Early S1 tripod headlights

[pmansson]

Anybdy using these?
They obviously look very cool.
Much worse than the more common ones when driving at night?
Readily available at the usual suspects...?

Thanks,
Peder

[Heuer]

The Lucas PL Tri-pod lights do look good and you can change the bulbs for higher wattage but that alone will not really improve night driving. If you have an early 3.8 and want to enter a concourse then I guess it would be worthwhile. Most E-Type's never go out after dark so it is not really a problem I suppose. You can get Lucas 'Le Mans' headlights which do not dip to the left or right - they dip straight - which might prove to be a bit better. The PL700 was standard on the E-Type, not the cheaper P700 which was intended for saloon cars.

However the repro PL700 lights seem to have lots of problems: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft013.htm

Alternative is to fit PL decals to your existing lights: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/produc ... ?RecID=552

[Dave K]

Anybdy using these?
They obviously look very cool.
Much worse than the more common ones when driving at night?
Readily available at the usual suspects...?

Thanks,
Peder

Peder,

Yes I have them. I changed the standard useless candles for short nosed halogens which cost about ?12.50 for a pair from Mike Frank at Cool cat or you can buy them at Stoneleigh for ?25 a pair!!

They are really good at night I have found and easily comparable with the halogens in my '93 Vauxhall Astra.
I never drove at night with the standard bulbs and I have heard people say they get light deflection from the glass covers but I have never found this with the halogens, I get a good straight beam with very good light thrown onto the road in fact as I mentioned before they are as good as my runaround Astra.

No wiring upgrade is required but I think you do have to snip off the Bakelite round plug from your existing headlamp wiring and fit something else, my car is stored at work just now so I can't pop out and look.

Dave

[Heuer]

Peder

You can tell the difference between an original and a repro unit.
Repro's have '700 Headlamp' moulded into the lower edge of the lens whereas originals do not, just 'Made in England'. Originals use a 410 fitment tungsten bulb whereas repros use H4 fitting halogen bulbs.

Original PL700 RHD:


Reproduction RHD PL700:


UK supplier of RHD versions: http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/lights_head.html They also sell the Osram H4 Silverstar bulbs @ ?12 pair which give you 50% more light but as they are 'E' marked they only use the same current as the standard bulbs so no relay or re-wiring required.

Unfortunately the reproduction items lack all of what made the Lucas units good - superb optical quality, precision alignment and high assembly standards with pure high and low beams. Also remember the original PL700's take what's known as a 410 or type A base (not the H4 which will not fit) tungsten bulbs. Halogen capsules on a 410 base are available though.

[adam]

Hi
My car now has original PL700s.Light is good,p45 base halogen bulbs avalible in halfords.I think they so much better than sealed beams.Got mine from e bay

Adam

[neil4444]

I spoke to the guys from svc at Stonleigh today. They told me the latest batch of PL700's have been made on new tooling and they've had no dissatisfied customers. Not sure how much of this was salesman's patter though.

Anyone bought a set from them recently & can vouch for the quality ?

[Heuer]

No, never tried them but if you are seriously thinking of driving your car in the dark you should avoid tha PL700's anyway. They look good but the orange glow they produce is probably not acceptable in modern driving conditions especially when you add the covered headlights into the equation! Externally you can't tell the difference between repro and original, other than I have already mentioned above, but I doubt the repro units will have the lens quality of the Lucas units whatever they claim because they don't have the original moulds. If you want to go with PL700's I suggest you fit Halogen 65/55w bulbs and do a bit of surreptitious re-wiring as in the thread I just started in the Upgrades Forum although I am doing this on my OTS where practicality over-rides originality. Failing that keep watching eBay but 99.99% of original PL700's will have corrosion damage at the base of the lens so NOS is the only option.

[neil4444]

Yes, my originals are suffering from the aforementioned corrosion to the silvering. I've kept an eye out for nos for some time now (and there were none - not even used ones) at Stoneleigh so I was just hopeful (perhaps over-hopeful) that the svc options might now suffice. I guess resilvering my originals is not an option as they're sealed units ? I really want to retain the tri-bar look but given all that's been said, and the fact I will definitiely use the car at night, I might just have to resort to a modern option - although perhaps with the sticker decals you posted a link to :)

[Durango2k]

I have done quite a lot of ultra- rare Citroen SM front lights (re-silvering). So - where?s the problem? I have a set of LHD sealed beams in my 1966 I guess (have to take a look....), but IF I can get a set of original lamps for this car and they are corroded I would give them a go. Anyone a corroded set they don?t longer need and I could do a test run on them ?

Carsten

[Heuer]

You could try here: http://www.ashfordchroming.com/headlamp ... estoration

[rfs1957]

There would appear to be 60/55W with 410 / P45 base bulbs available here for ?3.99, and a 100/80W version for ?5.99 ?
http://www.classic-car-accessories.co.u ... bulbs.html
Is there something wrong with them at that price ?



Could someone please tell me which parts are right-wrong in this lot ?



The light units appear to be original and not copies, the lenses don't carry the PL700 reference David refers to and I know they are over 20 years old.







Is the black-chrome process original on the head-lamp backing shells ? The same method has been used on the splash-guards that are clipped around the wheel-wells on the front chassis frames and I've never known whether this was original or restored ?











Believed all original NOS according to 1990 invoices, but the PO found it necessary to run a bead of foam inside the chrome rim to pinch the headlamp correctly within the rim-bowl assembly, so perhaps something isn?t quite pukka ?

Does anyone make stainless pillar-bolt headlamp adjuster screws that?ll fit this type of bowl ?

Also, could someone tell me what the thread is of the captive nuts that take the screws of the oval headlamp-glass bezels, so I can run the right tap through them, and then where I can get some good and correct screws please ?

[Heuer]

The PL700's look to be original based on the bronze colour of the rear of the bowls. Everything else looks correct as well. SNGB sell the headlamp bezel screws #BD227804 they should be slotted not the later cross head versions: http://tinyurl.com/polaagq No idea of the thread though as it does not seem to be either UNF or BA.

As regards the bulbs stick to the 60/55W as the others are not road legal.

Don't forget to mount the sugar scoops correctly - the screws go through the captive nuts from the front; they then pass through the bonnet bulkhead and are retained by nuts and washers.

[rfs1957]

The cock-up may be in the main backing bowls. The adjuster screws are at 3 and 6 o'clock on mine, whereas they're shown at 9 and 12 o'clock elsewhere.

The cut-outs in the zinc bowls that locate the headlamps via the three raised profiles have been hand-cut, see picture, because their orientation would have been 45? out if the standard dimpling were used. So I'll have to live with it for the time being, and add a rubber strip to give enough grip.



Is it the case that you have to remove the 3 self-tappers and the chrome rim in order to change a bulb on an E-Type, or am I missing something ? The adjuster screws could probably be unhooked by pulling the whole headlamp outwards and upwards against the retaining spring, but I don't think that would give enough room to get a hand around the back.

Believe the bezel screws to be 8-32 UNC which is smaller (0.164" and 32 TPI) than 2BA (0.185 and 31.35 TPI)

David, is there a drawing of the wiring interface at the bonnet plug or do we do our own ?

There are some neat relays on the VWP web-site with fuses incorporated, I've ordered these for both the Jag and the Mini headlamp circuits.

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/V ... relays.php

[Heuer]

Rory

Suggest you buy a pair of new rims #8595 @ ?20 each, four trimmer screws #54520541 and two rubber gaskets #8598 because you will never be able to align the headlights correctly if you start bodging it. The adjusters should be at 3 and 6 o'clock (or maybe 2 and 5 o'clock). To change the bulb you need to remove the chrome retaining plate (three self tappers) and the headlamp unit will drop free. The spring does not attach to the headlamp, it holds the rim in place in the bucket against the adjustment screws. Means you can change bulbs without messing with the settings. Your spring is in the wrong place.

No single diagram of the bonnet plug but the terminal numbers are on the main wiring diagram. I am going to run a 17.5A power cable to pin 6, currently being occupied by the redundant R/Y fog light cable. With the sugar scoop out I will do the same on the socket side. It is then a simple matter of using the existing U/W and U/R wires to switch the relay's, connecting the 17.5A power to one side of the relay main contacts, other side (via fuses) goes to the existing U/W and U/R to the headlamps. Also connect the existing earth wires to a 17.5A earth feed. This way everything is out of sight and easily reversible - just remember to ensure you can get at the fuses.

Neil - another contact if you want your existing headlights re-silvered: http://www.vintage-headlamp-restoration ... ation.html Personally I would go for a new set of Cibie headlampd and fit a pair of Philips X-treme Vision H4 bulbs which have excellent reviews and have been voted Autocar 'best buy'.

[rfs1957]

Too fast for me. The spring is fastened to the main backing-bowl (black) and hooks onto what you refer to as the bucket. That right ? The botch has been working fine since 1990, it's just I've never learned "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

[Heuer]

The the spring hooks on to the (black) bucket/bowl - there should be a welded on tab in the back - and to the (silver) rim. The rim is held in at the correct angle by the two trimmer screws, the spring keeps it there whilst allowing the assembly to move with the adjusters when required:



Your buckets/bowls seem to have lost their spring tab (easy to do) and the rims have been butchered. If you are going to leave them like that fine, but I would not bother with modifying the wiring to improve the lights as they are going to be all over the place anyway

[Heuer]

Incidentally if you can't find NOS PL700's keep an eye out for Marchal headlamps. Admittedly they are very rare but they work by having two bulbs both of which illuminate on main beam and an unusual lens: