Solution for rear indicators on a 56 panel

[56splitpaneljapan]

Hi all, been stalking these forums for many years but never signed up or posted.

Ive had a bit of search on thesamba but couldnt come up with much, and hope that this is the suitable place to post. If not - dont bitch simply point me in the right direction please.

I was wanting to know if anyone had installed or knows of a solution for adding indicator lights to the rear of a 50's bus. I have a 56 panel here in northern Japan and will require indicators if I want to drive it daily. (drivers here are somewhat S%*t so indicators are a must!)

Bus currently has bubble tail lights and red centre break light. Has anyone installed a set of aftermarket/ NOS indicators that look like they were meant to be. Any links/pics or ideas?

I see some people have placed both brake and indicator lights in the one assembly? Any thoughts here?

Im no mechanic - just a dude who has loved these buses since childhood and finally brought one. Any information here is greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Rhys

[Clara]

I don't see semaphores on your bus, so it looks like the bus came with blinky turn signals on the front , but the nose was altered. (replaced?)

Non -semaphore buses 55-60 had the rear lights as turn signals as well as running lights. This is true even of brake light decklid buses.
This is how my N American spec 56 westy is. The bubble taillights are not very bright. The reflectors below them might be brighter at night in a following cars headlights. But that is a different issue.

Do you have the two filament/ two wire bubble taillights? One wire is for running light, the other for turn signal.

hope that helps.
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The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Who.Me?]

No one else has chimed in yet, so I'll have a go...

The answer depends on what you have and what you want.

As for what you have, your front panel doesn't have indicators and your b-pillar doesn't have semaphores, so do you know whether yours started life without front indicators and with semaphores on the b-pillars (European spec '56) or with bullet-shaped front indicators and no semaphores (US spec '56)?

If it started life as Euro-spec (semaphores), then have a look here... http://www.ssvc.org.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=107236

If it started life as US spec, then the tail lights should flash as direction indicators already, but if you want to add auxillary amber indicators, I'm pretty sure you'll need to re-wire your indicators like the 1963 non-us spec lights with separate bulbs for indicator and brake/tail... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/bus_63_non_usa.jpg. You'd need a different indicator switch and relay etc and some amber indicators (see also link above).

Happy to be shot down if I'm wrong though.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Who.Me?]

Clara must have hit post at the same time I did. She'll know better than I.
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Andy


Looking for info on my truck's history. Are you from Campbell California or nearby. Do you recognise it? ... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636786

[Clara]

Ya, it is a bit odd that it has no turn signals on the nose, and no semaphores, so it's not clear which sort of wiring it came with. You could probably tell better from there.
I was guessing that the nose has been changed, but if it was originally a semaphore bus, it would not have had blinkers at all, and you would need to add them to have them. So follow that link.
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The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[mandraks]

Since it currently does not have blinkers nor semaphores.

How about a pair of these for the front?

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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[Eric&Barb]

[mandraks]

[quote="Eric&Barb"]

[Major Woody]

If you're going to drive that in traffic, I would be seriously tempted to convert the guts of your bubble taillights to LED. MUCH brighter and you can incorporate brake/turn indicators without altering the exterior appearance.

[56splitpaneljapan]

Hi All

Thank you very much for your responses. Really helpful.

So as it goes, originally it looks like it had semaphores which at some point in time had been blocked out. I have had my mechanic reopen one side so far and intend to do the other shortly. Im thinking that the suggestion to keep the bus looking as original as possible using the double filament or LED converted bubble tail lights will be the best option. Unless anyone out there knows of a original style aftermarket tail light with this function?

The nose section of the bus has had the indicator holes filled in as the previous owner mentioned he wanted to return the bus to its original spec.

Seeing the nose has no indicators I will need to look for a solution to position them as I really want to make this a daily driver. Are the indicators mounted within the headlight pictured above terrible?

[Eric&Barb]

Yellow accessory lights on license plate will really get other drivers attention more than just the red stock taillights.

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In Stereo, Where Available!