Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

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Pablo Esguerra
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Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#1 Post by Pablo Esguerra »

Hello everyone,

My father and I have just signed up for a night rally thorugh the Colombian Caribbean Coast in a Speedster later on in November.

The car's headlights work just fine, but we want to get a nice set of Fog / Driving lights that can help us improve visibility during the night stages. These will take place on very dark Colombian rural roads, so good lights are very important!

Does anybody have any of them for sale, or recommend a special brand or variety that looks vintage but can light up the road like a modern light? Is there such a product?

Also, if anybody has good ideas for a cool rally livery for a white speedster, please do share!

Thanks in advance!

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Jim Karaba
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#2 Post by Jim Karaba »

I always liked the stripes that taper back from the headlights.

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John Brooks
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#3 Post by John Brooks »

Get some LED head lights also. They will be brighter and less load on the generator.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40408&hilit=Led+head+lights
John Brooks

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George Walling
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#4 Post by George Walling »

Pablo, go with the LED driving light you can get some great light from LED with very low load added to your charging system. Good luck at the event.

George
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Jim Alton
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#5 Post by Jim Alton »

I totaled up the lighting load a while back:

A pair of H4 60 W high beams, a pair of 2 W tail lights and a pair of 10 W license plate lights total 162 watts. That's not counting instrument lights, ignition, etc.

A 356A generator's rated at 160 watts. So yes, you should choose LED lights.

Generators will output more than their rated power as long as something turns them hard--and the insulation doesn't melt. You could also consider switching to a 200 watt 356C generator.
 
Jim Alton
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Jules Dielen
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#6 Post by Jules Dielen »

Pablo is your car still running on 6v? If so your options may be limited unless you go for LED driving lights with a 6v to 12v transformer. You should try to mount them using the bumper brackets so they comes off again after the night race (which sounds like a LOT of fun btw!!)
Jules

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Ned Gorski
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#7 Post by Ned Gorski »

Pablo is your car 6V or has it been converted to 12 V?
i second George's recommendation.... LED's. if your still running 6 volts the light difference will be huge . well worth the money. i put the led's on my 55 cab best decision i ever made .
i'm sure you can find a really bright led bulb that will fit your parking light socket directly in front of your headlight that should add some light also . you may even want to consider a small led light bar connect some felt to a strong magnet ( like they use on temporary trailer lights ) pre run a wire then just before dark simply stick it in place on top of your bumper, plug in the wire your good to go. if your car is 6 volt you may need to run a small 6-12v converter .. as i don't know if you will find a 6v light bar.
Regards Ned

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Paul Ahnell
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#8 Post by Paul Ahnell »

Ned et al: When you speak of LEDs are you referring to the SMD (Surface Mounted Display) lights that Jeffrey Fellman uses in his headlights, brake, & signal lights, or real LEDs like Cu Layer?
Paul Ahnell
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Steve Raucher
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#9 Post by Steve Raucher »

Hey Jim,
Is any one making in vinyl the stripes that taper back from the headlights you mentioned?
Thanks,
Steve
 

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Jim Karaba
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#10 Post by Jim Karaba »

steve raucher wrote:Hey Jim,
Is any one making in vinyl the stripes that taper back from the headlights you mentioned?
Thanks,
Steve
Not sure but I am sure any vinyl sign shop could come up with something. I don't know of anyone making prefabbed stripes though.

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Pablo Esguerra
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#11 Post by Pablo Esguerra »

Hey everyone, thank you for all of the input on this subject. I’m sure it will be a very nice event, I’ll share videos and pictures after for sure.

The car is converted to 12V so power shouldn’t be an issue. Also, it runs on an engine that has a new generator which should be rated over those 160W mentioned for an original A.

I was thinking a Hella 4000 kit I found down here but will definitely look for those LED bulbs to get improved lighting. The LED bar seems like a good idea but I’m worried as how it will look on the car.

Also, can anybody share some pics on how you’ve mounted the lights? We don’t want a permanent installation so we need to figure out some clever way of mounting them temporarily and make them look good as well.

Once again thank you! I’ll be sure to post some pics once I’ve figured this out.

Also, this is a yearly event that takes place in different parts of the country and foreign cars are always welcome. If anybody is interested in participating next year, let me know and I’ll share photos and videos of the event. It will be a year from now so you’ll have plenty of time to decide.

Best,

Pablo

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Steve Raucher
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#12 Post by Steve Raucher »

Jim or others members;
Regarding the vinyl stripes on top of fenders.
Can anyone provide measurements from top of headlight width to the length going back to thinnest point?
Thinking of getting some made and want the correct look. Even the taper percentage would be helpful.
Thank you,
Steve
 

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Jon Schmid
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Re: Fog / Driving Light Recommendation for a 56 Speedster

#13 Post by Jon Schmid »

Steve,
Contact Bob Kann at GT Werk. His Speedster was a hit at Rennsport and I think the headlight tapers on his car had something to do with it. gtwerk@aol.com Good luck!

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