Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

Were they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

In article ,
wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

We‘re they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

On my Mk III Cortina it was a pair of main beam & a pair of dipped

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

charles wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

We‘re they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

On my Mk III Cortina it was a pair of main beam & a pair of dipped


Ditto on my Alfa Sud. Outers were dipped beam and inners main.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

In article ,
wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

We‘re they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

If Lucas, most common was a twin filament dip, and a single filament main
beam. So one pair only on dip, both pairs (with a higher beam from the dip
units) on main.

--
*Acupuncture is a jab well done*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 19/05/2020 21:01, wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.



50's you mean ...

used his keyboard to write :
Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

Were they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

Sealed beam units, one pair had dip, one main. Another car had one pair
of combined with a separate pair of mains. Dips were always switched
off when mains were on.

My present car is a four headlight xenon job, but the dips remain on
with mains.

Jim GM4DHJ ... explained on 20/05/2020 :
50's you mean ...

The twin headlights, or the aspiring?

On 20/05/2020 08:30, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Jim GM4DHJ ... explained on 20/05/2020 :
50's you mean ...

The twin headlights, or the aspiring?



ALL fullsize 1957 Nash Ambassador models (yes, Nash) had quad
headlights. They were stacked lights and technically, ALL 57 Nash
Ambassadors were illegal in those states that had not yet approved quad
headlights.



when they appeared in the states......

Both or either. I'm just trying to remember. We had a consul Classic, but
cannot recall the configuration.
Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

We're they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

On 20/05/2020 08:17, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
used his keyboard to write :
Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

Were they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

Sealed beam units, one pair had dip, one main. Another car had one pair
of combined with a separate pair of mains. Dips were always switched off
when mains were on.

My present car is a four headlight xenon job, but the dips remain on
with mains.
best arrangement same in my duster

http://www.city-data.com/forum/autom...had-4-a-2.html

On 20/05/2020 08:37, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:
Both or either. I'm just trying to remember. We had a consul Classic, but
cannot recall the configuration.
Brian

at least it didn't leak as Harold Wilson said of his....

"Harry Bloomfield"; "Esq." wrote in
message ...
used his keyboard to write :
Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.

Were they mostly a pair of main beam and a pair of dipped?

Or were they main/dip in each unit?

Sealed beam units, one pair had dip, one main. Another car had one pair of
combined with a separate pair of mains. Dips were always switched off when
mains were on.

I think when I saw twin-headlight cars in the 70s with their main beams on,
all four headlights were lit, so I presume one pair of lights had twin
filament dip/main and the other pair had just main. I don't remember seeing
cars where one pair of lights went out when the other came on.

My present car is a four headlight xenon job, but the dips remain on with
mains.

I think most of the cars that I've owned in the last 20 years have kept the
dipped filament on when the beam is on.



What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to replaceable
bulb in fixed reflector? My mum's Renault 6s and my dad's later Citroen GS
in the 1970s used bulbs, but his Hillman Hunters and his Ford Sierra used
sealed beam. Maybe bulbs started out as a French (or other European) thing,
and British cars carried on for longer with sealed beam.

NY wrote:

I think most of the cars that I've owned in the last 20 years have kept the
dipped filament on when the beam is on.

You mean that twin filament bulbs are using both simultaneously?

What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to replaceable
bulb in fixed reflector?

I think the cost of replacement was too high. Also it was a
design constraint, you were stuck with a standard shape.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK
@ChrisJDixon1

Plant amazing Acers.

NY laid this down on his screen :
What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to replaceable
bulb in fixed reflector?

I think happened, when halogen lamps came along.

It began with ordinary bulbs, then along came sealed beams - which
improved massively on separate bulbs, then halogen bulbs (brighter,
whiter) demanded separate reflectors and lens again. They couldn't make
halogen work in a sealed beam unit.

Chris J Dixon pretended :
You mean that twin filament bulbs are using both simultaneously?

No, not in a combined unit - always one on or the other.

In article ,
Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 19/05/2020 21:01, wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.



50's you mean ...

Which 50s car? Ones which come to mind would be the Rover and Triumph
2000, and larger Fords - all 60s. And they had inferior dipped beam
lighting to the more common single 7" units

--
*I have my own little world - but it's OK...they know me here*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
NY wrote:
What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to
replaceable bulb in fixed reflector?

To allow halogen bulbs. Although these days you could have a truly sealed
beam with a halogen capsule.

--
*IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

I well remember my first P6 Rover - a Mk1 3500. Standard Lucas 5 3/4
sealed beams. Dips were 37 watt and pathetic. Far worse than a standard
Lucas 7" sealed beam.

Changed them to Cibie halogen units which at 55 watt were a big
improvment. Had to re-wire, so the dips stayed on with main beam.

Later, twin filament halogen bulbs became available. And with those you
could run both filaments at the same time. Arranged them so main beam had
all 8 filaments running. Half a kilowatt of light. ;-)

Had a switch so dips were either two or four filaments.

--
*When the going gets tough, the tough take a coffee break *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
NY wrote:

I think most of the cars that I've owned in the last 20 years have kept
the
dipped filament on when the beam is on.

You mean that twin filament bulbs are using both simultaneously?

Yes. My latest car has H7 twin filament bulb and H7 single filament, in
separate housings within the headlamp/sidelight/driving light/indicator
cluster. I'm sure the dipped filament remains alight when the high beam is
on.

Yes, just checked. There is a difference between headlights on at light
switch (when main beam is both dipped and main filament) and headlamps being
flashed with light switch off (which is only main beam filament).

But older cars with sealed beams or H4 bulbs seemed to turn the dipped
filament off when the main beam was turned on - which meant that *both*
filaments (dip and beam) were constantly being switched on and off as each
oncoming car approached (dip the headlights) and went past (back to default
state of high beam). I wonder if keeping the dipped filament on all the time
was done partly to reduce the thermal shock of it being turned on and off
all the time, as well as the more obvious advantage of providing a bit more
light.

What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to replaceable
bulb in fixed reflector?

I think the cost of replacement was too high. Also it was a
design constraint, you were stuck with a standard shape.

I always wondered why sealed beam lights became so common, given the much
higher replacement cost and the much larger object to carry around as a
spare. I suppose there was one less variable in getting the headlamp
alignment correct, in that filament was always in exactly the same place in
relation to the reflector, rather than there being a bit of variation if the
bulb wasn't perfectly seated in the reflector housing. I always wonder
whether I should get my alignment checked after changing a bulb, because of
seating variations between bulb and reflector.


Embarrassing admission. After having my car 12 years, I discovered that it
has an extra set of lights for daylight running lights, which were turned
off at a menu on the dashboard. These are dimmer-than-dipped filament bulbs
in a separate housing, rather than LED: my car is probably just too old for
LED technology to be bright enough, so they used filament.

On 20/05/2020 10:44, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 19/05/2020 21:01, wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.



50's you mean ...

Which 50s car? Ones which come to mind would be the Rover and Triumph
2000, and larger Fords - all 60s. And they had inferior dipped beam
lighting to the more common single 7" units

merrycan of course...always were way ahead in the 50 60 and early 70's ....

On 20/05/2020 10:19, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
NY laid this down on his screen :
What was the main reason that cars changed from sealed beam to
replaceable bulb in fixed reflector?

I think happened, when halogen lamps came along.

It began with ordinary bulbs, then along came sealed beams - which
improved massively on separate bulbs, then halogen bulbs (brighter,
whiter) demanded separate reflectors and lens again. They couldn't make
halogen work in a sealed beam unit.
merrycans used to be all sealed beam units and they only allowed round
headlights.....

On Wed, 20 May 2020 11:41:59 +0100, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:

On 20/05/2020 10:44, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 19/05/2020 21:01, wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.



50's you mean ...

Which 50s car? Ones which come to mind would be the Rover and Triumph
2000, and larger Fords - all 60s. And they had inferior dipped beam
lighting to the more common single 7" units

merrycan of course...always were way ahead in the 50 60 and early 70's
....

The Alvis TF21 and The Facel Vega had vertical headlights.

On 20/05/2020 12:21, John wrote:
On Wed, 20 May 2020 11:41:59 +0100, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:

On 20/05/2020 10:44, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
On 19/05/2020 21:01, wrote:
Hi All,

Twin headlamps were something to aspire to back in the 70s.



50's you mean ...

Which 50s car? Ones which come to mind would be the Rover and Triumph
2000, and larger Fords - all 60s. And they had inferior dipped beam
lighting to the more common single 7" units

merrycan of course...always were way ahead in the 50 60 and early 70's
....

The Alvis TF21 and The Facel Vega had vertical headlights.

flook

In article ,
Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 20 May 2020 10:56:13 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Later, twin filament halogen bulbs became available. And with those you
could run both filaments at the same time. Arranged them so main beam
had all 8 filaments running. Half a kilowatt of light. ;-)

Hopefully all switched through an appropriately rated relay and fuse ?

Twin relays, actually. Fed from the main battery cable via fuses. Even a
small amount of voltage drop makes a big difference to the light output.

--
*No hand signals. Driver on Viagra*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Jethro_uk wrote:
I also rigged up a relay to disengage the fog light when the ignition was
off, since it seemed beyond the wit of manufacturers

Ignition switch already near its limit?

--
*Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 May 2020 16:46:47 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Jethro_uk wrote:
I also rigged up a relay to disengage the fog light when the ignition
was off, since it seemed beyond the wit of manufacturers

Ignition switch already near its limit?

Dunno ? But I rigged up a relay that once energised fed it's own primary
so the foglight stayed on as long as the ignition was on. Ignition off,
foglight off, and needed to be switched on again. Made it impossible to
accidentally leave it on. (I frigged the foglight switch to remove the
lock, so it was just push-to-make ...)

That was 25 years ago ...


Thinking of modifying the behaviour of switches, my dad modified the
cigarette lighter (none of us smoke) so it make a simple latching switch.
And he wired it in series with the ignition switch as a crude anti-theft
device. This was in the 1970s. I imagine today's car thieves would find a
way round that :-( I remember he got my grandpa to turn a steel disc which
had the same profile as the cigarette lighter element so the contacts would
still hold it in the "in" position. He had to remember to reverse the
changes when he sold the car!