Does anyone happen to have a spare set of round 80-85 headlight buckets they could sell me for use on my current syncro project?
I want both my syncros to match. : )

I really love the look of my rounds and have actually been sufficiently happy with the performance of sealed beam bulbs on my rounds with a relay upgrade in place, but I do intend to order some h4s to sweeten things up on both busses. 

-craig

On Aug 31, 2014, at 2:09 PM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> wrote:

>>> Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on headlights. Mine are dangerously dim
> at night,
>> can I just put in new higher power bulbs or do I need to install a whole
> kit including
>> new wiring? I have a '91 Vanagon.
> 
> 
> As long as you are using decent bulbs now (not cheapo Chinese ones of
> questionable quality/performance), switching to different bulbs of the same
> wattage (even if billed as "high efficiency," etc.) is likely to make only a
> marginal difference. Bulbs using similar technology will not have huge
> differences in output given the same input. So a significant improvement
> will require a higher wattage bulb, which calls for a relay. This makes our
> '86-91 VisionKit -  http://www.busdepot.com/visionkit2 - the cheapest and
> easiest upgrade worth bothering with if you have an '86-91. It includes
> high-output bulbs (100 watt for the inners, 80/100 for the outers) plus the
> necessary relays, fuses, wiring, and instructions. Part of the improvement
> is the bulbs themselves, and part of it is that you are "renewing" your
> wiring and simplifying the signal path.  Your old wiring and connectors
> probably have enough corrosion, etc. that your headlights are not even
> performing as well as they originally did (as marginal as that was to begin
> with), so this kills two birds with one stone.
> 
> '80-85 Vanagon owners have an easier path, because your Vanagon can accept
> true E-code H4 headlights as a direct swap.  For various reasons (none of
> which include safety or performance), the United States never approved the
> H4 standard for car use, only for motorcycle use, so while those headlights
> are the de facto standard in Europe and Canada, we here in the States got
> crappy sealed beam headlights instead.  All it takes to upgrade to the far
> superior European standard is to buy a pair of Hella E-code headlights for
> $69 - http://www.busdepot.com/0301600118  - plus an inexpensive pair of
> German 55/60 watt bulbs (which require no relays), and swap them out for
> your old sealed-beams. Just by switching to these European spec Hellas, you
> will notice a dramatic improvement in lighting even without adding a relay
> kit and higher output bulbs; using higher-output bulbs and a relay kit will
> improve it even more. (Our '80-85 VisionKit -
> http://www.busdepot.com/visionkit1 - includes the same Hellas plus
> high-output bulbs and relays.)  Required disclaimer: Since H4's are not U.S.
> DOT approved, they must always be sold in the U.S. as "for off-road only,"
> and technically I suppose a car could fail inspection of someone inspected
> the headlights and couldn't find a DOT approval stamp (not that I've ever
> heard of that actually happening).  If the DOT stamp is important to you,
> there is a lower-performance cousin of the H4 called an HB2 which gets the
> DOT stamp, but is nowhere near as good. Sometimes these are advertised as H4
> headlights but they are not; if anyone claims they have H4's that are "DOT
> approved," you can bet they actually use HB2's since no H4 is DOT approved
> for cars. The Hellas that GoWesty includes in their '80-85 headlight upgrade
> kit are HB2's, not H4's. We offer them as well -
> http://www.busdepot.com/70477 - for those who want them, but while better
> than stock sealed beams they are a definite step below the real Hella H4's.
> 
> Back to '86-91 ... you can buy an '80-85 grill and then and use the Hella
> H4's noted above (with or without relays and higher-output bulbs), but you
> will need more than just the grill itself. You will also need '80-85
> headlight buckets, which you may be able to find used or else we sell new,
> as well as an emblem to fit the older grill. That will run you about
> $200-$300 including emblem, etc., depending on whether you go with new or
> used buckets. Plus the cost of the Hella headlights or the '80-85 VisionKit
> noted above.
> 
> Both '80-85 and '86-91 owners can upgrade further by switching to the South
> African 4-round-headlight setup.  This gives you all of the above benefits
> plus a set of inner driving lights, and is pretty much considered the best
> headlight upgrade you can do. This version - http://www.busdepot.com/1495 -
> includes the Hella H4's, and if you do not want to bother with relays it is
> all you need if you have an '80-85. If you have an '86-91 you'll still need
> to get new or used '80-85 headlight buckets (as mentioned above).  If you
> want to upgrade to higher-output bulbs and relays as well, for an '86-91
> you'd simply add the '86-91 VisionKit in the first paragraph.  For an '80-85
> you'd buy this South African grill kit instead -
> http://www.busdepot.com/1495A - which lacks the H4's, and then the '80-85
> VisionKit in the second paragraph, which adds the H4's, relays, and
> high-output bulbs.
> 
> Hopefully this is more helpful than confusing. :-)  Let me know if not.
> 
> Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com