Correct Sealed Beam Headlights

[Steve Douglas]

A friend is finally finishing his 58 Convertible D, he has been working on it for over 12 years and wants perfection in every detail. The question he asked me is what brand of sealed beams were original for a car delivered to the US in mid-1958? I have always been interested in lighting/light bulbs, so he thought I would know, but I don't.
I have seen pictures of 356 Bs with empty headlight buckets on the docks, in the 60's. My guess would be that if they came without bulbs then the local US dealers would install what ever they could obtain.
I have had/seen VWs and 356s with various brand bulbs: Tung Sol 6006 (manufactured by Wagner, also Napa, and BAP), Westinghouse "Safe T Beam", GE 5045 (in a 1954 bug), GE 6006 and AC Guide lamps, that were claimed to be original. Going back to my Corvette days the AC Guide " T-3" bulbs started in 1956 and went into the 70's, but were normally for GM cars.
Not that it will really matter, but he seems think that a concours judge will mark him down for the wrong bulbs.
Anybody know?

[David Jones]

Steve, I would hazard a guess that any 7" 6 volt sealed beam unit would be acceptable as they were a part that could burn out at any time and a replacement would be a matter of pot luck back in the day. No sensible judge would mark down a car for what is an impossible to determine "original" part. On the other hand if he wants a Wagner, GE or Westinghouse sealed beam I am sure I could find at least one if not a pair for whatever he wants to pay plus shipping which may cost more than the sealed beam unit.

[Norm Miller]

Steve,

The cars shipped to the US were shipped without seal beam bulbs.
It didn't make sense ($) to ship the bulbs to Germany.
They were a dealer installation thus whatever was their choice of manufacturer was used.
I don't believe halogen seal beams were yet on the market in 1958.

Norm

[Dick Weiss]

Steve,

I have a matched pair of GE all-weather sealed beam headlights #5040S in original boxes.
Would be glad to 'let 'em go' to someone who would really wants them as originals!

Dick

[Jan Kolm]

For 1958, sealed beams w/3 lugs are OK. Don't use bulbs with "2D1" at the top, Wagner brand, or Westinghouse with the name in other than block capital letters.

[Steve Douglas]

Thank you all for your replies, Howard is used to building and showing cars that are judged against the "gold Standard", in other words a perfect car, not as PCA uses. He shows Corvettes, Mustangs, and Jaguars. all have everything down to the marking on the bolt heads listed in books. I have a pair of old 5040S GE and he has some old AC "T-3" that I think will be vintage enough, but again he is being anal in his restoration. He has been inspecting many other cars of the 57-59 vintage trying to figure out the details that he feels important. His car was basically an unmolested D, original owner, 33,000miles bought back in the late 80s and has been sitting waiting to be restored. Stone Grey with Black interior, should be on the show circuit in Northern California next year.

[Jim Alton]

Steve, I would hazard a guess that any 7" 6 volt sealed beam unit would be acceptable as they were a part that could burn out at any time and a replacement would be a matter of pot luck back in the day. No sensible judge would mark down a car for what is an impossible to determine "original" part. On the other hand if he wants a Wagner, GE or Westinghouse sealed beam I am sure I could find at least one if not a pair for whatever he wants to pay plus shipping which may cost more than the sealed beam unit.

For what it's worth, Wikipedia says halogen sealed beam headlights were introduced in 1978 in the USA.

For completeness, a different Wikipedia entry says

• H1 was introduced in 1962
• H2 (now obsolete) in 1964
• H3 in 1966
• H4 (high/low beam) in 1971

[James Davies]

Here's some old GE sealed beam units from 1957. Notice the say SEALED BEAM down at the bottom and have 3 little protrusions sticking out. The period Westinghouse ones were very similar.

[James Davies]

For 1958, sealed beams w/3 lugs are OK. Don't use bulbs with "2D1" at the top, Wagner brand, or Westinghouse with the name in other than block capital letters.

Jan, can you give us the lowdown on SB units 1952-59? Were the script Westinghouse earlier or later than the block? Or perhaps you've covered this before elsewhere?

[Greg Dumond]

My 1957 Cab was a Hoffman delivered car production date of February 11, 1957. The COA and Kardex both show the car was shipped with Sealed Beam Headlights.

[Jim Alton]

I found a source (University of Michigan) that says the three aiming pads (for mechanical aiming) were introduced on sealed beam headlamps in 1956.

They wouldn't work on a 356.

[Jim Alton]

My 1957 Cab was a Hoffman delivered car production date of February 11, 1957. The COA and Kardex both show the car was shipped with Sealed Beam Headlights.

I hate to be argumentative, but Kardex entries weren't all that detailed.

I suspect that could have meant the car left the factory with headlights units for sealed beams but waiting for the dealers to install the sealed beam bulbs.

[Jan Kolm]

My 1957 Cab was a Hoffman delivered car production date of February 11, 1957. The COA and Kardex both show the car was shipped with Sealed Beam Headlights.

I hate to be argumentative, but Kardex entries weren't all that detailed.

I suspect that could have meant the car left the factory with headlights units for sealed beams but waiting for the dealers to install the sealed beam bulbs.

The only data point I have is in the period factory VW manuals that show photos of a steel-reflectored Auto-Lite (?) bulb being replaced. Auto-Lites had a relatively short lifespan, so they are hard to find today.

[Jan Kolm]

For 1958, sealed beams w/3 lugs are OK. Don't use bulbs with "2D1" at the top, Wagner brand, or Westinghouse with the name in other than block capital letters.

Jan, can you give us the lowdown on SB units 1952-59? Were the script Westinghouse earlier or later than the block? Or perhaps you've covered this before elsewhere?

James,

Try a Google search for the GE "All-Weather Sealed Beam" magazine ads featuring Mr. Magoo from the late 1950s and early 1960s. They frequently featured a close-up shot of a headlamp bulb.

[Hugo Karasawa]

Found this headlight in an unrestored 65C , that was bought in California about 20 years ago.
I am assuming the headlights were produced in 64 , 6-4 . Please correct me if I am wrong.
Could it be that the 57-58 headlights had also these markings ?
If you find headlights with a 57 or 58 markings then you can say it has original headlights.