>At 12:16 05/07/99 -0400, jim gilmore wrote:
>>
>>>Question: I recently obtained a set of ex-Royal Thai Army sealed beams
>for my Mutt.
>>They are yellow.Can anyone shed any light on what they were particularly for?
>
>> In many countries yellow headlights are used instead of the usual clear
>ones.
>> Up until about 1991 all cars (and military jeeps) in France used the
>yellow lamps.
>> They are more effective in fog and rain than the standard bulbs. There is
>a good
>> color photo of a M-151-A1 of the 101 Airborne with yellow headlights on
>page 6 of
>> the book "The Jeep Part 1, Farewell M151 "MUTT"".
>
>OTOH, they could not be French Army issue, as
>- it does not have an E mark,
>- The sealed beam is almost unheard of in France, and French Military only
>uses locally made standard products for that sort of supplies.
>
>One possibility I see could be US Military Jeep, for the use of US forces
>in France in the days before France left Nato, under General De Gaulle
>(about 1962 ?); the US Army would have fitted yellow headlights to its
>vehicles in France to comply with the local traffic laws, and would have
>used sealed beams because that's what they were used to.
>
>Any better idea ?
>
Ron is likely correct. The French traffic laws for yellow headlights seems to
have been repealed several, perhaps many, years ago although you do still see
them.
The standard Fighting Vehicle UK headlight FV426612 using a P45t 75/70 halogen
appears to dip (dim) virtually straight down with no appreciable left bias for
UK roads (the FV623 certainly does), the P45t it seems has no horizontal offset
in the dip filament unlike the more common P43t H4 bulb to be found here in all
cars now.
I note the mil, just like the rest of us, blank part of their Land Rover
(therefore a domestic light unit) headlights for use abroad where the kerbside
added and raised wedge of light causes dazzle when driving on the other side of
the road.
Owing to the commonplace traffic from here to France the accessory shops used to
sell a very thin, clear yellow paint/lacquer that could be applied to the glass
or bulb (not halogen) itself and removed with methylated spirit (industrial
alcohol), in case there is anyone that might want the stuff I'll check the shops
next time I'm in but it may now be extinct.
Richard
(Southampton UK)
===
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