1969 Datsun 521 Pick-up

[sb]

So actual things with actual pictures with actual work, even though random wiring diagrams appear to illicit the most response from you guys!

So a while ago (read way too long ago, seriously this should have been done weeks ago) I cut all the support out of the bonnet to clean up the rust underneath, here is the journey to put it back.

First the gap looks huge but its just the way its sitting, everything lines up fine and dandy still.






Some more bead practice, trying to use some techniques other than hope and prayer, also playing with power and feed rate. As you can see some went really well! Some went tragically...












The other end. A lot of spatter but plenty penetration.




Heres the curse word up of the weekend... always check where the Earth cable is lying...




But its looking more like a truck again, good for the ol' motivation to see this.




Wings need some fettling and I want to find a solution for the captive nuts because they do my head in!

[sb]

The headlights are back! But first I always considered the 106 a small car, yet I pulled out my old bonnet today...




Makes the Datsun bonnet look like a scale replica... Anyway!

I separated the lenses on an H1 and H4 to test out some indicator mods. Unfortunately the H4 lens completely broke in half so Ill need another of those. 

Onto the H1, that's the flash not the light btw. You'll see the LED conversion with the halo on the outside:




Really happy with the LED H1s, they look weak but are quite surprising. Rated at 2500-3000 lumens over a pair:




Only downside is they come with a considerable heat sink. This wont be an issue to me as the headlights have their own compartment so it wont be visible, but Ill keep an eye on whether I need to drill some holes to relieve hot air. I imagine they'll be fine:




The bit that matters, light output. Ive compared it with a standard H1 bulb and it "blocks" about 2/3rds of the standard light:




Then the halo:




Now the reason for that whole wiring diagram bit:




The indicator is really hard to see BUT I shouldn't be notifying anyone in front of me with an indicator and a high beam, so a moot point.

Now onto the H4s, Osram Nightbreakers and yellow covers:




Honestly I love yellow headlights, especially in poor conditions I find yellow lights a lot more effective.

Had to use the H1 lense to test with:




Very happy that the halo is difficult to notice. the whole reason I didnt buy a premade light with halo is because I found the LEDs far too obvious and the couple that wernt were either very expensive or didnt list amber LEDs. Also the headlight doesn't appear yellow normally thats just the flash.

Low beam and indicator:




Surprisingly clear so the whole cut out while indicating plan may be totally unnecessary. Halo refused to come on with the high but as above that shouldn't be happening anyway.

I think after this I will be going with halos in all 4 so both flash while indicating and once Ive got the front back together Ill test further on the visibilty of them and see if I need to cut out the headlights or not.

[The Jackeria]

The reflections look very "day glow" with those yellow covers, I saw some similar things on ebay and considered one (or some) to play with on my vespa. I know it's a long way off but I'm interested to see what they'll be like when on the truck for sure. I want some that give a darker yellow reflection really.

[sb]

Mar 23, 2016 5:30:47 GMT The Jackeria said:

The reflections look very "day glow" with those yellow covers, I saw some similar things on ebay and considered one (or some) to play with on my vespa. I know it's a long way off but I'm interested to see what they'll be like when on the truck for sure. I want some that give a darker yellow reflection really.

Honestly my camera doesn't pick it up very well, plus the osrams are blue so the flash adds a green tint. They're a very yellow colour, I'll see if I can get a clearer picture of it at some point.

[Rich]

Putting a yellow cover on a blue bulb is gonna give you some pretty horrendous light output. You'd be better off with decent 'clear' bulbs if you want yellow caps as the 2 colours will clash on the light spectrum and reduce light output. Halfords 'brilliance' seem pretty good without being tinted any colours.

[sb]

Mar 23, 2016 10:27:27 GMT Rich said:

Putting a yellow cover on a blue bulb is gonna give you some pretty horrendous light output. You'd be better off with decent 'clear' bulbs if you want yellow caps as the 2 colours will clash on the light spectrum and reduce light output. Halfords 'brilliance' seem pretty good without being tinted any colours.

It's not a blue output so the light output is still fine, it just makes the pictures look funny. Plus bulbs are a service item anyway so it'll get replaced eventually.

[heathrobinson]

What diameter are the lights? I'm really hoping that they're Capri-sized... Lunching separate indicators out would be a proper bonus. Have you got a link to the halo lenses?
Never really considered tinting the bulbs, but now you've said it, it's driven home how much difference there is between cold white and warm white bulbs.
I've been considering these - ebay.co.uk/itm/281861067953
I've been recommended them by a couple of people, but would like to know a bit more about the colour temp before I splash out that much money on them. As said, there's no point in tinting bluefish bulbs, you need a proper breadth of light colour to give you depth and colour perception, which is pretty important if you're ragging it about at night.

[sb]

Mar 23, 2016 22:48:02 GMT heathrobinson said:

What diameter are the lights? I'm really hoping that they're Capri-sized... Lunching separate indicators out would be a proper bonus. Have you got a link to the halo lenses?
Never really considered tinting the bulbs, but now you've said it, it's driven home how much difference there is between cold white and warm white bulbs.
I've been considering these - ebay.co.uk/itm/281861067953
I've been recommended them by a couple of people, but would like to know a bit more about the colour temp before I splash out that much money on them. As said, there's no point in tinting bluefish bulbs, you need a proper breadth of light colour to give you depth and colour perception, which is pretty important if you're ragging it about at night.

Sorry bit confused at the cold vs warm white bit, that ebay listing is for LED H4s which will be pure white, if a bit expensive. Mine are this eBay listing. Half the price but they are a bit generic, Ive seen them advertised on American sites so I think someone is picking them off a line in China and boxing them. Also your listing doesnt have the big heat sink on the back which may be worth the money to you.

So as a quick run down these lights are:
4x 5.75" (5 3/4) lamps
2x regular H4 with standard Osram bulbs and yellow bulb covers - ebay link
2x LED H1 conversion
4x 110mm LED halos - Link here (Note these are a touch too small but the 120mm does not fit. If you can find 115mm youll be laughing unless you have 7" lamps)

[heathrobinson]

Colour temperature is the kelvin rating of the bulb - 3000k is yellowish, 4500k is called Warm White and is like a halogen bulb colour, 6000k is that cold white, like HID bulbs, and 8&10,000 are just silly.
I've worked with LEDs in a different setting a fair bit, and cool white just annoys me - you get little depth perception, and although it's really bright, you can't actually see as much.

However, all the bulbs like these that give you different colour temps do so with filters, so those Phillips plus the filters are by far the best/cheapest option. Going to have a pair of them, so cheers for pointing them out!

[heathrobinson]

If I can find a pair of these direct from China at a decent price, I'll have a go on these - ebay.co.uk/itm/231669127705

[varelse]

Heh I was considering the halo style indicators for the Minor when it gets to that point. My eyesight is terrible so was considering getting projector style lamps with built in halos.

[sb]

Mar 25, 2016 9:42:09 GMT heathrobinson said:

Colour temperature is the kelvin rating of the bulb - 3000k is yellowish, 4500k is called Warm White and is like a halogen bulb colour, 6000k is that cold white, like HID bulbs, and 8&10,000 are just silly.
I've worked with LEDs in a different setting a fair bit, and cool white just annoys me - you get little depth perception, and although it's really bright, you can't actually see as much.

However, all the bulbs like these that give you different colour temps do so with filters, so those Phillips plus the filters are by far the best/cheapest option. Going to have a pair of them, so cheers for pointing them out!

Sorry should have been more specific, I do get that they can have different temperatures but the ones I have are pure white. Absolutely detest any blue tint on lights so wouldn't run them if they were cold. Plus the yellow H4 should make the light look warmer.

Mar 25, 2016 9:47:42 GMT heathrobinson said:

If I can find a pair of these direct from China at a decent price, I'll have a go on these - ebay.co.uk/itm/231669127705

I looked at loads similar to that and while they would be so much easier I can't justify the price when all 4 of mine are only a tenner more with halo.

Mar 25, 2016 10:06:58 GMT varelse said:

Heh I was considering the halo style indicators for the Minor when it gets to that point. My eyesight is terrible so was considering getting projector style lamps with built in halos.

You can get bike ones and adapt them but as above I couldn't justify the price. But I got the LED lamps as I drove a beemer with LED lights and it was as clear as HID without the down side of blinding everyone oncoming. So while mine don't have the R&D or the price tag I'm hoping they'll be more than sufficient.

[tomglt]

Looking good Sam but I wanna see some Rx7 progress as well

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Thanks for the yellow bulb cover link, that's just how I want to go with the Acty.

Is that photo with the lights off? It just gives a natural yellow look against the reflector too?



Thanks in advance

[sb]

Apr 4, 2016 3:04:53 GMT fr€$h&m1nt¥ said:

Thanks for the yellow bulb cover link, that's just how I want to go with the Acty.

Is that photo with the lights off? It just gives a natural yellow look against the reflector too?



Thanks in advance

No you cannot see any yellow, that's the flash from my camera. It looks like a regular silver bowl with a fat yellow bulb in it. If you wanted a yellow look you would still have to tint the lens.

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Apr 4, 2016 10:27:47 GMT sb said:

Apr 4, 2016 3:04:53 GMT fr€$h&m1nt¥ said:

Thanks for the yellow bulb cover link, that's just how I want to go with the Acty.

Is that photo with the lights off? It just gives a natural yellow look against the reflector too?



Thanks in advance

No you cannot see any yellow, that's the flash from my camera. It looks like a regular silver bowl with a fat yellow bulb in it. If you wanted a yellow look you would still have to tint the lens.

Ah ok back to original plan then

[Rich]

Apr 4, 2016 10:27:47 GMT sb said:

Apr 4, 2016 3:04:53 GMT fr€$h&m1nt¥ said:

Thanks for the yellow bulb cover link, that's just how I want to go with the Acty.

Is that photo with the lights off? It just gives a natural yellow look against the reflector too?



Thanks in advance

No you cannot see any yellow, that's the flash from my camera. It looks like a regular silver bowl with a fat yellow bulb in it. If you wanted a yellow look you would still have to tint the lens.

Have to disagree on that (lightly, not like, YOU ARE WRONG LOL), you do get a lot of yellow refraction when its out in daylight. My BX had the same bulb caps, because French.



fr€$h&m1nt¥ is that kinda what you are aiming for?

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Interesting, I've started something now!

Yes that's enough to give the yellow light suggestion without the "check out my modified car with headlight tints" look.

[sb]

Apr 4, 2016 11:43:31 GMT Rich said:

Apr 4, 2016 10:27:47 GMT sb said:

No you cannot see any yellow, that's the flash from my camera. It looks like a regular silver bowl with a fat yellow bulb in it. If you wanted a yellow look you would still have to tint the lens.

Have to disagree on that (lightly, not like, YOU ARE WRONG LOL), you do get a lot of yellow refraction when its out in daylight. My BX had the same bulb caps, because French.



fr€$h&m1nt¥ is that kinda what you are aiming for?

Glad to be proved wrong actually as I think fr€$h&m1nt¥ and myself are after the same sort of thing. Good to know it may be yellow enough!

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

I may end up being triple-lucky because there are blue bulbs in there at the moment so I reckon with yellow covers it might produce a minty light?!