Date:         Thu, 28 Jan 1999 15:37:21 -0600
Reply-To:     Marshall Ruskin <mruskin@PANGEA.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Marshall Ruskin <mruskin@PANGEA.CA>
Subject:      Re: Randy Bergum's Vanagon H4 Headlight Upgrade
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Excellent Post, very informative and helpful.

This list is alive and well!

Marshall Ruskin
84 Westy
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Davis <SyncroHead@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, January 28, 1999 2:05 AM
Subject: Randy Bergum's Vanagon H4 Headlight Upgrade


>Hello,
>
>Last Sunday evening I paid a visit to Randy Bergum's place and checked out
his
>Vanagon Headlight upgrade.  This upgrade is for 1986 through 1991 Vanagons
>which have the rectangular headlights and replaces these headlights with
>better ones.
>
>His kit includes two new Hella H4 headlight assemblies with bulbs, mounting
>brackets, wiring connector adapters, and instructions.  The Vanagon's
square
>high beam headlights are not touched in this upgrade.
>
>In short, his headlights were a big improvement!
>
>I brought my Vanagon along for a direct comparison.  And noticed these
>distinctions:
>
>Beam pattern:  The H4 were much more focused and placed light in a
definitive
>pattern, flat on the left and angles up on the right.  By comparison, my
>lights just showed a dim "blob".
>
>Brightness:  Looking at the lights from 50' in front of the vans, there
wasn't
>too much of a difference, but the H4 were brighter.
>
>Distance:  Here's where the beam pattern does it's work, the H4 clearle
>illuminated objects a couple hundred feet away, while my original lights
>barely got there.
>
>While all this is good, I had set my expectations quite high and was
actually
>hoping for a little more difference.  Still, a significant change & big
enough
>for me.  I want a set of these.
>
>Workmanship:  The brackets (the parts Randy makes) I saw were Randy's 1st
set
>and actually looked a bit rough.  These brackets are required to adapt the
new
>H4 to the Vanagon's mounting points.  He's made a second set for another
van
>that I didn't see, so he's had a little practice now.
>
>He said he'd like to get at least 5 orders so that he can make them in a
>reasonable size batch, and will make up a couple jigs to bend the metal,
and
>hold it while welding, etc.  I am sure these jigs and Randy's practice with
>sets will make the "production" sets more "polished" than the set I saw.  I
>saw many other item's Randy's made (for pipe organ refurbishment) and was
>impressed with his skill & attention to detail.
>
>Look of the finished/installed lights:  From a distance, they look just
like
>the original lights.  Upon closer inspection, the new lights don't sit at
the
>same angle as the originals.  The angle I'm describing is from side to
side.
>The original light's front surface follows the contour of the front of the
>van.  That is, it is forwardmost toward the center of the grill where it
meets
>the highbeam and rearmost at the outer edge of the grill.  The replacement
>lights, to be aimed correctly, have their front surface perdendicular to
the
>direction of travel.  This means that their inside edge and their outside
edge
>are not in exactly the same position as the original lights, exposing a bit
>(3/8") of the side of the highbeam light.  This looks a little bit odd, but
is
>not a really big deal.
>
>Replacement lights:  Randy says these lights were in very common use
several
>years ago.  He indicated that you can't find them at every FLAPS, but if
you
>hunt a bit you'll find them.  They are not something exotic, cutting edge,
or
>requiring import from Europe, etc.  If you need to replace a light (like if
it
>gets broken), you'll need to tap three small holes in the mounting sheet
metal
>of the new light to be able to screw the upgrade bracket to it.
>
>Not included with the kit, but practically required are replacement, are
>three, white, plastic mounting pieces that are on the headlight mounting
pan.
>These are typically brittle with age and will break when fooling with them.
>Randy might include them in the kit if he found a cheap source for them.
List
>vendors?
>These could be reused if you're very careful, but I'd suggest planning on
>replacing them.
>
>I do not have a financial interest in Randy's sale of these kits, but wish
him
>well with them.  I believe Randy said the kits cost $200.
>
>Randy's email is:
>organslave@earthlink.com
>
>I've posted Randy's instructions with some photos at:
><A HREF="http://members.aol.com/jmdavi/Headlights.html">
>http://members.aol.com/jmdavi/Headlights.html</A>
>
>Regards,
>Jim Davis
>