Headlight Upgrade Information for 90's Newell Coach - Page 2 - Luxury Coach Lifestyles
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Old 03-08-2008, 04:45 PM   #21
fulltiming
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I talked to Paul. His coach is featured on Xtreme Graphics website, CLICK HERE.

He had a full make over done on his. Paul didn't know about Newell headlight conversions but thought for Foretravels it was about $3k. He suggested contacting James Stallings, james@xtremegraphics.net.
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Old 03-09-2008, 12:42 AM   #22
Richard and Rhonda
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Well low and behold the UPS man brought headlights and all kinds of electrical goodies Friday. I hope to get one installed on Sunday.

Stay tuned.
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Old 03-09-2008, 01:29 AM   #23
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Richard and Rhonda, looking forward to seeing how your upgrade turns out.

I have had a bit of experience in the automotive lighting and have been hesitant to jump in on this subject. I used to be a supplier and manufacture down in Southern California to the auto industry. If I chose too, I could actually have a complete front cap produced for the (diy) including projector lights. We used to manufacture a lot of different body conversion kits for cars and trucks. I was planning on doing something in the future once I move up to a smooth sided Newell. I have entertained the thought of doing it to my current coach, but since I'm not keeping it much longer, I would be throwing my time and money away.


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Old 03-09-2008, 03:31 AM   #24
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Richard, I am waiting with baited breath to hear!! Ken, if these lights don't pan out, we may need to talk.
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PT Cruiser GT with Remco Transmission Pump
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Old 03-11-2008, 06:16 AM   #25
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Michael, hopefully Richard and Rhonda are seeing brighter sometime soon. It sounds as if quite a few early to mid nineties owners are waiting in anticipation of their result.

If there ends up being enough interest on the thought of my previous statement, I'll do some sourcing. My experience is at the manufacturer and distributing levels.

Ken
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Old 03-11-2008, 08:35 AM   #26
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Ken, I'm very interested in other alternatives. Although the replacement light should be better, I'm sure there is better technology out there. Projector lamps would be great, but I'm not sure about a full front end cap but something that would be limited to the actual light area or so.
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Old 03-11-2008, 01:14 PM   #27
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Hi Paul,

I had this very discussion with Stern. I was having a heck of an internal debate over projector vs direct replacement of the Ford headlamps.

I work for Alcon, doing research and development on Intraocular lenses, the ones that go inside your eye after cataract surgery, so he and I went into some pretty esoteric discussion of optical design, and the merits of each alternative. In the end it came down to this for me, your decision may be different. The great big Ford jobs are a curse and a blessing. A curse because the Euro replacement is rare, but a blessing because you have so much area for the reflector. If the reflector is of a quality design, and the originals are junk, then you get a great beam. Stern said, as good as most of the projector lamps out there. So given that direct replacements vs. projector was not going to result in a material gain in light quality, the decision for me then turned to the aesthetics. Was the upgraded look worth having to modify the front cap. For me it wasn't .

All told I'll probably have about 500 in the replacement. Projectors would cost about as much, but involve a some fiberglas and paint work. I played with the idea of mounting the projectors in some kind of painted or polished plate where the existing lights are. I just couldn't imagine a look with those small projectors that fit with the big squared off design cues on the coach.

We haven't discussed the high buck option. HID. The lamps and ballast for a HID setup is going to give you spectacular light. The lamps and ballast would cost around 2000 for both high and low beam. Plus, it would require the front cap modification.

So where am I? I pulled wires this weekend. I have to make a mounting board for the relays, so I should be able to test this setup on the coming weekend. Stern only had a left lamp in stock, so I am going to install one first. That's a good news bad news. The bad is I want to get it finished. The good is that it will give a A B comparison between the Euro lamp and the stock one.

I am leaving the original wiring intact. That way if I crack a lens in Bumfuzzle, Montana I can pop in a Ford replacement quickly.

I am not dissing your post to Ken about exploring the options. I just wanted to post a little more information for you to factor into your thoughts. I'll be the first to say that what is right for me, may not be what you would choose at all.
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1995 Newell # 390 DD Series 60, Allison World Trans
Subaru Outback toad
CoMotion Tandem
Often wrong, but seldom in doubt
Rhonda's chronicle https://wersquared.wordpress.com/
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Old 03-11-2008, 02:00 PM   #28
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Hello Richard,

No offense taken. That's the wonderful thing about this forum, each of us may come at something from a difference perspective based upon our experience and objectives. The end result is a better understanding and (hopefully) product. I continue to be amazed at the different backgrounds that are represented on this forum and even greater in the Newell ownership. This is a fact that Newell themselves take advantage of in implementing new mods to their coachs. So please continue to share your perspective. I certainly don't have your training or experience in the optics arena and enjoy increasing my understanding.

On the lighting issue. After the increased lighting itself, the next issue for me is to have something that's easily replaced. There is no guarantee that the Euro lights will be easily accessible in the near future. It's taken you a bit of time just to get one lamp. While I may not be in Bumfuzzle, Montana :-), I'll certainly be in Rancheria, Yukon, CA and want to be able to carry replacements that will work and can be easily installed for either side. Also, one of my greatest concerns is the low proximity of the present lights. I know that Mr. Stern mentined lexan covers (or something like that) but the Alaska Highway roads in winter have quite a bit of gravel on them and I've had lights taken out on other vehicles despite rock guards on previous trips.

In the short term, I've thought of installing some kind of light bar up front and then mounting the various desired lighting. This may not be the "look" some want for their coach, but it is an option with many variables at a minimal cost and also minimal disruption.

I'm very excited to see what Ken may be able to offer as an alternative.

HID lights...now that would offer distintive lighting and a certain wow factor.
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Old 03-13-2008, 01:18 PM   #29
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Well my little project is getting more interesting. Ole Daniel Stern is a pretty clever guy. In the DIY kit, he sent some plugs that looked like the existing plugs for the lamps. I didn't look at them too closely because I wasn't planning on using them. In a correspondence last night, he told me what the were for. D'oh, they are male plugs that match the female plugs already wired into the coach for the existing lights.

Now couple that bit of info with the fact I discovered that the good engineers at Newell already ran 12G wire to the headlights, and the installeation just got a LOT simpler. All I have to do now is make a quick harness to adapt the male headlight plug to the Euro style (ten minutes), and wire in relays at the panel in the passenger kick panel.

He is refiguring the cost of the lamps, so this is getting more attractive by the day. I WILL have (by golly, if work would just calm down) have the headlight wired in and test by this weekend.
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Richard Rhonda Ty and Alex Entrekin
1995 Newell # 390 DD Series 60, Allison World Trans
Subaru Outback toad
CoMotion Tandem
Often wrong, but seldom in doubt
Rhonda's chronicle https://wersquared.wordpress.com/
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Old 03-13-2008, 05:19 PM   #30
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Keep up the good work Richard. We are waiting in anticipation of your results.
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https://newellowner.com/newell-photos/
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Old 03-14-2008, 12:56 AM   #31
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Sounds like good progress and hopefully a great result. If it works out for you, could be a reasonable $ fix.

If I already owned the same vintage of coach, I would have been getting very creative myself with this type of upgrade. Something I would like to note for those Newell Coach owners whom have these type of headlights that are plastic, if they are becoming yellowed, you can usually increase the performance by polishing away the yellow on the lense. I have done this over the years to several plastic headlights by using a good buffer and some 3M heavy duty compound. It only takes a couple of minutes to perform. A lot of people will replace composite headlight assy. due to the yellowing.

Ken
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:35 AM   #32
Richard and Rhonda
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Ok, here is a partial update. Stern only had one lamp in stock and he sent me that one to play with.

I had several wiring miscues, but I have all that straightened out. So right now I have one left Euro light wired with relays and 10 gauge wire, and the rest are just as Newell provided.

The bottom line, the Euro light provides twice the illumination that the stock light with stock wiring does. I am not kidding. I will take some pictures at night when I have time to demo the difference. It is incredible. The Euro light puts all the light down on the road and the light pattern is very homogeneous. The stock light has one bright spot on the road, and patterns of high and low intensity.

I stood in front of the coach at distances of 50 and 100 feet and there is more glare from the stock light than the Euro light so I don't expect oncoming drivers to have an issue with the better lighting. When you look directly at the light, it does not appear to be any brighter, but it sure does put more light on the road.

Admittedly, the originals are poor, but I am really happy about this right now.

I am a believer. I can't wait to get the other lamps in and install them Should be in a couple of weeks.
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Richard Rhonda Ty and Alex Entrekin
1995 Newell # 390 DD Series 60, Allison World Trans
Subaru Outback toad
CoMotion Tandem
Often wrong, but seldom in doubt
Rhonda's chronicle https://wersquared.wordpress.com/
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