W113 Pagoda SL Group > Research & Development

Headlight subject

(1/4) > >>

114015:
Dear @ll,

When watching the pics of Stirling Moss' RHD car
and the one in this J Wax add in another thread here... ;)

https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=28660.0

the question came up to me again about the difference of US headlights (sealed beam) versus (so-called) 'European' headlights. ???

But is this the complete truth?
Which country - other than the US - received from the factory US/sealed-beam headlights on their Pagodas?
Canada perhaps? I've seen both in CA, SLs with US- and non-US headlight units. :o

https://www.sl113.org/wiki/Electrical/USLamp

My guess is just this:
All US-delivery SLs got sealed-beam unit headlights (the common AC, AN, AJ types) and all other cars had 'rest-of-the-world' headlights (the ones we call here 'European' headlights...)
... with the only difference RHD versus LHD headlights.



Please,
is this (my) assumption correct
or were there any countries in the World - other than the US - receiving Pagoda-SLs upon order but with US headlights?
 ;) :D

Just curious....


Achim
(switched from US-AC headlites to 'Europeans' since his car is a Euro delivery car)

Benz Dr.:
Canada and the USA share very similar requirements for lighting and safety equipment.

There are differences though....... Euro head lights were always legal here but not in the US. You were supposed to have your car changed to US specs to be DOT compliant. When I bought my car in North Carolina in 1993, it still had Euro head lights and metric gauges so some slipped through. Oddly enough, sealed beams are not legal in Europe.

About 20 years ago Canadian built cars had DRL systems but they hadn't been introduced in most of the US and I kept getting pulled over for having my lights on while driving to Florida. It took some explaining that I couldn't shut them off and I had to prove it on one occasion to avoid a ticket.

MikeSimon:
The reason you find Euro (non-sealed beam) headlights in the U.S. is that on imported vehicles over 25 years old, the DMV rules and regulations are rarely enforced. It varies somewhat from State to State, I guess, but here in Ohio, they are not that picky. I own several vehicles that came here through non-OEM import channels and they have Euro specs, e.g. headlights, no running lights, km/h speedometers etc. and they all have a current Ohio title.

zoegrlh:
Same here in Virginia, euro headlamps are ok now, being the SL is running antique plates. My SL is European specs for German market. Car was shipped to US in late 80’s and put into Virginia registration, sealbeam lamps were required, so the conversion firm the shipper the car over from Germany, put sealbeam bulbs in the euro headlamp
assembly, (meaning the European glass lens were still being used along with the housings. All I had to do was disconnect wiring of sealbeams, takeout the custom holding assemblies, the euro mirrors were intact, and replace sealbeam with Holagen bulbs and readjust beams.  The import company were real wizards at the conversion.
Bob 

MikeSimon:

--- Quote from: zoegrlh on January 27, 2019, 16:09:32 ---  so the conversion firm the shipper the car over from Germany, put sealbeam bulbs in the euro headlamp
assembly, (meaning the European glass lens were still being used along with the housings. All I had to do was disconnect wiring of sealbeams, takeout the custom holding assemblies, the euro mirrors were intact, and replace sealbeam with Holagen bulbs and readjust beams.  The import company were real wizards at the conversion.
Bob

--- End quote ---


How did they do that? On a sealed beam, glass, reflector and bulb are all one unit, thus the name "sealed beam"

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page