7x6 H6054 Conversion Housings

[Ofelas]

I have to justify my NOS Miller C4466 purchase is all...

 

[-Virgil-]

The Google Machine informs me that a "Miller C4466" is an old-fashioned Hoppy/Hopkins headlamp aiming rig. I guess that would explain why you're after lamps with aiming pads!

 

[Ofelas]

Yes sir.

I can't, for the life of me, find the NOS BOBIs I replaced with the TruckLite on my blue '81 W150.

Luckily, Stern came through for a pair of NOS BOBIs, and I've reached out to him to keep his eyes peeled for spares.

I'd be amenable, to anyone glancing through this thread, to PM me with the location of any, if they're so inclined.

 

[Ofelas]

Almost on an aside - I know the wire mesh thingummies reduce the headlamps' output.

By how much, though?

A very slight drop, hopefully, considering the potential to save the hard to find 76-44-02/05 BOBI/lenses?

And, speaking of BOBIs, any insight into part # 76-28-02M? That online catalog http://www.winktimber.com/vintagerally/gear/lights/cibie_catalog_1985.pdf

lists them as "non sealed version for motorcycle or off-road use"; I thought a BOBI, by definition, was a "sealed" unit?

 

[-Virgil-]

Almost on an aside - I know the wire mesh thingummies reduce the headlamps' output.
By how much, though?

A whole lot. The best way I ever heard of visualizing it: imagine you took apart the mesh guard, straightened out the wires and laid them out side by side, right next to each other with no space between them. You'd wind up with a pretty large opaque surface, which would block a pretty significant chunk of the lens area. That same amount of area is blocked off even when the wires aren't right next to each other. Those mesh things are an awful idea!

A very slight drop, hopefully, considering the potential to save the hard to find 76-44-02/05 BOBI/lenses?

Headlamps are life-safety equipment. I understand the drive to preserve scarce items, but if you feel you must "save" your headlamps...put them in a display case and put some other kind of headlamps on the vehicle. Degrading the lamps' safety performance by covering them isn't a good option.

And, speaking of BOBIs, any insight into part # 76-28-02M? That online catalog lists them as "non sealed version for motorcycle or off-road use"; I thought a BOBI, by definition, was a "sealed" unit?

That motorcycle lamp, as the catalog says, was a non-sealed lamp. It wasn't a BOBI "bulb-type sealed beam". It has been many years since I saw one of those 76-28-02Ms, but I think I remember it being certified only as a motorcycle headlamp (no US certification for other-than-motorcycle applications, no ECE approval).

 

[Ofelas]

All 3 points duly noted.

Thanks much, as always, and I'll buy up every BOBI I can find.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Almost on an aside - I know the wire mesh thingummies reduce the headlamps' output.

A whole lot. The best way I ever heard of visualizing it: imagine you took apart the mesh guard, straightened out the wires and laid them out side by side, right next to each other with no space between them. You'd wind up with a pretty large opaque surface, which would block a pretty significant chunk of the lens area. That same amount of area is blocked off even when the wires aren't right next to each other.

This is also the same reason one should weatherstrip everywhere. That 1/8th inch air gap around a window could easily add up to a 22.5 square inch hole in your wall.
It does make it much easier to visualize the effect of the wire mesh covering a lens or an air gap around a window.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Recently drove cross country with my New Hella 7x5 dot's with Phillips Xtreme +130s denuded of blue banding installed, mostly after sundownt. I became more and more impressed with the reach of the low beams in the darkest stretches of road, and the high beams are easily the best I have ever driven behind. The slightly down and to the left focus of the high beams is still evident, but not nearly to the same degree as the Flosser 100/55 bulbs I briefly experimented with, and keep as back ups.

One stretch on I-10 west of San Antonio, about 2AM, there were lots of dead deer on the side of the road, and lots of live ones too, feeding, and I slowed down to 55mph and was able to keep the highbeams on for extended periods as there was so little traffic on the either side of the road in that location, at that time of night.

At one point, driving about 55mph, some 'white' headlights appear in my rear view mirrors, glaring and annoying. I slowed further hoping they would pass me sooner, and I could lean back in my seat again so they were not blinding me. I was keeping my high beams on awaiting them to pass me, before lowering them, but they pulled in behind me and refused to pass, and continued to fry my mirrors.

I slowed to 45mph, then to 35mph and then they pulled side by side slowly, yet still refused to pass me. It was some sort of fairly new 'eurovan' with led bulbs in halogen housings, and there was no usable light on the road surface ahead of them, other than from my Hellas. I was extremely annoyed and no way was I going to speed up again just to have them fry my mirrors again with glare, and was saved by a picnic/parking area, and abruptly pulled off into it last possible second, and played ball with my dog for a while and let my anger and misanthropic thought patterns abate.

When i pulled back on the road, I was doing 55mph again, hyper vigilant for deer, and seeing them often, both dead and alive.
Rounding one corner, I see hazard lights on off the side of the road. When I got closer I could see steam, and then two people standing there observing their crumpled hood and a panting deer. It was, of course, the offending eurovan with its totally inadequate Leds

I saw my phone had 4 bars of reception, and accelerated back upto 55mph.

If they had not fried my mirrors, and annoyed me so greatly for so long, I would have stopped and offered to help, but if they were not so foolish as to leave the overwhelmingly inadequate LED bulbs installed in the halogen housings, they likely would have not hit the deer.

Unfortunately, there were so many other examples of horrible glare with LED retrofits, in other vehicles, that this one just stands out as the worst example. The Big rigs continue to be the worse offenders with horrible glaring LED headlamps, with no light actually on road surface, then the lifted 'bro trucks' who seem to revel in their inconsiderate arrogant ignorance. At least they all drive fast and pass me quickly and I can lean back in my seat, and/or adjust my mirrors again so i can see behind me again without being blinded.

Really wish this trend of extreme ignorance regarding LED bulbs in halogen housings would reverse course, but that seems ever more unlikely to actually occur.

 

[Ofelas]

And this is why I have Rigid reverse lamps frenched into my bro diesel truck rear bumper, activated by my cargo lamp dash switch, though I'd never actually use them to flash a tail gater.

Personally, I'd have tossed a bambi or two, depending on warmth, into my 8' bed, if I didn't shoot a couple every year.

On a side note - NOS German Hella 72207 DOT 5x7s + Tungsram +120 9003/HB2s + a Mopar C-4466 aimer = seeing bliss.

Appears to be as useful as JWS' heated 8910s on high beam, and on low beam, well, Rigid selective yellow SAE fog lamps almost match the JWS on low beams, on the very rare occasion I actually use the fogs.

 

[-Virgil-]

about 2AM (...) 'white' headlights appear in my rear view mirrors, glaring and annoying (...) they pulled in behind me and refused to pass, and continued to fry my mirrors (...) It was some sort of fairly new 'eurovan' with led bulbs in halogen housings, and there was no usable light on the road surface ahead of them (...) I see hazard lights on off the side of the road. When I got closer I could see steam, and then two people standing there observing their crumpled hood and a panting deer. It was, of course, the offending eurovan

Weird, almost like there's a cause-effect relation to those events, or like actions have consequences. I'm not exactly glad it happened, but let's just say my sympathy lies more with the deer than with the idiot humans, and I am glad they didn't take out other people or their property with their idiocy. I think I remember seeing one of the Vanagon/Eurovan/Bus specialist parts houses pushing "headlight upgrades" consisting of poor-quality imitation "E-code" lamps and "LED bulbs", and that's one of many vehicles with a monkey-see/monkey-do enthusiast community, so this isn't a surprise.

 

[-Virgil-]

On a side note - NOS German Hella 72207 DOT 5x7s + Tungsram +120 9003/HB2s + a Mopar C-4466 aimer = seeing bliss.

What was in there before? Was it the Romanian Hella DOT 5x7s with the same bulbs, aimed the same? If so, what difference do you notice between German and Romanian?

(Yes, I'm posting even today. The ham's slow-cooking and it's fine on its own for now. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone...except the vendors and recommenders of "LED bulbs" and other such junk; I hope they all get lumps of coal.)

 

[Ofelas]

I'm seeing more & more of these LED "drop ins" for lens focused headlamps, they're annoying, to say the least.

So - Philips (& possibly Osram) market the same, and so does JW Speaker, apparently, some of them tout "optimized filament placement".

Thoughts?

 

[Ofelas]

Romanian Hella DOT 5x7 with +120 H4 Tungsrams, right after the JWS 8910s.

Maybe a figment of my imagination, but it really seems like the German DOT Hellas + +120 GE Xenon 9003/HB2s have a more distinct, almost ECE upswing, as compared to the Romanian Hellas + Tungsram +120 H4s.

Or perhaps it's because I aimed these with the Chrysler/Hoppy mechanical aimer, frozen adjuster plastic nuts/screws notwithstanding.

DS pointed me towards the correct part #s of NOS adjuster nuts/screws, right after a couple new Dorman units snapped their ears off after I inserted them into the adjuster slots.

I'll install the NOS ones in place of the red Loctited OEM custom rusted adjusters next week, if only to have an excuse for installing the NOS Bobis he sent up to me, despite the impending bitter weather.

I'm actually very pleased at the results so far...

What was in there before? Was it the Romanian Hella DOT 5x7s with the same bulbs, aimed the same? If so, what difference do you notice between German and Romanian?

(Yes, I'm posting even today. The ham's slow-cooking and it's fine on its own for now. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone...except the vendors and recommenders of "LED bulbs" and other such junk; I hope they all get lumps of coal.)

 

[Ofelas]

And a very Merry Christmas to you, Virgil, that ham sounds great.

Smoking a wild turkey over charcoal as I type this.

At least hardwood sugar maple bags are useful lumps of coal.

 

[jaycee88]

I'm seeing more & more of these LED "drop ins" for lens focused headlamps, they're annoying, to say the least.
So - Philips (& possibly Osram) market the same,

Not in the U.S. And even in Europe, they're not ECE approved so thus not road legal.
But if you want to give them your money, they're happy to take it.

and so does JW Speaker

Oh yeah, I remember this subject coming up a few years back - found the thread.
TL;DR - they're Chinese junk with the JW Speaker name on them. And still not legal for road use.

some of them tout "optimized filament placement".

I think all of them tout that. I mean, they'er not gonna say 'totally random filament placement'.

 

[-Virgil-]

I'm seeing more & more of these LED "drop ins" for lens focused headlamps, they're annoying, to say the least. Philips (& possibly Osram) market [them]Not in the U.S.

Oh, yes...they...do! They package/promote them as "fog light bulbs" because in the US, fog lights and their bulbs aren't regulated. The box says "fog light bulb" in small type and H7 or H11 (or whatever) in big type on the front. The makers know as well as you and I do that nobody is dissuaded from using them in headlamps. The same bulbs are sold over the border in Canada as "LED headlight bulbs" because in Canada replacement equipment isn't regulated, not even equipment that's regulated at the OE level.

 

[wrcsixeight]

I think I remember seeing one of the Vanagon/Eurovan/Bus specialist parts houses pushing "headlight upgrades" consisting of poor-quality imitation "E-code" lamps and "LED bulbs", and that's one of many vehicles with a monkey-see/monkey-do enthusiast community, so this isn't a surprise.

I should have been a smidge more specific, this was not a VW Eurovan, that fried my mirrors with hideously inadequate LED drop ins and later were disabled by hitting a deer, but a later model year Euro style van, like the Sprinter or the Ford transit or the dodge/Fiat promaster, as opposed to the older style American Econolines, or Chevy G vans, or Dodge's B vans pre 2003.

But I do read 'the samba' VW based forums, and the people there love their lighting modifications and their drop in LEDs and their special vendors marketing products just to them. A lot of the more respected members post their beam shots against garage doors, and their ''proof' that there is not excessive glare, is how they never get flashed and 'can see sooooo much better'

One of their more prolific and vociferous members, is using some sub60$ copies of JWSpeakers 7" rounds, and calls them the best no brainer upgrade ever, of any possible vanagon upgrade.

A few members there resist this mindset, sometimes, but largely have given up, as they get attacked and then get piled on by the true believers.

 

[Ofelas]

Hey there Virgil (& anyone else in the know) -

Both these BOBIs have the same part #, but it appears the lens fluting is different.

Any pointers as to low beam/width & high beam/reach differences between the two?

For the sake of low spread/high reach comparision + Mopar flat track precision - here is my spare NOS Made in Germany Hella SAE (there're two identical NOS, now pristine OEM, Hella headlamps currently installed) -

I guess what I'm asking is -

"Can people eyeball the lens fluting and make an educated decision as to which would work better for low width/high reach etc., so one can decide which type to install & convert from NOS to pristine OEM?"

I'll duly install the appropriate BOBIs & replace the Hella DOTs, based on y'all's recommendations.

Just another excuse to use the Chrysler branded Hoppy aiming contraption & replace all 4 custom rusted adjusters/stripped plastic inserts with my NOS Pentastar assemblies.

TIA

 

[-Virgil-]

It's possible to look at sections of the lens and say "These optics here are for spreading the light, these optics over here are for the low beam hot spot, this area is for the high beam", etc. Best way to answer your question for yourself would be to get a light meter app for your smartphone, put one of the headlamps in a test fixture (such as the mount on the truck!), aim it, point it at an otherwise-dark wall, and move around with the light meter to sort of map out the beam. You could put a ring of tape around the low and high beam hot spots and note their max intensity, etc. Then put in the next headlamp to test, aim it, and repeat. Then do the third headlamp. That should give you more and better info than just trying to suss out what the lamps will do by looking at their lenses.

(Neat collection of lamps, BTW!)

 

[Ofelas]

Virgil, you lost me at light meter & tape.

edit: ok an app. Understood.

Just installed the Cummins logo BOBIs and the adjuster screws/nuts.

The lens flutes are more defined than the Hellas.

Beam separation is great, easily comparable to the ECE Cibies.

Right off the bat compared to the Hellas, it's low beam is wider and the high beam is a bit further reaching.

It's noticeably better seeing than the Hellas.

The bottom two lugs are angled downward though, the rectangular adapter doesn't want to stay on for more than a minute at a time, even though the suction cups stay put.

Thanks - I'm pleased as punch, still on the lookout for at least one spare BOBI with the "C" logo in the lens.

Also - I quite like the brown glass lens in my last picture above