Westfield Elevens

Aaaaarrrgh! I'm blinded!

Said nobody ever, having stared at an Eleven's front candles.

Until now!!

So, you may recall that earlier this summer I replaced all of my other bulbs with LED units. This was prompted by a pre-Le Mans Classic shakedown run with Jon Clancy and two others (AKA, a thinly veiled excuse for a piss-up!). Typically, we were caught out in a monsoon. Even without the cloudburst, Jon's brake/tail/indicator lights were a period-correct joke. I commented as such, only to be told that mine were exactly the same

Ken, with his freshly rebuilt MGB, had installed LED bulbs in all of the ancillary positions to good effect. So I set about the conversion, which proved to be quite straightforward. The trickiest aspects were finding the correct flasher unit and diffused LED bulbs of the correct type. Most came from these people:

http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com

They also offer various LED headlight conversions. The H4 type looked good, but pricey at £109 including the carriage. So I didn't go for it initially.

But now the nights are drawing in.........

So, I found the exact-same H4 units being sold by a Land Rover parts and conversion specialist:

http://www.powerfuluk.com/?gclid=CLns6a ... GwodlooJzw

£70 for the pair, including carriage from their eBay store.

Whilst I awaited delivery (2days) I made a guesstimate of the size of the drivers and fabricated a pair of very simple brackets to mount them on.

These were then loosely held in position inside the bonnet with blutac whilst I glassed them down:

I know! I know! You've seen more attractive dog's breakfasts. Well, nothing a bit of paint can't sort out:

The kit arrived today. There's no manufacturer's details anywhere, nor any indication as to country of origin, which is a pity! From packaging, to literature, to unit construction it's all an absolute work of art. Without a doubt, the best-made piece of aftermarket equipment that I've ever handled.

Everything that possibly can be is hard-anodised, beautifully cast aluminium. The bulb's body, the heat sink, the driver case (both main body and base), even the little deflector blades for the dipped-beam array. All threads are coated with a wafer-thin smear of white grease, as are the waterproofing o-rings.

Honestly, it's exquisite!

And a doddle to fit: