8 inch Headlights

[Franz]

This 8“ tripod reflectors are looking great.
Where can I get them? What company produce this? I saw some cars by GP Nuvolari in Italy, they had in the middle from the tripod a MG logo

Franz

[Franz]

The owner told me that this great car was made by Steve baker. There had been 2 there

Franz

1D9A5D4E-F0EE-475A-87AC-CB5BC0310C97.jpeg (107.89 KiB) Viewed 3743 times

[Steve Simmons]

The MG logo lamps were standard on some pre-war cars.

PF770 tripod inserts were used on Jaguar and some others. They can be fitted to TC with a special rim which is extremely hard to find, or you can use the standard TC rim but you may have to use an o-ring to fill a slight gap between the rim and the face of the glass. The correct, rare rims wrap around farther at the front so no rubber is necessary.

Bill Tracy Jaguar sells the tripod kit for about $300 USD. They come with halogen bulbs that are very bright. See here:
https://www.billtracyjaguar.com/pf700tribar.html

[jddevel]

From all of the enquiries I have made both online and the telephone here in the UK whilst tripods are available they are only in 7 inch. The only supplier I am able to find for a "step down" ring are Abingdon Spares in the US - no association with the company of the same name in the UK. Do they look good on a TC etc. that have 8 inch units? I`m not sure but the cost of importing the rim is currently prohibitive helps make the decision.

[Steve Simmons]

Surely someone over there must sell the 8-in version. If not, shipping shouldn't be too bad from the US. Personally I greatly prefer the 8-in look over 7-in, but that's just my opinion. My TC had the smaller lights with step down rings when I got it but I quickly changed them back to the correct size. The step down rings are easy to find over here. I just sold a whole pile of them recently to a few individuals. From the frame up bought some, so they may still have them for resale

[jddevel]

Steve, If they do I`ve yet to find them. Cheers Jan

[Duncan M]

Franz shows the Bi-Flex spider in the pic above. Lucas made those lights in 8 & 9 inch, and it was done to throw light further down the road. Many Pre War MG's came with those Bi-flex spiders. The tripod style was never used by the factory on any pre-war MG or the TC.

[Rob Reilly]

Here is my L140 headlamp bucket with a PF770 headlight inside.
It's the same size as the rim, but hard to hold in place with one hand while getting the picture with the other hand.
It really doesn't look like a viable solution.

[Rob Reilly]

I really wish I had a picture of the reflector I need, because I really don't want to shovel out more of the bright needful for more wrong parts.

[Steve Simmons]

As far as I know, the same reflectors will fit in both TA and TC buckets. So the PF770 should fit.

I'm still looking for my spare reflectors, but In the meantime is this the type you're after?

[Rob Reilly]

I suppose that must be the correct one for the left side.
Not quite sure how it would attach to this support ring.

For the right side I believe it does not dip, just goes off when the left one dips.

[Steve Simmons]

I'd imagine the fixed side is the same as TC, but maybe someone knows different?

[Rob Reilly]

Today I received a pair of EL644c reflectors from Frame Up, @ $600.
I don't understand how they are supposed to be attached to the L140 buckets.
Am I still missing some kind of clips or something?

[Steve Simmons]

Wow, those aren't cheap! There are spring clips that hold the reflectors into the rims. They are made of wire and sort of shaped like a 'W'.

[Rob Reilly]

Any chance of a picture of the W clips? How many are in a light? How do they hold the reflector in?
It sounds like something I will have to make from spring wire.

[Franz Tenbrock]

hi
i have made them myself
look here
https://www.mg-tabc.org/forum/viewtopic ... &start=120

[Ray White]

Any chance of a picture of the W clips? How many are in a light? How do they hold the reflector in?
It sounds like something I will have to make from spring wire.

If you don't want to make them Paul Beck Vintage Supplies sells various W clips (and also the moustache clip).

Another source is the local garden centre. W clips are what hold the glass into a greenhouse!

https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/categ ... and-spares

[bloodysalmon]

Am i right in thinking there's a few wires wrong in the responses to the questions?
The W shaped spring clips don't hold the reflector in at all; spring clips hold lens into to the rear of chromed rim ... often 3 for 7" and 4 for the 8"+ rims.
The reflectors are inserted into the bowl by aligning the reflector tabs/ears then twisted approx 1"left or right so to align the hole where 2x 2ba screws secure the reflector to the bowl.
The options used by MG for pre-war and post-war MG's was different, so like the TA being pre-war used a different designed Lucas L140 to the ones used on the post-war TC; also the TA L140 had different lens and fittings to the P-type, J-type, F-types etc

[Rob Reilly]

Ok thanks Chris, I think I get it now.
I don't need W wire clips in these.

Looking at my buckets, I have four spots where the edge is scalloped in, at 2 o'clock, 6, 8 and 10 o'clock.
There are also tiny screw holes at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock in the edge of the buckets.

The reflectors have tabs sort of punched down at 2, 6 and 10, which I think are intended to be inserted in the scallops.
There is also a hole in one reflector at 12 o'clock. The other reflector has a notch there.
But the tabs don't grip the bucket, there is a 1/16" gap, so they slip around loose. That is what confused me.
These reflectors appear to be restored old items, not new. That is why there is a notch, it used to be a hole but got torn out. The tabs are bent out too much.

I think I need to bend the tabs down so they grip the bucket when I rotate the reflectors. Sort of like the screw top of a jar. Then I can rotate the reflectors to either 11 or 1 o'clock and get a screw in there.

Studying these further: The old inner rings I have are probably both designed for mounting the solenoid operated dipping type reflector, and the scallop at 8 o'clock may have been for clearance in inserting the solenoid, though perhaps one reflector had no solenoid and didn't swivel. The screw holes at 11 and 1 o'clock may be to allow for dipping left or dipping right.

BTW I have W wire clips holding the glass lenses into the outer rims, 4 in one and 3 in the other. The rust from the clips has soaked into the glass a bit, didn't come off with dish soap, hope I can scrub it out.

There are remnants of something on the rearward edge of the glass lenses, probably some sort of seal. Frame Up included cork seals with the reflectors. I see little sharp points on the edge of the reflectors, which I suppose are intended to grip the cork seals. I'll put them in with Permatex.

Merry Christmas everyone.
Wise men still seek him.

[searunner]

I don't understand how they are supposed to be attached to the L140 buckets.
Am I still missing some kind of clips or something?

My EARLY (0433)MG TC have the 8" L140 from the origin- I recently have modified it with LED (double step lamps)
Here with some photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/334nGkgCULi1oia18
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cn9SvsYeyLi4FtaM8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ba33614nJ3bPdz5A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KwHLsGoZFM1syzLY6
Mod reduced the consumption from 10A each to 1A each -a big advantage for MG TC night drive
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvZ2j14iDJS4Jesd8

On the lower part of the inside lamp body- there are a braket for a little spring, that have one specific hook at the other side that connect the headlight body to the frame - to assure the stability of the circular frame, during the road drive.
probably the original hook is impossible to retrieve - BUT a handmake hook is easy to make and do the same work

I remember that in CECOSLOVAKIA there was one artisan that produced the 8" lens -I hope to retrive the web site address
and revert soon to help the MG TA community