classic motorcycle forum
Motorcycle Discussions => European and Other Bikes => Topic started by: JoeJ on January 09, 2021, 03:49:13 AM
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Hi
Any idea how I can get this apart without breaking the glass? I’m baffled....
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Looks to me like a bog standard sealed beam headlight. Never intended to come apart but replaced whole.
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Rather than being a 'sealed beam', its the headlamp glass and reflector all in one unit,
without the 'prefocus bulb' (and park bulb) that (independently) go into it.
Its always baffled me that some folks sell the headlamp glass only. with the reflector removed.
What do you do with them then ??
Some folks can resilver the reflector, if thats what yours requires.
But they are so inexpensive to find, its rarely worth it ?
If its totally original, and you wish to keep it so, you may wish to pursue this
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A real sealed beam has an integral bulb but this type are often misleadingly called sealed beam. I had a reflector resilvered a couple of years ago and it cost me over £50 IIRC. I'd have been better off sticking "chrome" tape on it....
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If it's the usual sort of sealed unit they can be opened up by carefully grinding off the metal lip clamping the reflector to the glass. Handy if you have a good reflector and want to use frosted/fluted/cat's eye glass with it.
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Whoops, yes. The local term was “semi-sealed” not “sealed” but my excuse is that it’s been a long time since I’ve played with anything that modern.
Curious. I have reflectors re silvered by a local firm that resilvers old mirrors. Not expensive and only about 5km from home. Maybe they take pity on me because I’ve only taken in Villiers reflectors or is it that reflectors are tiny compared to the average antique mirror.
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Prices for plating of all types seem to vary wildly - I had mine done by a place that had done very good chrome and nickel for me at very reasonable costs. Like other things worth shopping round.
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Thank you everyone for the information. A sealed beam head light, who knew? These “basket case” motorcycles are very hard to put back together. But I did recently. It on eBay.fr a rear license plate holder and a seat. The seat I needed for the bolts because the bolts on the bike I have were sawed off
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A semi-sealed beam, note.
The bulbs just plug/push in.
If it's the usual sort of sealed unit they can be opened up by carefully grinding off the metal lip clamping the reflector to the glass.
OK, I'll bite.
How do you then re-instate the steel band holding it together ?
I've not seen anyone supplying them. Or offering a service to do this ??
They'd have to be rolled on, they are VERY tight.
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Easy, just use a thin bead of clear silicon sealant to seal the join between the reflector and glass. It's all held together anyway (just as the earlier separate reflector and glass type were) by the clamping action of the rim onto the headlamp bowl..
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I believe Lucas referred to them as "prefocus",while the earlier ones had a bulb with a clamp around it to focus the beam.
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I thought that prefocus were similar but the lens and reflector were separate. It's probably immaterial at this distance.
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The earlier type John K refers to allowed the bulb to be adjusted further in or out for focus and clamped in place in the reflector, while the later so-called pre-focus type are the ones where the bulb is inserted from the back of the reflector and is located by a tongue and groove arrangement to ensure the bulb is in the correct orientation, and is held in place by the two spring-loaded terminals in the cap.
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where would this site be without problematic terrots?
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Ummmm.....
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The British world is full of such prefocus Lucas's.
Why pick on Terrots ??
Which actually raises the question - would Terrot have used Lucas. ?
Were there other alternatives. ?
Wipac, for one, Miller. Still British though.
(https://i.postimg.cc/tgLbpJyb/prefocus-reflectors2.jpg)
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Terrot would never have used Lucas, and I've never seen any French bike with British parts on it (other than some bikes with Villiers engines). Even the Amal carb made in France under licence (as I had on my last French bike) was labelled as a Gurtner.
Ducellier maybe?
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I second Rex, french bikes used french equipment, the cost of importing would have been prohibitive back then to a country still rebuilding and with an unsympathetic government.
French have always been very protectionist in regard to imports.
I did once have an 1948 FN fitted with Miller electrics and an amal carb, but that was a Belgian bike.
several french makes used their own lighting equipment, probably Terrot also.
check out Chambriers pages, more productive than waffling n the dark here
https://chambrier-pieces-motos.fr/fr/88-phares?page=3
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more productive than waffling n the dark here
If the questions aren't asked, its unlikely the answers will appear ?
Few forum members are that clairvoyant ...
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I know why you said that...and you're wrong on both counts.. ;)
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Few forum members are that clairvoyant ...
I knew you were going to say that.
The issue is not asking the question, but asking it in the right place, and frankly a lot of the answers have been speculative waffle about how to destroy the item.
No one asked why he wanted to seperate the unit, he should have been more specific, and if I had seen it earlier I would have sent him straight to Chambrier or one of the otehrs often mention on here, esier and cheaper to replace it than resilver it wghich is seldom worth it.
you can get DIY resilver kit from ebay which work well enough for this job.
i know what you are going to say next and the answer is no.
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An update.....before and after pictures attached!
I was looking at the glass and housing (and thinking of the "vacumm sealed") and gave the metal a turn toward me while holding the glass in place. Voila! They came apart quite nicely. So I soaked the metal in some derusting stuff that does a great job and a little steel wool pad and was very impressed with how it came out. I probably should prime the metal before it rusts again.....
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Any thoughts how I can clean or buff the glass? There seems to be some stuff on it that won't come off - the areas are not scratches, but areas where the glass has some sort of film on it.
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Glass is tough stuff so why not try the usual things like WD40, thinners, petrol etc?
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An ultra sonic cleaner will do the best job, every home should have one.
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The moment I saw the glass...I said ..Marchal....the oval pattern the same as on my Citroen .....just like you see on Maigret.....except the Surete probably had the "Big Six",all of 1500cc. for chasing crooks on Mobylettes.
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what is "An ultra sonic cleaner"? Don't think I have heard of that.....