Ferrari Mailing List: Re: {Spam?} RE: Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

[Douglas Anderson (dnt]

Hmmmm – good one Grahame.

I’ll take two of the ARC’s

Guaranteed to burn the paint off the trunk of the guy who just cut me off.

Heh heh

Onward

Doug

 

From: Grahame Reinthal <grahame [at] reinthal.com.au>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2020 5:42 PM
To: Douglas Anderson <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: {Spam?} RE: [Ferrari] Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

 

Hi everyone,

 

Doug’s story reminded me of an experience I had several decades ago.  I had an MGB at the time, bored out to 2 litres, high compression, hot cam, big valves, head shaved and gas-flowed, 45mm Weber carbie.  Being so light, the old girl was actually quite quick , so for night driving I fitted brighter headlamp bulbs.  Not satisfied, I added two whacking big 7” Hella driving lamps as well, and had to fit extra relays to handle the juice.  So now I had low, high and Super High beam. For the time, it could throw a lot of light on the road.  Particularly good as my family lived in the bush and I often drove up at night after work.  Kangaroos move around a lot at night, tend to be rather suicidal with cars and trucks, and you just don’t want to hit a kangaroo in any car (ask me how I know!), let alone a small car like an MG, so bright lights with a long throw made great sense.

 

Anyway, I’m driving a country road in the wee hours, maybe 2am or so – I’m the only car on the road for ages.  I’m on a very long and straight road, then a light appears approaching but it’s way off yet, maybe two miles or more away. Legally I don’t have to dip yet but I dip anyway to low out of courtesy.  No response from the other guy but fair enough, he is a long way away.  However, his light is annoyingly bright, so after a little while I flash high. Still no response. I wait a little longer but then I flash high one or 2 more times, and wait, but still no response so and so now I flash Super High. We are much closer now and still nothing. So I think, screw it, put everything on and leave it. Mwa Ha ha, take that, I thought!!!  So it was at that point that I discovered that the other guy was actually on low beam all the time, in his train locomotive running on a track exactly parallel to the road, and this discovery came about because he had had enough of my flashing antics so he simply turned on his ARC lamp and left it on, fried my eyes blind so that all I could do was brake to a stop keeping to the road from memory! That thing was so bright it was like looking straight into the sun!

 

Cheers,

Grahame

 

 

 

From: Ferrari <ferrari-bounces+grahame=reinthal.com.au [at] ferrarilist.com> On Behalf Of Douglas Anderson
Sent: Tuesday, 30 June 2020 7:34 AM
To: Grahame <grahame [at] reinthal.com.au>
Cc: 'The FerrariList' <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: [Ferrari] Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

 

Peter notes “Flashlights would’ve lit the road up better. . . “

 

Likewise experience Peter – But remedied. Working with a Porsche racing shop, I fell into a pair of the latest in Lemans headlamps – Bosch H1’s.  Illegal in US.  Cool.  Snapped those puppies in and drove where ever I wanted to in Northern California woods.

 

SO – in 1974, coming back from Los Angeles at 11:00 at night on the then new straight as an arrow Hwy 5 running up the center of Kalifornia NO ONE else on the road (it ain’t like that now McGee) and I have my 100 watt H1 high beams happily blazing away. 

 

When what to my wondering eyes appears in the oncoming lane way Way WAY up there (separated from my N bound lane by about 100 feet) . . . . blink – blink – BLINK . . . ..  All I see is a blip blip blip.  He’s gotta be a couple of miles away.  We get closer and the scenario is repeated.  Hmmmmm – what’s going on?  In Kalifornia gotta dip you high beams at 1000 feet and he’s WAY further than a ¼ mile. 

 

Closer, seemingly more than a mile, and now its BLINK BLINK BLINK – oh, OK - I do have my high beams on – click to low beam.  All is well and at a closure rate about 150 mph in 20 seconds a single semi passes me in the S bound lane.  Now I am alone again.  I wonder – just how far do these HB lights project?  Flip them on and pick out a green reflective road sign way up there.  In three miles, I pass THAT sign.  Three miles??  Mulsanne here I come.  No wonder they use these.

 

OK today?  Technology surpasses a 50 year light source – so these H1’s are parked in a bankers box in the garage.  But they’re still cool.

 

Cheers

Doug

 

From: Ferrari <ferrari-bounces+dnt=dock.net [at] ferrarilist.com> On Behalf Of Peter Rychel
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2020 8:39 PM
To: DOUG <dnt [at] dock.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

 

Ha ha, because I want to see where I’m going!

 

True story. A few years back when I was on our annual weekend trip up to Whistler, one of the club members always hosted a dinner for us at his cabin. So when the evening was done, we get into our cars to head back to our hotels. So it’s pitch black outside because he’s way outside of the village. Your only lights are the ones on your car. I think I was going like 15MPH because I couldn’t see ANYTHING in front of me. Flashlights would’ve lit the road up better...

 

Peter

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

 

From: Robert Garven
Sent: June 28, 2020 3:44 PM
To: Peter Rychel
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: Re: [Ferrari] Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

 

Why would you want anything but the original near useless lights!  :-)

 

 

On Jun 27, 2020, at 10:15 PM, Peter Rychel <dino308gt4 [at] hotmail.com> wrote:

 

When upgrading to HID lights, read all of the reviews for the particular brand you’re about to buy. Try to stick with name brands and think twice about buying the off-shore kits as plenty have longevity issues (burning out bulb units and ballasts).

 

I noticed these are sealed beam lights you have. You can simply upgrade to H4 type composite lights that utilize a glass or plastic lens and a separate bulb that goes inside. I did this with my GT4. I got Bosch’s H4/H1 kits and they were a huge improvement. A variety of high quality bulbs gives of range of colours/intensities and years of trouble-free service.

 

<A47FA33561E14433A7F65E4D2F0120FC.jpg>

 

Peter

 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

 

 

From: Michel Savard
Sent: June 27, 2020 3:40 PM
To: PeterGT4
Cc: The FerrariList
Subject: [Ferrari] Change (upgrade ?) of head lights on 1981 308

 

I decided to check my head lights while being stopped behind a car (by watching the reflection on the rear bumper) and noticed the right one didn’t work. Once back home, I undid both and switched them. The right one worked when put on the left side and the left one (good one) didn’t work when put on the right side.

I really didn’t have time to check relays and fuses. That will be done tomorrow.

 

But, since both are off, I thought I just as well should upgrade them. I’ve had the car for 19 years and never had to touch the head lights. What do you think is the right headlights to choose ?

They are sealed mean GE 6014 12v 05-05-00 1 1240 -<seal beam.jpeg>see picture.

Michael Savard (1981 308 GTSi)

 

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