[V8] V8 Every day

[Acadian Lion]

Well, I've given in to "mechanical pressure".  I have enjoyed the fantasy of driving the 100 Avant during winters and "saving" the V8 for milder, more car-friendly months here.  The theory broke down when I could not make my appointment to have the new inspection sticker put on the Avant back in October.  Once in November I began to rethink the entire business.  The Avant was going to pass inspection with no issues, but I was going to have new tires put on in the interest of added security.  There were also two or three other relative minor jobs to do that I wanted done and I knew the total bill would push up to a grand or so.  But I couldn't make the 45 mile drive to get serviced THAT day, and it made me think.

EVERYONE I know....mechanically that is, has suggested more or less strongly that putting yet another grand into that car is less than wise.  At 210,000+ miles and twenty-three years of age, it is only a matter of when not if that something relatively serious will need to be done.  I know that the car needs a new a/c compressor right now. It really NEEDS an hvac control panel as the one in the car is never better than sluggish and when it is really cold, downright unresponsive.  (I'm tired of that one!).  And a few other niggling issues due primarily to age, and none of which really impact the drivability of the car.

On the other hand, the V8 is running exceptionally well.  It too needs an a/c compressor and I really need to pull the cluster and have it and the speedometer overhauled...this will be the second time for the speedometer.  There are a few other things that need attention and next week it will have an oil change and an extra-special inspection done by my wrench and me, plus a tire rotation. It got new all season tires last spring.  And have I told you lately how much I really, really like my V8?

Yesterday I pulled the insurance off the 100 Avant and it now rests quietly in the garage awaiting developments.

My normal weekly drives in the V8 include at least two trips to the village for groceries, etc, at ten miles one way each time. Three days per week I drive to Winterport for powerlifting and that is 20 miles one way each trip.  That's a total of around 150 miles per week and all of it straight shot driving with no stop lights other than two right before the grocery store. The V8 LOVES it.

But there are the thrice weekly trips to Winterport which is over rural, hilly country roads.  What I have found out is that in this fall and winter weather, the trip back is in severe dark.  Route 139 is nothing but sharp little hills and curves, which is gorgeous in the fall with the bright foliage colors. But this time of  year it is severe dark with what seems a unusually small number of street lights even in the town of Monroe which I pass through briefly.  And the headlights in the V8 leave a LOT to be desired, which after all of this roundabout is the purpose of this post.

I have 130w high beams in the headlights, but even with separately relayed high and low beam sides, the headlights simply do NOT have enough beam throw to make the cross country trip in the dark really comfortable.

So the real answer seems to be a set of true European headlamps for the V8. I had a set for my '93 V8 which I bought from a guy in Germany a loooooooong time ago.  About six years ago I found an importer in Canada that could provide a set of Euros for my car for the princely sum of $1100 Canadian, but transshipping was speculative and frankly, eleven large wasn't in the game at that point.  Hell, it may NOT be in the game now, either.

Still and all, I have a bit more than a hundred grand on the V8 now, and I have decided to keep it in service as the one and only car for us through 2019.  So, I'm tentatively on the search for a set of Euro headlights for the V8.  I intend to be VERY  patient, but I know that I have a good, supportable need to a an upgrade, or rather, a downgrade to the oem European headlights for the car.  Right now the car needs a new a/c compressor, the cluster overhaul and I want to replace the headliner which is starting to droop a bit in the rear.  There are a couple of other niggling things I'd like to do (and one big one: replace the rear window and reinvigorate the rear defrost elements, but that's under the "extra special" category).

So, if anybody has a set of really good European headlights for my V8, and they are despairing because they see no real value in just holding on to them, let me know.  I am a price shopper here, but who knows: I might just bite, especially if I read about them just after dodging a couple of deer on the way home.

Roger

I have a lovely pair of very large Hella driving lamps and I'd just as soon use them if I could figure an elegant way to mount them. Alas, I have yet to find one, but relayed into the high beam circuit via a separate switch in the switch panel inside, they'd be perfect.