On Tue, 28 Nov 95, thorpe@kegs.saic.com (Denise Thorpe) wrote:
>Russ Wilson asked curiously:
>
>> In response to Ira's question on brighter headlights, Shel wrote:
>>
>> >Cibie, Hella, and others have 7" round headlights available which would
>> >fit the B. Unfortunately, most of those are illegal in California
>> >(because they have a roughly 3/4 circle beam pattern).
>>
>> For decades I have noted the caveat, "illegal for street use in California"
>> in descriptions of accessory auto lights. I understand why California
>> might want stricter emission regulations but, headlights?? Does anyone
>> know why this is? Does it have any significance in any other states (like
>> food products that meet Pennsylvania Dept of Agriculture regulations are
>> deemed to satisfy all other states' codes)?
>
>Sometime in the early '80's, an authorized Hella and Cibie vendor and
>installer (Pat, late of Octagon) told me that the reason given for not
>allowing halogen lights in California is that the reflectors have a tendency
>to corrode because the bulbs are replaceable and therefore the headlights
>aren't "sealed" beam. He said the _real_ reason is that the parts companies
>that manufacture sealed beam headlights had a powerful lobby. It's
>interesting that certain halogen headlights with replaceable bulbs are now
>legal in California. Most obvious are the original headlights that come with
>new cars. Maybe new car companies have a more powerful lobby than
>replacement part manufacturers.
>
>Interestingly enough, I've actually seen lots of working halogen headlights
>that produce very little light because the reflectors are corroded. They've
>been mostly on Volvos, but in '84 I saw an Audi with a corroded high beam
>being delivered new to a dealership.
>
>Remember, never touch a halogen bulb with skin (or set your battery on
>concrete (or sit on concrete)).
>
>And here we are again, Russ, having a conversation in front of the world
>when we live in the same town.
>
>Denise Thorpe
>thorpe@kegs.saic.com
>
>
In the early eighties I upgraded my 70BGT with whatI thought were halogens. GE
made a product that was a sealed beam halogen. It said halogen on them. Would
GE
lie? Anyway the first time I took the car through New Jersey inspection the car
flunked because of the headlights. A few years later they became legal in New
Jersey for any car. They are on the car now! I suspect that the regulation was
based on the "unsealed Theory" as Denise stated, and the beaurocrats considered
all halogens illegal even if the reason for the ban had been overcome by GE. I
don't think these lights are the equal to legal modern lights ( now unsealed
units) but they were a lot brighter than the original non halogens.
Cars flunk inspection for the most
stupid reasons. After years of flying through with my 80 B I suddenly failed
one
year because the inspector noted that the gas pedal didn't have a rubber pad on
it! Aparently this was required in or around l980. Has anyone ever seen a B
with
a rubber pad on the gas pedal? I talked my way out of that one with the
supervisor, and the issue has never been raised again.
Mike Leckstein
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