Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:46:24 -0500
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: Headlight upgrade?
In-Reply-To: <CAE_mVa00kxv3kbHduR_WokF1kSCeX7nz-ahDtWUV2CtO11gJMA@mail.gmail.com>
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> Got an '84. Are the Hella lenses that Gowesty sells the only option for a
light
> upgrade? Saw a suggestion for an E-Code housing but it seemed to be only
slightly
> cheaper than the full gowesty setup and it comes with the risk of not
being
> completely legal.
>
> Seems like there would be something else out there for a little less
money. Any
> thoughts? Is this upgrade worth $200?
The Hella Vision Plus headlights that GoWesty offers are "quasi" H4
headlights that cost more than actual H4 headlights and perform
significantly worse. However, because they are not technically H4 headlights
they have a DOT approval stamp on them, which no H4 headlight (E-code or
not) can have. This makes them "street legal" whereas conventional H4
headlights must be sold "for offroad use only" due to a hole in the
regulations that made true H4's street-legal pretty much everywhere else in
the world except for the U.S. (and here in the U.S., street legal on
motorcycles but not on cars). How important is this? I will say that in
twenty years I have never heard of anyone actually failing inspection or
getting a ticket for using a quality set of H4's, but theoretically it could
happen. If you want to eliminate any risk, you have two choices. One is the
Hella VisionPlus (which we sell for less than GoWesty does, incidentally -
http://www.busdepot.com/70477 ), and the other is the generic knockoffs of
the VisionPlus (also DOT stamped) that we offer for $39/pair -
http://www.busdepot.com/nl911dot . They are not quite as good as the Hellas
but come surprisingly close for half the price.
If you're not concerned about the DOT labeling, you can get far better
headlights for less money buying a good pair of actual H4 headlights. There
are some really crappy H4's out there, but you can largely weed those out by
insisting on E-code ones. Those meet strict European standards for
performance, making them street-legal pretty much everywhere but the U.S.
(where the aforementioned hole in the regulations resulted in them never
getting approved). Even among E-code headlights there are still variations
in quality, but the overall standard is higher to begin with. We offer three
versions of E-code headlights. The German Hellas are considered one of the
best you can get at any price, and we currently have them on factory buyout
for only $69 a pair: http://www.busdepot.com/0301600118 . This is by far
the best $69 you will ever spend on your Vanagon. For those on a tighter
budget we offer generic E-codes for $34/pair -
http://www.busdepot.com/nl910ch4/ . While not quite up to Hella's
standards, they are still a significant step above your stock headlights (or
the Vision Plus for that matter). A third alternative is that we offer a
version of the generic E-codes that adds European city-light bulbs as well
as normal headlight bulbs, for $44/pair - http://www.busdepot.com/hq6014 .
This additional lighting gives your Vanagon a very cool European look as
well as increasing visibility. As an aside, both of the generic E-codes have
a rounded profile like your sealed-beams do, whereas the Hellas (all of
them) have a flatter profile.
Your next decision is bulbs. 55/60 watt H4 bulbs will be noticeably brighter
than your original headlights, without drawing any additional current, so
they don't require any special wiring. Therefore, replacing your sealed-beam
headlights with a pair of E-codes and these bulbs is a five minute
plug-and-play upgrade, just like changing a light bulb. We have good German
55/60w bulbs for just $3.95 each - http://www.busdepot.com/78155 . If you
want an even more marked improvement, the next level up would be 90/100 watt
bulbs and the requisite relays to make them work (as they do draw additional
current). We have them bundled in a kit with the Hella E-codes -
http://www.busdepot.com/visionkit1 - or you can buy the generic E-codes and
the high-output bulbs and relay kit separately. (In that case you'd want
http://www.busdepot.com/725543 bulbs and a http://www.busdepot.com/HRK1
relay kit.) That combination will also work with the "fake" H4's mentioned
in the first paragraph, by the way, but while it will improve them it will
not make them perform like actual E-codes. In all cases this is reversible
if you ever needed to do so; you can swap the original sealed-beam
headlights back in about five minutes.
All of this pertains to round-headlight Vanagons. '86-91 Vanagons can
benefit from our VisionKit 2 ( http://www.busdepot.com/visionkit2 ) or our
South African grill kit ( http://www.busdepot.com/1495 ).
Hope this is not too confusing! Let me know if any questions.
Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
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