Gordon Glasgow wrote:
> Hella seems to be the only one making the 7" round lights any more. It used
> to be that Cibie and Marchal were the best, but I think they both got bought
> out by Philips.
I have been testing some low cost lights for a future story in the
magazine. They are Autopal brand. I got them through Les. They are
clearly not as well made as my old Cibies or the Hellas I used to sell.
If you look at the glass it is not of the same quality. There are small
bubbles in it and other minor imperfections. But on the car it is hard
to tell the difference between the brands. They are your standard
Eurospec type light, using an H4 bulb. They have a pattern similar to my
old Cibies. I have tired them with the Autopal brand 55/60 halogen bulbs
(didn't care for them at all). A pair of 55/60 xenon bulbs (much better)
and a pair of 55/100 xenon bulbs (very good). The problem with the
Autopal bulb was not that it was halogen, but that it was so poorly
made. We could not get the lights to aim properly with these bulbs in
them and the pattern was wrong. As soon as we took them out and put the
(non Autopal brand) xenon bulbs in, we got the right pattern and the
lights aimed just perfectly. I do not think the importer is even
offering the Autopal lights with Autopal bulbs anymore, so this
shouldn't be a problem. The light of the halogens was okay, it was just
the aiming that was a problem, however the xenons on low beam looked
brighter than the halogens on high. The xenons are noticeably better. I
also got a pair of DOT legal lights from Autopal and DOT legal H4 bulbs
to go with them, but I haven't tried them yet. BTW I liked these
Autopals so much I ordered a pair of them for the Ford company van (with
the 55/100 xenons). The van uses two rectangular lights but the cost
should be about the same as the two 7" rounds. I think it was $70 for
both with the 55/100 bulbs.
I know Les has put these in several customers' cars including several Roadsters.
--
Marc Sayer
Editor/Publisher
Z Car & Classic Datsun Magazine
http://zcarmag.com
Voice 541-726-6001
Fax 541-746-0863/726-6001
|