Masking headlamps - and snowboard lessons

Hello all, Roy here with more wittering about the imminent foray to Praz
over New Year. I recently posted asking advice about snow chains - I ended
up getting the Halfords model - significantly cheaper than most others,
although could cost a lot in expletives should we have to fit 'em at
0'crikey hours in a blizzard at the side of a mountain when we're
ferry-lagged with 3 car-loads of moaning brats. The instuctions are poor
photo-copies of poor photo-copies, badly translated from the original
Mandarin by a now blind Tibetan monk who once saw a car in a Saudi movie in
Ulan Batur in 1966............I digress..........

I've tried to search for web sites that spell out how to mask UK headlamps
for driving on the continent but no success - the one's I've found say go
right ahead and do it, but none specifies the nitty-gritty ie which lines on
the headlights should be masked. Our cars are like us - old and clapped out,
so we've no issues about fancy bulbs etc - it's simply that I begrudge
paying some £6 for a kit when I could do the job for nowt with black "bodge
tape" generously donated by my company.

My wife just asked me to tack on a question about snowboard
lessons................... our kids (10 including boyfriends/mates) all ski,
but this year want to go boarding - apart from 2 they are novices. Wife and
I are fairly good skiers but know nowt about boarding - would the kids be
best with a full week of lessons - half week - or say 1 day? Although this
is gonna be a budget holiday we do not want to skimp on the kids'
safety/learning/enjoyment, we will take any advice here very seriously, and
if anyone has any gems about kit-hire (snow-boarding) we'd appreciate it.

Roy

In message , Roy
writes

I've tried to search for web sites that spell out how to mask UK headlamps
for driving on the continent but no success - the one's I've found say go
right ahead and do it, but none specifies the nitty-gritty ie which lines on
the headlights should be masked. Our cars are like us - old and clapped out,
so we've no issues about fancy bulbs etc - it's simply that I begrudge
paying some £6 for a kit when I could do the job for nowt with black "bodge
tape" generously donated by my company.


The black bodge tape will remove a lot more of the light (you are paying
for) than you realise and once you are on dark roads with no cat's eyes
and lots of mud on the front of your car you'll regret it. So stop
being scrooge and pay £6 at Halfords for their adapters which are quite
clever with their flexible engraved plastic Fresnel lenses to change
direction of the light and decent instructions how to fit to boot.
Other car accessory shops have them too. If you are going to fit these
on your journey take a pair of scissors with you as the trimming
sometimes needed is not a tearing job.

If you insist on being a cheap skate and a danger to yourself your
family and other users, then mask somewhere in the bottom left quadrant
(looking at the front of the car) of each dipping headlight (both in the
same place) - usually to the top right of that quadrant. Find the right
place by turning your headlights on and following the disappearance of
the light to the left verge (right as you look at the car from the
front) by moving your hand about near the lens. Move you hand closer as
you determine which part of the lens is doing the work.

On some cars and looking at the engraving on the glass it becomes
obvious once you do this which part of the lens is doing the throw to
the left but on newer and posher cars it is by no means obviously clear
cut.
--
PK
Remove the xtra y from my name in the email address if replying

Yn erthygl , sgrifennodd
Paul Kelly :
The black bodge tape will remove a lot more of the light (you are paying
for) than you realise and once you are on dark roads with no cat's eyes
and lots of mud on the front of your car you'll regret it. So stop
being scrooge and pay £6 at Halfords for their adapters which are quite
clever with their flexible engraved plastic Fresnel lenses to change
direction of the light and decent instructions how to fit to boot.

You're talking about the difference between beam benders and beam blockers
right? Most of those on sale are actually beam blockers as far as I can
tell. Some seem to be silvered on the sticky side to reflect light back
in to the headlamp (and presumably then it gets reflected out at a more
appropriate angle), but I've had problems finding genuine beam benders
in recent years.

I use tape usually, and have not found it to be a problem. In the summer
of course I always use tape.

Adrian

--
Adrian Shaw ais@
Adran Cyfrifiadureg, Prifysgol Cymru, aber.
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Cymru ac.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ais uk

"Roy" wrote in message ...


I've tried to search for web sites that spell out how to mask UK headlamps
for driving on the continent but no success - the one's I've found say go
right ahead and do it, but none specifies the nitty-gritty ie which lines on
the headlights should be masked. Our cars are like us - old and clapped out,
so we've no issues about fancy bulbs etc - it's simply that I begrudge
paying some £6 for a kit when I could do the job for nowt with black "bodge
tape" generously donated by my company.
Well, I had the same dilema. I had a look at my headlamps and there
were no lines at all, just plain glass with 2 sets of bulbs behind. I
gave in and shelled out the £6 for the sticky tape from Halfords.
Actually I'm glad I did, the instructions are pretty clear and it
seems there are about 150 different types of headlamp and each one is
completely different. There is no way I could have worked out where to
put the tape.

If you post the make/model/year someone may be able to tell you how to
fit them. If I remember I'll check my instructions for you too and let
you know what they say. Well, it is nearly Christmas.

"Paul Kelly" wrote in message
...
So stop
being scrooge and pay £6 at Halfords for their adapters which are quite
clever with their flexible engraved plastic Fresnel lenses to change
direction of the light and decent instructions how to fit to boot.

Aren't they more useful on the head lamps than on the boot?
;-)
___
Michael MacClancy

Michael MacClancy wrote:

"Paul Kelly" wrote in message
...
So stop
being scrooge and pay £6 at Halfords for their adapters which are quite
clever with their flexible engraved plastic Fresnel lenses to change
direction of the light and decent instructions how to fit to boot.

Aren't they more useful on the head lamps than on the boot?

Not if you're reversing

On my last 2 cars this has been simple - open bonnet, push 2 levers,
close bonnet, done.

Yn erthygl , sgrifennodd
Steve :
Well, I had the same dilema. I had a look at my headlamps and there
were no lines at all, just plain glass with 2 sets of bulbs behind. I
gave in and shelled out the £6 for the sticky tape from Halfords.
Actually I'm glad I did, the instructions are pretty clear and it
seems there are about 150 different types of headlamp and each one is
completely different. There is no way I could have worked out where to
put the tape.

Now all you need to do is keep the packaging, so you know where to put
the sticky tape next time.

As you say, it probably was no more than sticky tape you bought in Halfords.
I haven't seen genuine beam deflectors (as opposed to beam blockers) on
sale for years.

Adrian
--
Adrian Shaw ais@
Adran Cyfrifiadureg, Prifysgol Cymru, aber.
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Cymru ac.
http://users.aber.ac.uk/ais uk

Well, I had the same dilema. I had a look at my headlamps and there
were no lines at all, just plain glass with 2 sets of bulbs behind. I
gave in and shelled out the £6 for the sticky tape from Halfords.
Actually I'm glad I did, the instructions are pretty clear and it
seems there are about 150 different types of headlamp and each one is
completely different. There is no way I could have worked out where to
put the tape.

Now all you need to do is keep the packaging, so you know where to put
the sticky tape next time.

As you say, it probably was no more than sticky tape you bought in
Halfords.
I haven't seen genuine beam deflectors (as opposed to beam blockers) on
sale for years.

Adrian

Thanks to all, I took Adrian's advice and bought a set of Halford's finest -
hopefuly I'll be able to use the insructions so's I can tape up the other
two cars' headlights.

Roy

I've tried to search for web sites that spell out how to mask UK
headlamps
for driving on the continent but no success - the one's I've found say go
right ahead and do it, but none specifies the nitty-gritty ie which lines
on
the headlights should be masked. Our cars are like us - old and clapped
out,
so we've no issues about fancy bulbs etc - it's simply that I begrudge
paying some £6 for a kit when I could do the job for nowt with black
"bodge
tape" generously donated by my company.

Don't bother.

Have you EVER seen a foreign car in the UK sporting any?

Good point, as pointed out by my kids - I'll conform, mainly cos I have the
materials now. But I accept that we in the UK are so ready to roll over to
EU regs when in fact they don't give a stuff.......... there again our
mainland friends would not dream of taxing themselves to the hilt in order
to maintain an army of mandarins to uphold EU laws they invented for prats
like us. Gawd, the sooner I can afford to retire from this **** island the
better - my only regret is my kids and grand-kids will be stuck here to
suffer from the escalating crapness that is life in Britain.

Vive Le France, Roy

In message , Roy
writes
like us. Gawd, the sooner I can afford to retire from this **** island the
better - my only regret is my kids and grand-kids will be stuck here to
suffer from the escalating crapness that is life in Britain.

Vive Le France, Roy


The tedium of summer in this group is always lightened by complaints
about life in France posted by the expats; we look forward to hearing
from you when you join them.

--
Sue ];(