Headlight advice

Please can anyone advise on the lights I should have in a 1973 Ferrari 246GT Dino LHD euro spec? I currently have Carellos as in the attached pics. The headlight has a shield suspended in the bowl and the bulbs (60/55w) have a metallic cap on the end. The output is awful. They are marked as 3.485.800 and may have been fitted in the US at some point. They are like new but do not look correct for a 73 Dino.

Finally, could I just cut out the shield in the bowl to improve lighting. What purpose does it have? Or can change the headlight bulbs to ones without a dark end?

Thanks for your help. I am in Qatar in the Middle East and information is hard to get here.
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100% correct would be Carello 03.490.800
but you are right the light is very weak

 

But would cutting out the metal shield in the headlight unit help with lighting power? I don't even understand why it is there or is it meant to reflect light back to the reflector (rather like a satellite dish). It seems to me that the shroud in the headlight unit along with the metal end on the bulb can only reduce light - perhaps these are incorrectly matched?

 

No, everything is correct with the bulb. Just keep all as it is, it is nearly perfect and who cares about the light in the night? You have a lot of other problems to solve, the headlights are no problem.

 

If have some 3.649.800 would they fit in a 73 GTS.

 

Is there a Carello Book with the various applications and reference numbers?

Regards, Alberto

 

03.490.700 is correct (or at least will work) according to an unofficial chart I've seen.

 

Euro spec H-4 headlamps are correct for your car. There is nothing wrong with the headlamps or bulbs. Leave the shield alone. Your low output is due to voltage drop through the switch, etc. and is common on most cars from that era. Here's the fix. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

 

excellent, perfect timing!

 

There is one more thing you could do to provide improvement in the performance of the H4 type headlamp. Philips and Osram both make a high performance version of this bulb. The H4 was made legal in the U.S. in the early 90's with a designation HB2. This type of bulb is offered in almost every auto store in the country as well as the higher performance version. The higher output is achieved by applying a dichroic coating to the surface of the bulb. a portion of the IR energy emitted is reflected back to the filament and increases the temp of the filament without any additional power. End result, more light; about 30% more. Lifetime is reduced but how many hours do you plan on driving at night anyway.

You could consider installing a U.S. type sealed beam lamp as a replacement for driving...but leave everything stock so that you could easily return to your authentic Euro heritage. There are some clear lens-reflector optic headlamps that would be great performing and look great. GM offered this lamp on the Hummer II. Great lamp...one of my projects at Visteon.

Regards, Jeff

 

My 1971 Dino GT Euro still has Carello H1 headlamps (originals?). What is the difference between the H1 and the H4 headlamps and are their bulbs interchangeable? I've seen the higher performance bulbs (Sylvannia Superbright?), but in H4 config, not H1.
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The H1 is a single filament halogen light source that was legal only in ECE regulated countries. It was never allowed to be used for headlamps in the U.S. because the tolerances for filament location were not strict enough. Even the H4 had to have a slight upgrade in tolerances before being allowed in the U.S. The H1 was a popular bulb for fog lamps for both Europe and the U.S. and ended up in some headlamp applications in Europe. I would guess that there is some internal shielding inside the Carello headlamp to achieve the ECE type beam pattern. And, since it is a single filament bulb, another bulb must be used for the high beam. It was better performing than the H4 because of less shielding but also was not a long life source. I'm sure that either Philips or Osram offer it in a high performance version, but maybe not here in the U.S. I can check with my contacts to see what is offered.

Regards,

Jeff

 

Your lamps appear to have two bulbs per lamp. This was common on performance headlamps prior to the introduction of H-4 lamps in 1971. The H-1 is a single filament bulb. You lamp has two reflectors. One for high beam and one for low. The Cibie "Biode" and Marchal "Amplilux" were others that had separate reflectors. The H-4 had a two filament bulb and used a shield inside the lamp and bulb to separate high and low beams. Here's some descriptions of the bulbs. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

You should email Dan Stern for any questions about those lamps. The model number is the 8 digit code. I have no idea if your lamps are original, but they are "period" correct.

 

H-4's are a great solution for dim H-3's.
The H3 is the 55 watt version, H-4 is 100 watt version intended for off-road with a mounting tab to prevent their use in road going versions. Both are two filament. In my Euro Maserati Bora with Carellos I had H-3's and wanted more light, so I clipped the tab on the H-4's and they mounted right up.

PS - The Carellos you have are seriously expensive, and very nice lights. You might consider placing some clear bra on the outside front lens to prevent rock's breaking them.
Don't ask me how I know.

 

This picture shows the difference between the Carellos.
You can see on the back of the headlight that there are in total three
bulbs, 2 x H1 and the small 5 W for parking light.
The european headlight has also two separte reflectors for each H1 bulb,
what is very special. The Fiat 124 Abarth used the same concept.
Using bulbs with more watts (available for "racing purposes") will help a bit,
but are illegal to use on the road and in case of causing a crash you might get in trouble..



Regards
Nicolai

 

Not sure if these pictures help, but these are Cibie H4s on my dino
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The shield inside headlamp - if you mean a small protection in front of the bulb - is for cutting out the direct beams from the lamp in order not to blaze on-coming traffic. They started appearing in European lights during 1960's and removing it does not help one bit, as the tip of a modern bulb is coated anyway as your pic also shows.

I too think you should make sure the bulbs get 13-14 volts that is available. There are also modern power-up units that boost the voltage higher than that. You'll get limited bulb life, but who cares as long as new bulbs are available everywhere!

 

Ditto with Scott's PS. Remove the Carellos, store them semipermanently in a safe place, and replace them with (cheap but very effective) sealed beam lights, just in case you might actually drive the car at night (this assumes you could actually see the dash instruments in the dark, which is another problem/issue).

 

The day after my 71 Dino was delivered from Southern Calif last September, I took it to an afternoon event about an hour drive from home. This event ended in the evening when it was dark. It was only then, when I was leaving to head back home, that I discovered the Dino's lighting weaknesses.

The passenger side headlight had a grounding issue (since fixed) so it gave out almost no light at all leaving me essentially with a (dim) one-eyed Dino. Then I discovered how poor the dash lighting is and had to shift by guessing shift points since I couldn't really read the tach (this was only the 3rd time driving it since I had bought it 2 months earlier). Lastly, not being familiar with the Dino shift pattern (very different from my Porsche Cayman), a friend used the light from her iPhone to illuminate the shift gate so I wouldn't crunch the gears. Thankfully, most of the drive was on the highway, so I was only shift-challenged getting to and from the highway.

BTW, that was the last time I've driven the Dino in the dark...

 

Get some H4s in there, drive at night and tell the stories! Much better than not driving and no stories

 

Uhh, you need to be careful with the wattages. Don't ask me how I know - let's just say that when the Lucas smoke came out of a certain STEERING COLUMN switch, and a fire extinguisher could not be easily found, things got pretty pricey, pretty fast . . . or so I am told. . . .

 

Mark, sorry to hear that. I hope you've got it sorted out and found replacement parts.

 

I am not sure whether the standard Dino wiring system uses relays for headlamps. If not, a relay installed close to the headlamps should prevent switches from overloading.

Andres

 

Ryan and Andres:

I loved how bright my headlights were after I bought my "new" 246gt, but then the headlight and turn signal switch started acting funny. When it was simply being looked at, smoke started pouring out of the steering column. A relay (LUCAS!!!) had failed over time because of the loads (and age?), and as all British car owners know, once the special patented Lucas smoke escapes, nothing ever works the same. The relay failed, shorted, and fed power back through the headlight and turn signal switch and burned some wiring.

I later found the reason why my headlights were so bright was because, unbeknownst to me, my headlights are rare Marchals that have a special combination of 2 bulbs in each headlight - either H-1s and H-2s or H-2 and H-3 bulbs - a bulb combination unlike any I have ever seen before. (I saw a similar pair at Concorso Italiano this past August for over $400 the pair.) Anyway, BOTH the low beam and high beam wattages were WAY up there, and fried the system.

Now, 1 new relay (with higher paramenters) and a rebuild/refurbishment of my headlight and turn signal switch later, my Dino is up and running again, and my lights are brighter than ever, and the wiring is now protected.

 

I remember that when I was fiddling with my headlight switch after it broke that the wires running from it are tiny (which they have to be due to the design), about 18 gauge or so. No wonder that full headlight current shorting back through them caused some pyrotechnics!