August West

I've ordered the H4 Headlight Upgrade Kit from Pelican thinking that I can upgrade to an H4 from an H5 with the added benefit of getting chrome trim rings to give my 964 a backdated look. Pelican has the H4 kit listed as being good for 911 from 1987 to 1994 so I thought well, hey, this will be a easy fun project!

So I ordered two H4 kits, two H4 bulbs, two rubber seals, two inner and outer screws for attaching the cover ring described in the verbage which I assumed would be part of the kit, but in actuality is not. Once I got my package, it became apparent that I would also need the H5 to H4 adapters as well, which I thought would be part of the kit.

So the upgrade kit is not a kit at all, it's just the H4 headlight assembly.

So I've now ordered the H5 to H4 adapters.

Now, in looking at my old H5 assembly and the new H4 assembly I'm scratching my head as to how to install the new H4 assembly. I was thinking that because Pelican advertises the kit as being for 1987 to 1994, that surely they'd be a way to adapt the H4 assembly using some of the H5 assembly's mounting hardware. So far I haven't been able to figure this out so I'm reaching out to you fellow Rennlisters...

Any of you guys gone down this road before? How have you mounted the new H4 assemblies? Is it even possible?

Help!

crg53

It is actually very simple. Put on the rubber seal, then grab the H4 lamp and mount the top first, you will see a very small lip on top, make sure the H4 gets hooked on to that, then push down and in to get the bottom in place. The trick is to get the hole in the lamp lined up with the threaded tap in the housing. Thats all there is to it.
To really enjoy your new H4's, you HAVE to put in a relay "KIT", that makes a HUGE difference, and it is also very easy to do.

hamah

+1 on the relays and if you are going that route put in a larger gauge wire as well. Ideally I think 12 AWG would be best but I could not get 3 leads to fit through the existing grommet from the headlight bucket into the frunk so I went with 14 AWG (plus it is a lot easier to crimp the relay contacts to 14 AWG)

crg53

Here is a LINK to Daniel Sterns website, it has all the pertinent information required to install relays and heavier gauge wires.

frankvan

just took a look at the pelican kit and further down the page they have the H5 parts. it would seem very logical if you break an H5 lens that you would opt for the h4 kit as the kit is less than just the h5 lens (and a replacement h4 lens is about 1/8th the price of an h5 lens).
hmm,i think i see a chip in one of my h5 lenses

August West

Wow! Very encouraging feedback...thanks guys. I was starting to think I screwed the pooch on this one...will let you know how it goes!

PelicanParts.com

You'll love the H4 upgrade! Here's a step-by-step tech article which may help with the install process:

H4 Headlamp Upgrade

Mark / Pelican Parts

August West

Okay, here's my update! I want to preface this with an apology for any harshness in my first post...I want to thank Pelican for getting the requisite H4 plugs to me in a speedy fashion.

I ended up snipping the wires to the old H5 plug, stripping the wires so that they can be inserted into the H4 plugs's handy-dandy spring loaded wire-insert holes...very easy. Then it's like what crg53 said above, just slip the new seals on, then slip the chrome ring onto the tab at the top of the housing and then screw into the bottom with the new chrome screw that comes with the H4 lamps.

The beam spread and output is so much better than before and, well, the chrome rings just look bitchin', if I do say so myself.

Here are some before and after shots!

August West

Some more photos!

August West

Oh, and a little tech tip that I got from Pelican's tech article and worth doing before you do the final install: I gave the beam adjustment screw/nut a splash of WD-40 and exercised the adjustment screw back and forth a little bit until it felt like the WD-40 went into the nut, then I installed the headlamps. Then when I went to adjust the beams, the screws were easily turned without potentially scratching the chrome or stripping the screws.

Thanks again goes to Pelican for the tech article!

PelicanParts.com

Glad it went well and looks great!!

964Lovac

Looks great!

So undecided about the chrome rings or black rings for my Guards Red C4. Love the chrome on the silver though!

August West

Thanks, Pelican, and dubjager, yeah I've always loved chrome on silver and am pleased with how they came out.

Now I'm waiting for it to get dark so I can check them out and adjust them accordingly!

Next should be a brake job but damn, I really want to get some of those Zuffenhaus Fuchs...so classic looking!

dubjager, if you're not attached to getting H4s, you could just order two H5 rings and then paint them or chrome them as you like. I just did what I did to kill two birds with one stone...namely H4s plus chrome look.

hamah

The cool thing is that as good as your new H4s are there is a very noticeable improvement in output if you decide to opt for relays and larger gauge wire. Do check out that link posted above to Daniel Stern.

964Lovac

I would love to get the H4's...definitely on my list! The stock H5's are the worst that I've had the pleasure of experiencing, but they need an upgrade!