• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

TR6 Tripod head light advice for TR6

Share this page

I

ichthos

Darth Vader
Country flag
Offline
I don't know if I am just getting older or what, but I really need more light from my headlights when I drive. My 69 TR6 presently has the original sealed beam lights. I was considering putting in some of the tripod halogen lights from Lucas. For those of you that have these, do they improve the lighting significantly enough to make it worth the price? Are these legal in Washington State, or can someone tell me who to talk to that would know? Suggestions/comments would greatly be appreciated.

Kevin
 
The halogen bulb would be an improvement over original tungsten-filament sealed beams. But unless you can find NOS original Lucas tri-pods (specifically the PL-700), I wouldn't bother. Repros simply aren't very good in the lens area, although originals were optically a great improvement over sealed beams.

But for not much money at all, your best bet might be to just pick up a pair of sealed-beam halogens from your local auto parts store. Or spend a bit and get some (possibly illegal in your state) true H4 headlamp units by Bosch, Hella, Cibie, etc.
 
A recommendation.

Get a voltmeter/multimeter and measure the voltage going to the light at the three prong connector on the back of the bulb. Should be close to operating voltage when the engine is running, i.e. 13 volts or so. Then check voltage at the ground connection at the same 3 prong connector.

You do NOT want to read any voltage there, BUT, as the vehicle gets older and minor corrosions build up, some voltage will not be used by the filament because it is trying to get to ground through increased resistance.

So, find the ground terminals, pull the spade off and scrape them clean with a sharp instrument, When you put the connectors back on use a good electrical grease. Might be time to replace the bulbs also, they dim as they age, just like our eyes.
This is the cheapest way out.
 
Kevin,Kevin,Kevin, H4 with 55/100's and Dans relay kit and your set. Helps to have a set of these:

Cibie.jpg


7" high low
7-HCR 7" "E-code" Halogen Low / High Beam Cibie H4 $49.00 ea.
7-HCRA 7" "E-code" Halogen Low / High Beam Cibie H4 with European Parking Lamp $51.00 ea.

7-HCR-RHD - 7" "E-code" Halogen Low / High Beam Cibie H4 (for left hand
traffic) $70.00 ea.
7-HCRA-RHD - 7" "E-code" Halogen Low / High Beam Cibie H4 with European
Parking Lamp (for left hand traffic)$75.00 ea.
 
Them Cibies sure is nice, especially on high beam. Oh, but you cry when a rock catches them.
 
as Andrew said, the repro Tripods look great but they have a weird dispersion pattern on low beam. I run them on high beam which produces a normal pattern that is not as bright as most headlights, hense no flashing from other drivers.

If you need brighter lights to see then stay away from the Tripods, if looks are a big consideration then they will fit the bill.

BTW, these were purchased off of e-bay and came in a Lucus box.


tripod.jpg
 
Paul Slice said:
as Andrew said, the repro Tripods look great but they have a weird dispersion pattern on low beam. I run them on high beam which produces a normal pattern that is not as bright as most headlights, hense no flashing from other drivers.
Click to expand...
At least they HAVE a dispersion pattern; most old tungsten-filament sealed beams really didn't have much of anything. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]If you need brighter lights to see then stay away from the Tripods, if looks are a big consideration then they will fit the bill.

BTW, these were purchased off of e-bay and came in a Lucus box.[/QUOTE]Was there a date code on that box? Again, original, NOS tri-pods from the 1970s or earlier were really quite good. I remember using them back then and being very impressed with the improvement over normal sealed beams. And back then, tri-pods only had tungsten bulbs themselves.
 
I am still trying to take in all the information posted. As always, the cost will probably make the choice for me. On the Lucas tripods, do they have halogens that can be replaced and screw into the back, or are these sealed halogens? There is a set of Lucas reproduction tripod lights on Ebay. They are supposidly made in England. Anyone know anything about these? Are they any good?
Kevin
 
Back
Top