Seal Beam Adapter

[John LaVoy]

I have a pair of very nice pair of Auto Lamp Pathfinder seal beam adapters that fit the Model A. They have a brass trim so would plate up very nice. I am thinking about using them on the new Model A we are building, but am hoping to find out a little more about them. Does any one have information regarding these seal beam adapters?

[Charlie Stephens]

John,

I have a pair of seal beam adapters that I think they may be the same as yours. If they are like mine they place the bulbs behind original lenses. The lens defocuses the beam to a point that it is worthless. There is a second type leaves the bulbs exposed and they look like the eyes of a monster in a late night horror movie. I think mine are aftermarket from the sixties/seventies.

Charlie Stephens

[John LaVoy]

Charlie, these replace the lens with the sealed beam bulb. They are nicely made and were probably used in the 50s. They came on a car that I picked up that was last registered in 67.

I know what you mean about putting a sealed beam unit behind the original lens it is worthless for light for driving.

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by John LaVoy

Charlie, these replace the lens with the sealed beam bulb. They are nicely made and were probably used in the 50s. They came on a car that I picked up that was last registered in 67.

I know what you mean about putting a sealed beam unit behind the original lens it is worthless for light for driving.

I wonder if there are any modern bulbs (probably all 12 volts) with flat lenses. That would do wonders to get rid of the bulging eye look.

Charlie Stephens

[John LaVoy]

I have located a set of flat lenses, that is why I'm looking at the adapters. They are smooth though, but should look OK.

[TinCup]

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I had sealed beam behind lenses in my car for the last 5 years. I just recently converted them back to original buckets and sockets and could not be happier. The look is so much better as the sealed beam adapters don't show up behind the original lenses. I drive 2% of my time at night so the amount of light just isn't an issue. When I have driven at night I haven't had any issues seeing the road.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens

I wonder if there are any modern bulbs (probably all 12 volts) with flat lenses. That would do wonders to get rid of the bulging eye look.

Charlie Stephens

Not Sealed beams, but there are flat-faced 12-volt composite headlights that fit into a 7" sealed-beam headlamp bucket... Hella being one brand... they are usually found on European sports cars and motorcycles... they kind of look like the thick-lensed ILCO-Ryan "Safe-T" headlights used by Stutz and some other high-end badges in the late 1920's...

Don't know if there's enough depth in the Model A headlight bucket for these with the H-4 halogen bulb

[steve s]

Mine had been converted to sealed beams with different buckets when I got it. I think they look good--don't understand the "eyes of a monster" comment, but I guess it's in the eyes of the beholder. I upgraded the sockets and switched to halogen sealed beams. It sure is great to have lots of light going down the road!

I agree about the mess you get when you put sealed beams behind the glass lens.

Steve

[Special Coupe Frank]

Originally Posted by steve s

Mine had been converted to sealed beams with different buckets when I got it. I think they look good--don't understand the "eyes of a monster" comment, but I guess it's in the eyes of the beholder. I upgraded the sockets and switched to halogen sealed beams. It sure is great to have lots of light going down the road!

I agree about the mess you get when you put sealed beams behind the glass lens.

Steve

You have 1940's replacement headlights, that were designed to use the 7-inch Sealed-Beam.

The "monster-eyes" the other guys were referring to were the kits that adapted Sealed-Beams into the original Twolite headlight buckets, which used an 8 " lens (I rounded the measurement to the nearest whole inch), so you wound-up with a black trim ring about 1/2" wide bewteen the headlight shell and the Sealed-Beam glass, which gives it a sort of "sunken-eyed" B or C horror picture look...

I might be hide-bound, but I think the original lighting looks the best..

[RcT]

SteveS, that's the first seal-beamed conversion I have seen that looks good..

[31apickup]

There are a number of aftermarket conversion kits for both 6 & 12 volt halogen bulbs that use the stock lenses. They come with a reflector designed for the halogen bulb. I've had a 12 volt set in my Model A for the last 25 years.