Re: 1955 clipper panama 4400 headlights

Posted by HH56 On 2010/10/28 14:12:20

Any 12v & 7 inch round conversion bulb should fit without too much trouble & Hella has a couple that look good. Am not sure if the sockets are all the same though. One other thing to watch for is current draw. Packard original lamps were 50/40 watt and the replacements seem to be running at least 60/55. That may not be much additional if all wiring is in good shape but if not, any poor contact in a switch or socket could show up and possibly cause a problem.

If it were mine, would seriously consider adding a couple of relays operated by the dimmer switch via normal wires but supply the bulbs directly with a separate feed protected by a circuit breaker. That would take a lot of strain off the original components as well as provide the voltage so the lamps work at full output. Believe Randy Berger's 56 Caribbean blog has some info on how he did his.