Eirikj,
there'd been one of those oldtimer headlights sitting around here for years, which only found a good home a few months ago.

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The main bulb was an unusual fitting and it might be difficult to find that type in 12 volt rating.

As 250AZU has described, the small festoon bulb mounted 'outside' the reflector provides illumination for both 'telltale' and sidelight purposes, but I'm not too sure how much light ( if any?) from the main bulb's filaments could reach the telltale...

Isn't there an easier way of knowing whether or not your headlights are switched on and working?

ken

I'm sure there is
But then I wouldn't have the fun of using the old lamps I have, and seeing them in action at night! Blast from the past...
If I didn't already have them, I probably wouldn't care though.

Well I did say "I believe", so it shouldn't of been taken as gospel

Sorry..for not replying sooner.....

Yes, grinding or drilling the reflector will work , remember that you don't need a big hole as the light coming through the telltale will be fairly easily seen relative to the darkness.....I reckon start small...experiment and go bigger if you must.

To make it work better there is no reason you couldn't use a piece of red acrylic rod (the stuff architect and modellers use) and set it into the bezel of your telltale light......?

It would be kind of like a poor mans fibre optic.....

P.S.- if you can't get arylic rod, use those tinted toothbrushes are great to cut and carve.

Perhaps painting the inside of the headlamp bowls white would help to intensify the available light?

Get yourself down to the local scrap yard and find a set of instruments from an old Range Rover. Mine's an '87 and the instruments are lit by fibre optics.

Here is a pic of the headlight off my old KMZ warbike..... (not off my bike exactly but you know what I mean).

You see the red lens on the left of the main switch, that is all it is, a lens. The light bulb is on the dash panel underneath is not attached to the lens.....so what I am saying is you could just drill the lamp shell and put in the bezel. Then drill a very small hole underneath......job done

I tested how little light you need to see it in a dim garage and the answer is very little, a worn out maglite shining point blank into the back of the shell and the spillover light was more than enough.

Found a verion that would work.....you may want to trim down the rear of the unit to fit your 2cv shell housing, but the jewelled/faceted lens would be even better as a telltale.....

http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/1312/4043/1/559322-DASH-WARNING-LAMP-LENS-ORANGE.html

My 1964 H-type is fitted with old-style 2CV headlights, and still has the original bulbs and fittings. It has telltales, though this is truly ridiculous as you can't see any part of the headlights at all from the cab.

However, these have a bayonet bulb with three prongs - so there's only one way up to fit it. And the metal fitting that takes the bulb (which seems to be just pressed onto the reflector, though I wouldn't want to try to remove it) has a slot in the top that lets light through to illuminate the telltale. There isn't any hole in the reflector itself.

If anyone is interested (and maybe even if not) I'll post a picture.

The three-prong bulbs are VERY hard to find, so I am not surprised most people have replaced the old reflectors and bulb mounts. One of my bulbs - now unfortunately dead - was marked with the Citroen cartouche: an oval containing the long Citroen chevrons. It was propbably fitted when the van was built.

My AZU250 has telltales too, but these are lit by a festoon bulb on top of the reflector (between the reflector and the shell), so they don't actually tell you if the headlights/sidelights are working. This is obviously a bodge.

Has the three pronged bulb gone all dull then?