trialsman
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 04:10 AM |
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Brighter head lights
My Locost has 2CV head lights with what appears to be standard 1979 Escort Mk2 wiring. Night driving is a chore to see the road ahead even with them
aimed properly and on bright. Can I replace the bulbs with a brighter halogen bulb without doing any wiring changes or additional relays? Looking at
55/100 watt bulbs. Thanks in advance Russ
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flak monkey
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 08:26 AM |
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Arent 2CV lights sealed beam units? If they are you cant do much with them.
My suggestion would be to change them to lights which take H4 bulbs and fit some Philips Extreme Power Bulbs. They are std wattage, but about 30%
brighter.
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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madteg
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 09:13 AM |
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I understand that they are the same light units as a jeep cherokee, there is alot of jeeps in 4x4 scrapyards. Might be worth a look. And they take H4
bulbs.
[Edited on 12/12/10 by madteg]
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rusty nuts
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 10:09 AM |
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What shape bulbs are you using? If they are the old round bulbs they are possibly "pre halogen" the mounting flange is circular with a
raised lug , IIRC the UK part number is a 410 and a halogen conversion is available which is a HB12? , popular for uprating old VW headlights . A
standard H4 bulb has a mounting flange with 3 tags and is a 472 for which there are various conversion bulbs available.
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SeaBass
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 10:31 AM |
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H4 Halogen P45t base - that's what I had in my 2cv headlights before I ditched them. Much better than the candle lamps that Citroen fitted.
[Edited on 12/12/10 by SeaBass]
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dhutch
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 11:08 AM |
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I stuck the philips 'xtreme power' bulbs in my kitcars dominator headlights.
They are better, but a bit like trading being poke in the eye while driving for being poked in the ribs because there is still about 3 volts voltage
drop in the wiring (to the dash and back, one rocker switch, one relay, a badly corroded connector, and and a crimped joint near the light, all in wet
string gauge) and they are still only 2feet off the ground and in the same plane as you are looking at the road at and if its wet you have the spray
issue, outside of the screen, inside of the screen, etc.
Ive not come up with a well engineering solution, i going to improve the wiring as soon as i get around to it (low priority sadly) but really i think
the next plan is a pair of compact driving lights up high on detachable poles, see what they works like, and if it works look at setting it up in a
way that might not attract too much attention!
Maybe something like:
HELLA FF50 Free Form Halogen Driving Lights Lamp Kit on eBay (end time 29-Dec-10 15:44:09 GMT)
Daniel
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 12:46 PM |
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Light output from a halogen lamp is proportional to the cube of the voltage. A 3v drop means you will be losing about 50% of the lamps output, so
seems like fixing that should be a priority!
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RazMan
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 02:42 PM |
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I have used HID conversions in my Mini headlamps - they are the best mod I have done to my car. They consume less power than standard halogens which
is great if you have a tiny alternator or run a BEC.
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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trialsman
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 02:51 PM |
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They are not sealed. They have a replaceable parking light and a replaceable two filament driving light which I am sure is an H4 type. I'll look
at those Phillips H4's. I'm sure they are available State side. Thanks, Russ
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mikegsi
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| posted on 12/12/10 at 07:46 PM |
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another vote for the hid kits here too, ill end up getting one for mine once i get round to it
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 13/12/10 at 04:51 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RazMan
I have used HID conversions in my Mini headlamps - they are the best mod I have done to my car. They consume less power than standard halogens which
is great if you have a tiny alternator or run a BEC.
They also end up directing a lot of light in places it shouldn't (e.g. oncoming drivers eyes) since the size and shape of the light source (i.e.
the arc within the HID lamp) is nothing like the size and shape of a filament in a halogen lamp. HID's either need to be used with projector
style lamps or specially designed reflectors.
Personally I hate being blinded by aftermarket HIDs, and it seems to happen quite often 
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