Improve lighting and fog lights

[Shagrath92]

Hello everyone!

I'm new in the forum and that's my first topic.
I'll get straight to it.
I drive a '73 SB and I want to improve the lighting because sometimes when it is really dark I can barely see
Also, I'd like to install fog lights.
So the questions are:
First of all how to improve the lighting (if it is possible at all), and second, how to install the fog lights.
Bare in mind that I don't have much knowledge and experience around the Beetle as it is my fisrt car overall and I'm really eager to do it on my own.
Thanks in advance!

[atticus finch]

1. make sure all your connections are CLEAN and tight. No corrosion, loose or broken connectors, etc. Especially the ground side.

2. any non-stock crimp connections, such as you'd get at the average auto-parts store need to be soldered. Std crimp works but has resistance.
Soldering makes a difference, especially on the ground side.

3. when all the stock stuff is determined to be in proper working order, I used 10ga wire on my headlights over the stock size. Both hot side and the ground side, it makes a difference.

If your headlight leads are solid white & solid yellow, autozone has 10ga wire in white & yellow so you can replicate the correct color coding on the headlight leads.
They also have a weatherproof headlight connector which fits the stock vw headlight bulb, although the leads on it are very small.
I opened up the crimp on the connector and soldered the 10ga wires to the connector rather than leave the little 14 ga wires on it.

[gt1953]

Clean as many connections associated with that circuit you can locate. Starting with the connection at the light itself all the back to the fuse box. Make the connections bright and shiny.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[Q-Dog]

Don't forget to check the ground strap from the battery to the body. It also needs to be clean and tight.
_________________
Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[olspeed]

Check your headlights and see if they are halogen or incandescent bulbs. Stock VW came with a standard incandescent sealed beam bulb if it has been changed from this to the halogen stock style replacement bulb it will say halogen made into the glass and is installed just like the old stock bulb. You might check what you have as even into the 90's you could still buy both so you might have stock lights but replacement halogens are cheap (6014 bulb about $14.00 ea) and the difference is amazing. From there it's just how deep is your pocketbook.
_________________
66- Ghia
76-Beetle

[KTPhil]

After you have tried the steps above (which may make them good enough for you, and that is cheap), you can consider European-style H4 conversion lamps. Hella makes a nice set with the E-code (razor) pattern, much better than the DOT-style fuzzy blob pattern. Aim them very carefully, both for your better vision, and to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

Foglamps are a great help in twisty roads and in the wet, when the pavement turns black. Search here about using relays and proper wiring, or you can actually makes things worse with a current drain and dim lamps. There are threads and wiring diagrams galore on the Samba, some of them from VW, Hella, Bosch, etc.

Make sure your generator/alternator is up to snuff before adding the foglamps.

[rockerarm]

Hi and WELCOME.
All good advice here, but one thing is missing. A voltage drop test of the positive circuit and the negative circuit is the gold standard. It is so dang easy to use it will amaze you.
This test will test from the battery post to the headlight plug and from the headlight plug back to the battery negative. It works on 6v/12v/24v systems.
The test will tell you if your issue is a wiring issue or a component issue.
I totally agree that the older car electrical systems need work on them, to include cleaning terminals/etc.
Many videos/tutorials on youtube.
Hope this helps, Bill.

[Tim Donahoe]

Or ... you could clean all connections, as mentioned by others, then get a set of LED headlights. They throw a lot of light, and use a fraction of the amps as stock lights.

They throw so much light that I was afraid a cop would give me a ticket here in California, because, by law, we can't use any lights, other than stock. But I do have halogen lights, and they didn't come with the car when it was new; but they aren't nearly as noticeably bright compared to the led's.

Mr. Duncan sells them here in the Samba Classifieds.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Meiang]

Even if you do get the wiring in your car back to factory fresh condition, I have found that there is still a significant volt drop in the original wiring to the headlamps. The optimal solution is to power the headlamps from the battery and use the existing power supply to the headlamps as a switching signal. I would recommend installing a new power hub behind the dash such as a Blue Sea ST Blade fuse block (best type of fuse block on the market) and run power and earth cables back to the battery area under the back seat.

This fuse block will also provide power for fog lamps which you indicated interest in fitting.

As far as fog lamps go the best type is a projector style with a very sharp cutoff such as these:

[Shagrath92]

Thanks guys for the quick replies!
Ok, I will clean all the connections and check the headlights and change them if they are incandescent bulbs.
Another question, how do I power the headlights from the battery as Meiang suggested?Do I need to install a new fuse block for the foglights or I can use the stock one?

Again thank you guys and sorry for my newbie-ness

[TX-73]

You can use a basic ATM/ATC (blade) style fuseblock such as the one at lower left that will work fine. It also has a ground terminal, so easy to provide both power and grounding to new circuits. This type of fuseblock uses a primary 12v feed from the battery (protectd by circuit breaker). You would also need a relay to power the foglights. A switch would energize the relay, with battery power routed through the relay to power the foglights.

But I think that if you have minimal experience, just start with a thorough cleaning of terminals and grounds. You can get with Thomas at Vintagecarleds.com or maybe locally find a set of H4 headlight bulbs/lenses that are a direct swap with the stock headlights. All easy stuff that can maybe get you where you want to be unless you wanted the specific addition of the fog/driving lights.
_________________
My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
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[vintagecarleds]

I'd always clean grounds first, inspect the battery ground, and the transaxle nose cone to chassis ground (often overlooked)

and from there to clean the headlight pig tails, disconnect the battery, dip the sockets in vinegar, or lemon juice.

Then after a few hours dip them in a solution of water/baking soda to stop the acid.

Nice and clean.
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[rockerarm]

Hi Tom, of vintagecarleds.
Since you replied to this thread I'd like to ask you a question that is related to this topic of "dim headlights".

Based off the fact that your LED headlights draw substantially less current than the commonly available H4 competition, would you say a person can use your LED lights on a car with a less than perfect wiring system, meaning possibly 2v drop from the battery positive to the headlight bulb terminal?

My scenario is similar to the OP, whereas I was having to drive in unfamiliar back roads at night for a period of time while on active duty in Calif. The headlight output on both lows and highs was very poor. Away from home I sourced a pair of Halogen sealed beams and no improvement. I borrowed a pair of standard H4 lights and saw only a small improvement. So now I had to fix it. I got my DVOM out and discovered a 2v-2 1/2v drop from the battery positive to each headlight bulb. Further diagnostics showed the majority of the voltage drop was from the battery to the fuse box area. So in the back parking lot of a motel I ran a sub-harness from the battery to the fuse box area and utilized 2 Bosch relays. This basic repair (to me) resulted in a now voltage drop to the headlights of a better 1v. I finally opted for a pair of Sylvania Xtravision bulbs from Wallymart, and that is where my DD stands as of today.

Some folks because of the fear of electrics, time, cost of a wiring harness replacement, or other concerns might be inclined to install a set-up from your company as a method to improve the headlights in lieu of the repairs/improvements I discussed.
I would respect your comments, sir.
Bill

[vintagecarleds]

[Shagrath92]

Hello again!
Today is the day that I finally have time to clean the connections, so I will keep you informed of my progress!
As for the foglights I found a picture in samba showing the circuit and I wanna ask, is it correct?

[Maddel]

Check out these: http://www.ge-ma-classics.de/de/Elektrik/Scheinwer...stehend-H4

AFAIK they're the same as Golf 1 (early Rabbit) ones.
If your fenders have the two top mounting links like in the pic below they will fit...

[Meiang]

The way you propose to wire your fog lights, they can be turned on at any time without the headlamps being on or the ignition on (if the supply circuit is always live) which can cause issues.

You need to take a switching feed from one of your low beam headlights to terminal 85 of the relay. This has two advantages
1) You can't turn on the fog lamps accidently and leave them on.
2) The fog lights turn off if your high beam is active.

You indicate fog/driving lights in your schematic. Which do you wish to install - they both have different functions. If you are installing driving lights, the switching feed needs to be from your high beam circuit to terminal 85 of the relay so that they only operate when your high beams are active.

Also for both fog and driving lamps I would use a relay with two 87 terminals one for the left lamp and one for right lamp.

[kangaboy]

Here is how I did mine. You could add one more relay for the fog lights so they would have their own lead. I would also wire it up so that they weren't on the same time as the high beams.

_________________
-74 Standard - "CaliBug" 2084T, MS3X w/FI and Crank Fire
-76 Westy - "Gandalf"
-18 GTI SE

[unclewede]

I put the LED on my son's 77. He will NEVER be able to say he couldn't see the street sign because it was dark, and we actually adjusted them down lower when installing because I don't want him to have to deal with police.

We had (incorrectly) snipped the plugs off when we removed the front fenders for paint. My wife does military-grade wiring, so we got her to put the new ones back correctly. It won't be the splice where corrosion/short/open happens.

[garyt]

If you need foglamps, would you really want them to switch off when using high beam? I would only want them to turn off when the ignition switches off, or I switch them off from a switch because I don't need them anymore.

Here in Euroland you can get a higher wattage H4 bulb, a bit pricey but they last a long time I guess. I'm going to try them. Gets very dark here and with the icy fog as well its needed, plus I am also adding a fog lamp (one only).