What Have You Done To Your Coupe Today

[Laird_Scooby]

Due to Political Correctness, Official Vocab Guidelines now stipulate we must not refer to the current precipitation as "rain" but simply as "liquid sunshine".

[AhsyV6]

Pete use a good wax post glaze and maybe layer the wax after A weekly wash for 2-4 weeks. 

[PTR200S]

10 hours ago, AhsyV6 said:

Pete use a good wax post glaze and maybe layer the wax after A weekly wash for 2-4 weeks. 

Cheers,  thanks for that. got a way to go on the paint and its going to be later in year, when its warmer, by time i get to it properly...just have to do a bit at a time.

[hughezee]

Good man Bill

[Mangoman]

After giving the car quick Wash & Dry I decided to put down some Sealant in the Boot Seam as the Sealant arrived today.

I gave it a good scrub with a Toothbrush and Viakal, followed by a good clean-up with some IPA to get rid of any contaminants.

I also applied some Masking Tape around the area to confine the application area to where I wanted it, and to keep it as tidy as possible as I won't be painting over.

I basically applied a nice even bead along each edge and then spread it about.

I did notice that when I lifted the Boot Seal there was quite a sizeable gap where there was no original Sealant. So I extended the application down to that area aswell. I've indicated the area on the photo's.

I do believe that this is an area of water inclusion as before I started I felt under this area, on the underside of where the Sealant is and it was wet, whereas it was dry on the top side where the Sealant is.

Rain is expected tomorrow so we will see.....

I found it was wet on the underside of these areas. Both sides! (See Photo's Below).

[PTR200S]

Nice one Bill,

What have I done today? 

DRIVEN IT !!!!   ...................... I hit vtec just about everywhere and it was the mid range growl that really hit home what a nice sound.... and it really does feel strong in the mid range too 

[Mangoman]

Yes, it is nice isn't it - sort of Manic!

What's the sound like with standard pipes?

[PTR200S]

1 hour ago, Mangoman said:

Yes, it is nice isn't it - sort of Manic!

What's the sound like with standard pipes?

What you hear is the intake sound,standard filter system too, no exhaust noise, to speak of, to drown it out and this rich intake sound is prevalent, particularly higher up the rev range. 

Pulling from a relatively low speed in high gear without getting kickdown (if you understand) is the best version!.... unless the revs are MANIC at the very top of the range!

[hughezee]

Great effort on the sealing the gutters Bill but for the unfounded criticism of my rear end recently I have to say from experience with sealants less is more  and a translucent one won't last long on a dark colour, especially as a little water will be retained at the back of the boot seal now run off level has been raised.

Hey each to their own and all that I just hope it lasts and you had enough sealant left over to reseal the seam on boot lid when you unnecessarily removed it to get the centre cluster off  

Lots of  Stu

[kag8]

On ‎03‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 0:06 PM, Mangoman said:

 

 

Does anyone know if the bulbs have to be in the above shape (left bulb) or will this item fit too?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252569228416?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It was highly recommended to me by a friend but thought I'd double check as they don't have that 90degree angle as in the picture above.

[Laird_Scooby]

I've spent a lot of time (and money!) researching and testing LED headlamp bulbs and to be honest i wouldn't touch those with a bargepole - the light area is too big. The LEDs need to mimic the original filament as closely as possible to enable the reflector and/or lens to form the correct beam pattern. I did a thread on LED headlamp bulbs somewhere showing a lot of the results i got.

Those bulbs you've linked to will give a very bright output but there will be light-scatter everywhere and a very poor beam pattern which will probably fail the MoT, in fact almost certainly fail.

These are a much safer bet and even show the beam pattern achieved  in the listing and explain why the smaller LEDs are best suited to LED replacement bulbs :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H7-LED-Philips-Lumileds-Headlight-Car-Headlamp-Fog-Bulb-Light-High-Low-Beam-2G/182481522767?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3Df4f1b96bd1cb4c02b08a32d6ae823f68%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D201707232868

Also the Lumen (Lm) output of the set you linked to is given as 20000Lm, these are 4000Lm or 2000Lm per bulb - legally the limit is 1800Lm but you can get away with 2000Lm because of component tolerances. The big thing is power is nothing without control and using the pair you linked to is taking away the control of the reflector and/or lens to focus the beam. Yes, they might be bright but if it's going in the wrong places...........

Besides, you get to a certain point of brightness where you don't actually get anymore light out of the lamp. Also with these i've linked to, the base is adjustable enabling a perfect beam pattern to be attained. Something i have found with the LED bulbs (which i have in all of my beasts) is night driving is much more relaxing on the eyeballs because the light is so close to daylight. Because the light is more pure, the lights will also pick out animals by the side of the road more easily, especially the eyes.

You should be able to find room to fit them as long as there is space for the heatsink to screw on.

[PTR200S]

18 hours ago, kag8 said:

Does anyone know if the bulbs have to be in the above shape (left bulb) or will this item fit too?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252569228416?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It was highly recommended to me by a friend but thought I'd double check as they don't have that 90degree angle as in the picture above.

Having just done this job and changed to "hid" type versions as suggested by Bill (mangoman) i would say be wary of the straight versions that you are looking at.  

Its very tight in the locations of a couple of the locations. On top of that you may need to change the connectors too, of course there may be solutions to that which others have done.

Scooby and mangoman are the gurus to follow on this but i would satisfy yourself about the locations of all four lamps and the  two sidelights before you take the plunge 

[kag8]

6 hours ago, PTR200S said:

Having just done this job and changed to "hid" type versions as suggested by Bill (mangoman) i would say be wary of the straight versions that you are looking at.  

Its very tight in the locations of a couple of the locations. On top of that you may need to change the connectors too, of course there may be solutions to that which others have done.

Scooby and mangoman are the gurus to follow on this but i would satisfy yourself about the locations of all four lamps and the  two sidelights before you take the plunge 

You are right i need to pop the hood and have a look at the slots this weekend!

Have found similar angled bulbs which are quoted as being 100w which I assume means brighter. Might just be nonsense marketing speak.

How bright are the halfrauds ones?

Changing the lights is high on my to do list.

[kag8]

Thanks for the detailed reply and pics @Laird_Scooby!

At first I didnt see your post as threads now gone over another page.

I didnt think about the light scattering which is a good point! I think our stock headlamps, like the 7th gen too, are quite good in projecting the white light almost like genuine XID headlamps.

Can i ask to be spoonfed links of bulbs I should get for best bang for buck i.e.cheap? Pretty please?

Even the ones from halfrauds if they are in your opinion good enough.

Currently watching these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152329232725

And

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152191410615

 

EDIT: to clarify. Yes you did link bulbs to me which look great but abit too pricey!

 

[PTR200S]

On 3/17/2017 at 7:04 PM, kag8 said:

 

Can i ask to be spoonfed links of bulbs I should get for best bang for buck i.e.cheap? Pretty please?

 

Here, these are the lamps that Bill suggested (mangoman) have a look at page 11/12 of this thread when I discussed it with the Honda 6 crew 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271803740803?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

£7 for ALL 4 lamps DELIVERED ! that good or what! Check out the small mod Bill made to the connector on two of the lamps, easy , peasy. 

 

[Laird_Scooby]

50 minutes ago, kag8 said:

Thanks for the detailed reply and pics @Laird_Scooby!

At first I didnt see your post as threads now gone over another page.

I didnt think about the light scattering which is a good point! I think our stock headlamps, like the 7th gen too, are quite good in projecting the white light almost like genuine XID headlamps.

Can i ask to be spoonfed links of bulbs I should get for best bang for buck i.e.cheap? Pretty please?

Even the ones from halfrauds if they are in your opinion good enough.

Currently watching these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152329232725

And

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152191410615

 

EDIT: to clarify. Yes you did link bulbs to me which look great but abit too pricey!

 

At the risk of sounding blunt, would you prefer to buy those LED bulbs now for that price, or later after you've wasted your money on the others that will almost certainly fail the MoT?

Yes, they are a bit pricey but let's put it into perspective a minute. The average lifetime of an LED is 30000 hours which at a statistical average of 40mph is 1200000 or 1.2m miles.

The next "well known" brand for halogen bulbs would be Osram Nightbreakers. The local Police round my neck of the woods reckon the lifecycle of a Nightbreaker to be two months. Granted they have their lights on all night so let's say twelve hours at a time. Assuming you only drive at night for two hours a night, arguably you'd get a years use out of Nightbreakers. How much are they a pair? Something like £20? Cheapest on fleabay is £12.99 for a single bulb :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-OSRAM-H7-NIGHTBREAKER-PLUS-BULB-FIAT-DOBLO-Cargo-223-1-6-Natural-Power-09-02-/161071556447?hash=item25809ce75f:g:YcAAAOSwyQtV5ypR

However a pair can be bought for £13.99 :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Osram-60-55W-Nightbreaker-Unlimited-H7-Headlight-Headlamp-Bulb-110-Light-/332153529046?hash=item4d55e4a2d6:g:uXsAAOSwsW9Yxs8s

Ignoring the fact the performance of filament bulbs deteriorates over time, you'll likely be renewing them in a years time so you'd have spent £28 by then - for a pair.

"Bills bulbs" are good value for money in comparison but again, they can and will ultimately fail. Even if they don't the output will drop off. TO show you the difference, the car on the right of the picture is on Nightbreakers, the one on the left bulbs similar to Bills and the one in the middle on LED bulbs :

You can see the "kick-up" on the beam pattern on all three but the clearest is the centre one, with LED bulbs arranged in small points of light to mimic the original filament. A few days after this was taken, one of the Nightbreakers popped. The "ebay cheapies" aka "Bills Bulbs" are still going strong admittedly but i know from experience they will reduce in output.

As i mentioned before, i've spent a lot of time and money testing LED headlamp bulbs, i genuinely know what does and doesn't work and have tested them on a beam setter as used in an MoT station.

It might cost a few quid more now to get the LED bulbs that will work, but you'll be glad you spent that money rather than waste your money on a cheaper set that won't do the job, then have to either go back to normal filament bulbs to pass the MoT or spend the extra to get the ones that will work.

[kag8]

Im now more inclined to the ones you linked to first. Yes id rather not faff about with trial and error and having to swap around to pass MOT which isnt too far away.

Given they are the straight type and have the massive fan on the ends were they very difficult to fit in the coupe? Or they go straight in?

[Laird_Scooby]

I know Stu has fitted LED bulbs with big heatsinks so you should be ok - my Coupé has H4 and H3 bulbs rather than H7 and H11 so can't say for 100% certainty but at least you know the type you need.

If it's any help, the heatsink unscrews from the main part of the bulb to make fitting easier then once it's in you simply screw the heatsink on.

[PTR200S]

I have nightbreakers in my xk8, over three years now and driven at night a lot, not many street lights around my way either. ....never popped and still as good as ever.  

There were reports of non branded nightbreakers out there some couple years back...

Not sure how the "Bill " lamps (sorry bill )  will last but at 7 quid i can afford to try them, Japanese manufacturers too apparently. ..

Also been down my mates garage, mot tester for 30 years, bikes and cars...passed light test no problem,  only 4200k so not even close to blue scale although up from what is supposed to be the legal limit. As long as they are focussed and are not "emitting a blue light" they will pass. 

The other thing to be aware of is led lamps are not necessarily legal either,  again they need some sort of approval and may not be acceptable to being fitted into cars that did not leave the factory with led headlights either.

All the above is subject to interpretation by the tester and also if you get pulled over, pays your money and takes your choice.

[Laird_Scooby]

8 minutes ago, PTR200S said:

There were reports of non branded nightbreakers out there some couple years back..

Surely you're not suggesting "Counterfeit Goods" Pete?

Wouldn't that be a laugh if my local plod had a batch of those and that's why they blow every couple of months!

Given the amount of potholes round here though that's a more likely reason even on genuine ones.

[PTR200S]

9 minutes ago, Laird_Scooby said:

Surely you're not suggesting "Counterfeit Goods" Pete?

Wouldn't that be a laugh if my local plod had a batch of those and that's why they blow every couple of months!

Given the amount of potholes round here though that's a more likely reason even on genuine ones.

Who? Moi? Really! What a suggestion !

[Laird_Scooby]

[PTR200S]

Interestingly,  the law and mot vosa testing are different to each other....

The law says hid lamps exceeding 2000 lumens have to have self levelling systems and headlight washers.  Mot says if levellers and washers are fitted they need to work..the implication being no such systems are required if not fitted.

If led lights are fitted, no matter what the output then  levelling and washers must be fitted...mot , well as above!

The one thing that will get you pulled / failed is blue light emission, usually beyond 6000k but legally 5000k is limit...but who the hell can be bothered to measure the output? so keep below 5k is good.

[Laird_Scooby]

I've got 6000k in mine, near close to daylight as possible. Very slight blue tinge under certain conditions, most of time just pure white.

I don't see the point of headlamp washers on cars with LED headlamp bulbs - they don't get dirty! Seriously, the much reduced heat from the bulbs prevents dirt becoming baked on so any dirt just washes/wipes off very easily.

As for the law and MoT and headlamp levelling/washers etc, that's a very grey area and very much open to interpretation. The way i read it when i looked it up was 2000Lm was the maximum permissible output regardless and if HID or LED bulbs were fitted to lamps originally having filament bulbs then washers (i think it said wash/wipe) and/or headlamp leveling must be fitted and working.

I'm planning on retro-fitting headlamp pressure washers to both Rovers and the Volvo has headlamp wash/wipe in any case. I seriously wonder how rigourously it's enforced or policed though.

[PTR200S]

Yes, really strange how the law and vosa don't seem to agree, but then the dvla and vosa don't agree on emissions either and, we, the ordinairy punter can't win either way.

The led debate is still open to interpretation too, I can't afford to get pulled on any aspect really as my business requires I can maintain a reasonable driving record but as I said there is not much chance of getting caught on this unless your headlights are blue beyond doubt. That sets plod off on a full check of your motor.

• Technically, any change of the lamp within the light unit contravenes the factory e marking although if the lamps themselves are e marked a roadside check would not reveal the change unless they were BLUE!  

The  "Bill " lamps are over the regulation lumens limit but not blue, are classified as halogen but are not e marked, they are bright though and cheap!