Daniel Stern is certainly a great source, for both information and
product, and I certainly agree with his recommendation for a fog
light if that's really what you're after.
BUT... your GTV isn't supposed to have fog lights in the inboard
headlight position. That configuration is an artifact of dumbass USA
regulations that not only banned '60s lens technology and '70s bulb
technology, but also stipulated that if your outboard high/low
headlights were 7" diameter you couldn't have inboard high beams as
well. So GTVs came to this country with fog lights mounted there
(while Jags and BMWs gave up their 7" outboard lights for 5.75" units
so they could retain their inboard high beams). So you should know
that what's meant to go there is an H1 high beam headlight (or
"driving light," if you prefer that term), also available from Daniel
Stern. What makes the most sense for your application obviously
depends on the weather and roads that you drive in/on, obviously, but
I'm of the opinion that with good low beam headlights (which you
already have, unless you bought Hella's "Vision Plus"
pseudo-Euro-spec headlight which Mr. Stern appropriately refers to as
"Vision Minus"), fog lights are largely unnecessary in all but the
worst fog.
I also feel compelled to point out that while aircraft landing lights
may be a suitable analog for an automotive driving light (I'd say
"poor man's driving light," but they ain't cheap), aircraft *taxi*
lights would be the appropriate substitute for an automotive fog
light.
And someone else asked about lights for a GTV-6 and Spider. Daniel
Stern is the short answer, but I'd like to futher encourage you to
spend the big bucks on the complex (rather than parabolic) reflector
lights for the GTV-6. (Although I don't see the complex reflector
high beam on his products page anymore and am suddenly worried that I
may have missed my chance to buy a set--while the big improvement is
to be had with the low beams, I'd hate to think the complete set is
no longer available.) While the 1970s technology parabolic reflector
H4 Euro-spec headlights (which I'm happy with on all of my cars) are
a vast improvement over USA-spec sealed beams stuck in the 1950s,
those $111 lights at the top of Stern's products page will bring
genuinely-1990s lighting to your GTV-6, which seems like a worthwhile
investment to me, although I have yet to try them firsthand. (My
GTV-6 is terminally rusty, otherwise I'd spend the $444 there in a
heartbeat, and I wanted convex lenses for purely asthetic reasons on
my Fiat Dino, so it didn't get these lovely lights either--but rest
assured that if I'm foolish enough to buy the Maserati Khamsin that's
available locally I'll be buying a set of these headlights just as
soon as I put Euro bumpers and taillights on it...) For the Spider
there are additional options besides what Stern is offering. If
you're into the flat-lens look (which I'm not, at least not on a
Spider), Hella makes a flat-lens 7" H4 high/low light which is
functionally identical to Stern's Cibie product. I've also seen a 7"
unit that combines a projector beam lowbeam and halogen highbeam
behind one 7" lens, but I have no idea who makes it, who sells it, or
if it's any good (but if designed properly it could easily feature
the same 1990s-quality lighting that I was getting so excited about
for the GTV-6 application a few sentences ago).
And if anyone is still reading I'll go ahead and mention that I have
observed slight differences in performance between Cibie's
convex-lens parabolic reflector 5.75" lights and Hella's flat-lens
parabolic reflector lights, which may be relevant if the complex
reflector lights are too pricey for you (or you're uncomfortable with
the slight wiring modification they require). Cibie's convex-lens
highbeam projects further down the road (think "pencil beam" driving
light, but not that extreme), wheras Hella's flat-lens highbeam casts
a wider beam that lights up more off to the side of the road (e.g.
cervine jaywalkers). I don't have any firsthand experience with
Cibie's flat-lens parabolic reflector headlights, so I can't say
whether they'd be more like the convex Cibies or the flat Hellas.
But hopefully you don't care because I already convinced you to
splurge on the superior complex reflector lights in my previous
paragraph, right?
-Joe
At 11:53 AM +0000 10/30/09, alfa-digest wrote:
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:52:58 -0400
From: Bruce giller <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [alfa] Fog lamps for GTV
I conversed with Daniel Stern as to which lamp I should get for my GTV. My
priorities were: 1. performance, 2 price, 3. appearance.
Here is his suggestion:
**************************
I'm going to recommend a Hella BiFocus selective-yellow replaceable-bulb H1
beam unit for this application. It's got a good, sharp cutoff and nice wide
beam for use in bad weather, with excellent glare control so you can use
them in traffic, but also has enough distance punch along the right side of
the road that if things get really soupy you can safely and effectively use
them as primary headlamps. They have a flat lens face so they'll look good
with your flat-lens Hella main headlamps, and they contain a "city light"
(European parking lamp). They're $109/ea.
***************************
IAP has fog lamps listed for $12 each - obviously sealed lo-beams, nothing
fancy. I have IAP's Hella Euro headlights for my hi/lo units. I found the
BiFocus units at another on-line racing store for $95/each.
I looked at aircraft landing lights and there sure are many types to select
from.... and they aren't cheap either.
Bruce
On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 12:15 PM, Russell Neely <[email protected]> wrote:
How about air craft landing lights? They are not fog lights, but they
do light up the night.
Ciao,
Russ Neely
--- On *Wed, 10/28/09, Bruce giller <[email protected]>* wrote:
From: Bruce giller <[email protected]>
Subject: [alfa] Fog lamps for GTV
To: "Alfa Digest" <[email protected]>
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009, 10:52 AM
One of my GTV's fog lamps is kaput since a rock has broken the lens and the
filament burned out. I believe that they are 5.75" round units. IAP sells
fog lamps for the GTV but I'm looking for a more modern design: a halogen
lamp with a fog-lamp-designed lens. Daniel Stern's Lighting page as a good
writeup on fog lamps:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/lights/fog_lamps/fog_lamps.html .
Anyone know where I can get a modern 5.75" round fog lamp that will fit my
GTV ?
Thanks,
Bruce
'73 GTV
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