I found some 7'' driving lamps at a garage sale that look to be kinda old. They are still in the box and have been used...but are in good condition. The box says s.e.v. marchal and the lenses on the lights have a cat-looking logo embossed on them and there are 2 bulbs and 2 reflectors in each assembly. The back of the lamps say made in france. I also got some lense covers with the same cat-looking logo but with a racing flag behind it. Does someone know anything about these lights...Ive tried to describe it to the best of my ablility. perhaps I should barrow a digital camera.

Keith

Like This?
http://www.panteraplace.com/page157.htm

Looks like a rather nice find.

Yeah, they look very similar to those, but I don't think they are that old. Maybe I have a later model of the amplilux marchals. Thanks for the link.

Hmm im going to dig these out and see if they work. It looks like Im going to need 4 H2 bulbs. Any idea on the wattage? Any place that still sells 135w H2's? Im guessing they have two bulbs so there can be a seperate Hi-low beam set-up. Im not sure what position is high and low beam though.

btw the box says "projectuers d'automobile, pour l'usage de course seulement" in big letters so it looks important. any idea what it means?

Any place that still sells 135w H2's?
H2s are rather old, aren't they?
Susquehanna sells H2's. No 135W listed on their site, but I believe they carry some things they don't list on their site (from reading an old post somewhere).
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/H2.asp

There's also Narva Rally 100 & 130W at SUVlights:
http://www.suvlights.com/ --> "Halogen Bulbs" --> "H2"

btw the box says "projectuers d'automobile, pour l'usage de course seulement" in big letters so it looks important. any idea what it means?

Car headlights for racing only.

French equivalent for off road use only.

Automobile light projections (bulbs), for course use only... aka, do not use on road.. there is a 55W regulation on light bulbs in NYS. It can't be any brighter and be legal, technically.

I wish I could stay away from those blasted H2's. I can definately vouch for their relability issues. I have some old bosch rallye lights that I put narva 130w H2's in... the 1st bulb didnt last an hour, the other one went about 15 min of use after that one. ive heard there really isnt much of a visible difference between 130 and 100, perhaps with the extra 30w missing I will be able to capitilize on the 100w's reliability...im not sure if thats how it works though.

Check to make sure you don't have a loose connection. That can cause over voltage on the lamps.

Also Marchal is now owned by Hella if my old brain is still working.

Richard, rally driver, and electrical engineer.

Richard, by loose connection could you be referring to one lamp not working and the other lamp having more voltage routed to it? Because that is exactly what happened...a ground was not working well and one lamp only came on when the car hit a bump, i fixed it as soon as I got home...and minuites later the bulb died...followed by the other bulb.

btw I did a little research on the marchals and they are actually now owned by valeo of belgium along with the other french company cibie projectuers. you can actually still buy lamps with the marchal logos and markings on them at some places. such asMarchal 959 (http://www.cibielights.com/cibie/950_charlie/950_charlie.html)

see you at rallye paris. :D

That's right, Marchal and Cibie are owned by the same company.

No the problem I am talking aobut is similar to water hammer. You may have heard it in an older house when water is shut fast, there is a pressure wave set up. When electricity is shut off fast, like with a loose connection bouncing, you get then same affect with all the electrons stacking up and causing a voltage spike.

Good you can make Paris.