sidelights\headlights

[48pop]

Hi folks,

In the interests of battery conservation, (and until I get an alternator in place...), I try and do without the headlights in well lit urban areas. I'm constantly flashed with drivers who obviously cannot see the sidelights.

My sidelights are workin fine and the lenses and reflectors are in good order.....Has anyone put the sidelights in the headlamp bowl?? This would obviously give the same illumination but over a wider area....

I know that drilling my sealed beams would be a bad idea but are there any alternatives??

Cheers
gerry

[amazondean]

You can get sealed beem headlights with the location of the side lights and simple wiring will do it. However I use my amazon summer and winter and have never needed an alternator conversion. The dynamo on an amazon is more than adiquate all year round.

[archieboy69]

I think you should be able to use mini headlamps, as they are the common 7" style with side light holes, just check that the 3 locating lugs are in the same place, but im sure they are.

Stu

[48pop]

Originally Posted by amazondean

You can get sealed beem headlights with the location of the side lights and simple wiring will do it. However I use my amazon summer and winter and have never needed an alternator conversion. The dynamo on an amazon is more than adiquate all year round.

I find that when I have the headlights on the indicators slow to a crawl.....Add the heater fan and the indicator does not flash at all.....

Should I be looking for a new dynamo? Is it on its way out??

Cheers
Gerry

[TomTom]

It looks like there's something wrong with your charging system. The headlights alone should not draw so much power that in normal driving the indicators are slow; they would be at idle, but as soon as you rev they should pick up. The tiny sidelights are are as useless as a chocolate fireguard and I'm not surprised people are flashing you. Having a new alternator will be a revelation for you, but I wuld recommend getting it sooner rather than later; if you dynamo is breaking down then you also soon may be.

Tom

[Derek UK]

When I first got my Amazon it had been fitted with Lucas sealed beams which did give excellent lighting but I didn't like the tiny sidelights either. I changed to a pair of halogen Hellas with built in sidelights. It was easy to piggyback the wiring to join up the standard sidelights to the sidelights in the headlights. The headlight ones now give some usable light within the rules but more importantly makes you much more visible to oncoming traffic. The standard rear lights don't make you very visible either, but the zinc plated reflectors will polish up quite well to give a small improvement along with halogen ,and now, increasingly better led bulbs.

[JIM C]

What a clever idea. I would upgrade mine if I was using it everyday.
Thanks

[Derek UK]

Originally Posted by 48pop

I find that when I have the headlights on the indicators slow to a crawl.....Add the heater fan and the indicator does not flash at all.....

Should I be looking for a new dynamo? Is it on its way out??

Cheers
Gerry

Check the sidelight earthing is good. If it's relying on the mounting screws it can be bad if it's corroded/rusty or trying to find an earth through new paint. Add a new dedicated earth lead through to the inner wing. Corrosion between the wing and the car body gradually makes for a high resistance joint. Refitting a wing that has been painted off the car can give the same effect. More so if you have mastic in the joining flanges.
A good dynamo with a good regulator plus a good battery should give no problems but If using it as a daily driver to work in the winter with relatively low mileage it won't have much spare capacity. A few hard starts on frosty mornings will mean your battery will thank you for an occasional overnight charge.
Happy cranking!

[capt jack]

Take a glance at the Highway Code - before Plod reminds you that it's illegal to drive round on sidelights only, or to drive a car in daylight without working headlights - even if they are not actually switched on.

Jack

[222s]

Originally Posted by archieboy69

I think you should be able to use mini headlamps, as they are the common 7" style with side light holes, just check that the 3 locating lugs are in the same place, but im sure they are.

Stu

They do indeed fit I have a set of the generic Wipac halogens on my Amazon. These have the brightest legal bulbs & provide excellent lighting. IIRC, about £40 for a pair, including the bulbs. Mine also have the side lights built-in but I haven't bothered to wire them up. Personally, I wouldn't bother with sealed beams, firstly as bulbs cannot be replaced but also since in my experience the lighting performance isn't that great.

Originally Posted by capt jack

Take a glance at the Highway Code - before Plod reminds you that it's illegal to drive round on sidelights only

No it's not - the relevant part of the highway code is as follows
(from here):

113
You MUST

• ensure all sidelights and rear registration plate lights are lit between sunset and sunrise
• use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. These roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified
• use headlights when visibility is seriously reduced (see Rule 226)

Night (the hours of darkness) is defined as the period between half an hour after sunset and half an hour before sunrise).