Headlight bulbs question

[FJ5WING]

I took my nose assembly to my friends house so he could begin the dis-assembly and restoration of the nose and he pointed out that all four head lamps are the Westinghouse units. Are they as delivered pieces that I should reuse? or ?
 When I first purchased the car I did a bit of research on wing cars but I never kept a file and have
forgotten a lot.

[hemigeno]

The "official" answer is that they're supposed to be GE lamps, however that is not universally true since both Tung-Sol's and Westinghouse have been observed in original cars.  GE is the most common though (at least in Daytonas and I assume Superbirds also).

There is usually a date code ink-stamped on the back of the lamp casting, so you might be able to see if they are original units that way.  Another tell-tale sign of whether they're old lamps or not is whether they have the wide spaced diffusers (vertical lines cast into the inside face of the lens) - but that just tells you whether a lamp was made in the early '70s or before.

[maxwellwedge]

According to NascarXX29 my survivor 'Bird has Westinghouse bulbs. He knows more about my car than I do 

The car has not been delivered to me yet so that's why I sound stupid.

[Aero426]

My Bird has Westinghouse bulbs.

[nascarxx29]

I have somewhere the article 80-90-s on John Mc brides car.I noted such details from his original superbird such as headlights etc.He also has a blue daytona but not a survivor car

[nascarxx29]

According to NascarXX29 my survivor 'Bird has Westinghouse bulbs. He knows more about my car than I do 

The car has not been delivered to me yet so that's why I sound stupid.

Let me know what you find Jim it was Westinghouse or a possibly GE mixture .But Im leaning towards the westinghouse .As my daytona had the date coded rubber stamped dates on the backside of the GE s

[moparstuart]

My Bird has Westinghouse bulbs.

mine also

[Wingnut426]

All the Superbirds I've owned have Westinghouse and my Daytona has GE. Someone did a Superbird Judging guide. (Galen?)
that states Westinghouse for Superbirds.
Just my 2 cents.             Wingnut

[62 Max]

My bird still has the original date coded bulbs,G.E.I doubt any manufacturer one would rely on one vendor.

[maxwellwedge]

After the parts shortage fiasco of the late 50's, Chrysler demanded their purchasing department to have 2 vendors minimum, 3 preferred if possible.

[pettybird]

Did Creative fully assemble the noses?  I thought that's why the Westinghouse bulbs?

The Petty car has 3 of them, the B5 bird had a full set of Kmart GE halogens from the early 80's in it, and both Joe Angelucci and Steve Kay here in Cleveland have them in their cars, too.


FJ5 do your bulbs have the "wide" spacing to the lens lines?  I'll get a pic if that's not clear...

[hemigeno]

Here are some I posted in another thread, the top is the "narrow" spacing, bottom two are "wide":

[FJ5WING]

Ill have to get back to you on what the bulbs look like. Theyre with the nose which out of house for now.

[resq302]

Geno,

I remember reading something somewhere that Frank Badalson or Roger Gibson did an article pertaining to such things as the lights.  From what I can remeber, the wide diffused pattern was like what originally came on the cars.  The newer ones are narrower and have more lines to diffuse the light better.  Im guessing the spacing difference was mandated from the dept. of transportation.

[pettybird]

FYI I bought a set of these GE bulbs off eBay in Eveready boxes for the Hemi GTX here at work

[hemigeno]

Geno,

I remember reading something somewhere that Frank Badalson or Roger Gibson did an article pertaining to such things as the lights.  From what I can remeber, the wide diffused pattern was like what originally came on the cars.  The newer ones are narrower and have more lines to diffuse the light better.  Im guessing the spacing difference was mandated from the dept. of transportation.

Yeah, the gist of the deal is that older lamps have the "wide" spacing, newer have "narrow".  Who mandated the change (Feds or the car manufacturers), I dunno - but it seems that after the fairly early '70s everything went to the narrow spacing.

The article you saw almost certainly came from Frank Badalson since he is - literally - a certified expert witness when it comes to lamps.  When talking with him on the subject I was corrected more than once that these are NOT bulbs, but LAMPS...  

[nascarxx29]

I have to look at some of my old pictures .I thought I recalled seeing 1 and 2 on GE headlights.Maybe on the daytona

[maxwellwedge]

Geno,

I remember reading something somewhere that Frank Badalson or Roger Gibson did an article pertaining to such things as the lights.  From what I can remeber, the wide diffused pattern was like what originally came on the cars.  The newer ones are narrower and have more lines to diffuse the light better.  Im guessing the spacing difference was mandated from the dept. of transportation.

Yeah, the gist of the deal is that older lamps have the "wide" spacing, newer have "narrow".  Who mandated the change (Feds or the car manufacturers), I dunno - but it seems that after the fairly early '70s everything went to the narrow spacing.

The article you saw almost certainly came from Frank Badalson since he is - literally - a certified expert witness when it comes to lamps.  When talking with him on the subject I was corrected more than once that these are NOT bulbs, but LAMPS...  

Ha Ha - I can hear him saying it!

I started in the lamp business and I call them bulbs, headlights....pretty well everything but head lamps.

[resq302]

And here I thought lamps was a fixture that sat on an end table or hung from a ceiling.  Not something that was mounted to the front of my car.  Hell, if thats the case, does that mean my tail lights are actually tail lamps?

[maxwellwedge]

And here I thought lamps was a fixture that sat on an end table or hung from a ceiling.  Not something that was mounted to the front of my car.  Hell, if thats the case, does that mean my tail lights are actually tail lamps?

Funny as it sounds...I think so!

[70426rtse]

It has been my observation that all Superbirds should have Westinghouse lamps. I have noticed that B-bodies built in St. Louis had GE's. Since Daytona's were built at Creative also I would tend to believe that those should be Westinghouse also. You can alsways check the back of the bulbs for the date code. It is the lower # printed on it. Be careful cleaning it though! You can swipe it off instantly because the ink doesn't adhere to the glass well.

[maxwellwedge]

Well, both my Daytona's have original GE's. It seems quite a few Birds have Westinghouse, some seem to have GE. From that it would be impossible to make a broad general statement. I have original cars with their original lamps from 3 different plants that have a mix of both including one with a proper dated Tung-Sol thrown in just for kicks.

[UFO]

Just thinking with the key board now,but
If a vehicle was delivered with four GE's and during the pre delivery check out one is burned out and the dealer sells westinghouse lamps.You would now have one oddball.
The date code would still be correct.

[maxwellwedge]

Just thinking with the key board now,but
If a vehicle was delivered with four GE's and during the pre delivery check out one is burned out and the dealer sells westinghouse lamps.You would now have one oddball.
The date code would still be correct.

Very possible - but wouldn't the lamps be Mopar, AutoPar, Chryco from the parts department? You don't think the dealership would buy from a cheaper jobber do you? 

[UFO]

I think that depends on what kind of deal they had.
Some smaller dealerships might have the freedom to buy from whoever they wanted to.
Should've asked me this question when I worked in the parts department 20 years ago.