13 replies to this topic

[mohammed]

Hi everyone..

Can you change the bulbs on the spotlight to lower the power.. at the moment my spotlight are very bright and the main beam come on to.. but i want to drive with the spotlights on.. what can i do??

thanks

mohammed

[scubalegg]

you will have to rewire the relay so that it functions from the dipped head lights instead of main beam switched, i did it with mine and all i did was angle them a little lower so they didnt blind people coming towards me... never had no bother from anyone

[Cooperman]

The idea of spotlights is to improve the depth of light on main beam for safer, faster driving on open roads. Basic headlights are OK for medium speeds, but lack beam length at higher speeds. Not a lot of point in having them otherwise.

[scubalegg]

because they look good ;)

[Cooperman]

because they look good ;)

So do mine, and they have fabulous range well beyond the range of the Hella headlights.

[scubalegg]

That looks nice, up to what age can you have the single mirror?

[Dan]

You are advising members to setup their spotlights illegally and you worry about how many mirrors you have to have?

Spotlights / driving lights / auxiliary main beam headlamps, whatever you want to call them, must be turned on and off by the dip switch and can only be on with the main beam.

[scubalegg]

Dan, im guessing your post was aimed at me, I was unaware that you was only aloud 2 dipped lights on the front of a vehicle I thought as long as they are at the same level as your dipped head lights it wouldnt be problem as they wouldnt be hazardous to oncoming road users. I apologize if ive advised someone on something that is illegal.

And with the wing mirror thing I personally like the look but am unaware of the rules regarding what vehicles can and cant and if its different for different aged vehicles so I was asking the question what aged vehicles can have a single mirror and still be legal.

Darren

[Dan]

<<I've changed this to include more detail, I was being unfair>>

The rules covering dipped beam lamps are quite complex. A spotlamp is approved as a spotlamp, it's approval mark stops it being used as a dipped beam lamp. If you are using a lamp with no approval mark at all then it can simply be set to not cause dazzle and will be OK. But there are other rules. Auxiliary dipped beam lamps must be mounted higher than 500mm and lower than 1200mm, and follow the same rules as the originals for colour and adjustment. If the car is younger than 1991 the lamps must be mounted as a pair, must dip left, must be wired and switched to come on as a pair and importantly it is not permitted for more than one pair of dipped beam lamps to be in use at once.

You can't just advise people that things are fine to do. There are laws invovled and people can be prosecuted.


Cars up to 1978 must have one mirror, any one of the three normal ones. Cars from 1978 onwards must have an offside door or wing mirror and at least one other mirror.

[Cooperman]

Dan is absolutely correct, as usual. In fact, cars registered before 1978 don't have to have any external mirror(s). I have one on that '64 rally car as I find it useful due to the rather low cruising speed on main roads caused by the ultra-low final drive.

[Ivor Badger]

Dan is absolutely correct, as usual. In fact, cars registered before 1978 don't have to have any external mirror(s). I have one on that '64 rally car as I find it useful due to the rather low cruising speed on main roads caused by the ultra-low final drive.

If the car is a genuine 64, which it looks. Then no external mirrirs are required. Only vans and estates required external mirrors at that time.

by the way, what final drive do you use?

[reallybig]

if you drive past a rozzer with spots on with no fog in a normal car they'll give you a bnklculiog not to mention it pi##es me off when people do that.

<-------and check the display pic

[freshairmini]

if you drive past a rozzer with spots on with no fog in a normal car they'll give you a bnklculiog not to mention it pi##es me off when people do that.

<-------and check the display pic

Same, I hate it when people drive round with front fog lights on in no fog "because it looks good"!

[Cooperman]

Dan is absolutely correct, as usual. In fact, cars registered before 1978 don't have to have any external mirror(s). I have one on that '64 rally car as I find it useful due to the rather low cruising speed on main roads caused by the ultra-low final drive.

If the car is a genuine 64, which it looks. Then no external mirrirs are required. Only vans and estates required external mirrors at that time.

by the way, what final drive do you use?

Yes, it's a genuine '64 with a lot of rally history. I run the small A-post mirror because it's useful on main roads and when rallying the rear window gets dirty, so that little mirror is good then. Back in 1964 when I rallied my then-new Cooper 998 I didn't have any wing mirrors, nor did I on my 1966 Cortina GT rally car.
I run a 3.9:1 final drive with a straight-cut close-ratio gearbox.
Spotlights are Cibie Super Oscars with Driving Lamp lenses and 100 w bulbs. They truly are fantastic. On mt Rover rally car I have a pair of PIAA 180 driving lamps which are even better if that's possible. I don't use PIAA on the Mini as I like to keep it in-period, which Cibie Super Oscars are.