Converting to halogens, where to buy the lamp unit

[GreenV8Machine]

any ideas?

[Lord Sorbington]

On a saloon?  Apparently, some old Nissan vans have headlights of the same diameter.  Find one in a scrappie and rob it's lights!

[GreenV8Machine]

aye, mk1 saloon.

any idea what nissan?

[Lord Sorbington]

Nissan Urvan (like a Transit) or summat.  Probably not that common in scrappies now to be honest.  Any round headlight of the same diameter should do.  I'm assuming a mk1's lights are held in place by a retaining ring as per a mk2 2000.

Worth searching though, as the Cibie kits are £100.  

Alan

[GreenV8Machine]

cheers mate!

[Alex]

That'll be each I would think.

[Lord Sorbington]

Yeah, £23.50 x 4 + bulbs!!  That's why I'm still on sealed beams (which are actually pretty good).

You may want to fit relays too, save melting the switches.

[Alex]

Cars are expensive dont you think!!!

[Lord Sorbington]

Just a little!!.  £10 here, £40 there, never add it all up!

GT6, if you do find a suitable donor, take one of the 2000's lights along to match it up for size, and remember to pinch, sorry,  buy the connector plug too.  Stating the obvious I know, but that's the sort of thing I'd forget!

[Nick Jones]

What about BMW 3 series old shape?  Ancient Honda Accords used to have brilliant ones - put some in my Sprint - they were awesome.  Probably tough to find now....

Nick

[Lord Sorbington]

Wow, I feel my first trip to a scrappie in 10 years coming on!! :)  I can spend hours in those places!

The old E30 3 series had ellipsoidal outer headlights, where the beam is focused through a glass lens inside the light unit. Probably great when new, but the ones on my 12 year old example may as well have been candles!! The main beams were normal lights, and would burn the paint off cars that got in my way!! Superb.

I think that finding anything with round lights in a scrappie is going to be tough nowadays.  ebay perhaps?

[AlanChatterton]

Ford Capri lights also fit, and you can change the bulbs too!

Rimmers have a sale of Stag bits on at the moment, they are advertising the Osram Silverstar headlights (50% increase) at £16.50 per pair.

The only problem I have is that the outer lights are twin filament, and when you put the beam on, the inners come on and the outers come up to the second filament, but the lower ones turn off. If you upgrade to meaty bulbs, aren't these only single filament, which means on beams, you will only have the inner pair on?

Any ideas?

[Alex]

Halfords do the 50% brighter bulbs for £14.99 buy 1 get 1 free.

[Dizzy]

Alex wrote:

Cars are expensive don't you think!!!

I agree.  But £94 for four new units is less than the cost of just one unit for lots of modern cars, so it could be worse!

"What could be worse?" I hear you ask.  Why, having a modern car instead of the Triumph of course!

[lordleonusa]

You have to realise that a lot of work goes into modern headlamps and Cibiés are the leaders in the field.

Cibié (Valeo) offer two versions, their standard halogens, and their CSRs (Complex Surface Reflectors) that cost about twice the price.

Do not bother with Osram Silverstars capsules, they are a rip off, because the dip-beam filament only last one year of normal use - say 10-12,000 miles.

Lots of useful info at this site:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Regards

Léon

ps. no-one mentioned Alfa-Romeo 5.75" headlamps, I think they will fit.

[Deleted User]

Always fit relays on Mk1 and 2. Really easy .. you just splice into the headlight loom on the offside inner wing and mount twin fused relays (30-40A will do) Use a 30A relay for the dip and 40A for main and stick with 55/60W outers and 55W inners.

Really no need for 100W stuff

Just relays with standard tungsten lights is a huge improvement (voltage drop of 1v is worth about 30-40% brightness!!!!)

Use heavy duty power supply from battery and you will have daylight at midnight... ask my brother... no need for any other auxillary  lights on RBRR  8) 8)

Saves the switches too

[Dizzy]

I have Lucas 75W tungsten main beams (sealed-beam).  Excellent light output, and I like the gentle cut-off that you get with sealed-beam lights.

I assume the 75W units were official upgrades?  I haven't seen them on other Triumphs, though I haven't specifically looked for them.

[Deleted User]

I think most top Leyland cars had them before halogen were widespread, 2500S, Rover 3500 and XJ6

[Lord Sorbington]

£9 for a new one.  The last bulb I bought for my modern car was £7, so a new sealed beam unit is not the end of the world.  A bit wasteful though, and they can be tricky to find at short notice.

[James]

And take up more space if you go on a continental tour... :)

[GreenV8Machine]

I love the way the 2000 headlights look on a misty night. Fookin ace!

[Lord Sorbington]

Or a snowy day!  

The idea of XJ40 lights is an interesting one...

[GreenV8Machine]

sexy

[Greeks]

Sealed beam - before relays


Sealed beam - after relays


Binglow! :-)

[Pete Lewis]

It just shows many would be upset if they were told they had 10volt lighting ,,,,
I always get in trouble saying this but our old Vit6 has ,,relays,,,halogen bulb units
all 4 on Dip @ 55w and its always passed its MOT but does exceed the  legal side of lighting regulations for dip  beam ,,,, its  not dazzling and very lluminating,,   I will be fitting a switch to control the two inner dip units and call them fog lamps,,,  Peter