Honda Dream CA77 headlamp
Honda Dream CA77 headlampI have been trying to buy a headlamp for my CA77 restoration and not having much luck. There are a few NOS units available. But I do not feel comfortable spending the type of cash that people want for basically an old part. I didn't want to go the route of retrofitting/replacing the square bulb with a round lamp. I have located a few non working lamps and was able to remove the lens from the reflector. Delicate work but can be done. My plan is to nickel plate the reflector, install an led bulb (using the method in a few old posts on this forum) and replace the lens. I would like to make contact with anyone that has attempted to do this. Thank you
I have successfully drilled a hole through the base of the old headlamp, the round black part where the wires attach, shoved a metal rod through the hole and broke the original bulb (which in my case was not working anyway), carefully used a propane torch to melt the soft solder seal around the original bulb base(it doesn't take much!), crunched up/pulled out the original bulb-base with some pliers and shook all the broken bulb pieces out and inserted a modern 12-volt halogen bulb.
I used hi-temp copper silicone sealer/gasket maker to seal the metal round base of the new bulb to the back of the original headlight casing...I suppose with a little more effort I could find a more 'mechanical' way to keep the modern bulb in there, but it works, and is easily replaceable. And cheap, too! It's a bit of a tight fit, but I recall I bent the male parts of the bulb a bit to make it fit better, and then attached wired spade connectors to those, and then connected those wires to the original headlamp wires, and THEN gasket-sealed it to the back of the original headlight; it's easier to work on it that way. Your results may vary. And really, how much stress is that part under anyway when it's in place? Not much. And you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for a new OEM, sealed-beam headlamp either. It's easily available/replaceable, and it's brighter, too. This is what *I* did; if you're not comfortable with that, that's fine too, but it worked for me. I think there's a tutorial online for the procedure, too. Google something like "Honda CA77 headlight replacement' or some such. And congratulations on taking off the lens; that's a battle right there....although Hmmmm...I like the idea of an LED, too....
Hello, I appreciate the reply. I should have mentioned on my earlier post that the inside of my headlamp was totally unusable as most of the reflective foil had lifted and disintegrated. The headlamp over time was leaking and the water had done its damage. I like your method and I would have done the same if my headlamp was in better condition. Thanks again for the input.
Don't laugh, but I was thinking if you had to you could put some silver leaf in there, or maybe aluminum foil...?? (Might be a stretch, I know).
Rustoleum also makes a supposed 'mirror finish' paint...although it might be easier to just get another dead Dream headlight and go from there. Dead ones are a lot cheaper than the good ones, probably because they are a (so-called) 'sealed beam." Although if you wanted to try, silver leaf is usually available pretty cheaply at craft stores, like Michaels, or whatever the equivalent is.
I was digging around in my Notes and came across this Dream headlight mod, with pics. It takes a bit of filing, and the base looks a bit big to me, but it appears to work, so I thought I'd share:
http://www.fourwheelforum.com/showthread.php?t=1517 I actually might try this if I ever have any headlight problems again; but when it comes to getting the old base out, I'd still go with a heat gun, or propane torch. The light-base solder just melts away quickly.
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