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  • T4 Quad Headlight Project .......... latest update

    Hi peeps ........



    I'm pretty sure that many of you already know about the 'Quad Headlight Project' that I've been working on for a while now, posted on the 'other' forum. I knew there would be some interest in such a product right from the beginning, but we're now on 210 pages and over 254,000 views ! it's going to be quite a feat covering the progress here also, but I think I owe it to all 'true' T4 enthusiasts ( that's you lot ! ).


    I'm on the other forum everyday, and I can tell that the numbers have dropped, I also know for a fact that a few 'members' haven't bothered re-joining since VirtualScope lost all previous members details, they just surf the site as guests, which means there's no longer any input from them.

    I'm sure this forum will continue to grow ......... it will take time, but if I can help to drive traffic here I most certainly will




    Thanks guy's




    TURK
    Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
    And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
    The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

  • #2
    Hi Guys .......


    Above is an excerpt of the 'Blog' page I was attempting to upload a couple of weeks ago .......... as advised by Dan, and rightly so, I've decided I would keep to a normal format ( thread style ) for the 'Quad Headlight Project'. The project isn't simply me making stuff and you lot just looking at the pictures ......... I want and need everyone's input, good or bad ! I see it as a 'community' build as I may of missed something or a forum member may want to include something in the design. I know many of you are already very tired of the interminable ramblings of the T5 ( and now T6 ) crowd who for some reason think we're beneath them because we choose to drive T4's !!! .......... Personally, I've owned and driven T4's for over ten years, in that time I've owed three, and still own two ! It's not because I can't afford a newer vehicle like a T5 ( or T6 ), it's because I have taste that I drive T4's


    Anyway, less about me and onto the project ............. I wouldn't even dream of boring people with covering the entire project right from the beginning, I'll try and backtrack to some note worthy updates, but mainly I'll stick to where the project is currently at. I know many of you can't be arsed anymore to go to the 'other' site, but unfortunately that's where I'll be covering the bulk of the project, as I can't physically cover the project in it's entirety on three forums ......... 3, as I'm also a member of a French T4 forum so, just have an occasional peek if you want to .......... but come straight back !




    ________________________________________



    Backtracking a little bit to a couple of days ago.......... I decided I would mount the headlight units in the headlight assemblies first, I did have enough information for the correct positioning of the units, just had to tweak the mounting brackets a little, so I moved the 'centre' point down by 7mm and began to mark out where to drill ( or mill ).


    It's obviously very important to get these mounting points precise, particularly on the high beam units as there's two vertical beam deflectors on the reflectors themselves. Any slight deviation from the vertical, your high beam projected down the road will be out, or even at a slant ! >>




    The tool of choice here is, a 0.5mm drill bit ( a steady hand and a keen eye ! I: ) The 0.5mm drill bit is just a pilot drill, I then had to drill out the centre with a 4mm bit so the milling bit would fit in the hole >>




    I did try and include a video clip of me milling the headlight bracket, but my graphics card in my PC wasn't man enough to render the video, so I've had to buy another card with a 2 gig processor onboard ........ a far cry from my 4 year old 512MB card ! anyway, I'll upload the video clip at a later date. In the meantime, this is what you should end up with >>




    Cutting or milling plastics is such a difficult thing to do, particularly when you need nice clean edges. It's time consuming, but doable. You'll notice here what I mean by the two vertical lines on the high beam. It's those that give a high beam a narrow field of view, and of course the light is projected much farther than on regular low beams, which are much wider. So with a dual beam setup such as this ( all four headlight units on at the same time ) gives you the best of both worlds. Something that can not be done with dual filament bulbs and oblong reflectors such as our beloved T4's and their OE headlights. And you can of course adjust these independently >>




    Lining everything up looks OK, these Hella units are the 'Classic' range ........... but there is an issue ! I've been dreading this part for ages ........ any of you see the potential problem ? >>




    And these are the 'Premium' series ....... just look how much glass there is on the lenses these things are so bright, you'll wonder why you even considered buying HID headlights ! >>




    And just to finish off, my new toy ! ....... Proxxon milling machine. This thing runs soooooooo smooth, you can barely tell it's on. That's what I wanted to demonstrate in the video clip, But that will be for another day now >>






    That's it for now ladies and gents ........ back in the workshop, as I have another 3 of these to do.










    TURK
    Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
    And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
    The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

    Comment


    • #3
      Looks great Turk! Keep them coming 👍

      Comment


      • #4
        Welcome folks to the first update from my 'Atelier'


        As I just posted an interesting update on the other forum, I thought you aught to know about it. These last few day's I've been living in my workshop, occasionally venturing out for cups of coffee ........ as I'm fuelled by caffeine !


        I think it's safe to say that the prototype is finally taking shape, a few minor adjustments here and there, and we're beginning to see what a real set of quad headlights are meant to look like. And I mean that as a direct comparison to the so called DRL types we all mistakenly spent good money on ! .......... yup, me as well, I wasted well over 300 quid on mine


        First thing I had to do was to modify the OE headlight retainers ( again ! ). Reason being, there would of been major assembly issues, but also, I'm thinking 'serviceability'. No sense in having kick-ass headlights if you can't adjust the beams and / or change light bulbs !

        So a bit of 'milling' was in order - But you have to be careful how much you remove and where from, as you don't want to compromise the structural integrity of the retainer >>




        I then turned my attention to the headlight covers. These are obviously also prototypes, I have the basis of the shape I'm after but I also need to work out how I'm going to mount them. If possible, I would like to incorporate an adjustment on the headlight covers, as I think that would be a nice feature to have. Not everyone's van' front end will be identical so the ability to 'fine-tune' the fitting will be a good thing >>




        Assembly was a breeze once I'd worked out the procedure, and you can also see the headlight cover securing points in this shot >>




        Everything' fitting together nicely T: You'll also notice just how far apart the headlight units now are. I think this will improve the general
        look of the front end of the T4. With equal spacing between the units, and the apertures being centralised they won't look unbalanced if you
        know what I mean >>




        Some of you may remember the very first headlight covers that I had made, as I had vacuum formed them using my own home made Vacuum forming machine, they weren't great. First of all, my DIY vacuum forming machine just wasn't powerful enough, but I did learn from that experience wherein, the headlight covers didn't look quite right as the headlight units were too close together. So the entire headlight assembly had to be redesigned .......... we've moved on quite a lot since then ! >>




        So, lets have a walk around ........ viewed from a slightly different angle .......... >>




        The amazing thing is, these things are so well balanced .......... they're just sitting there ! They're not propped-up by anything for the pictures >>




        And what things look like from the rear ........ you wouldn't believe just how much time I have spent working this out, at a first glance it all looks very easy, but putting two headlight units side-by-side in a space originally designed for only one headlight unit has been one heck of a challenge ! You also have to consider how you're going to install those two new units, and have adequate space to be able to access them. I was adamant I was going to use units with 'Tourist Solution' ( switchable from LHD to RHD ) so you have to allow access to the adjusters on the rear of the units. Each Hella unit has it's issues though ....... so you have to design with that in mind and make them work together >>




        The earlier version ........ it wasn't working out at all !

        -- Please Note: 2mm² 25amp cable ....... and not the measly OE 1mm² 16.5amp wiring VW give us ! I: I've also had to design a special upgrade wiring loom for these quad headlights, as they're designed to have all four headlight units on at the same time. So, two low beams, but when you switch to high beams ....... the low beams stay on it's done via a diode, but I'll explain in greater detail later >>




        And a final look of what they'll look like with the indicators on >>




        Here you can get a clearer view of the 'Tourist Solution' switch, on the low beam projector unit on the left. >>




        Also, as I want to start uploading video clips of the project, I've had to upgrade things in the PC department. I still can't get over the size of this graphics card ! I mean, look at the size of that thing ........ it takes up most of my computer case ! I'm now running 32GiG of RAM plus another 2Gig just on the graphics card. I've included that pic as it's to do with some other ramblings on the other forum, as I couldn't render the video clip I was trying to upload >>





        Video clips will mostly be for the testing phases, as I really want members to see just how good these lights are. After you've seen the videos in 'real time' I'm sure you'll all be able to compare them to what you currently have on your T4's.





        Anyway folks, see you all in the next update








        TURK
        Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
        And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
        The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Mr Nozzle View Post
          Looks great Turk! Keep them coming 👍
          Cheers MrNozzle


          Just uploaded another for ya !


          Seems these days if I'm not in the workshop beavering ......... I'm on a T4 forum of some sort.





          TURK
          Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
          And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
          The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

          Comment


          • #6
            Cheers for the update ... saves me reading over "there"...

            TURK will the units come apart, I'm thinking colour code the light surrounds etc ..

            sent from the international space station

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by The-Fozzer View Post
              Cheers for the update ... saves me reading over "there"...
              T'was my main reason for covering the quad headlight project here as well MrFozzer .......... more and more peeps are headed this way and I think they will all eventually ( the real T4 enthusiasts that is ) they'll just make this place their home from home, instead of logging into to two different forums. Most times I have four ( yes 4 ! ) different forums open in different tabs on my PC as it's what I do. I want to spread the word about these lights on the Net, so the more people know about them the better my chances are of selling em !



              TURK will the units come apart, I'm thinking colour code the light surrounds etc ..
              Yes, absolutely ( wish there was a 'thumbs-up' icon on here ! ) .......... individuality is at the top of my list on this design, so I'm trying to incorporate things members would like. I also have plans for 'custom' headlight covers so if you fancy a change, you could always change just the cover ( or shroud if you prefer ) and simply clip on a new one !

              I'll explain in greater detail when the time comes, how that going to work and why you would want to do that.



              And thanks for the input mate.






              TURK
              Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
              And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
              The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

              Comment


              • #8
                Excellent stuff Turk. I used to follow your thread on the "other forum" when I was on there.


                Sent from my iPad using Just T4s mobile app

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Chris Bowen View Post
                  Excellent stuff Turk. I used to follow your thread on the "other forum" when I was on there.


                  Sent from my iPad using Just T4s mobile app


                  Typical example of what I've been saying Chris ......... I didn't want people to miss out on what can potentially be the ultimate upgrade for the T4.

                  Out of all the T4's I've owned previously, all of them lacked something, the only thing I've disliked about the T4 was it's very poor lighting performance. Apart from the 1.9 having no guts !
                  But lights can be fixed, the best ( and only ) option right now is an upgrade wiring loom with decent light bulbs. But you still don't get that 'focused' light. There's a reason why really powerful hand held torches are round, you just can't beat a round reflector for a projected light source.

                  Anyway mate, at least now you can continue following my progress.

                  And many thanks for your comments.







                  TURK
                  Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                  And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                  The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Looks really smart Turk, great detail and really impressed by the final product. Looking forward to seeing them on a van!


                    Sent from my iPhone using Just T4s mobile app

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Glad you like em Jonny

                      The final product will look very different when viewed from the front, that transparent cover is very deceiving, as the headlight covers will look pretty much like the ProjektZwo's.
                      I'll have to dig out my special wiring loom in the next couple of days, I made an auxiliary relay box when I was back in Jersey >>





                      It does look much neater from the front however ! ........ all four headlight units have independent relays and fused separately >>



                      The top row - Offside low beam - Offside high beam - Nearside high beam - Nearside low beam ( with spade connector type diodes arrowed )
                      Bottom row - Fog lights - standard dual horn - WTF horn - and a spare circuit just in case.


                      So in the next few days I should be ready to fit them on Lulu, and begin some serious testing








                      TURK
                      Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                      And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                      The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        These are looking excellent Turk...

                        How long until we see the Longnose prototype...?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Ross.b View Post
                          These are looking excellent Turk...

                          How long until we see the Longnose prototype...?




                          Thanks Ross yeah they're getting there, and they work fantastically ! really really bright mate !


                          I've already started on the long nose version of the quad headlights, and as difficult as the short nose version are, the long nose version will be more difficult. I was hoping to utilise some of my processes of the short nose on the long nose, but I have a complete set of different issues to solve. The first one is, I'm hoping to use a larger diameter outboard headlight unit. The unit of choice is the Hella 100mm unit, a hundred mil may not sound much but this unit is massive !


                          Here's a sneak peak at of what I'm hoping to accomplish, instantly I knew what I was up against >>




                          I didn't even have enough room to fit the 90mm high beam unit in there ! >>





                          So, is this even possible !? .......... I'll certainly give it go though





                          TURK
                          Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                          And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                          The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Been following this since day one. Good to see it on here Turk. Superb workmanship. I've been holding out for a set of these instead of going down the projektzwo route.
                            Really coming together now. Do you think you'll have any sets ready this year??

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Ian6xtreme View Post
                              Been following this since day one. Good to see it on here Turk. Superb workmanship. I've been holding out for a set of these instead of going down the projektzwo route.
                              Really coming together now. Do you think you'll have any sets ready this year??


                              'Been following since day one' you say ! ......... Don't know whether I should be apologising for that and many thanks for the kind comments, very much appreciated mate

                              Yeah, I know, it's been dragging on a bit, but a lot has happened since then. When I began the project I was in full-time employment and could only work on my project at the weekends. Then there was the sale of my gaff ........ got my ass off 'The Rock' that is Jersey, and when I got to France I started all over again, as I'd learned many more techniques, and things really began to change as I went from a simple DIY project to a more professional approach.


                              At this stage I think it's safe to say that the evenings are already drawing-in, my goal was to get a few sets out before Christmas, but that's coming up very fast ! If I don't encounter any more problems and the design and mould making for the headlight covers go according to plan, I can still see that by the beginning of December the 'basic' version of the headlights will be ready.

                              As I already have a massive 'Pre-Order' list of expectant members wishing to buy these headlights, it will take me quite a while to get through the orders. I will also be selling these via my website that I'm also working on, but the prices on the website will be so what elevated ( that's for the French contingency ) who have not taken too well to these quad headlights, as they are so scared in changing anything on their vehicles, because of EU Homologation ! But any forum member here ( and the other site ) will get a discounted price, as they're members of the T4 community



                              That's the plan anyway .......... I don't know how Dan and Dave feel about this, selling my product on their website. But I'm sure we can work something out.







                              TURK
                              Yeah, baby ! ........ new Multivan 151bhp AHY 'BigBlue' ; ) >> http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1023689
                              And ......... Lulu, T4 2.5 TDi short nose 126bhp > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=276554
                              The T4 Quad Headlight Project > http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=249064

                              Comment

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