Thread: Reflector & HID for old Super Oscars.

Hi John,

Try these guys. I purchased a reflector only from them years ago.

EAI: European Auto Imports

Hansa Parts used to distribute Cibie. Perhaps look them up and give them a call to see if they still have parts.

I have a couple of Super Oscars I converted to HID years ago with 42 watt 6000k globes. Fantastic lights for the type of driving I did however they are not fitted to my current vehicle as the HID converted headlights are good enough for the limited night driving I do now.

They can be 're-chromed' or silvered. I found a place over here that did chroming and silvering etc - many years ago - and was going to do the same with a pair of old, tarnished OSCARS.
- Got as far as buffing and polishing off the old coating, never had the job done.... Re-discovered my old(er) SUPER Oscars instead. You would have to see my shed to understand .....

Hardest bit is getting the lens off the metal reflector, the white adhesive can be a pain in the Sit-Upon. - I was lucky in that they both deteriorated to the point of rusting off... Nor do I know what to re-glue them with, but Epoxy of some kind should work.

Drill-mounted buffing pads, various grades of compound, lots of patience and care...

The down-side of HID in driving lights, is the time taken to reach acceptable brilliance (again) after being dipped/turned off. I suspect cheapie 'evilbay' sets would be worse performers than 'Brand-Name' quality (and price to match!) ones....

AFAIK, you can now get "+90%" halogen lamps, which would be my preference in colour / spectral distribution as well as instant 'ON' response.

Bear in mind that sheer brightness can be deceptive, that a brilliantly lit-up road surface is not always a good thing, and to be able to see detail - and wildlife - in amongst the bushes is way more useful...

Modern lights generally had vacuum deposited aluminium as the reflector surface. Older lights, pre sealed beams & semi-sealed beams, with separate lenses and reflectors generally had silver plated reflectors. None to my knowledge used chrome plating. The earlier designs with aluminium coating gave trouble when quartz halogen bulbs were first used in them, 1960's-70's. The aluminium coating would oft lift off in bubbles. Lucas accessory lamps were particularly prone to this. Enquiries to Lucas would get the reply not to use QH bulbs as the lamps were not designed for this. If you then asked why Lucas sold QH bulbs for these lights you would be told that other brand's lights took those bulbs, not just Lucas.

If you value your old Oscars sufficiently and can separate the lenses from the reflectors then any decent silver plater can re-plate them. Not cheap.

If you do manage to part the lens from the reflector I would be glueing them back together with Xtack 7. I only know of two places to buy it so you will need to look it up. Sort of like Sikaflex but MUCH better.

Hi John,

This is my first post so forgive me if I do something wrong.

I have been involved with car rallies from 1979. I have only ever used Cibie Super Oscar Driving Lights and feel that they are the best light for my type of driving. I go out on rallies fairly often and have seen many types of lights used. I do not think that the blue light given out by HIDs is as penetrating as the light given out by halogen globes. The time taken for the HIDs to come back to full brilliance after being dipped is a problem. I always like to see where I am going after passing an oncoming car immediately after I pass it.

As for the reflector/lenses I don't think that trying to repair old lights is a cost effective exercise. You will never get as good a finish as the original lights had. You also have to specify the type of lens that you require. There are a number of different types available mainly driving lights, long range spot lights and fog lights. I find that the driving light lenses give out more than adequate light for driving in the bush.

I still have my original Super Oscars from 1979 and have only ever had to replace the lenses once. They have been mounted on various vehicles during this period and I have been very happy with them.

The H1 globes for the Super Oscars are another story. I have had to replace these on a regular basis and always carry spares with me. I have only ever used 100 watt globes and have been very happy with the amount of light that they give out.

If you google Cibie you should be able to locate a good number of replacement lenses at a reasonable price.

One important thing that you must remember is to make sure that the wiring to the lights is done correctly either by yourself or an auto electrician. If you do not have full voltage to the driving lights irrespective of their brand or quality they will not give out adequate light.

I hope that this post helps you make a decision.

John

and FWIW Hansa are still the Cibie importer but are wholesalers only.

You could always buy spares and still should be able to.
Their Roo Lite and Nite Stalker range are Taiwanese manufactured, Cibie copies.

I had a Super Oscar with a corroded reflector re-plated several years ago and the result was very pleasing; from what I recall:
- Separating the reflector from the lens was a difficult business, I poured some thinners into the lamp and sloshed it around which helped break down the adhesive / sealant, along with much picking and scraping.
- I took the lamp to a place that was involved in the manufacture of household light fittings, they use a process which they called 'metallising' which I believe is very different to electroplating, I think it involved coating the parts with a metal compound and then baking it on. They did the lens for me along with a batch of light fittings they were processing, I got the impression it was not something they did routinely but they were happy to do the odd side job (I guess you'd be lucky to find anyone in Australia involved in the manufacture of anything at all today, might have more luck in China).
- The result was a very bright reflector that made the good one look old and faded, I wished I'd had them do the pair. Must be over 10 years ago and it still looks good.
- I don't recall what I sealed the lamp back up with, but it wasn't anything fancy- I'd never even heard of sikaflex back then- and it's still good.