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Fri Oct 19, 2007 8:27 am

unfortunately i cannot find my parking light bulb holders. hopefully they are stashed in a box inside the bus somewhere.
the main bulbs are just replacements. westinghouse and something else.

here are pics of the securing clips...very strange looking .the shorter ones(2) to the right are what hold the bulb in place. the other 3 are what hold the assembly to the chrome ring. these are pretty rusty and it appears that maybe they are 1 or 2 long sections originally and run around the assembly. as you see mine are in a few peices from rusting apart.

here are the mounting screws.
they seem pretty standard as far as the screw goes but the spacer is made of steel rather than the later plastic style. also, you can see on the end of the right screw, there is a greyish plastic which i imagine is to either seal or secure the bolt from moving out on its own,leaking into the bus? it was inside the spacer separating it from the bolt threads. just a thin plastic heatshrink tube like material.
sorry for the poor photos, my camera sucks for closeups.

Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:33 pm

I have the same identical matched buckets on my Feb55 canadian BD. Same metal ring for the screw, same long clips, same arrow on the chrome ring, etc. Click for supahsize

Here is also some headlight lense stuff I started a while back http://dropgates.com/y2y/lenses.html

Fri Oct 19, 2007 3:54 pm

Kommercial wrote: I have the same identical matched buckets on my Feb55 canadian BD. .....

Are the date stamps the same as Mark's?

Janerick, I guess unless your alpha-numeric date code is above 12 you can't be sure if it is a month or a week code. That puts a new twist in the hunt.

Sat Oct 20, 2007 7:49 am

Anchovy wrote: Kommercial wrote: I have the same identical matched buckets on my Feb55 canadian BD. .....

Are the date stamps the same as Mark's?

Janerick, I guess unless your alpha-numeric date code is above 12 you can't be sure if it is a month or a week code. That puts a new twist in the hunt.

There's a reason...If you look carefully, none of the VW '53-'54, coil-spring, sealed-beam buckets have a Hella logo stamped anywhere (356 buckets have the Hella logo). I'm guessing Hella didn't yet have the manufacturing capacity to meet VW's demand, so VW produced the buckets in-house (or job-shopped them) using Hella drawings and assembled them with piece parts (lenses, rims, etc) supplied by Hella. That probably explains the variation in the date-coding conventions between the Hella (week-year) and VW (year-month-"18") buckets. Type 1 taillight and license light housings from the same era are date-stamped similarly. The VW-stamped buckets use the Hella date-coding convention from the end of '54 until the new Hella headlight design was introduced around March '55 (which all have Hella stamps).

Also, all the '53-'54 sealed-beam buckets with a letter plus 4 number date code end in "18". Does this represent the M18 option code, which is really a general code for a lighting variation and its meaning was dependent on the specific export market (such as sealed beams for the US and Canada or larger reflectors for Sweden)?

Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:26 am

Interesting thoughts on the date and M code.

Here is the illustration from an early parts manual. It shows the early fluted lens with oval, the clear lens for sealed beams and the another style fluted lens. In the detailed description for the parts it lists the M code and manufacturer in the side notes of each part. The M code listed by the components for the sealed beam units is M24. Interestingly, the first in the series of each headlight assembly component is noted as coming from Hella and has a beetle part number "111" while the later revisions are "211". To me this further supports the first bus headlights being Hella made.

Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:16 am

here are the headlights in my austailian rhd single cab.

first question:
since it has a mph speedo wouldnt it have american spec headlights?obviously not...

second question:
the lense has no markings on the bottom of the lense,but has a hella logo and a squiggle mark at the top.thats it. does anyone have one of these as mine on the driver side was broken due to the hurricane blowing a garage door in on the previous owner.

Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:09 pm

my headlight buckets are stamped 04 M 4th week of 1954 bus is an early Feb 54) One side has both the Hella and VW stamp in the glass but the other side just has Hella, is this a common theme?

Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:52 pm

bigbulli wrote: my headlight buckets are stamped 04 M 4th week of 1954 bus is an early Feb 54) One side has both the Hella and VW stamp in the glass but the other side just has Hella, is this a common theme?

Look at the Hella logo on both lenses. If the "H" is closed in by the logo on the left side, the lens is 1956 or older. If the "H" is open, the lens is no older than 1956 and has been replaced.

Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:53 pm

Thanks janerick3, its closed in so 56 or later :roll: So I have one original and one replaced/later.

Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:16 pm

Ok so I have a U.S. head light with no oval vestage and oben hella at top.big VW logo 24-25484-made in germany with arrow at bottom with E1.0671.01 over it .Bucket has X11(62?), ring has dual rivet no logo adjusters in bottom.will post a pic soon.

Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:54 am

VWXTC4FREE wrote: Ok so I have a U.S. head light with no oval vestage and oben hella at top.big VW logo 24-25484-made in germany with arrow at bottom with E1.0671.01 over it .Bucket has X11(62?), ring has dual rivet no logo adjusters in bottom.will post a pic soon.

Judging from both the part number/location on the lens (24-25484) and the date code on the bucket (X11), there's a good chance they're both Mar '62 production.

Sun Dec 23, 2007 9:13 am

The E1 lenses are normal sealed beam lenses from 55-63.

Example:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=236759

Mon Dec 24, 2007 4:34 am

Gotcha! Thanks guys .I love this site . :)

Mon Jan 07, 2008 9:38 am

Can anyone post pictures of OG 55 barndoor headlights US and Euro spec?

Thanks

Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:38 pm

Dear Dr. Janerick,

I got a mismatched pair of bus headlights out of Germany. The older, and more interesting of the two, has a wide sliver lens with no markings on the glass except a small triangle and the number "2" molded on the rim. The trim ring is a single rivet, Hella marked with a the "H" inside the oval and looks like a rolled inner lip. The reflector is marked as shown: K1019, 0128I? Typ 180 EO 25-2. The "0128I?" is ink stamped on both the reflector and the housing. The "I" at the end of the code looks like this "l" in one stamp and it looks like a backward "L" on the other. Doesn't seem to fit the decoder ring info., unless it is '52 or earlier.

Do these numbers all correspond?

Tue Jan 15, 2008 12:25 am

23 window collection wrote: Can anyone post pictures of OG 55 barndoor headlights US and Euro spec?

55 US Spec has been shown - see my pics a couple posts above as well as everett's and BeaterBarndoor's pics in this thread.

Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:30 am

Anchovy wrote: Dear Dr. Janerick,

I got a mismatched pair of bus headlights out of Germany. The older, and more interesting of the two, has a wide sliver lens with no markings on the glass except a small triangle and the number "2" molded on the rim. The trim ring is a single rivet, Hella marked with a the "H" inside the oval and looks like a rolled inner lip. The reflector is marked as shown: K1019, 0128I? Typ 180 EO 25-2. The "0128I?" is ink stamped on both the reflector and the housing. The "I" at the end of the code looks like this "l" in one stamp and it looks like a backward "L" on the other. Doesn't seem to fit the decoder ring info., unless it is '52 or earlier.

Do these numbers all correspond?

No VW logos, not a VW application. Single rivet rim dates it no newer than early '54. Perhaps commercial vehicle or early DKW... Is the "O" really a "G"?

Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:29 am

janerick3 wrote: No VW logos, not a VW application. Single rivet rim dates it no newer than early '54. Perhaps commercial vehicle or early DKW... Is the "O" really a "G"?

Dr. J, thanks for the quick reply. Did you read the thread first or see the Hella logo I shined on a cloud last night?

The "0" looks like a zero to me. On the reflector, it is smeared and could be a Q or something else, but on the housing it looks like a zero.

I am pretty sure this is a VW application based on the Hella catalog from the early 50's. In that brochure is shows the part number 180 EO-25 as being for Volkswagen delivery wagon. It shows 180-E25 as being for beetles, DKW and others.

I also failed to note that there is a "K 10" stamped inside a circle right above the "Typ". Could this be 1952? The decoder ring you provided does not detail the '52, '51 and '50 letter codes.

Here are some better shots. I was thinking this could be a 52 or earlier assembly. The glass has no markings like that on the original 52 bus referenced earlier in this thread. Is it possible that this assembly is earlier than the letter codes? What are your thoughts on the spring style, rolled lip trim ring, bulb holder? What era are these from?

Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:50 am

Anchovy wrote: janerick3 wrote: No VW logos, not a VW application. Single rivet rim dates it no newer than early '54. Perhaps commercial vehicle or early DKW... Is the "O" really a "G"?

Dr. J, thanks for the quick reply. Did you read the thread first or see the Hella logo I shined on a cloud last night?

The "0" looks like a zero to me. On the reflector, it is smeared and could be a Q or something else, but on the housing it looks like a zero.

I am pretty sure this is a VW application based on the Hella catalog from the early 50's. In that brochure is shows the part number 180 EO-25 as being for Volkswagen delivery wagon. It shows 180-E25 as being for beetles, DKW and others.

I also failed to note that there is a "K 10" stamped inside a circle right above the "Typ". Could this be 1952? The decoder ring you provided does not detail the '52, '51 and '50 letter codes.

Here are some better shots. I was thinking this could be a 52 or earlier assembly. The glass has no markings like that on the original 52 bus referenced earlier in this thread. Is it possible that this assembly is earlier than the letter codes? What are your thoughts on the spring style, rolled lip trim ring, bulb holder? What era are these from?

I would venture a guess and say the "K 10" stamped on the reflector dates it to the 10th week of 1952. Is there any readable data stamped on the bucket itself?

Your Hella catalog page answers your own question regarding application.

I couldn't tell you whether this assembly was actually installed on a BD in Wolfsburg without a VW logo or produced as an aftermarket spare.

All single-rivet rims should have the rolled inner edge, as the rolled edge continued into the two-rivet rim era in 1954. I don't have an answer for you regarding the bulbholder/bulbholder springs, as I don't have a lot of data points for non-sealed beam headlight assemblies.

Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:25 am

janerick3 wrote: ....Is there any readable data stamped on the bucket itself?...

Thanks again,

I don't see any other markings on the bucket. I did find another smeared set of numbers on the reflector. It looks something like: "1427##" with the ## being illegible.

There is also a blue ink stamped set of two numbers or letter on the inside lip of the bulb holder. These are hard to read but look like a "64" pr "OA" or something like that.