Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2003 11:41:27 -0800
Reply-To: Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Subject: Re: Square Headlight Uprgade? Round, Square, Lighting Relays . . .
In-Reply-To: <3FE9C961.3000408@bellsouth.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
John,
The 200mm Hella's are part number 72206. I can't do $80 for a pair, the
best I can sell them for is $49.65 each. But one of the Hella uber-vendors
might be able to do better.
I've wanted to try the same thing for quite some time now. If you do it,
please document it well and let us know how it worked out.
Cheers & Happy Holidays,
Jeff
www.vanagonparts.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of John Rodgers
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 9:14 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Square Headlight Uprgade? Round, Square, Lighting Relays .
. .
Doggone you, George!!!!
Just when I think I have all this lighting stuff sorted out in my mind
enough to make a lighting upgrade, you come along with some new
information that thows all my plans and expections out of kilter. Now I
have to rethink what direction I want to go. LOL!
Ok, so here's a question, where do these 200 mm Hella's for $80 come
from. Got any sources you can refer me (us) to?? I would be on those in
a heartbeat.
And is there any other source you know of for those double fuse blocks
to enable fusing the coil of the relay??
Although I have some round buckets and was about to go for the SA
grille, if I could get the cheaper rectangular lights I really think I
would rather stay with them, expecially give that I am interested in
those fog lights that are rectangular that fit on the end of the lower
grille. Rectangulars above and below look better to me than a mix of
rounds and rectangulars.
Thanks,
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
George Goff wrote:
>Some thoughts on Vanagon headlights:
>
>1/ I converted to the SA configuration, but I would not do it again.
>Instead, I would adapt 200 mm rectangular (nominally 5X7) Hella's to the
stock
>grille. I saw this reported in the Limbo newsletter some years ago and the
result
>looked good even without the curved lens of the stock modular lights. The
>200mm Hella's can be found for about $80 including the bulbs. Considering
only
>the cost of the necessary hardware this is the cheapest route to go. My SA
>conversion cost half of what most vendors charge only because I already had
the
>buckets and I get Hella's from a place with the best price around.
>
>Don't be misled into thinking that the SA grille is simply slapped into
>place. In reality, there is no time saved mounting an SA grille compared
to
>fabricating the mounting pieces for rectangular lights because, done
properly, the
>SA grille requires the fabrication and accurate alignment of the three
>attachment points which do not exist in the grille openings of US Vanagons.
>
>Still, the SA combination is hands down better than the stock setup. For
>that matter, the round headlight grille prior to '86 with a set of 7"
Hella's is
>also mucho better.
>
>2/ Save your money. Simply installing higher wattage lamps is no solution.
>The problem with the stock headlights has little to do with the intensity
of
>the light source but much to do with the optical characteristics of the
lamp
>and the resultant light pattern. Ask any of the unfortunate soles who
bought
>those made in Pakistan H-4's from one of the list vendors about the
>effectiveness of more watts.
>
>3/ Although I was not compelled to use higher wattage lamps, I, too,
>installed relays for the lighting load solely because I did not want to
suffer, once
>again, the inconvenience of a failed headlight switch. The lighting "relay
>kits" I have seen offered have one serious shortcoming: they leave the coil
side
>of the relay unfused. I was fortunate enough to find a double relay block
>with two attached fuse holders hiding in my mass of Vanagon junk (I think
it was
>from an '84) which allowed me to install the lighting relays with proper
>fusing.
>
>George
>
>
>
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