Fireman049 Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Has anyone any experience of fitting the Halogen H4 100/90w headlamp bulbs? Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graeme Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Yes, I have used them but they are illegal for road use in the UK. Graeme Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Thanks for that Graeme. Illegal or not they're going on my TR! Around here the police are non-existant!! We're more likely to see a Royal Canadian mounted policeman riding a Moose! Cheers to you and Sue ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mike3739 Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 PM sent. Not the way forward Mine is Cheers Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 (edited) 100/90W bulbs generate a lot of heat and take a lot of power. Given that you're making so many modifications to the car, Tom, is it fair to say you have a high output alternator, upgraded wire gauge, and relays for switching? I wouldn't begin to think about this mod for my original-style harness and dynamo power. Check some of the high-output LED H4 conversions, too -- the motorcycle guys at places like ADVrider.com, in particular, have a lot of online discussion about LED modifications. Edited August 9, 2015 by Don H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Hi Don ~ Thank you for that. I'll knock the 100/90w bulbs on the head! I've been told that two white sticks bolted on to the front wings is the way to go!! Cheers ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Tom, Try Osram Nightbreakers. They're legal and they work very well on Eric and my Land Rover. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted August 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 Thanks Pete ~ I'll look them up tomorrow. Cheers ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted August 9, 2015 Report Share Posted August 9, 2015 How about a HID conversion - more light and less power? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Hi Andy, HID headlights are illegal on cars not designed for them. They should have an auto tilting mechanism with them to stop blinding on coming drivers. If the MOT man spots them you will fail the test. However in West London it is compulsory to drive with them on full beam (or so it seams) simply to show all the other "ethnic minorities" you have them. HID main beams should never have been allowed. What is wrong in having HID spotlights for the odd occasion that more light is required. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jerrytr5 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 I've just taken the 100/90 lamps out of my 5 and replaced them with Osram Nightbreaker which are almost as good. Even with upgraded cabling and relays on both beams the heat generated is massive. One of the nylon headlamp connectors had melted when replaced (probably due to a not quite 100 per cent earth connection causing high resistance). Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Hi Andy, HID headlights are illegal on cars not designed for them. They should have an auto tilting mechanism with them to stop blinding on coming drivers. If the MOT man spots them you will fail the test. However in West London it is compulsory to drive with them on full beam (or so it seams) simply to show all the other Asians you have them. HID main beams should never have been allowed. What is wrong in having HID spotlights for the odd occasion that more light is required. Roger It would appear from my MOT man that HIDs are not strictly illegal on older cars. (In fact he asked me were I got mine from as he was planning to fit them to his classic Alfa) Moderns after a certain cut off date, must have be to the spec you quote if they are to use HIDs but the rules were not retrospective. Well adjusted 35w HIDs are a significant step up from halogen H4s without dazzling. The 50w are too bright. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TorontoTim Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Another vote for Osram Nightbreakers. I used to have 100/90 bulbs in my TR4 but they seemed to cause slight fogging of the reflectors (and certainly melted the plastic stone-guards after repeated night use when rallying). So, after a lot of research I replaced them with Nightbreakers and some Cibie lamps (specifically these rather than the more "usual" lens pattern: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CIBIE-7-ROUND-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-WITHOUT-SIDELIGHT-H4-Z-BEAM-PATTERN-/261241092587?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11051.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3D6a052c94e1d04c11a8755d00697201c6%26loc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.co.uk%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D261241092587%2526ssPageName%253DADME%253AX%253ARTQ%253AGB%253A1123%26srcrot%3De11051.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123 ) and have found them outstanding and actually better than the higher wattage H4's with Wipac lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 I believe those are the same Cibié lamps sold by Daniel Stern, Tim. Stern's website generates a lot of angst among some -- like the damn-the-torpedoes-full-HID-ahead crowd -- but it's pretty informative, especially about lighting standards and lens markings. He's a big fan of Cibié. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html#Buy Personally, I've always liked Hella better, but the domed lens on the Cibié lamps is more in keeping with a vintage aesthetic and they're very good optics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TriumphV8 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 There are four things that decide about light quality, not one: The bulb (already mentioned), the reflector, the glass and the power source. Like a good football team its the the sum how all that plays together. I bet my Hella reflector and glass and the Nightbreaker and a fully 14.5 Volt at the bulb with perfect grounding outperforms most of the 100 watts bulbs and is close to the HID and the best it is fully road legal. A bit more can be achieved with the clear glass system from a quality supplier but that looks ugly at an oldtimer. Looks like a broken glass....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Hi Andy, this is an interesting summary of things http://greyhead.co.uk/are-aftermarket-hid-lights-legal-in-the-uk#disclaimer It would appear that you can't use a HID bulb in a normal replactor - (even if it was possible) You have to use a complete HID headlamp unit (if that is possible) Quality H4 halogens are good enough. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peejay4A Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 That greyhead document is interesting. As an aside, for a person who "pushes pixels around" for a living and rates himself as a website developer, his site doesn't render very well on my i-device. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim hunt Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 I fully agree with my namesake from Toronto. I settled on the Cibie (Valeo now)units with uprated H4 bulbs and relays for dip and main beam some time ago. I do a lot of night driving and this is the best combination I have found with an excellent dip pattern with good illumination along the nearside kerb and excellent reach on main beam, perfectly adequate for legal speeds. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Another vote for Cibies and Nightbreakers from me. I do like the LED light option from a Defender, but the price is horrific! Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TorontoTim Posted August 10, 2015 Report Share Posted August 10, 2015 Don (et al), Fully agree re: Daniel Stern - very informative and one of the people who know a lot more than I do that led me to those z-pattern Cibiés/Valeos. Picking up on Andreas' point, above, I totally agree on power supply including the earth. I have 4-way relays and fuses to run good, clean power and have rewired all my earths. Cheers, Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tr4Tony Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Hi all A step on from the above is the relatively cheap new landrover headlamp unit which takes the H4 bulb and has a clear lense. The lamp unit is made from a polycarbonate material and is very tough indeed and fhe reflector doesn't deterioriate like the cibie / valet units, especially when wet. I use these on BST82B now and they are a huge improvement t over the cibie / valeo units. You can buy a pair on eBay for £80 or so. I haven't broken one yet. On bulbs, I've tried pretty much everything except an HID system in the headlamps and I've settled on PIAA's 80 watt bulb (for off-road use) as it's the optimum combination that the wiring loom and power source will bear. Anything bigger and the wiring melts, anything smaller and the luminance drops appreciably. They are another £80 a pair, but with the polycarbonate lamp units, they do tend to last a lot longer. On the road Im also using OSRAM night breakers at 55watts and they are a great bulb at £15 a pair. Not quite as bright, but for most would be sufficient. If you are thinking about spot lamps the best I've come across are the Lightforce Silver Sabres (used in Austraila for bush shooting Im told) and at 170mm road rally legal, and their big brothers the XGT's (Haggis Hunters) at 230mm. The little ones are about 1.0 million candlepower each, the big ones 1.5m candle power each. They use Xenophot bulbs which are very white and exceptionally good, unfortunately not made in H patterns as far as I'm aware. The downside is that in continuous use you need at least an 80 amp output alternator, but the pain is worth it when you see the snow melt off the trees with the XGT's for example. If you want to use the LUCAS SLR 700 type spots I've found the SVA conversion kit very useful and this allows me to run H1 pattern bulbs. If you dish the rear of the lamp out you can just squeeze a short body H4 in, but with these the lighting is compromised. This is why works rally lamps mostly have black painted black - if you look carefully at the old pictures. Fine for road use and H1's as fitted to 3VC for example. Regards Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Over the International Weekend, I had a look at Tony's lamps on Beastieand was impressed with the light quality (colour and output) and with the strength in the headlamp units - the polycarbonate material means that stoneguards are unnecessary, which saves a lot of fiddling when trying to clean the unit of dirt. Perhaps Tony should have switched on the lamps when driving the Autosolo - he might have spotted the barrier! Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TorontoTim Posted August 11, 2015 Report Share Posted August 11, 2015 Tony - great tip on the H1 conversion, I've ordered some this morning. I knew there must be one out there somewhere! (I think the other, better lights you mention may be a bit too "modern" for me). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 Another vote for Osram Nightbreakers. I used to have 100/90 bulbs in my TR4 but they seemed to cause slight fogging of the reflectors (and certainly melted the plastic stone-guards after repeated night use when rallying). So, after a lot of research I replaced them with Nightbreakers and some Cibie lamps (specifically these rather than the more "usual" lens pattern: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CIBIE-7-ROUND-HEADLIGHT-HEADLAMP-WITHOUT-SIDELIGHT-H4-Z-BEAM-PATTERN-/261241092587?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11051.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3D6a052c94e1d04c11a8755d00697201c6%26loc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.co.uk%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D261241092587%2526ssPageName%253DADME%253AX%253ARTQ%253AGB%253A1123%26srcrot%3De11051.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123 ) and have found them outstanding and actually better than the higher wattage H4's with Wipac lenses. I use Osram Nightbreakers in my replica tripod headlamps very happy with them. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TriumphV8 Posted August 12, 2015 Report Share Posted August 12, 2015 A step on from the above is the relatively cheap new landrover headlamp unit which takes the H4 bulb and has a clear lense. As I mentioned above, these gave a bit better light at my car but many people talked to me and asked if the front glas is broken. Would take a look at those cars before purchase. Like the HID that gives a unique, nervous light its not my personal taste to have a car that looks so far away from being a historical car although under the bonnet I prefer to change a lot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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