Halogen Vs sealed beam headlights

Cibie are hi quality lights. Don't fall for the cheap Chinese copies if you want to see at night. Like already mentioned the Cibie reflectors and lenses are some of the best. You can put different wattage of bulbs also. Daniel Stern lighting. Been reported that some of the new LED lights are no better.

 

My DD has HID headlights, and these still aren't as good as the Cibie lights. The only thing they do 'better' is they have better 'fill' close-in on high beam, and that's because true HID systems use just one lamp for both. The 'low beam' is actually a mechanical shutter that cuts off the top of the high beam. The 'color rendition' with HID isn't nearly as good either (a problem they share with LED headlights), so getting used to the colors as-seen is needed. Animal eyes don't seem to show up as well for some reason. Halogen is essentially the same 'color' as standard incandescent lamps, just 'hotter' and closer to 'natural' sunlight which is what your eye is 'designed' to see.

I owned a '70 Montego in the late 70s with four Cibie headlights (lows and highs), and haven't owned a car since that had lights that performed as well. With properly-adjusted legal lamps (55/60W on low, and 60W on high), it would light up road signs out to nearly a mile on high beam. I did have to use a relay and separate circuit to power the high beams as the circuit breaker in the stock headlight switch wouldn't hold all four lights.

 

On my cb550 I went with a hella 7" conversion with an led setup. It's bright, but it looks lame on an old bike imo. On the corvair, I was playing around with buying cibi as mentioned here. Then I thought about it and really, there is no point on converting to h4 unless you're going to run hid or led bulbs. So, since I ca t stand the look of my cb550 light (when it's on) I just ordered up some Wagner halogen sealed beams. Still better then incandescent sealed beams.

 

oh, I am cheap, but sometimes buying new is the only option. We really don't have swap meets around where I am (NW WA) that I know of. I *do* have a NOS listing for the conversion kit that I am watching on ebay (crossing my fingers and holding my breath) - but if I don't win that auction, these headlights will work without the kit? http://www.slclighting.com/shop/tru...gen-headlight-h6024-bulb-36cable-chrome-bezel
I wish it had more pics - is says something about a galvanized ring type body.....

 

Slight hijack:
I'm working on a '59 Dodge pickup with 4 headlights. Whats my best strategy with this setup?

 

How much light do you want? The stock headlights are 50W on low beam and only 35W on high, 'stock replacement' halogen sealed beams will be the same but will offer a bit more light. If you really want to light up the road, then using aftermarket lights with replaceable H4 bulbs (like Cibie) is the answer. Use 55/60W lamps for low beam and 60W for high, you'll be amazed. You will have to use a relay to power the high beams...

 

I'll definitely go with a good quality halogen and relays for both high & low beams. With 4 lights is it typically set up so 2 lights are high beams and 2 are low (single filament bulbs everywhere), or dual filament bulbs in all 4 so there are 4 high & 4 low, or???

 

The 'low beams' are dual filament with both low/high beams. High beams are high only and single filament, so on low beam only two headlights light up, you get all four on high beam. If using aftermarket lights like Cibie or Hella, you can run the low beams through any standard OEM light switch that's in good condition with no trouble, the high beams need to be ran through a relay as the total current draw is more than the switch can take.

 

I thought I would try some Hella Vision Plus, pn 002395301, with a HB2/9003 bulb..Supposed to be a 7" sealed beam replacement..Unfortunately they would not fit the shoebox buckets as the locating tabs are too wide and even if I widened the slots in the buckets the light is too thick to allow the retaining ring to work...So they sit on the shelf..With suggestions from Crazy Steve I did get a pair of Napa Super Brites to work very well..

 

I have converted very similar ones to yours (46 Chevy trucK) to take sealed beams, using the backing mounts from a Jap pick-up. These are screwed to the radiator support panel unlike most cars where the "bucket" backing part is just stamped into the panel. Have a look at Toyota, etc from the 80's-90's.

 

To complicate things further we have a thread on Frankenstein-ing original bulb faces to replacement bulbs like cibie

cutting a round sealed beam headlight. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/index.php?threads/cutting-a-round-sealed-beam-headlight..580371/

 

I am happy to report that I won an auction for a NOS headlight conversion kit for our 36 Diamond T buckets, so we will be able to use modern halogen or sealed beams what a relief! Anyhow, I haven't got them yet, but the listing says it is missing one spring that adjusts direction - anybody know where to get one???

 

Hit your local boneyard and look inside headlight buckets; most headlights used very similar adjusters, I'm sure you can find something very close...

 

Ace hardware has a nice assortment of springs. It doesn't need to be exact.