32 headlights

[kb426]

I drove the 32 to breakfast in the dark this morning. I used the Vintique 32 halogen with turn signal units. I'm not real pleased with the amount of light I have. Does anybody else have any words of wisdom? I used relays and they're wired to the battery.

[Dave]

I drove the 32 to breakfast in the dark this morning. I used the Vintique 32 halogen with turn signal units. I'm not real pleased with the amount of light I have. Does anybody else have any words of wisdom? I used relays and they're wired to the battery.

Ive used em in 2 different cars with 29 a lights and im gonna use em with the roadster too.?? I thought they worked pretty good..
dave

[Deuce]

I use the 32 Bob Drake reflectors ... designed for use with halogen bulbs. He had a optical light engineer design his. I also use a Sylvania SilverStar H4  bulb.



With Drakes reflectors and the Silverstar Bulbs ... I believe the lights on my 32 roadster are as good as the lights in my wife's new Cadillac Sedan DeVille.

I bought the Drake reflectors because I had real good original headlights to use and just converted them to halogen instead of buying repro headlights  

The Silverstars are well worth the extra 30 dollars or so IMHO. I did the halogen conversion first and it was OK ... but the Silverstars made a BIG, BIG improvement ... over just the bulbs Bob Drake sent.

[Dave]

iLL LOOK TOMORROW BUT THERE IS A LAMP FOR BIKES THAT WORKS TOO.. They say only motorcycles but what do they know..
Dave  

[kb426]

Are the Sylvania's the same as xenon? I can try these bulbs before buying different reflectors so I think that will be the direction of correction.

[chimp koose]

I saw on a model A restoration site that the shape of some repro buckets is not the same as original and produces dimmer light than the original buckets. maybe its not the bulds but the buckets.

[chimp koose]

I'm no guru with the computer so here is as close to a link as I can give you.      http://idisk.mac.com/forever4/public/index.htm#reproparts  the site shows the profile of an original and a repro together,not even close to the same shape!

[Deuce]

I had a older set of halogen conversions in my 32 Roadster ... " Big Al " conversions if I remember correctly. They were OK but not all that great  IMHO. I bought the new Bob Drake ones to go in my 32 3W project. After reading his ads and seeing the difference in the shape of the reflectors, once I received them ... I decided to try them in my 32 Roadster ... to compare them directly to the old ones. They were vastly better. They held a much better pattern. My brother installed a set of Silverstar bulbs in his TaHoe and said they were a good bit better so I said ... Let's try them too. Again, a noticeable improvement.  

I went down the Interstate in the 32 roadster, beside my wifes car and my lights were illuminating the same distance as hers and I had a real good pattern.

[wayne petty]

just a bit of thought from wayne...


do you have a mag light flashlight???  there is a proper focal legnth for each reflector for a tight beam or a broad beam...

mag lights move the reflector in and out over the bulb to change the width of the beam... same thing for headlights and tail lights...

one additional thing is the mulitple magnifing lenses in the front lense... these bend light just a little so it comes out as an oval pattern with a little bit to the sides...

lamp filiment depth in the reflector bowl is critical for proper light output..

[Deuce]

Look here for a link on the advantages of the Silverstars

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/HighPerformance/Silverstar/

My eyes are not as good now at night as they were when I was 25 ... ( 35 years ago    ) so I needed better light.

[Dave]

Ill have to try tomorrow and get the number of the lamps for motorcycles.. They must be brighter yet and it actually says on the package for motorcycles only.. I have a spare so i could pop one lamp on mine when im really bored and do a comparison test ..
Dave