Driving Lights

[gregord]

I am entering my 1990 NA6 in a nigh-time navigation rally and would like to fit driving lights for the event. I will enter such events every now and again but would like to remove the lights for normal driving and club motorsport.
Anyone have any suggestions as to how the lights might be mounted?

[Juffa]

I have seen 5s with nudge bars fitted. You might be able to mount some decent lights to those. I don't know how these mount, but it might be possible to remove and refit the whole nudge bar/light combo when you need to.

Or, change over your standard headlights for somethink like Hellas and upgrade the bulbs for 90/120 or good quality 30+ (I think 50+ might be available now) bulbs.

You can also replace the headlight wiring harness to get more juce to the lights. I'm told this makes a big difference.

If you do fit driving lights be careful about fitting them in the mouth. Some of the older models with orginal cooling systems can be affected by any air flow blockage, no matter how small.

J

[Mr Morlock]

Simple solution- you could buy the alloy bar that the police use for their additional lights. These attach the the front licence plate brackets and you can mount driving lamps on the bar. I had the bar but cannot remember the brand name - Bursons( or similar) will be able to tell you. If you use smaller lamps you should not have too much problem in them shaking. I recommend that you look at Hella lights since they are local and carry a good range.I had some FF ( free form) reflector driving lights and they are very light in weight -you can get advice from them by phone. There is no reason that you cannot dismount the lamps for day to day running about.
Upgrading your headlamps is not a solution for rallying - driving lamps punch out a lot of light up the road- that is their function. Most of the driving lamps are only 55w. PS the plus 50 etc for headlamps bulbs ( as suggested by Juffa ) is a good choice for improving your headlamps but long range ie driving lamps is really a different ball game.
Hella sponsor sponsor Simon and Sue Evans rallying champs so you should get proper advice on what suits your car. Talk to one of their reps if you are not satisfied in the info you get- I am not sure the retail outlets know much but will of course sell you the lamps.

[gregord]

Unfortunately the idea of using the readily available bar that bolts behind the number plate is not viable on NA6. The number plate frame is so flimsy and is screwed through the plastic bumper - a few decent jolts and I'd have to pick the lights and bumper up.
I have done a fair amount of research on Juffas idea of a nudge bar. I cannot find an after market maker in Oz - I'll try Mazda tomorrow. I'll also follow up Juffa's suggestion of upgrading the standard lighting. Large wattage bulbs generate a lot more heat and I have heard of light surrounds melting and bulbs blowing from heat - but it's definitely worth investigating.
I found some wires near the tie down straps that apparently go with optional factory fog lights - I can probably use these and some small auxiliary lights (55w) there. No great lighting but an improvement.
I guess I can also fabricate some ugly bar that bolts in where the tie-down brackets are, and bolt some lights to that. Since I want to remove these lights excepts for eevnts then the look is not a problem.

[Mr Morlock]

gregord- making a suitable bracket should not be too hard with a little ingenuity. I cannot help but think one of the Rally clubs or organisations might be able to point you to an MX5 NA to see the set up-I saw a photo somewhere recently but where? The Miata US guys have fitted driving lamps in the corner of the grille opening.
If you are looking for serious long range lighting performance there is no other choice than driving lamps. A driving lamp has one purpose to extend beyond the reach of your high beam. Wiring them up is not difficult- the kits provide wire, relays . and sometimes the switch
I would not look at higher wattage standard lamps. You run the risk of generating more heat in a headlamp that is not designed for that . You will get good results using the Philips or Osram +30's or + 50's which use the same wattage as standard but get more light output by optimising filaments and filling ( they will not tell you how it is all achieved. There is a popular but misguided belief that extra watts means more light. These bulb makers have web sites and you can talk to them for advice. There are no standard cars made with wattage more that 60w that I can readily recall.
If you want to know more about lighting the Daniel Stern site is really quite interesting

[nick viner]

Maybe you should look at "lightforce " . They seem to be all the rage these days and are also very light ( in weight). Nick

[bruce]

You could remove the two front tow hooks, bend a bar to meet the tow hook spots, get some tags welded on which you could bolt the bar through the tow hook mounts. Bolt lights onto the shaped bar.