<VV> Headlamps

[Hugo Miller]

Since you mention England, there is one simple idea that the United 
tates would do well to copy from Europe. The very first thing I noticed 
when I came to Florida was how dazzling car headlamps are.
I actually flew in on a 747 to Miami, jumped on a rented Harley and 
rode straight up to Kissimmee, so my first journey was at night. 
Actually the first thing I noticed was how useless road maps are, and 
how primitive sign-posting is, compared to Europe. But it took me a 
while to figure out why it seemed like everybody was driving on high 
beam.
In Europe, headlamp lenses have a clever pattern in the glass, and the 
bulbs have shields on them, so that on low beam, there is a very clear 
'cut-off' line, below which everything is illuminated and above which 
everything is dark. This line slopes upwards to the right (or left in 
England) so it illuminates the grass verge, and gently slopes down 
toward the left (or right in England) finally levelling off at a point 
low enough not to dazzle oncoming cars.
This beam pattern, together with headlamp aim, is part of the annual 
safety inspection in Europe. If this was a requiremtn in the States, it 
would utterly transform night driving.


On 2020-04-04 02:32, Seth Emerson via VirtualVairs wrote:
> Funny you should mention that, Jim. In England or "on the Continent"
> you have to specify which low-beam bulbs/assemblies you want. In
> England, the low beams drop down and to the left. On the Continent 
> (as
> in America) the low beams drop to the right.  Low beam sealed units
> are available either way. Same, really, with the separate 
> housing/bulb
> units.  -Seth
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Becker via VirtualVairs <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> To: hugo <hugo at aruncoaches.co.uk>; virtualvairs 
> <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> Sent: Fri, Apr 3, 2020 5:32 pm
> Subject: Re: <VV> One Low-Beam Out... Sometimes
>
> I thought maybe it should have a bulb with a left hand thread.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hugo Miller via VirtualVairs
> Sent: Friday, April 03, 2020 5:08 PM
> To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: Re:  One Low-Beam Out... Sometimes
>
> A bit like SU fuel pumps then ;)
>
>
> On 2020-04-03 21:36, Robert Marlow, Vairtec Corporation via
> VirtualVairs wrote:
>> Going back decades, my then-girlfriend had a '66 Monza DD on which
>> the driver's side low beam lamp sometimes -- not always -- failed to
>> illuminate.  Subscribing as we did to the Corvair Cheapskate
>> Philosophy, the solution was to get out of the car, whack the lens
>> with the side of your fist, and the light would come on.
>>
>> This "repair" succeeded each time for the better part of a year
>> before the lamp finally refused to comply.
>>
>> --Bob
>>
>> On 4/3/2020 1:08 PM, Michael Mauro via VirtualVairs wrote:
>>> Re: my 67 coupe... with low-beams selected, right-side low-beam is
>>> out; when I press the floor switch for high-beam, all four beams
>>> illuminate. Question... do I need to replace the right-side low 
>>> beam;
>>> or, is there a wiring issue? (Of course, if the fix is a new bulb,
>>> I'll replace both to insure the same amount of illumination). 
>>> Please
>>> advise. Thinks!
>>> Mike Mauro
>>
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