Hamilton Felix
Enlightened
Some time ago, I ran down a set of new old stock Cibie series 95 Booster Beams (came in a GMC accessory box from the early 1980's). I found that, installed on my old Crown Vic (it still has its police push bars and there's a handy 1" angle iron crosspiece that will support lights), I really liked them. Once aimed just right, they were useful in light fog and they improved the range of the "Z-beam pattern" low beam produced by the Starr HID headlights (now 8 years old and due for replacement, but that's another story).
Lately, I noticed the booster beams weren't performing. A close look revealed that much of the silvering on the reflectors was gone. I had this happen before, on the 5-3/4" H4 lights I was running on a '58 Cadillac, but not on the 5-3/4" H1 highs on the same car. I save nearly everything, so looked: The backs of the H4's that lost all of their silvering (I suppose it's vapor sprayed aluminum) were quite brown and marked Valeo, made in Belgium. The H1's that survived fine, along with another H4 which has good silvering after such long use with overwatt bulbs that its glass has cracked, were more greenish on the back side, marked made in France. I started to formulate a theory, then looked at my latest failed lights: both quite brown and marked made in France. These were all used on cars that were not garaged. I guess you just sometimes get good ones and sometimes bad.
In addition to an unused set of yellow series 95I fogs, I had on the shelf an extra set of yellow fog lense & reflector units. The other night, I just swapped the extra fog reflectors into the series 95 housings on the car, and put the sad booster beams on the shelf. But I ha e far more use for auxiliary lows than for fogs.
in my frustration, I started rooting through my stock. Years ago, I bought a set of 5-3/4" lamps (Dietz IIRC) because their housings were what I needed for the tight clearance involved in mounting 5-3/4" H1 high beams above the bumper on a Saab 900. I recalled the sealed beam bulbs had been advertised as some sort of aux low, the ad copy going on about "two reflectors in one" somehow concentrating the light in the lower part of the beam (or some such nonsense). Turns out they are marked Philips 7701 on the back, and Westinghouse is molded into the glass on the front. There is a definite horizontal line in the reflector, only very subtle vertical fluting in the lens. But shown on a wall, the beam is pretty much like a landing light, only weaker (memory says these are 50 watt) and a bit wider than the 11 degree spread of a 4537. Meh. Tried to look for online sealed beam catalogs so I could read the bulb specs, only to get hits on "vintage 7701 sealed beam bulbs." Makes a guy feel old...
Searching online, I found an Oregon based outfit called partpal.com that offered Hella XL aux lows. I've ordered and am eager to try them.
I still have the new set of Sylvania Xenarc X1010 aux lows I found on eBay, all perfect but no instructions included), but have not decided whether they belong on a car or on my bike.
Is there any outfit that renews the plating on lamp reflectors?
If one really liked the booster beams, and had a good set of 95 or 95I fog lens/reflectors, would it be feasible to heat both sets in an oven until the glue let go, then install the booster beam lenses on the good reflectors from the fogs?
BTW, H2 bulb holder are not my favorite thing. Scarce items, and they are "consumables."
Lately, I noticed the booster beams weren't performing. A close look revealed that much of the silvering on the reflectors was gone. I had this happen before, on the 5-3/4" H4 lights I was running on a '58 Cadillac, but not on the 5-3/4" H1 highs on the same car. I save nearly everything, so looked: The backs of the H4's that lost all of their silvering (I suppose it's vapor sprayed aluminum) were quite brown and marked Valeo, made in Belgium. The H1's that survived fine, along with another H4 which has good silvering after such long use with overwatt bulbs that its glass has cracked, were more greenish on the back side, marked made in France. I started to formulate a theory, then looked at my latest failed lights: both quite brown and marked made in France. These were all used on cars that were not garaged. I guess you just sometimes get good ones and sometimes bad.
In addition to an unused set of yellow series 95I fogs, I had on the shelf an extra set of yellow fog lense & reflector units. The other night, I just swapped the extra fog reflectors into the series 95 housings on the car, and put the sad booster beams on the shelf. But I ha e far more use for auxiliary lows than for fogs.
in my frustration, I started rooting through my stock. Years ago, I bought a set of 5-3/4" lamps (Dietz IIRC) because their housings were what I needed for the tight clearance involved in mounting 5-3/4" H1 high beams above the bumper on a Saab 900. I recalled the sealed beam bulbs had been advertised as some sort of aux low, the ad copy going on about "two reflectors in one" somehow concentrating the light in the lower part of the beam (or some such nonsense). Turns out they are marked Philips 7701 on the back, and Westinghouse is molded into the glass on the front. There is a definite horizontal line in the reflector, only very subtle vertical fluting in the lens. But shown on a wall, the beam is pretty much like a landing light, only weaker (memory says these are 50 watt) and a bit wider than the 11 degree spread of a 4537. Meh. Tried to look for online sealed beam catalogs so I could read the bulb specs, only to get hits on "vintage 7701 sealed beam bulbs." Makes a guy feel old...
Searching online, I found an Oregon based outfit called partpal.com that offered Hella XL aux lows. I've ordered and am eager to try them.
I still have the new set of Sylvania Xenarc X1010 aux lows I found on eBay, all perfect but no instructions included), but have not decided whether they belong on a car or on my bike.
Is there any outfit that renews the plating on lamp reflectors?
If one really liked the booster beams, and had a good set of 95 or 95I fog lens/reflectors, would it be feasible to heat both sets in an oven until the glue let go, then install the booster beam lenses on the good reflectors from the fogs?
BTW, H2 bulb holder are not my favorite thing. Scarce items, and they are "consumables."
