<VV> Bright Headlights - Color rendering and wiring for e-codes

[EVERETT WILSON]

The HID lamps put out a violet-blue light.  Since
Violet and blue are near the shortest wavelength of
the visible spectrum, they are the hardest for the
human eye to focus properly.  As we age, that problem
gets worse.  The color of those lamps, along with
lousy pattern makes it hard on oncoming eyes,
especially if you havent got perfect vision.  Ever
notice how the large blues signs on the freeway are
harder to read at night than the large green ones? 
What about a business sign that has all blue letters?
At night, it is fuzzy.  Red letters are much easier to
read at night,  That was my first clue that I needed
glasses.  Soon, I couldnt read any of the signs.  Now
I just bump into things....No, its ok, I usually
remember my glasses.  

The Cibie E Codes are great, even if the bottom of the
reflector is a bit corroded, they still way outperform
sealed beams, since on low-beam not much of the output
bounces off the lower part of the reflector.  I have a
set on my 67 4door.   When someone else takes my car
out, I can tell its mine coming down the dark street
at night by the fact that the lights are very bright,
yet not dazzling my sight at all.   Then when I got my
Greenbrier running, which still had t-3s and went for
a quick test-hop that night,  I got back out to look
at them to see if they were really on!

On the 67, I have 10 gauge wires coming right off the
post of the 63 amp alternator (Fused after a foot),
all the way to the bulbs via relays and standard 55/60
watt H-4 bulbs.   They are wonderful.   I have one of
the cibie low beams with the H-1 bulb and a shielding
contraption in it that I havent tried yet, but it
should be just as good as it has the same pattern
lense as the h-4 type.   I used the wiring diagram
info on that daniel stern web page and some others to
go for max voltage to the bulbs for max output.  Bulb
life has been OK so far.

I want to convert the Brier also, but it looks like
there might be a clearance  problem in the headlight
buckets.  

For the bulb sockets, I use NAPA heavy-duty flasher
sockets.  The 3 hole ones are p/n LS6235 ($3.99)and
the 2 hole ones are LS 6109.   The 2 holers are 1.25
more expensive and not usually in stock at our local
stores.  The 3 holer works just fine on the hi-beams,
just cut the unused wire off.

Oh, and the cheapo crystal lamps?  I have a set of
those too.  Blue Angel Eye rings Look Nice.  Beam
Pattern on the garage door is lousy.  Lots of light,
but most of it seems to be wasted beaming off into
space.

Everett Wilson
North Richland Hills TX
Rain!!!  First since October!!!