Headlight Aiming for Sterlings

[ydeardorff]

Given I am placing custom headlights in my car, discovering the proper headlight position has become an issue. Typically you can use the old plywood board method and some spray paint to get the aiming right.

With a Sterling That angle would actually point up. So my guess here is to use my driveway which is two lanes, and 50 yards long to aim my headlights. My guess is to use the length of my driveway and the old board method , along with a desk chair to check the low beam position. The Sterlings headlights are nearly horizontal to the road so aiming them properly is crucial to other drivers.

The idea is to have the beam at, or just above ground level at 50 yards, left and right are pretty straight forward to position them. Though the drivers side must be aimed a little lower than the passenger side. This is similar to most OEM car setups.

Then, use the desk chair to sit in to approximate the driving position of most cars, and sit in the chair at the end of my driveway to see if the glare is bothering to the eyes.

The problem is my driveway is sloped. And rises up from the garage floor entrance by about a foot or more over the 50 yards. Once I have the lights in the proper and identical position per side Ill use tape first, then epoxy to get them locked into place.

So if anyone has a better idea let me know.

My low beams are projector beams with the internal blind preventers in them.
As you all probably know I have the high beams installed but they have such a scatter effect they cannot be used for headlight aiming. So I got the matched set of low beam in to get this done. HID's are 6 times brighter than stock halogen lights. Staring into them is not nice. sort of like staring into an arc welder. So I want to get this right. If I can Ill make a picture tutorial on it. Perhaps if its concise enough we can sticky it so others will have the info when/if they get to this point.

 

[letterman7]

Since most states have regulations on headlight adjustment, the easiest thing to do is take the car to a facility that has the correct equipment. My drive has a slight rise and angle to boot, so what I've done in the past is set either my wife's car or my truck about 25' back from my garage door and marked the centerlines of both the high and low beams with blue painters tape. Pull the Sterling into the same spot and adjust the lights as best as possible from there. You should be well used to what a "normal" headlight angle should look like - the HID's just offer the sharper edge to judge from, so park the thing in a parking lot somewhere that has a blank wall facing you (like behind a movie theater) and make your adjustments. And yes, my first car had retrofitted BMW HID's in it with zero adjustment capabilities except for up and down via a number of shims, and never had an issue with blinding another driver.

Of course, you're well away from doing that, so why worry now?

 

[ydeardorff]

Getting things installed now. So I can move onto other projects.

 

[ydeardorff]

Here's an example of getting the angle correct, or at least a decent starting point from which to glass in the guts of the headlight assembly. Then the adjusters can fine tune the lights from there.

The distance was 60 feet from the sterling to the car. You can see the defined line created from the anti blinders in the low beam HID's (yes they are aimed a bit high in the photo).



Another thing is the HID's start to change color when they get close to straight on. I used a laser level to get the light assemblies perfectly level within the headlight bucket, then shimmed them into the proper vertical angle at my car.

Adjusting right to left is fairly easy as well as the HID's have an intensity difference that can be clearly seen if the lights are off center.

Decent start to getting things permanent.

 

[ydeardorff]

Heres a good link to how to adjust your headlights properly.

How to Adjust Your Headlights - Aim Your Headlights - Popular Mechanics

Remember, our sterlings are lower than an OEM car. So ensuring the beam angle is correct is crucial for driving safety. The angle of the headlight beam should go from the zero plane of your beams center of height (on the car) toward the ground. This way it isnt inadvertently pointing upward. Even a small angle upward will get you flashes from oncoming cars, and potentially blind them. And since we are effectively driving a ramp on wheels, having oncoming drivers happy with your headlight angle is a good thing!*yipes*
Given most DMV's aren't prepared to see past their own rules, you may have to adjust your lights to their liking first, then adjust them properly after you get the OK. They may well try to apply rules meant for larger cars to our tiny sterling's without much in the way of common sense applied. Such is the plight of kit cars I guess....*explitive rant*

 

[Peter]

Beam adjustment is even more crucial on our cars as the testers beam checker has to be a foot further away than a 'normal' car so any discrepancies will be highlighted. That article writer certainly likes to pad out a page, could all have been said in one paragraph.