H4 flat headlamps

lookforjoe said:
All other EU countries are LHD (driving on the righthand side)
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That wasn't always true. The UK was only one of the LHD countries in Europe at one time. So older guys were accustomed to referring to all LHD as "European". That still remains today for much of the automotive industry. You are right that there are other differences in the light diffusion (see the pic I posted earlier), but I'm only referring to LHD vs RHD in this case.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
That wasn't always true. The UK was only one of the LHD countries in Europe at one time. So older guys were accustomed to referring to all LHD as "European". That still remains today for much of the automotive industry. You are right that there are other differences in the light diffusion (see the pic I posted earlier), but I'm only referring to LHD vs RHD in this case.
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I think you have something backwards - UK has always been RHD (driving on the left) dates back to the days of chivalry, according to some.
 
Actually there are still a lot of little countries around greater Europe that still drive on the left (RHD). And many of us tend to refer to all of them as "Europe", even if they are not formally a part of the EU. Just recently I spent time in Cypress, RHD cars and left side driving, and only once did I pull out on the wrong (left) side for a moment. However when I was in the Caribbean Islands most of the cars were LHD, but they also drive on the left. So I found myself wanting to go on the wrong side a lot.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Actually there are still a lot of little countries around greater Europe that still drive on the left (RHD). And many of us tend to refer to all of them as "Europe", even if they are not formally a part of the EU. Just recently I spent time in Cypress, RHD cars and left side driving, and only once did I pull out on the wrong (left) side for a moment. However when I was in the Caribbean Islands most of the cars were LHD, but they also drive on the left. So I found myself wanting to go on the wrong side a lot.
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Hi Jeff,

even if you include all of the European continent, apart from the UK, it is just Cypress and Malta that drive on the left, so really not many. Sweden converted in 1967. There is a nice article here:
https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/

Frustrating for me who drives a RHD in Europe :(. You get used to it, but it makes overtaking extremely difficult and you need to get out of the car at toll booths.

Cheers,
Dom.
 
dcioccarelli said:
Hi Jeff,

even if you include all of the European continent, apart from the UK, it is just Cypress and Malta that drive on the left, so really not many. Sweden converted in 1967. There is a nice article here:
https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/

Frustrating for me who drives a RHD in Europe :(. You get used to it, but it makes overtaking extremely difficult and you need to get out of the car at toll booths.

Cheers,
Dom.
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Sorry, and Ireland of course (god forbid that I include them in the UK!).
 
Why not just go to LED lights? They are brighter, draw a fraction of the energy and last forever... If you are looking for something that has that old-school look there are companies that sell those in LED versions as well...
 
dcioccarelli said:
so really not many
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I didn't realize there were that few now. Guess I'm older than I want to believe. :oops:
I agree the use of the term 'Euro' to describe driving on the left isn't really accurate or proper. It's just the way it has been done for ages when it comes to automotive lighting for some reason. I'll try and use better terminology in this context in the future. ;)

Another example of H4 lights having lenses with odd light patterns is for motorcycles. The same large round lamp design was used on lots of bikes and came in the H4 format. But the lens for them casts light across a fairly broad and long range to help riders see everything ahead. You may notice some Harleys seem to blind you at night when coming from the opposite direction or when behind you due to this. Many of these lights were made by Bosch (great quality) and they can be purchased very inexpensively (I've seen new ones at motorcycle swap meets for a couple dollars each). I'm not sure it's a good idea if you do much night driving, at least for the sake of other drivers. But they sure do light up the road if you live in a remote area.

If the cost is a big factor, there are a lot of very inexpensive lights with pretty much every imaginable lens and bulb format available from China. Look on eBay or AliExpress.

Automotive lighting is an interesting subject. Some of the older stuff is very collectable and ridiculously priced, but very cool looking.
 
Circling back to the Neolites. The small 4 watt daylight runners that came with the lamps have bayonet sockets. These friction fit through soft rubber seals. Yellow minibulbs sourced from Bulbtown.com are the plug in type, same base as in our Fiat dash lamps and side marker lamps. I had an old side marker lamp socket laying around, and mocked up the socket in one of the Neolite headlamps. Powered it up in the dark garage from the fuse block of my X - I like the look of the 4 watt yellow incandescent. Ordered two new side marker sockets from MWB to complete the modification.

To resolve the confusing debate above about the lighting pattern, plan to mount one Neolite and find a flat wall to illustrate how it performs versus an existing Sylvania sealed halogen on the other side. Report, forthcoming.
 
Installed both headlamps, operational. Will report after a nighttime run as to the light pattern. Oxidized little worn out philips fasteners securing the trim rings to the mounting buckets were fiddly. I like the flat format relative to the ubiquitous Sylvanias.

neolites illuminated.jpg
 
Look rather yellow, but they do look good.

They should present much more light than the old sealed beams.
 
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