Carello 170 mm light units for 105
Hi All,
If I may add a little background information about the 170 mm Carello light units for Alfa, this without any intention to harm sellers and or other members.
Btw I have bought from Fran: perfect and quick oversease shipping to Europe and perfect object, and I would do this immediately again if he sells something that interests me.
The following information that I would add is not complete seen the complexity of all the different types and models over the years!
There were two mounting systems for these light units as has been told by Fran:
The earliest type with the 3 bridges (the three raised areas) .
Those light units could be used from the Giuliettas on over the 2 liters ( 102), 2,6 liters ( 106) and early Giulias. An exact final date of use is not easy to give, it’s depending on the model of the car but roughly one could say that it stopped somewhere between 1968 and 1970.
Many other cars ( Italian and other) used this type of mounting system (even after 1970), so this was also common in the European market.
There were a lot of variations of those light units:
with or without the little reflecting mirror ( the ‘osculatore’) inside just in front of the bulb
with or without the little city light bulb incorporated
with sealed beam light units
with H1, H4
with dubble reflector inside as for Ferrari
with a yellow coloured glass
for cars with 2 or 4 front light units
for Lh and Rh drive
symmetrical and assymmetrical beams
etc…
The second ( later) mounting system is the one with the 2 ears for the adjusting screws and the hook for the spring like the one on the pictures of Fran.
The basic rule that I would advise to everyone looking for lights for his or her Alfa is that you always should check first what kind of mounting system your old lights have.
F. i. the 105 spiders used the early mounting system mutch later than 1970! ( I even tought that the 105 spider never had the second mounting system, anyone to confirm this?)
If not your acquisition could become painfull as both systems are not interchangeable. In some cases you could adapt the light unit by changing also the light body to the correct mounting system.
Further it is good to know that Carello had mainly 3 important numbers regarding a light unit:
The number on the glass, the number on the back of the light unit ( on the reflector) and the ordering number of the unit on the original box . The last one was a number for the complete unit, often including the cup or body , rubbers and the rings...
If you can find a light unit, know that the first two numbers are important and not only the number on the glass. I would even say that the number on the back ( reflector side) is more specific to the model of a car.
In this case, the glasses (07.480.700 )were used on light units with both the mounting systems.
As an example I include some pictures from a light unit ( no repro) with the identical 07.480.700 glass but that is not the same as the one showed by Fran, although both are for 105 Alfas but both have the different mounting system.
In my picture the glass 07.480.700 has the early mounting system but it has number 07.480.800 on the back. I can’t see clearly the number on the back of the unit pictured by Fran but I guess that would be 07.481.800 what is pointing to the second mounting system.
Between 1971 and 1972, Carello made a second Light unit ( 483 instead of 481) with the same (second) mounting system. Mostly fitted on 1300 and 1600 Giulia types from 1/1971 on and on the 1300 Junior GT(A) from 1972 on.
Fran is also correct mentioning that the 07.485.700 glass was used on the unit with the three bridges but none of my Carello catalogs show that the unit with the 07.485.700 glass number was intended to fit Alfa. (would be only for Fiat)
A last remark for the little history, it is possible to find Carello numbers on reflectors and in books ending on 010 or 816 but in this matter Carello is not completely clear or accurate to me , or maybe I have not found the correct key to resolve this enigma completely yet , it has something to do with old numbering from the time when the glasses and reflectors could be bought separatedly, that I know …
Thierry