Yellow headlamps

[andrew e]

Right you old giffers, being only a lowly 33 what did you use to paint the headlamps yellow with and what might be a modern alternative? Ta, Great etc...

[Spottedlaurel]

A yellow paint used to be available in accessory shops. In much smaller pots, you can still get similar for models/crafts - for making mock stained glass, that kind of thing.Does anyone still do yellow bulbs? I've managed to acquire a couple over the years, probably more effective than the above.

[Mr Lobster]

Yellow bulbs are better tbh, though they can be difficult to come by. You occasionally find them on ebay or you can get a yellow glass surround that fits over your existing lightbulb (or so I was told....)Otherwise down to the local art / craft shop.

[pbottomley]

get the real suckers:

 

 

[Electric Leyland]

I bought a set of 4 off ebay just like the pic above for the AS logo Humber Sceptic, cos about a tenner. Had straps on to go round the back of the lamps. GR9 for extra retro points.

[andrew e]

Cheers!

[j-j]

I have a pair of yellow bulbs on the CX. I got one from a friend who removed one from an abandoned Renault 3 in France and the other from a French classic 2cv thing called http://www.amidela2cv.fr/ but they don't seem to have any now.

 

The yellow lights are officially called 'Selective yellow' and they're better in the rain, snow and fog than white. They're not as good in unlit country roads.

They look good and make the road signs reflect yellow at night.

 

 

They can still be had in auto places in some of the more rural French departments such as Limousin. Don't think you can get them from the French version of Halfrauds anymore.

[Mr Lobster]

Yellow bulbs have been hard to find for a while in France now, best place is French scrapyards or ebay. Not seen a set in a shop for literally years!

[Jazzy Jeff]

I got one from a friend who removed one from an abandoned Renault 3 in France

Wow. I'd kill just to even see one of those. I don't think I could have left it without concocting some hideously expensive plan to ship it over here. Even if was 80% rust.

[Guest]

PIAA sell yellow headlight bulbs, do a search on eBay and you'll probably find loads.

[andrew e]

Yeah but I wanted cheap! The phillips weather jobbies in my E39 have the yellow glow to them, its quite comforting really. I'll hit the model shop to deck out the shitty skoda though.

[vicsmith]

Most decent motor factors sell specific bulb paint, it`s very cheap, it can be used to repaint orange indicator bulbs that have flaked and caused an MOT fail, I always used to keep some in case we ran out of bulbs at the lot. The first coat gives a yellow appearance, it took 2 or 3 to get orange, you could do the sidelight bulbs with that if its just "for fancy", I`m presuming it would be unsuitable for the headlamp bulbs but then again the yellow ones had to be coloured somehow....

[andrew e]

Vic ta - this thread [hushes] is almost usefull, I hope its not deleted by the management However if ever VW beetle in England ends up with yellow lights I will drive of beachy head in a Pink Micra CC as self imposed "scene" punishment. I apologise now

[Pete-M]

My 3 series appears to have a slight yellow tinge on the headlamp bulbs, but I can't work out if they're meant to be like that. The inner lights are definately not yellow, but the outers seem to be at least slightly so.I wonder if it went to France in its early life for a holiday. Hmm.

[keef]

I used the plastic covers in the above post on my trip to Italy in the A40 :-

 

 

I think we originally brought them for the Maxi.

[andrew e]

Keep these yellowed lamp beauties coming!

[j-j]

Wow. I'd kill just to even see one of those. I don't think I could have left it without concocting some hideously expensive plan to ship it over here. Even if was 80% rust.

You'd be surprized with what's left lying around the French countryside.. http://www.forum-auto.com/automobiles-m ... 121100.htm

[Owain-328i]

My grandfather always painted the headlamps on his cars yellow, i can clearly recall his Zephyr six, Hillman Hunter, and Talbot Samba all having yellow headlights! (never understood why he did it, i thought it looked shite!) He never bothered on his Corsa Automatic though lolGoes to show the shite he was driving though, as im only 26 so some of those cars were bloody old when i was born lol.

[Owain-328i]

Oh and following that link to the French forum, is this:

 

 

Left over from WW2?

[Richard]

Yellow lamped Corsair. A special prize if you can tell me what film this is a screenshot from.

 

 

[The Blue Lumiere!]

Are yellow headlamps not a bit on the illegal side, though?I'm pretty sure the 'construction & use' law forbids anything other than white lights (except the indicators, which have to be amber) on the front of a vehicle.(Maybe pre 1973 vehicles are exempt from this, I'm not sure. I know pre '73s are allowed black and white non reflective number plates, so maybe.)

[Albert Ross]

Nope, headlamps must show light that is primarily white or yellow.

[The Blue Lumiere!]

I stand corrected, Albert.

 

I was an MOT tester from 1996-2001. I have to admit, I never came across a car with yellow headlamps, although I failed a few for showing white lights to the rear (which is definitely not allowed!) Most times it was number plate lamps which had lost their shrouds, but I recall a Mitsubishi Colt which had a white flourescent tube fitted to it's parcel shelf!

 

(I wasn't one of those pernickity twats who'd fail a car for just this. If a point of failure could be quickly put right/removed or whatever, I'd do it. Most times these 'trivial' failures were just one of many)

 

 

I think white lamps make a lot more sense, mind. From a purely 'being able to see where you're going at night' point of view....

[keef]

A special prize if you can tell me what film this is a screenshot from.

The prize? Don't tell me: a length of wood! http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_149941-For ... -1965.html

[Andrew353w]

Way back in 1993, when the French were ordered by the EU to give up their yellow headlights, I was working there and bought loads of them from car accessory shops, at give away prices. Since then I've made a point of fitting, when possible, yellow lights to any car I have or repair; they are more easily seen and an oncoming driver's more lokely to notice the a car with yellow lights. Incidently, the French also give you a friendly wave if your use them in France-clearly an anti-EU thing!Andrew353w

[Andrew353w]

BTW, Yellow headlights are perfectly legal in the U.K. The MOT manual states that headlights can be either white or yellow (but clearly, NOT one of each!) and must be of the same brightness. Side light bulbs must be white if the headlights are white and must always be white if the sidelight bulb is a separate fitting and not incorporated into the headlight unit. Incidently, I also managed a few years ago to buy a load of yellow "cones", which clip over the H5 60/55 watt bulbs to give a yellow light. The good thing is that you can re-use these when a bulb blows! Andrew353w

[mk2_craig]

I bought a small bottle of headlamp yellow lens tint back in 1995 for the Fiesta mk3 that was my first car; I tinted the bulbs in the pair of crappy "Ring" foglamps that I attached underneath the front bumper. Worked fantastically for about 30 minutes then I found that the stuff had melted off and coated the reflectors of the foglamps

[r.welfare]

A special prize if you can tell me what film this is a screenshot from.

The prize? Don't tell me: a length of wood! http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_149941-For ... -1965.html

I prefer the '79 remake myself

[The Blue Lumiere!]

"It's paint."

[VWPowered]

 

gotta love yellow light above my polo, below my just sold mk2 scirocco