H4 headligt conversion?

[phishfud]

I am considering upgrading to an H4 headlight setup on my 72 bus. I have found the housings fairly cheap on Ebay, and even through some of the aftermarket companies. I have a ton of extra bulbs from my GTI conversion I did, and even have an extra few H4 pigtails. Question is, anyone done this on a bay? Do I need to add a relay? Any advice would be great. thanks.
terry
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75 Westy
76 Westy
82 Westy Diesel
02 GTI
Multiple musclecar projects

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[Bags Buses]

Hi terry
I also wanted to change my head lights,bought a set on e-bay ,the houseing's and bulbs. They pluged into my stock plug. I saw other threads about relays,now I am wondering also. I pluged them on started my bus and they worked. I don't know.
Karl

[Glenn]

Standard sealed beam headlights are 55 watt low and 60 watt high. If you buy 55/60 H4 bulbs, then you don't need relays. If you run higher wattage 55/100 or 80/100 or 90/135 (i run these), you will need relays. Relays help in two ways, (1) due to corrosion and oxidation the old wires will not pass the amperage and the bulbs won't be as bright as when using relays with heavy guage wire and clean connections. (2) the small guage wires, low amp fuses and switches will burnout when pusing twice the amps as stock headlights.

These are Cibie Z Beams and I have 90/135 watt bulbs with relays. It's like a 747 coming down the interstate when i put on the brights.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

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[chabanais]

I bought some Hella headlight housings and bought the bulbs and plugged it all in and it worked perfectly. I just stuck with the 'stock' wattage.
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[Adventurewagen]

Ok, so here is the question then. If I went to 90/135 then what guage wire should I run, what size relay and switches do I need, and what amp fuse should I run with these.

Also, will my generator and battery be enough to run these? This is a project for next month, but I like to know all before I get started. I don't want to upgrade to an alternator, and I really don't want to buy another new battery. Wiring is fine, I can determine the size guage and fuse I would probably need, but good to have someone else to check by.

If I stick with the stock wattage, is this going to be an improvement over what I currently have. Yes I am being subjective here, but my lights are crap and barely light the road enough to see to the fron of the bus, which isn't far!

Thanks as always

[Glenn]

I ran 14 gauge wire and used 4 Bosch 30 amp relays. One for low, one for high on the right and left lamp.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[Adventurewagen]

Sweet, you da man. Thanks.

What about your battery, do you have a generator or an alternator? Just wondering if those would be too much drain on my system.

[ratwell]

The aftermarket is a dangerous place. In an attempt to upgrade you can end up with lighting that is worse. It's an ugly spiral:

- 12V sealed beams suck
- Get H4s but the output sucks
- Put in high wattage bulbs to compensate
- Upgrade the wiring to compensate because the stock wiring will melt

Lots of effort and cost and in my experience unnecessary for the average road going bus.

To see the road and where you are going you need the following:

- voltage (13.5V at the headlights for 100% luminosity)
- aim
- good quality reflector
- normal H4 bulb (not the blue crap)

On the very old busses voltage is a problem but for most folks with baywindows the wiring is in reasonable condition. Measure it with a volt meter using your stock lighting and see for yourself. If you have a serious voltage drop especially with all of your accessories and stereo on you may want to upgrade the wiring. At the least it's worthwhile to take the load off the headlight switch using a relay. Original switches are NLA and the "Genuine VW" parts from mexico are junk.

WRT aim, be wary of euopean lighting designed for LHD: you'll blind oncoming drivers and not be able to see the road side at the side as well. Be wary of lighting that is designed for single track vehicles like a motorcycle with the headlight up high. Lucky for the bus you can get away with this sometimes because the lights are up high unlike the beetle.

Some aftermarket H4 units don't even fit the standard 7" round headlight bucket. Hella mexican units seem ok (I wouldn't recommend buying one) but much of the taiwanese junk doesn't. Most fit the pigtails that plugs into the original sealed beam.

Lastly the reflector which is the most important part. How are you to know without buying one first? Most of the products for sale have junk reflectors. They either cast the light improperly, the reflector material flakes off after a while or both. You'll be upgrading the wiring, adding relays, expensive bulbs, all to compensate for a weak reflector. So why not invest in the best reflector from the beginning? This is the fact that most people are unaware of.

My personal recommendation is to leave the wiring alone and get a better H4 unit (relay on the headlight switch optional).

Get a pair of Bosch 0 301 600 118 units from Bus Depot and a pair of Sylvania H4 bulbs at the auto parts store. Cibie are good also. You can't cut corners on the reflector. You might recognize the BD photos from my website. I got Ron to stock them because they were impossible to find but the perfect bus headlight upgrade. They're made in Sweden and top quality like most things made there (like Continental tires and Bikini teams).

http://homepage.mac.com/ratwell/.Pictures/MoreParts4/153-BoschH4.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/ratwell/.Pictures/MoreParts4/154-BoschH4.jpg

Notice how bright the reflectors are and how clear the lens is? That's going to translate into bright lighting with 55/60W bulbs. And they're DOT legal to boot.
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'78 Westfalia CDN
'76 Doublecab
Read the Baywindow FAQ

[phishfud]

I am really glad i asked this question. I know my GTI has extra relays, and the PO was running higer wattage bulbs. Since I have a bunch of extra 55w bulbs, I may try those first and see what type of improvement I have, but have no problem with adding some relays if needed. Oh, where can you find Hella relays? I had no luck just recently in finding just the relay and not in a kit. thanks all.

terry
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75 Westy
76 Westy
82 Westy Diesel
02 GTI
Multiple musclecar projects

..aint toys fun ???

[themansfield]

I work in British parts, and we sell the H4 set made by Wipac for 95 bucks. They went right into my 71 bus with to harness alteration and they are brighter than hell...pretty nice set, I highly recommend them.
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