Club 80-90 Forums

Here is me, asking a question

OK, so my o/s round headlight (on an 86 van) got a crack from a stone. It is a Halogen type, not the old style round bulb.

I bought a new one from JK (a genuine Hella unit). It's different to the ones on my van. This JK one has the bulb fitting I am familiar with, a H4 with 3 x "locating tags". I have been able to fit it as I had some spare H4 bulbs.

Now the question, despite a bit of Googling and getting confused, what lamp did I have (and still do have on the n/s)?

More info = The bulb looks like a normal Halogen type, but has a simple round flange, no "tags" but some indentations to locate it correctly. It just has "12 Volt 60/55W" on it. It is held in with a 55mm "twist to lock" ring. The lamp has a reflective "dome" over the end of the bulb, the new JK one does not.

The other one is the old P45t flange for tungsten bulbs, which they also made with an upgrade H4 bulb. The three prong H4 bulb is a P43t flange.
H4 refers to the bulb type not the fitting.

bigherb wrote:The other one is the old P45t flange for tungsten bulbs, which they also made with an upgrade H4 bulb.

That answers that puzzle then = thanks

So I suppose I should change the other side for a "proper" lamp unit then = more expense

Later type headlights have H4 moulded on the glass and as you say a three pronged lamp base
early types take the large round lamps and don't have H4 moulded into the glass, they take the older lamp base

Trouble with the new units is the reflectors don't last

Aye, looks like mine had the upgrade / modification to allow Halogen bulbs to be fitted to the earlier lamp unit at some time, as BigHerb mentions.

2 questions in one day from me today see https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=135372" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It sounds likes that for some unknown reason your van was originally fitted with the old style tungsten lamps which were upgraded with 'hybrib' style H4 halogen bulbs (old style base but with later bulb type) ..OK so that bit we know...In terms of 'needing' to change both...well according to the MOT the lamps should be a matching pair, however, chances are the tester won't even notice.
Long term though, I would be looking to get a pair of H4's as they will give a better light &pattern.

ghost123uk wrote:So I suppose I should change the other side for a "proper" lamp unit then as well = more expense

Shame they don't do just the glass as the frames on both of mine are fine (and I had to remove the glass on the one I bought to turn it around to "hand it" correctly)

Might be worth a look at this. I reserved one a while ago but didnt pick it up due to unforseen circumstances at the time.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Volks ... c1d&000176" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Unbelievably cheap but I'm a little dubious as i have had "incorrect" stuff from ECP before and its labelled Lucas - i guess it must be a pattern part.

Do mk1 gold headlights replace the round units on an '84 van?

With modifications to the frame yh. Not just a straight bolt in replacement.

SamsBus2012 wrote:Might be worth a look at this. I reserved one a while ago but didnt pick it up due to unforseen circumstances at the time.

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Volks ... c1d&000176" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Unbelievably cheap but I'm a little dubious as i have had "incorrect" stuff from ECP before and its labelled Lucas - i guess it must be a pattern part.

These are OK - I fitted them on mine. You need to make 3 z-shaped clips for each one to hold them in to replace the chrome bezel.

However...technically they need to be a matching pair for the MOT although the tester would have to be a right git to fail two good lamps just because they didn't match.

Martin

I bought the ECP units a while back, they were not Lucas ,made in India would not fit, so I emailed them to say they had miss sold them and without questioning me they accepted them back. Right waste of time

In what way didn't they fit? Mine slotted straight in, no need to re-align beam or anything.