john,

i think you've been starring into your headlights too long.......

if your upgrading to a relay system it's pretty easy.  most of the cost
of the kits is the higher watt bulbs.  i did it. was easy.
i did not have the luxury of time and the list.  i had just finished a
vacation of 1,200 miles in the vanagon and got home at 2 am.  my lights
would not shut off--my headlight switch fused to the closed position( i
smelled it 40 minutes earlier).  so after i unpack and get the kids in
the house it's 3 am and i'm out pulling fuses and going through my
manual and Bentley book because i could not get the dash lights off.
finally i pulled that switch but the wire pins(ends) were also fused
into the switch.(a patrolman stopped by to ensure no one was hot wiring
my van--thank you). i finally inserted a small scrap of paper between
the dimmer/resistor and called it a night. next day got on the phone to
a vendor and ordered the hella kit (and a good used switch).

i think ben explained it well,
1)  normal lights-   out side 9004 headlights.
2)  hi-beams-        out side 9004 lights on hi-beam; plus the added
bonus of the driving (h-4?) lights inside.
no reflector changes.
so, upgrade that lighting system on your schedule.

a week after my repair, my wife calls me at night with the van out of
town at her mothers: "head lights don't work".
she stays overnight. now i'm really rethinking the problem.
turns out she tried turning on the lights w/o the motor or key turned
on...

chris c 90 mv owner
wife    90 mv driver

So when the Hella kit is installed, its the outer lights that get the
new reflectors?

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Ben McCafferty wrote:

>OK, the inner (driving) lights are square, and a single wattage.  They
come
>on only when the high beams are on.  The outer lights (headlights?) are
dual
>wattage, for high and low beam.  The outers have a pretty poor
reflector
>pattern, and in my experience, the 80/100 W bulbs don't make a lot of
>difference there, though the relays help a lot.  The inners do well
with the
>100 W bulbs, in conjunction with the stock outer bulbs and relays.
(And
>bigger fuses).