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Hi

 

I have the tripod type with the Lucas name in the middle. I fitted yellow bulbs while In France back in the late 70s/early 80s and they are still there.

 

How can I improve the lighting with bulbs alone and without departing from the originality, i.e. avoiding modern things like halogen, etc?

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Edited by qim
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Just fitting white bulbs will improve the light output. In later years French cars were fitted with 2 kind of yellows bulbs. Some had the bulb glass in yellow, others had a yellow glass fitted over the white bulb.. is there any reason to keep the yellow light... ;)

One of my French daily drivers had halogen bulbs with a yellow globe fitted over the standard white glass .

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Yellow lights were imposed on French cars by the occupant in the 1940s to identify the French. As some one once said "not many people know that"

For some reason which escapes me they were maintained until the early nineties.

The loss of light intensity due to the yellow shroud is something in the order of 28%.

 

James

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In an ordinary headlight its a straight swap as you can buy BPF-base Halogen bulbs. However, some of those halogen bulbs are too long to fit properly behind the metal mask in a tripod headlight so you need to get the right ones sold specifically for tripods.

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I have never seen any advert for Xenon BPF bulbs so I doubt they exist. All the Xenon bulbs I have seen have modern bases.

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I have never seen any advert for Xenon BPF bulbs so I doubt they exist. All the Xenon bulbs I have seen have modern bases.

And you need the electronics to charge the xenons as well

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I don't think Qim was meaning xenon discharge lamps Inge - at least I hope he wasn't - but rather standard filament bulbs with xenon gas fill.

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I replace my TR3 lights with modern units using halogen bulbs.
However the new ones had flat glass so did not look original, so I removed the glass form the new units and fitted the glass from the original units into the new reflector. Its a tricky job, which involves breaking the flat glass from inside the reflector, but gives a dramatic increase in seeing where you are going, with an original look. Mine also have a parking light bulbs in the unit. If you are considering a conversion you need to take along a retaining rim to be sure the new glass will fit in it.

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Edited by trolleybus
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There are plenty of decent headlamps that take H4 bulbs and have domed lenses like a more period lamp. Check out Lucas and Cibié offerings -- they're good quality and the light output will be significantly better than an old BPF bulb, especially one with selective yellow.

 

I'm running modern Lucas H4 headlamps on my car at present.

i-dc7khvc-XL.jpg

 

These aren't tripod lamps, of course. There are repro tripod lamps, but the general opinion isn't that great on them. Original Lucas tripod lamps are uncommon and valuable.

 

Here are a couple of options that show photos of modern domed H4 lamps. There are a number of other vendors.

 

http://jollyrogersmotors.com/store/p/423-Lucas-H4-Headlamp-Pair-New.html

DSCN4770.JPG?bw=600&w=600&bh=600&h=600

 

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

178HCR.jpg

Edited by Don H.
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Hi

 

I googled to find out what BPF stands for. Now, that I know it is British Pre.Focus, I don't understand how and why they are different from other types.

 

Could you explain, please?

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Its the mounting base of the lamp Qim plus the fact that the filaments are in a defined position so that the bulb can be changed without having to re-focus the lamp. That was important when they were invented more than half-a-century ago but of course all bulbs are like that now. Original TR3 lamps are BPF -base so the newer styles of bulb (like H4) do not fit in the original style headlamps. (You have to change the whole headlamp to use those as its important that the filaments are in the right place with respect to the reflector). There are Halogen BPF bulbs produced specifically for older vehicles.

 

There are also reproduction Tripod light units available now which take modern H4 bulbs.

 

There is some info about the old bulb types here (see 414, 414H and 371H under 12v bulbs):

 

http://www.vintagemotorspares.com/page7.htm

Edited by RobH
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  • 5 months later...

After re-reading this thread, I think that the best I can do is to replace both headlamps and bulbs to something like H4 halogen conversions in page A41 of the Moss catalogue, BUT just for the 500 mile Rally, using the Osram Night Breaker. As soon as I return I will go back to the tripod that are now in the car.

 

I am surprised that I may need a conversion, as I found out that what I had in the car since the early 80s (French yellow bulbs) were already halogen, So, what conversion do I need still? Moss mentions Wipac optic kits and Lucas H4 asyimetric kit. What's that all about?

 

Thanks

Camilo

Edited by qim
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Hi Camilo ~

 

The best headlamps I ever had in the 60's were the Cibie Type 22 with concave lenses and Asymmetric beams.

They used the P45 45/40w bulbs.

The headlamps cost a princely sum of £5. 5s. when the Lucas lamps cost (I think) £1. 17s 6d!

 

Sadly they are no longer available.

 

Tom.

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Hi Camilo,

do you already have the P45/H4 bulbs if so then al; you need is to upgrade to Osram nightbreaker bulbs. These are 60/55W but are powerful and bright.

They take NO extra current so your loom is OK.

 

If you have the older bulbs with the BPF fitting then you need to get a new adaptor lead for the H4 bulbs

Item 17 -https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-model/triumph/tr2-4a/electrical-system/lighting/headlamps-fittings-tr2-4a.html

 

Don;t bother with the Moss/general halogen bulb - go for the Osram Nightbreaker.

 

You shouldn;t have to replace the reflectors etc.

 

Roger

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Hi Camilo,

do you already have the P45/H4 bulbs if so then al; you need is to upgrade to Osram nightbreaker bulbs. These are 60/55W but are powerful and bright.

They take NO extra current so your loom is OK.

 

If you have the older bulbs with the BPF fitting then you need to get a new adaptor lead for the H4 bulbs

Item 17 -https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-model/triumph/tr2-4a/electrical-system/lighting/headlamps-fittings-tr2-4a.html

 

Don;t bother with the Moss/general halogen bulb - go for the Osram Nightbreaker.

 

You shouldn;t have to replace the reflectors etc.

 

Roger

 

 

Thank you, Roger!

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Hi Camilo,

I am assuming that the H4 bulbs will fit into a reflector that had BPF bulbs - are the bases the same.???

 

Roger

 

I have no idea...

 

One bulb failed while I was in France in the late 70s/early 80s and a local garage fitted the yellow ones. The reflectors (headlamps) were the ones that came with the car when I bought it 1977.

 

Later, I changed them to LHD versions that I bought from one of the major UK seppliers (may be Moss).

 

Now, I found that the H4 bulbs fitted without any conversions.

 

How do I find out if my tripos lamps are original?

 

Camilo

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Although not essential, the research I have done leads me to believe that these lamps are the best available (although, ideally I'd find some without the sidelight hole).

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-Car-H4-Conversion-7-Cibie-Headlight-60-55w-Main-Dip-Sidelight/261982034210?hash=item3cff589922:g:cvAAAOSwls5Y8dmA

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