headlights
so with this upgrade what headlights would you still recommend? upgrading to the removable "insert" style covers and bulbs or just stick with the GE's on the sealed beam?
It depends on how well you want to see and how much you have to spend. If your budget is tight,
do not get cheap replaceable-bulb headlights; the cheapies are junk. Get the GE H6024NH Night Hawk sealed beams. If you have money to spend and/or have a strong need to see really well at night, get
good replaceable-bulb headlamps. Cibies are the best ones currently in production and commonly available; there are some others that are at least as good as Cibie but are (much) harder to get and/or (much) more expensive, and there are others that are easier to get but are (much) poorer.
dgc333 said
I have had both brands have the silver coating start to peel off after a couple of years. Didn't take long before they were useless.
There's nothing such as a permanent headlamp. Even "sealed" beams eventually deteriorate to the point where the seal lets go and water gets in and eats up the reflector. Sometimes the bulb inside doesn't burn out before this happens; we've probably all seen cars with a "black eye" headlamp that is no longer bright and shiny when off; that's what's going on.
Compared to a sealed beam, a non-sealed (replaceable-bulb) headlamp is intrinsically more prone to water and dirt entry if it is not manufactured, installed, and maintained correctly. Manufacturing is the first step; there's a protective coating applied to the vapor-deposited aluminum shiny stuff that makes the reflector. If this coating isn't correctly selected or applied, it'll degrade and the aluminum will quickly oxidize. For that matter, it's not just the overcoat that has to be right; the undercoat (between the shiny stuff and the stamped steel reflector) also has to be correctly selected and applied, or it'll peel. Today's reputable-brand lamps are far superior to yesterday's in these regards; much better under- and overcoat materials and techniques are being used (and the regulations and tests for reflector durability have also gotten stricter).
But even if the lamp is well made, there are a lot of ways it can be screwed up. There's a cup-shaped rubber seal boot on the back of the lamp. It pushes over the installed bulb so the shank of the bulb and its terminals protrude rearward through the back of the boot, then the mouth of the cup forms a seal with the back surface of the reflector. At the bottom of the boot is a vent/drain. Most of these boots are marked "TOP" so you know which way is up. It's all pretty simple, but I have seen all kinds of improper installation of the boot. Upside down, or the installer attempts to have the socket inside the boot, or the boot isn't contacting the reflector, or it's inside-out. Sometimes the problem isn't the installer's fault; if the hole in the headlight bucket is too small, it may contact the boot when the lamp is installed, pushing the boot out of position and leaving a gap between boot and reflector for water to get in. Some installers get the idea in mind that it's a good idea (it's not) to try and seal the boot to the reflector with silicone or some other goop. No, a nonsealed headlamp has to be able to breathe, and most of the goops available will attack the reflector overcoat chemically. Also, running very high wattage bulbs puts more of a heat load on the reflector, shortening its lifespan.