Score! Booster Beams!

[Hamilton Felix]

Hey, I got lucky:

Ebay Item number: 261048550594

Price doubled in the last ten seconds, though. I wasn't the only on serious about them.

Never thought I'd find new old stock Booster Beams.:thumbsup: I've been kicking myself ever since they were discontinued, wishing I'd bought a set. I never knew they were a GMC option from 1973 to 1984, though.

Now all I need to do is sell my unused set of 7" Marchal Amplilux to pay for 'em... ;)

 

[-Virgil-]

How cool! Have you lit them up yet? When you do, and shine them at a wall, you'll be looking at a US-type low beam pattern, much like that from a halogen sealed beam.

 

[NFT5]

Curious. Haven't seen these before. If they were a low beam type pattern were they intended just to supplement sealed beam tungsten headlights?

 

[-Virgil-]

Yes, that was the idea -- an auxiliary low beam of this conceptual nature is uniquely a North American quirk. The SAE technical standard that covered them (J582) was cancelled some years back -- not just skipped over for updating, but actually withdrawn -- and they were never Federally regulated, so legally there's no longer any such thing as an auxiliary low beam.

 

[Hilldweller]

The SAE technical standard that covered them (J582) was cancelled some years back -- not just skipped over for updating, but actually withdrawn -- and they were never Federally regulated, so legally there's no longer any such thing as an auxiliary low beam.

"...you don't need to see my lights; these aren't the auxiliary low beams you're looking for..."

 

[Hamilton Felix]

As soon as the money order gets to the seller and the lights get to me, I'll certainly be grabbing clip leads and lighting them up. While searching last night, I ran across a post I made on Saab.net in 2000, lamenting that I missed Gene Shermeister and regretting I had not bought at least one set of booster beams before they were discontinued. I was stunned to find New Old Stock of a GMC origin. I had not known that Grabowski Motor Company ever offered Cibie auxiliary lights through their dealerships.

I'm curious about performance in moderate fog. I'll probably have lots of fun aiming, driving toward them while they're in use, and generally fiddling around the way one can in a rural setting.

I think I'll still go with the yellow 95I fogs on the motorcycle, but try the 95 Booster Beams on my Crown Vic. I'm just happy to have had another shot at an opportunity missed nearly 30 years ago. :grin2:

 

[270winchester]

As soon as the money order gets to the seller and the lights get to me, I'll certainly be grabbing clip leads and lighting them up. While searching last night, I ran across a post I made on Saab.net in 2000, lamenting that I missed Gene Shermeister and regretting I had not bought at least one set of booster beams before they were discontinued. I was stunned to find New Old Stock of a GMC origin. I had not known that Grabowski Motor Company ever offered Cibie auxiliary lights through their dealerships.

I'm curious about performance in moderate fog. I'll probably have lots of fun aiming, driving toward them while they're in use, and generally fiddling around the way one can in a rural setting.

I think I'll still go with the yellow 95I fogs on the motorcycle, but try the 95 Booster Beams on my Crown Vic. I'm just happy to have had another shot at an opportunity missed nearly 30 years ago. :grin2:

Hmm..How do you plan on mounting them on your car? Do you have the pushbars on the car still?

I have a late model Grand Marquis and have a set of Hella XL that I wouldn't mind mounting them but seems like without a set of pushbars it's a little difficult.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I do still have pushbars on the Crown Vic. There's a small horizontal angle iron running between them; I replaced the beat-up original that appeared to have mounting holes for lights. I'm thinking of another angle iron down lower. Wondering whether I want to mount them between the pushbars for best protection, or low and outboard of the pushbars for better side coverage.

I noticed in the picture for the eBay listing, there are two L shaped brackets. This was a GMC dealer optional accessory, so I'm guessing those are for mounting under the bumper of an early 80's pickup. http://www.ebay.com/itm/261048550594?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I'm certainly no expert on auxiliary low beams, but I'm guessing the mounting height wants to be closer to "fog light height" than to "driving light height," certainly not higher than my low beams.

You've made me curious, though. I'll have to crawl under the front of the Vic and see where there is substantial support for mounting brackets. There's a lot of plastic "skin" out there before you get to the metal heart of the bumper or front end.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Well, I lit 'em up....

Don't know when I'll have time to install any lights, what with work on the house, getting ready to move, etc. But I picked up my package night before last. Never since the early 1980's did I think I'd have brand new booster beams. Came with both Cibie literature and GMC literature (printed in 1976). There was a funny three contact Mixo relay. I noticed there is shielding above the H2 bulb.

I still recall the diagram in the 1980 or so Cibie catalog, so I expected the horizontal line of a fog light plus a center hot spot. That's what I saw on the wall, but I noticed the spot seemed triangular. By the time I lit up the second light, I realized it was not a "sloppy" spot; it is intentional design. Then I started picturing the beam aimed down the road and hitting the blacktop.

Picture an equilateral triangle, one side is vertical on your right, so the other two slope down from top to left, then down from left to bottom. When that beam hits an American road (I wonder if they made a mirror image version for England), it will reach well down the right part of my lane but will not blind the oncoming driver. Nice.

 

[-Virgil-]

No mirror-image version for England, which had adopted the European standards by the time the booster beam came along. There was never any such thing as a booster or aux low beam in the European standards. Hey, can you scan and post (or link) the GMC and Cibie literature?

 

[Hamilton Felix]

I'll give it a try. I just use a little laptop at home. If nothing else, I can always photograph the pages. Also, my wife can scan and make .pdf files at work (law office).

BTW, 270winchester, I just crawled under the Vic and I see the problem anew. I suppose one could make a bracket that grabs the metal "skeleton" of the bumper the way the pushbars do, but any light mounted low and behind the plastic valance that's an extension of the bottom of the bumper skin would find a rather shallow slot to look through. Any surgery on the plastic valance would be likely to weaken it.

I see by the GMC instructions and the included brackets that the booster beams were to be mounted at the top of the bumper of a late 70's pickup. That's still lower than the headlights, but higher than the front of my Crown Vic.

You know, it seems kind of a shame the aux low beam never happened in Europe and the standard was withdrawn here. I've often thought it would be nice to have lights in "zones", so the lowest position on one's control would be a nice low beam, suitable for use in cities, traffic and moderate fog; one click up would be the equivalent of adding an auxiliary low beam, suitable for divided highways and/or no really nearby traffic; next would come a good high beam; after that, the top position would equal high beam plus long range driving lights, just what one needs for zipping down long deserted stretches of rural highway and spotting deer in the road a half mile away. But I suppose other drivers would find it strange to meet someone who dimmed his lights in stages -- and certainly some would misuse such a system.

 

[Hilldweller]

I've often thought it would be nice to have lights in "zones", so the lowest position on one's control would be a nice low beam, suitable for use in cities, traffic and moderate fog; one click up would be the equivalent of adding an auxiliary low beam, suitable for divided highways and/or no really nearby traffic; next would come a good high beam; after that, the top position would equal high beam plus long range driving lights, just what one needs for zipping down long deserted stretches of rural highway and spotting deer in the road a half mile away.

I only remember one car coming from the factory like that...

 

[Alaric Darconville]

I only remember one car coming from the factory like that...

Just don't call it a "station wagon" :)
The Family Truckster is a Suburban Household Activity Motorcar.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

and certainly some would misuse such a system.

Bingo.

Either because they think they know better, or that it's "cool", or they get confused, or any number of things. Count the activated fog lamps on the highway on a clear night or even in midday...

 

[-Virgil-]

I'll give it a try. I just use a little laptop at home. If nothing else, I can always photograph the pages. Also, my wife can scan and make .pdf files at work (law office).

Scan to PDF would be much better than photographed pages.

I've often thought it would be nice to have lights in "zones", so the lowest position on one's control would be a nice low beam, suitable for use in cities, traffic and moderate fog; one click up would be the equivalent of adding an auxiliary low beam, suitable for divided highways and/or no really nearby traffic; next would come a good high beam; after that, the top position would equal high beam plus long range driving lights

That system exists, it's called full adaptive frontlighting system ("full AFS"). Control of the beam distribution is, fortunately, handled automatically. It is not a retrofit item, however; it's a built-in system on a gradually increasing number of vehicles primarily in Europe.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Great, PM me an e-mail address. I sent the paper to work with my wife today. I assume you don't want the Cibie sheet in all four languages...?

Full Adaptive Frontlighting System sounds interesting. Probably a bit expensive. I guess I'm a bit suspicious of automatic systems, but I'm sure that today we can do much better than GM's early "Twilight Sentinel" attempt at automatic dimming.

I searched for information or comments on aiming the Booster Beams, and hit what appears to be a BMW club writeup from about 2002 here: http://www.bayarea02.com/events/swap_show/bulb-2002_8-01.pdf
On pages 10-11 it talks about "passing lamps" and says they should be mounted higher than the headlight, on the left side of the vehicle. Interesting.

 

[-Virgil-]

I will PM you my email address, please stand by.

AFS works very well -- this is utterly unlike yesterday's crude, cheap, and nasty American automatic high/low beam selectors. The specifications for system performance are very thoughtfully written and the systems on the road actually do what they're supposed to. It is not an inexpensive system.

That BMW club writeup is an interestingly frustrating mix of good info, bad info, and made-up bunkum pulled out of thin air. I don't care to draw up a list of the bad info, but relevant to this thread: No, "passing lamp" is not a synonym for "auxiliary low beam lamp", and no, auxiliary lamps are not supposed to be aimed or mounted higher than the headlamps.