Well after 1/2 hour of searching the board on this subject, i have come up empty handed.

 

Has anyone done this swap? i have a late production '81 hatch with 2 large square headlights, and i want to apply the 4 small headlight setup to the car. I have a donar car, with the complete setup, so my question is, what all parts do i need to nab from the donar car. Do i need to cut out any of the sheet metal to make room for the 4 headlights? How hard is the wiring to supply power to the headlights?

 

I am looking for any and all tips or tricks to get this swap done.

 

I also plan on applying a cyclops light to the center of the 4 headlights when i get the grill all put together on the hatch. should be pretty sweet when its all said and done....

 

thanks

donny

I would do some experimenting with the headlight assembly and the grill setup. See if you can bolt the entire headlight assembly from the donar car onto your Hatch. Not sure what the metal on the Hatch looks like, you might need to make 2 openings to fit the high beams. You'll also need to get the wiring figured out as well.

 

-Brian

I was planning on doing this swap on my '86 wagon since the quad headlamps are a lot cheaper than the composite ones. Parts from an '88 DL fit interchangeably with my '86 GL wagon. I'm not sure since I've never tried it, but the quad lamp assembly from an '83 wagon might fit in your earlier vehicle. You'd probably have to get all the trim and grill pieces too (as well as the wiring connectors to the headlamps) to see if it would fit. Our local PAP yard will accept the parts back within 30 days if they don't work (if it doesn't fit, I guess it could be called "not working). The other half of this is the wiring and I'd suggest you re-wire the new lights via a relay directly off a fused line from your battery. Activate the relay from the old headlamp socket. If I can get my old computer running again, I'll get you a link to a site that can show you the wiring.

 

PS: Bratsarus1 might have the link to the headlamp wiring site since I sent it to him at one time and he's more organized than I am.

all of the light and bezels will swap. some of the plastic anchors for the screws amy be in different spots, but can be popped out.

 

the wiring may be different, at least the plugs. so some splicing may be in order for that.

I have a radiator support already cut out and ready to set in for a quad light set-up.Make an offer and cover shipping.The rest is easy.Wiring is not a big problem.I also should have the grill for sure and probably the whole set up,headlights and corner markers complete.

 

I'd let the whole deal go super cheap,like $60 plus shipping.Radiator support,grill,headlights in bezels,and corner markers.Provided I still have the whole set up.

Moosens, i appreciate the offer, but i have a donar car to supply all the needed parts to do this swap.

 

But, i wouldn't mind seeing a picture of a cutup radiator support. It might give me a little bit more of a clue as to what i need to do to it.

 

Can you help me out there? if so, send me a pic...if not, thats cool. I understand completly

 

my email is harpua@bendcable.com

Not to be a pain, but be carefull with the wiring. On high beams you are now running two filaments for each side effectively doubling the current on the old harness. Be smart and install a new harness running the power directly off a FUSED line from the battery and supplying power to the lamps from a pair of relays (one for low beam and the other for the high beams). If you use 12 (or 10) guage wire for the power to the headlamps you can even go with higher wattage bulbs than stock. 18 guage wire for the relay control is more than adequate. Ground the headlamps to a good grounding point and use the old headlamp socket to operate the relays. As old as our cars are, I wouldn't go through all this trouble without rewiring. Old wiring, old connectors, and more current draw are a recipe for a fire under the hood; besides the fact that you'll probably loose about 2 volts in the old harness and the new lighting will be relatively dim.