head light conversion

Points will not be deducted for safety items provided they are installed in a workmanship like manner, are "of the period" and are required to operate the car legally and safely on today's roads. Acceptable safety items may include safety glass, seat belts, side view mirrors, turn signals, electric fule pumps and seal beam headlights. These items will be taken into account if the "Best of Show" judging team judge the car.

So I gather some have converted to sealed beam. Does this affect judging? Or is judging done with the headlights down?

Josh Malks wrote: Yeah, and there would be an additional problem with Cords -- you would have to crank open that headlight every time you wanted to signal a turn.

I don't think that would make much difference in my part of the world, no one here (including the cops) uses turn signals anyway.

Yeah, and there would be an additional problem with Cords -- you would have to crank open that headlight every time you wanted to signal a turn.

I have seen some cars, other than Cords, 35-36 Auburns to be exact, with turn signals incorporated into those parking light bulbs. They were not very effective.
CORDially Mike

Cords were built before sealed beam headlamps came into use. Like all other cars of 1936 and 1937, Cord headlamps had a silvered reflector, a prismatic lens and a bulb. The joint between the lens and the reflector was imperfectly sealed by a cork gasket. Air entry caused the silver reflector to begin to tarnish almost immediately, losing 50% of its reflectivity within a couple of years. Sealed beams were invented so no air could get in, and so a new reflector was provided every time the headlamp was replaced.

Like some other cars of the era, the parking lights in the Cord are incorporated into the headlight reflector. (Essentially, it's the equivalent of a flashlight bulb stuck into a hole in the reflector.) Moving the headlight switch to the first detent turns on the parking lights, which makes the headlight lens glow dimly.

What is the correct headlight? I think mine has simple sealed beam units.

I'll bet you've got a post-World War II Rayovac sealed beam headlamp. They used a metal reflector fused to the glass lens and had a bulb inside. The selling point was that even if the lens were cracked or broken the bulb would continue to burn.

The problem is that each reflector is purposefully designed to macht the lense in order to have the most light output by least blinding oncomming cars.
In case you cut the reflector chances are grate that you loose a lot light output since positioning the bulb in the reflector is difficult. As little as 0.039 zoll to one side will get you out of scale and possibly will render you with a useless headlight adjustment system.
Never the less if you realy need to keep your lenses cut away the WHOLE REFLECTOR and grind it down right to the edge of the glass to have a nice clean surface ( carefully with a real glasscuttingtool and no pressure since your reflector is most likley also glass. try first with a glassbottle to see if you have the skill and tool. I do not recommend to do it when the reflector is of glass. I take no responsability in case you damage either your headlight or injure your self or others with this task, now or later.) and replace it with a same size reflector gluing it with two composite glue. This will give you at least a chance to have a centered bulb.
Make sure that you use a steel or brass reflector no plastic ( look a Hotrodshops ) and by then i recommend to use 6 v or 12 v 45/55 w halogene-bulbs with Bay 15 d socket so the reflector must be reddy to accept Bay 15 d bulbs these are most common and radley available. Since i import Halogenbulbs to europe i can tell you more about it. but these bulbs are also available in the US. My e-mail is <a href="mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url] <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

I'm trying to wade through the finishing details of my car, so I can use it before it gets too late! I currently have some really neat, old headlights that are called "sealed beam". However, they consist of a metal cone/reflector, and a crimped/glued lense, complete with a neat bulbous bump in the center of the lens. Inside, I can see a separate bulb, but there is no access to it.
I'm wondering if anyone has concocted a method of cutting this bulb area out, and substituting it with a replaceable unit? I sure would like to retain these cool lenses, even if they aren't correct.
TIA, RF.