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Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:47 pm

I have a spare hole cut in my padded dash and noticed there is a precut hole in the metal dash behind it. The padded dash hole measures around 22mm and the metal hole around 14mm although that one is difficult to measure.

Will a cigarette lighter fit here?

I noticed there is a high rise and low rise knob available. Which is best for a beetle with padded dash? I've been told the low rise is for the beetle and the high rise for a bus although i've seen a couple photographs on here showing dealer originals with what looks like the high rise one with a metal sleeve to protect the padded dash

high rise:

low rise:

@pogel lighter

padded and metal dash hole:

Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:23 am

Obviously you will need to cut a bigger hole for the lighter socket to fit. Do you want a lighter socket or just fill the hole? Does your car have any signs that a aux heater was installed. I think that hole was originally used for a aux heater switch (eberspächer).

Wed Mar 15, 2023 4:48 am

I installed mine (actually a power plug) under the dash, out of sight:

Wed Mar 15, 2023 8:53 am

Under dash on my 1971 Super

Tue Mar 21, 2023 2:28 pm

Frederik wrote: Obviously you will need to cut a bigger hole for the lighter socket to fit. Do you want a lighter socket or just fill the hole? Does your car have any signs that a aux heater was installed. I think that hole was originally used for a aux heater switch (eberspächer).

I would be interested in fitting a cigarette lighter for a potential dash cam/phoje charging. Currently i have a cap which covers it.
It is a '72 1302s and my manual didn't mention it although I found an american manual for the '72 bug which does.

It's the first time i've heard of an auxillery heater in a beetle. What would show it had been installed?

hopkin wrote: I installed mine (actually a power plug) under the dash, out of sight:

What did you both use to cut a hole/make a hold bigger in the metal dash/ what is recommended to use?

Tue Mar 21, 2023 3:29 pm

That'll be a handy upgrade ... !

I use those cone shaped step drills for holes in sheet metal.
They are easy to go too big however.

A Dremel could do it just to enlarge what you have.

A coat of paint & let it fully dry is also a good idea :
"Rust never sleeps"

Good luck ... stay safe

jinx

Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:07 pm

jonat wrote:

It's the first time i've heard of an auxillery heater in a beetle. What would show it had been installed?

hopkin wrote: I installed mine (actually a power plug) under the dash, out of sight:

What did you both use to cut a hole/make a hold bigger in the metal dash/ what is recommended to use?

The auxiliary heater is a gas heater, there are threads on the subject. Both of my old '71 Supers had them, they were common here in colder climates.
-----
Like Jinx I used one of the dome shaped bits. I guess the bit was large enough as I didn't have to use my dremel to make the hole larger.

The power plug and door are Porsche PN's 95565210700 for the socket and 99765210300 for the 'door' portion. They should be easy to find. I installed mine on a switched circuit (fuse 10) so the key must be on. Later I installed a dual USB port on the same circuit, so I don't really use the power port anymore.

Wed Mar 22, 2023 5:44 am

jonat wrote:

I would be interested in fitting a cigarette lighter for a potential dash cam/phoje charging. Currently i have a cap which covers it.
It is a '72 1302s and my manual didn't mention it although I found an american manual for the '72 bug which does.

Edit: If you want a lighter socket in the dash, just go for it. I'm not saying you shouldn't, just some other ideas to consider. Is the cut out in the padded material big enough to fit a lighter socket, or does it to have to be enlarged? Its hard to tell by the photo. If it needs to be enlarged I would probably be more carefull not to mess it up, than drilling the metal.

Why I asked is because because if you only wanted to fill the hole you could use it for something like a fog light switch and hide away the lighter/power socket. You could even use the hole for an on/off switch for the power socket. This might have its advantage if you hook it up as an usb charger/power source and want to use it with ignition off and still be able to kill the power drain.

You could probably also look around for a smaller size panel mount usb socket or even USB-C socket that might fit your existing hole. This can then be hooked up to a USB power source/ charger behind the dash. If you want it to look stock, glue a male usb dummy to the back of an original dash knob and plug it it to the socket when it's not used.

I'm not saying this fit, but just as an example:

https://www.amazon.se/USB-panel-inf%C3%A4lld-monte...&psc=1

Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:47 am

Here's the gas heater in my 1969 Canadian Beetle. It is turned on and off by a knob under the dash underneath the speaker. The heat is pretty much instant and blows right on your legs. Some other versions were installed above the transmission and connected between the heat exchangers and heater channels. Separate fuel supply lines connected to the fuel tank.
jonat wrote: Frederik wrote: Obviously you will need to cut a bigger hole for the lighter socket to fit. Do you want a lighter socket or just fill the hole? Does your car have any signs that a aux heater was installed. I think that hole was originally used for a aux heater switch (eberspächer).

I would be interested in fitting a cigarette lighter for a potential dash cam/phoje charging. Currently i have a cap which covers it.
It is a '72 1302s and my manual didn't mention it although I found an american manual for the '72 bug which does.

It's the first time i've heard of an auxillery heater in a beetle. What would show it had been installed?

hopkin wrote: I installed mine (actually a power plug) under the dash, out of sight:

What did you both use to cut a hole/make a hold bigger in the metal dash/ what is recommended to use?

Wed Mar 22, 2023 7:59 am

Installed a Power Supply (Cig lighter style) under the dash. Be nice to have the ability to charge a phone.

Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:06 am

Frederik wrote:

Edit: If you want a lighter socket in the dash, just go for it. I'm not saying you shouldn't, just some other ideas to consider. Is the cut out in the padded material big enough to fit a lighter socket, or does it to have to be enlarged? Its hard to tell by the photo. If it needs to be enlarged I would probably be more carefull not to mess it up, than drilling the metal.

Why I asked is because because if you only wanted to fill the hole you could use it for something like a fog light switch and hide away the lighter/power socket. You could even use the hole for an on/off switch for the power socket. This might have its advantage if you hook it up as an usb charger/power source and want to use it with ignition off and still be able to kill the power drain.

You could probably also look around for a smaller size panel mount usb socket or even USB-C socket that might fit your existing hole. This can then be hooked up to a USB power source/ charger behind the dash. If you want it to look stock, glue a male usb dummy to the back of an original dash knob and plug it it to the socket when it's not used.

I'm not saying this fit, but just as an example:

the dash hole would have to be enlarged foer the lighter accessory. It looks to be 14mm, which would only fit something like a swittch such as headlight, warning lamp, fog etc. I wonder if having a cigarette lighter placed elsewhere other than the dash might work better.

I like your USB-C suggestion and having dummy cover. I might see if i can research any sizes that fit. Do you have an example of a good USB power source for behind the dash?

The fog switch suggestion is also good. I've noticed there are a few different ones. Is Orange for rear and green for front? I've seen quite a few different cap designs and it seems they were shared with Porsche too even if they had VW stamps on the unit.

Tue Mar 28, 2023 5:06 pm

All those are great ideas while you at it just the home mad partial tray and mount it to that.

Fri Sep 29, 2023 1:55 pm

jonat wrote: I have a spare hole cut in my padded dash and noticed there is a precut hole in the metal dash behind it. The padded dash hole measures around 22mm and the metal hole around 14mm although that one is difficult to measure.

Will a cigarette lighter fit here?

I noticed there is a high rise and low rise knob available. Which is best for a beetle with padded dash? I've been told the low rise is for the beetle and the high rise for a bus although i've seen a couple photographs on here showing dealer originals with what looks like the high rise one with a metal sleeve to protect the padded dash

high rise:

low rise:

@pogel lighter

padded and metal dash hole:

Can you give me the site where you found the cigarette lighters?