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CAST Headlight Housings
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Author:  Danarchy [ Thu May 05, 2016 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:  CAST Headlight Housings
This is probably a Slant Six Dan question, but I am open to all opinions and preferences.
While looking at 7" H4 Headlight conversions, I noticed that some of them say "Cast",as opposed to pressed-steel I assume? What is the difference in quality/durability? I would assume cast would deal with heat better. Most products seem to be listed for Offroad/Jeeps.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Thu May 05, 2016 9:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: CAST Headlight Housings
The only cast ones are junk from China -- headlite-shaped trinkets not capable of producing even minimally adequate safety performance. Don't buy them. In fact, most of the 7" round headlamp "upgrades" on the market are unsafe junk, and virtually all the promotional verbiage they're sold with is fact-free baloney. It is definitely not the case that any H4 or "E-code" or replaceable-bulb headlamp is better than a sealed beam. Even among the handful of reputable brands (Cibie, Hella, Koito, Truck-Lite, Peterson, JW Speaker and about the same number of others no longer manufactured) there is a wide range of performance even if we compare "like to like" (such as 7" round H4 headlamps).

Even with the huge amount of trash on the market, there's still a wide range of legitimate lamps depending on how well you want to see and what your budget looks like. Send me a PM if you would like help.
Author:  sandy in BC [ Fri May 06, 2016 7:29 am ]
Post subject: 
Buy a set of Cibies and the bulbs and wiring that make them work properly from Dan.

......then get them aligned properly (after you finish fooling with ride height)

Everyone who rides in my DeSoto at night marvels at the lights.

Even at what seems like a lot of money they are far cheaper than replacing OEM lights on a newer car.
Author:  Danarchy [ Sun May 08, 2016 8:26 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks!
Budget? I am a parts gatherer. I wait until I have all the parts I want/need before I complete a project. No budget. :lol:
I have been looking at HELLA mainly because I have used them before (in a 1960 DKW), and they were Great!
CAST just kept popping up and I didn't ever remember seeing that!
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Sun May 08, 2016 11:26 am ]
Post subject: 
There are several different Hella 7" round headlamps. One of them is fairly decent; the rest are very inefficient, and you almost certainly had the inefficient kind on your DKW. They don't produce enough concentrated light for adequate seeing distance on low beam. "Great", they were not. They only seemed that way because what we feel like we're seeing isn't what we're actually seeing. The human visual system is a lousy judge of how well it's doing. We humans are just not well equipped to accurately evaluate how well or poorly we can see (or how well a headlamp works). Our subjective impressions tend to be very far out of line with objective, real measurements of how well we can (or can't) see. The primary factor that drives subjective ratings of headlamps is foreground light, that is light on the road surface close to the vehicle...which is almost irrelevant; it barely even makes it onto the bottom of the list of factors that determine a headlamp's actual safety performance. A little bit of foreground light is necessary so we can use our peripheral vision to keep track of the lane lines and keep our focus up the road where it should be, but too much foreground light works against us: it draws our gaze downward even if we consciously try to keep looking far ahead, and the bright pool of light causes our pupils to constrict, which destroys our distance vision. All of this while creating the feeling that we've got "good" lights! It's not because we're lying to ourselves or fooling ourselves or anything like that, it's because our visual systems just don't work the way it feels like they work.

The upshot of this is that most promotional "reviews" of a headlamp are useless at best -- and that would be the case even if we ignore the bogus criteria people often use when "reviewing" headlamps: sharp cutoff on low beam! (also very low on the list of factors that determine a headlamp's actual safety performance, but it looks nifty on the garage wall), "H4" (there are at least as many bad H4 headlamps as good ones), "E-code" (irrelevant; both the US and the UN/"E-code" headlamp standards have lots of room for good and bad headlamps) "High color temperature" (irrelevant at best)...and so on.

You don't need to spend a big pile of cash to get good headlamps, spending a pile of cash doesn't guarantee you good headlamps, etc.
Author:  Danarchy [ Sun May 08, 2016 1:37 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
you almost certainly had the inefficient kind on your DKW.
Well Sorry, you'd be wrong there Dan! The headlights on my DKW had to be upgraded at the same time I switched the car from 6V to 12V, and the the difference was Amazing! The difference between seeing or not!, but that's the past.
SSD, I notice on your site that you sell CIBIE, would that be your preference (Best Choice) for your (1964) Daily Driver if you had a choice of any Brand?
and H4 bulbs?
There are alot of comparison review articles out there, but mostly for Jeeps and not classic cars.
Author:  sandy in BC [ Sun May 08, 2016 2:49 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Buy a set of Cibies and the bulbs and wiring that make them work properly from Dan.

......then get them aligned properly (after you finish fooling with ride height)
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Sun May 08, 2016 4:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Well Sorry, you'd be wrong there Dan!
No, sir, I am not. You may believe me or disbelieve me in forming your opinions, but on the facts I am not wrong.
Quote:
The headlights on my DKW had to be upgraded at the same time I switched the car from 6V to 12V, and the the difference was Amazing!
Please re-read my previous post in this thread to understand why it felt that way to you.
Quote:
would that be your preference (Best Choice) for your (1964) Daily Driver if you had a choice of any Brand?
What's our budget constraint here? The answer to your question depends on how well you want to see and how much is in the budget to spend for it. You can get headlamps for your Dart that will provide performance equal to the best of today's new high-end cars, but it costs more than H4s.
Quote:
There are alot of comparison review articles out there, but mostly for Jeeps and not classic cars.
Again: please re-read my previous post in this thread.
Author:  Danarchy [ Sun May 08, 2016 5:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
Please re-read my previous post in this thread to understand why it felt that way to you.
Yeah, you did use the word "almost" :roll:


"What's our budget constraint here?"
Quote:
No budget.
If I do not have the funds all at once for a certain project, I will set aside funds until I do. Most (old) cars I have had in the past were 2nd cars, my Dart is now my primary (Daily Driver) and my 2011 Durango is my 2nd vehicle. I want what is Best for "Daily & Nightly Driving",whatever the cost.
But I like choices, not just buy this. Thank you for your input.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Sun May 08, 2016 10:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
No budget. If I do not have the funds all at once for a certain project, I will set aside funds until I do.
Well, I ask because the best of the best, the ones that put you up at the top of what is safely and legally possible and make H4s look like the last flick of a Bic lighter before it runs out of butane, are a $1500 pair of headlamps. Not a whole lot of Dart/Valiant owners can or will spend that kind of money for headlamps, no matter how good they are. Hence my budget question.

Anyhow, if you're at the point of shopping and planning what to buy, we oughtta take this private. Slantsix.org is not my personal litterbox to crap up with commercial conversation.
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