TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:21 am

Is there a switch on the 56 transmission? I see some of the small single chrome lights for sale and they are listed for years 49 - 67. Is there a simple solution to installing one?

Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:27 am

There's no switch on the tranny.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=346850

Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:25 am

There are 2 types of switches that you can use. Bosch makes one that goes on the tranny and if you are lucky you can find it with all of the wiring etc. There is also a switch that goes between your speedometer and your speedometer cable. Check the classifieds!

Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:02 pm

The switch that goes between the speedo and the cable is easy to install, and was used on early Buses. It is not as effective as the shift rod type mentioned above, though, since the speedo type only activates the rev rights if the vehicle physically moves rearward about at least 1 foot, then stays on until it moves forward similar amount.

I've never seen that diagram which Glenn shows, though it seems to be easy to make this yourself using a small "momentary on" microswitch and some metal strap. One wire for the switch goes to the "+" side of your coil (for the 6V input), the other side goes to the rev. light. The mounting of the light to the bumper or its bracket gives the light its ground to complete the circuit. You could mount an in-line fuse between the coil and the switch.

Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:51 pm

Rome wrote: I've never seen that diagram which Glenn shows

That diagram is taken from a 1954/55 edition of the Bosch accessories catalog.

Wed Sep 06, 2006 2:54 pm

mkkraemer wrote: There is also a switch that goes between your speedometer and your speedometer cable.

This is the Hella switch. It slips inline with the speedometer cable

Fri Sep 08, 2006 3:57 pm

i still have a NOS bosch reverse light kit that came with my 59 ghia. with colored diagram and original brown bosch bag. never installed. may put it on my 58 ghia

Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:13 pm

I installed one of those kits about 30 years ago, into my '65. The German name for it translated to "electric lamps which enable vision to the rear" and it was one 50-letter German word! The instructions were in German and I don't know it well, so my friend Bergit translated for me (her nickname was "sliggy," short for "sweet little innocent german girl," which was only 4/5ths correct). She got stuck at what she translated as "the triangular part" but we couldn't figure out what that was, and there were no photos or diagrams of that part of the process. As we removed the firewall insulation in the left side to fish the wire through to the interior, out fell a small fabric-covered pillow shaped like a... you guessed it, a triangle! It was used to seal the path for the wire and keep fumes and noise out of the interior. It's little tricky to adjust but once done it never gave me any trouble at all.

Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:56 pm

Here's a pic of my NOS Bosch reverse lights. The instruction manual is dated 1954

Sat Sep 09, 2006 12:28 pm

Ah Ha!
Now I know how that thing was supposed to work. My car had one but is/was missing the "schaithebel" so I couldn't for the life of me figure out what activated the switch. I now have a '68 tranny with a bus nose cone that has provisions for a regular switch but I'll make the activator bracket so I have if I decide to go back stock in the future.

Thanks