headlamps - cheap? buy more

[Jay Negrin <jmnegrin@domain.elided>]

I've tried to keep good quality lights in all of my vehicles.  Hella,
Carello, Cibie.  I don't know who owns who anymore.  Here in the USofA,
for the longest time, it was easy, as all cars legal for sale came with
5 1/4" or 7" round lamps.  Later, the both sizes of rectangulars were
also standardized.  Euro E-code with H-4 (H-1 for 5 1/4" high beam)
were, literally, a bolt-in improvement.  I haven't needed higher wattage
bulbs than 55 or 60 Watts for street driving.

What I found out was that it is getting VERY hard to just walk into your
favorite import car parts place and buy one headlight of this
configuration.  I broke one of the hi-lo beams on the Alfetta, and had
to really work to find a replacement.  If the $40/pair lamps are decent,
and I have no real way of knowing, they are cheap enough that you may
want to consider buying several.  They will wear out, eventually.  I had
Carello 5 1/4" that broke after many years of use.  The lens and
reflector became separated from each other.  Silicone sealer helped, but
the reflector was no longer as bright as it once was.  I figure you keep
something long enough, it will  need replacement.  If you can keep the
replacements hermtically sealed, when anything happens to the ones in
the car, rocks and road debris come to mind (which is what happened to
the one on the Alfetta), you have a spare without the headache.

In terms of quality, if the cheap lights are OK in terms of light output
and quality, then knock yourself out.  The only caveat would be for
oncoming drivers.  Some lights don't control the beam as well as others,
and create glare for those coming at you.  Otherwise, good luck

Jay Negrin
ARO Southern California
76 Alfetta GT - no rejection syndrome with Hella lamps in front

PS - adjusting lamps for best output:  re-align so that they do not
point down and to the right, which is typical for US sealed beam lamps. 
More straight-ahead alignment works, but down a bit, so you don't blind
on-coming drivers. I have my (separate) high beams straight ahead, and
slightly "wall-eyed" for better side vision down the road.
jn

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