Looking for Bad SAE 62 Spot Sealed Beams

[Skirted]

Anyone happen to packrat "bad" SAE 62 sealed spotlamp beams either 6 or 12 volt, doesn't matter? Not a big market for burnouts I don't think. LOL. Need 3 or 4 for a experimental project and don't want to sacrifice working beams unless necessary.


Spot lamp.jpg

[pisten-bully]

Jason, have you pulled the bulb (yeah...I'm sure you have), but maybe, just maybe there's another number on the back of the sealed beam? It can't be that rare, could it?

[Skirted]

Hey Harry, you are correct they aren't rare, but then again that is a subjective term! The 6 volt originals are getting a little more scarce and costly and there is no correct repop as far as I know. If I understand correctly these bulbs stayed the same in appearance and size even after after the 12 volt change in 65, on up through the early 70s.

What I want to do is cut an opening in the back of the sealed beam and attach a socket for a 6 volt LED bulb. I'd like to run my spots all the time for visibility but the old fragile 6 volt filaments won't be long for this world. With the exception of the little dash bulbs, everything else on the 64 has been converted to 6 volt LED and these spots are the last challenge.
Changing the whole housing to the later and larger 4.5" diameter, opens up many more options but I want to maintain original appearing.

Unlike what we know from LED technology in residential and commercial lighting, 6 volt LED conversions have been a trial and error process. I have found just because a bulb is LED we think it will be brighter and less power consumption vs incandescent. Less power consumption yes, but not always brighter nor the type of light color I'm after. Sometimes the design characteristics of an LED just don't produce the desired result for a given application.

[bernhardt]

I have converted a few headlamps to LED using an automotive reflector, and a matching12 v bulb. It's bright, but I don't like the color - too blue. The temperature of the led, 6-7000k is too high, IMO. The older bikes look best with a warmer, lower temp bulb in the 2-3000k range.