S1 Period Correct Fog Lights vs Phillips LED DRLs

[Wedgetable]

I would like the added safety of daytime running lights, but I don't think I want to be popping the main lights up all the time -- too much motor and linkage wear, making the flakey Lucas electrics work more than they need to.

 

I thought I'd get some Phillips 8x led drl's to mount just under the bumper, since they don't draw too much current and are discreet rectangular things. (There's also the exhorbitant fancy new Phillips.)

 

Then I thought about getting period fog lamps and replacing their halogen bulbs (H1's ?) with the LED equivalents.  Are there examples of S1's with period-correct fog lamps? I've got a local guy selling some NOS rectangular Hella 550 yellows, but I think they're more 80's looking, unless they didn't change much from the late 70's.

 

Also mounting them... the mounting bolt for those things is usually a thick (3/8"?) bolt -- does one just drill a big hole under into the body tub and access the other side from inside the boot?

 

Thoughts?

[Tony K]

Hi Albert,

 

   I can give you a good answer on that:   Cibie "Airport" 35 fog lamps with yellow lenses and chrome bodies.  Here are two photos of 134H from when I first picked it up, exactly how it came out from its storage, before it was even dusted off or wiped down with a cloth:

 

 

 

This car had 4008 original miles and had sat in storage for the better part of 29 years when I acquired it from the original owner.  This is exactly as he bought the car new from the dealer -- the invoce even had the fog lamps added on there as an extra, IIRC.   They have the chrome housings with white covers.

 

You may be aware that the S1 interior switchgear is share with certain MGBs and maybe an Aston Martin V8 from around 1974;  it had an additional one of those switches -- an MGB wiper switch with a green light, IIRC, added to the instrument binnacle below the heater controls so it blended in and looked like it belonged.

 

As for mounting the fog lamps, it's not what one would expect:   They are mounted to the spoiler.  I saw one other S1 exactly like this, years ago, somewhere in the northeast, so presume that was the practice.    When one asks the question of why the spoiler and not through the body, it's because on the Federal S1 there is an enclosed section in the nose of the car about 2-3 inches deep that has something to do with the car meeting U.S. safety regulations.   So drilling a hole in the body and mounting a fog lamp is not that easy, because the threaded stems on the fog lamps are not long enough to go through.  I knew one owner who just welded additional threaded rods onto his fog lamps so they would be long enough to go all the way through the body and be bolted in from inside the nose.

 

Another reason for the Cibie 35s:  Their shallow profile makes them one of the few lamps that fits decently in that wedge-shaped space between the nose and the spoiler.  Anything larger or deeper and the lamp will be sticking out almost as far as the bumper.  (Also, the 35s are fantastically bright and clear and focused! )

 

With that said, the standard Bosch fog lamp (called the Pilot series in the '80s, several variations, but essentially the same lamp through three decades  '70s-'90s) would probably be right at home there, too.  I have a Lancia Scorpion that had them fitted new, and intend to fit a pair to my brown S1 #355H.

 

Then again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going larger!

 

Below is a period photo, from 1979, of Terry Bernius' entry in the 1979 Cannonball Run (white S1), courtesy of John Harrison (79Cannonball on this forum), who also entered an Esprit (the blue S1 in the photo) in the Cannonball:

 

 

If you read Brock Yates' book Cannonball, he tells an interesting tale about that car and those lights:  Apparently they were driving (not fog) lamps, and really annoyed the truckers until they let the truckers know that they were engaged in a protest of the 55mph speed limit, at which point the truckers no longer minded the "blinding quarts halogen" lights and began helping them out!  

 

 

Cheers,

 

Tony K.

[Wedgetable]

Thanks for the awesome reply Tony!

 

I remember those Cibies now... I had them on my old Scirocco. Those lenses are beautifully made.

 

Mounting them to the spoiler -- I wonder if they'll bounce a bit from the thinner material there.  I think I'm still considering the Phillips DRL's because of that, and I can tuck them in back farther. I just noticed that the Phillips don't look like their mounting hardware is on any sort of pivot or gimbal, so that could be a problem mounting to the spoiler angle.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Wedgetable

[Advantage]

Can't you do something clever involving the sidelight lens rather than nail on some foglights?

[Wedgetable]

Can't you do something clever involving the sidelight lens rather than nail on some foglights?

By sidelight, you mean the signal lamps embedded in the bumper?  I thought about that... maybe getting hold of the eurospec lights with the amber and clear sections, if they'll fit in there?  I guess eventually I'd try to change the whole front bumper to the eurospec one and that would take care of it.

[marcbria]

I've got fog lights just like those orange ones but with white lenses and halogen bulbs. Dunno where they came from, original to the car when I got it. Too bright to be dailight running lights but they work nicely at night when the pods decide they don't want to go up. The hang down from the main body rather then being on the spoiler which probably made installing them earlier. You can see them in my profile picture. They line up with the turn signals embeded in the bumper.

 

Brian

[Paul Coleman]

Hi Albert,

 

I can give you a good answer on that:   Cibie "Airport" 35 fog lamps with yellow lenses and chrome bodies.  Here are two photos of 134H from when I first picked it up, exactly how it came out from its storage, before it was even dusted off or wiped down with a cloth:

 

Cheers,

 

Tony K.

Tony

 

Did you ever consider offering that S1 time warp car to Jay Leno? I've been watching a few of his YouTube videos (Jay Leno's Garage) and the man must have petrol for blood!!

 

I think you sold it to Jeff, who also had the yellow RHD S1 restored and then sold both of them I believe? I presume they didn't live up to his expectations?

 

Cheers, Paul.

[Tony K]

Hi Paul,

 

   Yes, I sold it to Jeff in Florida.  He had it for a few years, gave it some great exposure -- it and the yellow one were prominently displayed in the Celebration Exotic Car Festival for all to see for two or three years in a row.   (Jeff was even keen enough to cover the marcasite with white towels when the car was out on display so it would not fade in the sun. )

 

   He sold both of them;  I think his purchase of the Cannonball Run Countach had something to do with it.  My guess is that the orange car is in Europe now (?).  

    I never did consider offering that car to Jay Leno, simply because the car came and went so quick, before I had the chance to think.  When I started the thread on that orange car here on TLF, I began receiving phone calls from all over the world from people who wanted to buy it.  I am happy that I sold it to Jeff, and as Scott Walker sold it for him, I feel good about wherever it may have gone. 

 

 - T