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Improving headlamps
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Riley Blue



Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Posts: 1750
Location: Derbyshire

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 9:50 am    Post subject: Improving headlamps Reply with quote

It's not often we're out after dark in our Riley One-Point-Five but we were on Tuesday evening. Although I've fitted halogen bulbs, their output is not really sufficient on rural roads with no street lighting.

There are Lucas spot lamps fitted which I wondered about wiring so they're on with main beam and off with dipped beam but I think the main/dip contrast will be too great - any suggestions? The car is positive earth with a dynamo.
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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 12:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

David, I had the same issue with my Fiat 500; I bought modern Hella spotlights.
I wired them to main beam via relays and afeed direct from the battery. Ebay sold me a really neat, well made and inexpensive mini-loom which made that easy and tidy to do.
It made a massive difference to my confidence in going out in the dark, but when I calculated the amperage I was using for this light show it was obvious that I had to upgrade to an alternator.

So a lot of originality out of the window in favour of practicality on this one.

MAL_9778 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
thefinalsolution by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
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Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This would cope with those dangerous dips in the road.

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Riley Blue



Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Posts: 1750
Location: Derbyshire

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peterwpg wrote:
This would cope with those dangerous dips in the road.



That's exactly what I need! Laughing
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David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe a redundant flare mortar?

The problem is, the huge difference in contrast when faced with oncoming modern headlights.

There are halogen bulb conversions around.....even LED conversions.

Maybe aim to go from the old 'cream' lights to modern 'white' lights?

With spots, I always find the wobbling very off-putting...
Plus, no amount of spot lights[drivng lights] are going to help when oncoming traffic is encountered.

Might be possible to convert the round headlights to a projector array?

But, all in all, I think the best option is to convert to halogen? And, make sure the reflectors are not rusted?
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Phil - Nottingham



Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 1252
Location: Nottingham

PostPosted: Thu Jul 06, 2017 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not many classics are driven at night and in winter especially on unlit roads. I use ours all year round day & night and the 1950-1970's lighting is quite adequate but the pre-war 36w lights are somewhat feeble
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jp928



Joined: 07 Jun 2016
Posts: 249
Location: Australia

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check what volts you are getting at the actual bulbs, to see if there is a drop along the way. You might be surprised, it only takes a couple of slightly poor connections to make for real drops. If relays are not already fitted, put them in line, so the switch is handling minimal current. Put the relays as close as possible to the lights, with a relatively heavy lead (fused) from a good supply point. Also check all your ground points are clean and bright. Fuse holders can also degrade their contacts - put some Deoxit or similar on all sliding contacts.
jp 26 Rover 9
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As an aside, I used to use an old trick on my rear engined Skodas...the plugs/connectors, being made by PAL, were never really good at keeping themselves clean.

So I would trawl scrappies with a tesco bag and snips, cutting off things like headlamp connectors from Japanese cars [that were being scrapped, of course....wouldn't dream of trawling the local car park!!]....These were then used to replace PAL or Lucas connectors, soldering wires, etc....for some reason, Japanese electrical hardware didn't have the corrosion issues that plagued Lucas, PAL, or some Italian electrical stuff.
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colwyn500



Joined: 21 Oct 2012
Posts: 1745
Location: Nairn, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alastairq wrote:

The problem is, the huge difference in contrast when faced with oncoming modern headlights.

With spots, I always find the wobbling very off-putting...


My forward view used to be in shadow when a modern car was close behind me; I didn't even seem to benefit from an enhanced view from their lighting.
To avoid wobble I fitted some easily available, universal, adjustable stays.

MAL_0100 by Peter Thompson, on Flickr
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