & 80's, if it had round headlamps, these are the lamps the BMW's would have from the factory. They were illegal for use in the states at the time, (according to the labels on the box, still is, for off-road use only). Although no brighter than some of the high-end lighting you see running on the road today, I guess, back then American drivers couldn't handle them and needed government protection against them. My 03' Astro came with a lighting system similar in design to these, just with a stylized lamp reflector/housing.

The H4 and H1 bulbs are quartz-halogen available ranging from 55-100+ watts. Sealed beams, what 15-20 watts of lighting? The control of the light pattern is more precise with basically two lines, one horizontal and another angling up to the right, light pattern below on the road and shoulder. High beam, it's almost daylight.

Wiring? There are two points of concern with the stock wiring.
1. Voltage drop, I am in the process making a new headlamp harness that ups the wire size to 12 gauge. The lamps will have a dedicated ground as the stock wiring shares the headlamp grounds with all other lighting up front.
2. Current draw, relays will be installed near the starter relay to redirect the higher current away from the other parts of the stock headlight circuit. The bulkhead connectors, fuse block, dash wiring, headlight switch, high/low beam foot switch would all suffer an early demise if this extra current were allowed to pass through them.

I hope to have completed my wiring mod this week-end, for those interested I will post some pictures next week. In the meantime, when I was researching if I could still get these headlamps, I ran across several sites on the internet that had instructions for installations like this. Keyword search "Hella headlamps", you should hit on a ton of info. BTW, best price I found was at Summit Racing, about $54 ea. for the headlamps.

Bumper, That's an NOS piece I picked up a while back, the flash on the camera highlighted all the micro scratches from sitting in its box all these years. This bumper has the holes for the rub strip in the middle, I plan to have them filled then have it re-chromed at some point.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

Well I managed to finish the wiring mod today, here are some pics of the process and end result.

[471Magnum]

Very observant, No they are not sealed beams, they are Hella’s “European Technology High Performance Headlamps”(that’s what it says on the box). They use H4 and H1 bulbs and require an upgrade to the wiring including the installation of relays.

I used these lamps along with relays on my '69 Charger. They worked awsome.

FWIW, they are just standard "E-code" lamps that are designed to european specifications. The beam pattern is completely different from the FMVSS (and CMVSS) pattern required in North American. Technically, they are legal for "off highway use only", but I won't rat you out.

The flat lenses do look a little funky, but that was never a concern on the Charger with the concealed lamps.

[mopar71]

Great Mod, I have H4's in my toyota, and they are bright! I bought the super white I think they are 100w. The older cars seem yellow compared to these.

[rr6pak]

I like the look of the headlights. I'd like to do that as well, when I get to that point.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

Finally, no rain in the forecast here in Seattle, it's time to get the car into the shop and align the front end. So happy I chose replace the original upper control arms with Just Suspension's tubular SS pieces. All desired angles dialed right in without having to compromise anything. The car drives better than any Mopar I can remember driving.

[rr6pak]

Finally, no rain in the forecast here in Seattle, it’s time to get the car into the shop and align the front end. So happy I chose replace the original upper control arms with Just Suspension’s tubular SS pieces. All desired angles dialed right in without having to compromise anything. The car drives better than any Mopar I can remember driving.

Doug-Do you have the originall K member in the car and just changed out the Upper Control Arms? Have you thought of the AlterKtion as an option?

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

I really didn't want to go that direction with this car. I'm sure systems like that can greatly improve handling on most any Mopar. In my mind, torsion bars and K-frames are all part of an old Mopars character. I reinforced the lower control arms and upped the size of the strut rods, torsion bars, sway bar, and replaced the upper control arms. Other than that I have stayed pretty much stock on the front end.

[rr6pak]

I've watched your progress all along. Everything I've seen that you have done has been like art. Its funny, you've done what I want to do to my car before your original post.

[mopar71]

I've watched your progress all along. Everything I've seen that you have done has been like art. Its funny, you've done what I want to do to my car before your original post.

Don't we all!

[Serious Satellite]

It frustrates me to think of how long I've been working on my project, and I'm not anywhere near what you've completed.

Now, for those of you on a budget like I am, here's a cheaper alternative to Lizardskin

http://www.metalshield.com/uses.html

Only about 40 bucks a gallon, as opposed to 150 bucks a gallon.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

Now keep in mind I've been working on this particular car project for a couple of years before I found this forum and posted any pictures here. I have always wanted to be able to build a car like this from the ground up, but had to wait until midlife to even have the opportunity to do so. So for me, it's 35+ years to get here with this project.

FYI, Lizardskin is $169 per two gallon bucket.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

I gave up on my attempts to quiet down the Holley "Blue" vane and rotor electrical fuel pump. I had an idea from the start that it may be noisy and had fabricated isolation mounts for it and the regulator. However between the outright vibration of the pump and the corresponding pressure pulses in the line between the pump and regulator, I just couldn't handle the noise resonating throughout the entire body of the car. Took a chance on the Holley "gerotor" 125gph pump, physically larger I was concerned it may not fit, it did after mods to my mounting hardware. Guess what, NO! noise at all. Ok, a little hum maybe can be heard with the engine off but what a difference. This pump is internally regulated at 7lbs. psi vs. the "blue" pumps 15lbs psi, all but eliminating the line pulses to the regulator.



Also had to give up on my plans to run 15" rallye wheels on my car. Both the 7 and 8" wides wouldn't clear the rear Wilwood disc brakes. The only off the shelf 15x8" wheel with the 4 ½" offset I was looking for was the AR torque thrust II. I had already committed to 15" tires some time ago, and at this point don't really want to go bigger.

[landon1]

what size tires are you running? i think i'm going to have to go with 27 or 28" diameter rears, as the 60 series bfgoodrich tires on it now look too small.

[72RoadRunnerGTX]

That’s a 255/60 15, on the rear, 27” diameter. Plan to run 235/60 15 up front, about 26” in diameter.