TheSamba.com :: View topic - Adventures with a 1971 Karmann Ghia convertible

Mon Oct 13, 2025 5:04 am

When I was 16 I saw Bernard Newbury's car in VW Trends (or Hot VWs?) and new I had to have Karmann Ghia one day. I even built a model kit of it, and the page of the magazine hung on my bedroom wall.

This photo was posted on The Samba by @vujade

As my dream developed, it became a convertible.

About ten years ago, my wife bought me a 1970 Ghia convertible for our 16th anniversary. It was 16 year old me's dream car. She had wanted to buy me something to do with the car to put in the garage... maybe and emblem or a steering wheel or something.... but happened upon the whole car about an hour away and it was CHEAP. The price was indicative of the condition it was in as you see here...

I had started a build thread at the time, fully committed to resurrecting this car with my kids. Here's the old thread...

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10441910#10441910

We worked on it for many hours over the years but ultimately there wasn't time, money, and especially skill/tools to do the job.

Fast forward 10 years and my wife and I decided we'd buy one that I could drive. I found one Quebec last year but it ended up falling through. The fellow misrepresented the car. Twice I made the 6 hour drive with a trailer and twice it had electrical ghosts that he tried to explain away, and eventually tried to bully me into taking. Electrical is the one thing I'm quite good at so I probably could have found and fixed the issue, but the deal I made with my wife was that I was bringing home a running car, and this one one was not... so I walked away. (This will become a punch line soon). I was really sad as I had been working with this guy for several weeks and had become emotionally attached to the car and the experience of finally getting one after all these years.

So we kept looking. Wednesday of last week she finds an add on Marketplace and says to me, ""Hey you should go look at this car. you might not like the colour but it's near by." The add was very simple. 1971 Karmann Ghia convertible. Looks good, runs well. It was only two hours away! I called my buddy Don who is a master tool and die maker/ metal worker /car builder and long time VW enthusiast to see if he wanted to "go for lunch" and we had a date Friday. Long story short we looked at the car, Don gave me the nod, I negotiated what I believe to be a very fair price and we drove it home!

We were driving home, all back roads through the country, sun shining, couldn't be better... the time had come! We stopped for lunch on the way home and when we went back to it..... it wouldn't start. Here's the punch line... No spark!!! Same as the car in Quebec!!

Here she is broken down...

And so I text my wife that it won't start and we'll be delayed getting home. We shared some LOL and she was just sad for me.

We had the car towed to Don's home/shop.

Saturday morning I headed over to Don's armed with the service manuals and some wiring diagrams and we got to work.

Over the years this car has obviously had a lot of hands on it. Don thinks it had a fairly good restoration done about 15 years ago. Unfortunately when it was last painted, there wasn't a ton of great masking done under the hood and most of the wires and back side of fuse box are orange. I spent about 2 hours figuring out which wire was which, cleaning paint off the wires and learning about what been done to this car. Then I see it.... a loose orange spade terminal coming from a relay coil sitting right next to a chassis ground which was NOT orange, but bare freshly scraped metal!! It was a loose fit so I tightened it up, we plugged it in and she fired right up!! We figured while Don and I were rooting around investigating the car we must have knocked it off. and the car started because it was still resting on the ground, but then jostled away while I was driving.

While at Don's we test fit my Sprint Stars that I bought for the other car. The back are 185/65/R15, and the fronts are 165/60/15. They fit but there will need to be a bit of fender rolling.

We drove it back to my place and immediately started taking my wife and kids for rides...

So here is what I know...
-it's from Maryland, USA
-still has the aluminum side trim, which I love
-some funky louvers in the deck lid
-cool grant wood steering wheel
-believed to have a stock 1600 with a more modern air cleaner and an electronic ignition
-hard start relay
-heater boxes removed, has a header and an after market exhaust of some kind. It appears to be something of the Empi Single Quiet Power variety... at least that's what it looks like.
-turn signals and bumpers back dated to pre 1970(?)
-new bumpers
-drop spindles in the front, lowered in the rear
-newer tires
-new fuel tank
-new rear shocks
-new brakes
-new starter
-new battery - relocated to under the rear seat
-new seat belts
-T handle shifter
-carpet is clean and not worn
-interior colour is a close match to the top/boot
-some work must have been done on the front seats as they are stock but quite comfy and not saggy/lumpy like the ones that came in the other car
-dash modified with interior colour matched pad, holes filled, and painted body colour, radio hole modified for DIN radio
-fiberglass kick panels with speakers installed
-after market tach in clock position
-electric washer fluid pump with after market bottle mounted on fender
-it came with a car cover (I bought one last year when I thought the Quebec car was coming home with me, but now I have two!)
-it's got a CD player and a couple of amps and four speakers

What's not so great or needs to be fixed...

-small amount of bubbling in the rocker on the drivers side, less on the passenger
-door handles pitted
-driver's floor pan has a hand full of small holes in the rear, passenger side is fine
-seats don't move, still investigating, driver's side mech is definitely rusted
-a few cracks in the paint with a bit of bubbling
-door gaps need to be adjusted - needs some shims for sure
-chip on top of driver's door window
-instrument lighting doesn't work (not installed)
-horn doesn't work (not there)
-stereo doesn't work (wiring is orange as is the back of the radio, was unplugged, haha)
-drivers seat won't tip forward, even though the lever moves up

What will I do first?

Well, I ordered a fender roller as I really want to get my Sprintstars on there. But I definitely I need to address the holes in the pan, the horn, the instrument lighting, and the seats not moving. These will be my first priorities. Next summer I might put a new wiring harness in. I don't like the orange paint all over everything and it's obvious not everyone who touched the wiring knew what they were doing.

The other car will be a great parts car. It has the horns, and a clean driver's side window, and the door handles are in very good shape. I'll keep it for at least a couple of years until I'm sure I've scavenged all I need from it.

What do I want to do?

A stereo!

This is my child hood dream car and I used to be really into car stereos. So this car will eventually get an awesome sound system. I'd like to do a retro system made up of the gear I dreamed about as a teenager. All these years I've hung on to four Pioneer 8" subwoofers, they are almost new. Pioneer was the first system demo I ever had and I love the old Pioneer omega logo. It's very nostalgic for me. Those will be the corner stone. I'm not sure how many I can fit. I'd really like to do three behind the rear glass but likely isn't enough space. Two for sure. More on that later.

I'd like to use HiFonics VIII, PPI Art series, McIntosh or Phoenix Gold M series amplifiers. Haven't decided what yet.

For head unit I'm flirting with trying to find a McIntosh MX406 as it has that old school look that will compliment the Ghia's style, and is crazy high-end, but still has an Aux in for my phone... or I might just go modern and be done. The car has a JVC with an AUX in that I can use while I figure this out... if it works... it's partly painted orange.

For front speakers I used to have MB Quart and they were amazing so I'm going to look there first... although Focal always peaked my interest. I remember a guy in Car Stereo Review did a convertible Ghia with a McIntosh amp and Focal front speaker. I still have that issue and it was always an inspiration.

It'll need the stock generator swapped out to a beefy alternator, I might do a second battery on an isolator so I can play with it at shows and such without fear of being stranded.

Everything will be installed tastefully with panels that are formed and finished to follow the lines of the car and interior colour.

That's all for now. As I work on things I'll post updates. Hopefully more than I did in the last ten years!

Thanks for joining me.

Craig

Edit: Nov 8, 2025

I reorganized this thread to make it less cumbersome to follow. Bellow is a list of projects in either planning or working on. For those who are interested you can scroll down to find updates.

Projects:

1. horn restoration -page 1 - complete
2. instrument cluster lights -page 1- in progress
3. holes in floor pans -page 2 - in progress
4. seats not moving - page 2 - complete
5. audio system - page 2 - in progress… likely never complete, haha
6. wheel and tire upgrade/fitment - page 2 - in progress
7. door improvements- page 2 - researching
8. Model B2 gas heater testing / installation - page 2 - researching
9. Dome light doesn’t work - page 2 - complete
10. Electrical oddities - page 2 - never ending
11. Random things that don’t need their own post - page 2 - never ending
12. Relocated fuel filter to underneath car - page 2 - complete
13. Alternator upgrade- in progress-page 3
14. Dual carb upgrade - researching -page 3

Mon Oct 13, 2025 7:28 am

What a journey!
How great you were able to find a nice driver that you can enjoy while upgrading on your own schedule.
I found a runner that was supposed to be a "rolling restoration".
I ended up having it stuck in the garage for nine years before finally being able to enjoy. You're way ahead of the curve 8)
The only unsolicited advice I can offer is be very careful with the fender roller.
Why not just go with 165's all around and save the it from an unnecessary body mod?

Mon Oct 13, 2025 8:09 am

kingkarmann wrote: What a journey!
How great you were able to find a nice driver that you can enjoy while upgrading on your own schedule.
I found a runner that was supposed to be a "rolling restoration".
I ended up having it stuck in the garage for nine years before finally being able to enjoy. You're way ahead of the curve 8)
The only unsolicited advice I can offer is be very careful with the fender roller.
Why not just go with 165's all around and save the it from an unnecessary body mod?

No kidding!!! It's been an emotional week and I'm very happy.

Cosmetics really. Also I already have them mounted. I really want to have cool looking wider tires. The fronts are currently 135 and the rears 165. I figured if I roll the lips I might gain enough clearance. If not then the next step will be to put the 135 fronts and 165 rears on my rims.

Thanks for the cautionary tip. What's the concern with the roller? My buddy Don's is a master with metal and he's advising but it's always good to learn from experience.

Thanks

Mon Oct 13, 2025 8:12 am

Awesome story. Great way to start your thread. It's been a long and slow start to your journey but now you get to enjoy driving a Karmann Ghia! They really are an amazing car.
Enjoy.

Mon Oct 13, 2025 3:05 pm

craigolio1 wrote:

Thanks for the cautionary tip. What's the concern with the roller? My buddy Don's is a master with metal and he's advising but it's always good to learn from experience.

Thanks

As long as the fender arches are solid metal with no added filler you should be ok.
I would be concerned with cracking if the area had had filler used for previous repairs.

Mon Oct 13, 2025 4:33 pm

kingkarmann wrote: craigolio1 wrote:

Thanks for the cautionary tip. What's the concern with the roller? My buddy Don's is a master with metal and he's advising but it's always good to learn from experience.

Thanks

As long as the fender arches are solid metal with no added filler you should be ok.
I would be concerned with cracking if the area had had filler used for previous repairs.

Oh yes, OK that makes complete sense. Thank you for explaining it.

Craig

Mon Oct 13, 2025 9:38 pm

I needed a tiny bit of room on the drivers rear of my 70 Ghia, due to an accident. Instead of rolling the fender, I had .015 inch machined off of the inside of the wheel hub. Works fine now.

craigolio1 wrote: kingkarmann wrote: What a journey!
How great you were able to find a nice driver that you can enjoy while upgrading on your own schedule.
I found a runner that was supposed to be a "rolling restoration".
I ended up having it stuck in the garage for nine years before finally being able to enjoy. You're way ahead of the curve 8)
The only unsolicited advice I can offer is be very careful with the fender roller.
Why not just go with 165's all around and save the it from an unnecessary body mod?

No kidding!!! It's been an emotional week and I'm very happy.

Cosmetics really. Also I already have them mounted. I really want to have cool looking wider tires. The fronts are currently 135 and the rears 165. I figured if I roll the lips I might gain enough clearance. If not then the next step will be to put the 135 fronts and 165 rears on my rims.

Thanks for the cautionary tip. What's the concern with the roller? My buddy Don's is a master with metal and he's advising but it's always good to learn from experience.

Thanks

Thu Oct 16, 2025 2:16 pm

Great story and a very nice looking car.
Where abouts are you, I am just outside Hamilton.
I have access to a fender roller if it’s not too late or too far away.

Andy

Thu Oct 16, 2025 5:37 pm

Steelz21 wrote: Great story and a very nice looking car.
Where abouts are you, I am just outside Hamilton.
I have access to a fender roller if it’s not too late or too far away.

Andy

Thanks for the offer! I ordered one on Amazon and it will have to be modified to fit the larger than is common bolt pattern. I wouldn’t want to alter one that I borrowed.

I’m in Caledon Village which is up Hwy 10 between Brampton and Orangeville.

Craig.

Thu Oct 23, 2025 12:04 pm

Project 1: Horn Restoration.

When I bought this car, the owner told me that the horn was not working. This is something I need to repair before I can get a safety on it in the spring. I investigated and noted that it did have an aftermarket horn which was grounded but had no power hooked up to it. It had a Grant horn button with a section of speaker wire dangling out of it connected to nothing and it had a hole in the front of the car where the factory horns used to be. Thankfully, just a little bit of surface rust in that area.

My donor car has horns so I removed them and tested them, but they did not work.

I looked up the wiring for the horn on a thread here, which was very helpfull.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=566567

I also found this graphic on The Samba which really helped me understand.

Armed with knowledge, I began to investigate the wiring in my car. First I noted that the ground jumper which goes over the connection near the steering box was not present, and there was no horn wire coming up the steering column. I’ve seen versions of the wiring where it was just a jumper that went over the insulated section and then the horn is wired to the column and other scenarios where there is a wire Fed up the column. I chose to feed a wire up the column because my horn button has two wire contacts on it.

The wire is attached on the steering box side of the insulator. You’ll note that in this picture it looks like the wire is on the wrong side. The bolt goes through and contacts correct portion of the steering box. I initially used one of the insulated bolts. I figured that out after getting a lot of dust in my face and using a whole bunch of colourful language.

And then fed up the steering column.

From there will be connected to my horn button, and from the horn button to a wire that exits the steering column through a horn ring on the bottom of the steering wheel adapter, and a matching tab on the turn signal switch where the wire comes from, as seen here.

My car has neither the contact ring that mounts on the bottom of the steering wheel adapter, nor the copper tabs on the turn signal switch. My turn signal is also missing the W shaped spring that allows for auto cancelling signals. So I have those two parts on order.

Moving farther into the wiring. There is supposed to be a heavier, gauge red wire, which comes from the far right tab on the fuse panel down through the headlight harness to the horn relay. My car had this, but it was cut off loose and stuffed in a corner. Thankfully, the wire was not live because whoever painted the car orange, painted the fuse panel which insulated the fuse. Once I clean that up, this wire was hot with ignition as it should be. A previous owner probably couldn’t figure this out so they ran their own hot wire from somewhere else on the fuse box using speaker wire, scotch locks, a giant fuse holder and electrical tape. This was removed, along with the aftermarket horn. I also found the brown horn wire in the original harness however, someone else had connected that to constant power and it was left stuffed in a corner too. That one was live, but thankfully didn’t short on anything.

With all of the wires sorted out, I moved on to restoring the original horns. I found this YouTube video, which was very helpful.

https://youtu.be/oC1Vf2M1HGw?si=jcbRzJE1vAXp3Azl

Earned with knowledge, I disassembled my horns. Thankfully, they came apart, quite easily with a little bit of penetrating oil.

I won’t bother going through the procedure as the fellow in the video does a wonderful job of taking you through it so if that interests you, you should just watch the video. Basically, I had to isolate this contact which spread apart like a pocket knife and has two contacts that vibrate against each other, which needed to be sanded.

Next, I hit them with the wire wheel which cleaned them up really nicely, but still left some rust

So after Princess AUTO to get a 50 pound bag of copper oxide and I hit them with the sandblaster.

The last step was to paint the front of the horns with a bit of Tremclad Gloss Black.

That’s it for now, I’ll update this when new parts come in the mail and things are reassembled!

Craig.

Update: October 27, 2025

Today was a big day for the horns! My package from CIP1 arrived.

Prior to installing the turn signal switch, I compared it to the one in the car. There was four interesting differences.

1. The black wire on the new one corresponded to a black/white/green wire on the switch in the car. This wire is supposed to go to the unfused tab on fuse box position 2, providing a switched 12v signal to the switch. (Edit: I learned later that I had this wrong as I was following the black wire on the VW diagram. This wire goes to terminal 49a on the signal flasher relay-the JBug graphics up top helped me figure this out)

2. The actual horn wire is white. I had read this would be a possibility in other threads and confirmed with a continuity test. The brown wire (shown as the horn on factory wiring diagrams, on this switch goes to ground and causes a momentary ground condition on the brown and white wire to activate the high beam relay when the lever is pulled forward.

3. The contacts for the high beam switch, which are supposed to be normally open, were assembled such that they were in constant contact. This was an easy fix with some needle nose pliers.

4. This switch has a duplicate set of contacts to the first set. There is a red and a grey wire coming off of this switch. The red goes to the common pole (as the black does on the other set of contacts. The grey is bridged between the duplicate set of the left and right contacts. It creates a condition where there is continuity between the red and the grey wire when the switch is in either the left or right position. For my car these are not needed but I think I read that later model cars, or maybe a Type 3, do use these so I’m thinking this switch is useful for a variety of cars. Anyway I left these wires lose as they could be fun to use later. As a trigger for a starter kill, for example, where I leave the switch on and it prevents the car from being started. Who knows. Anyway I could have removed them to clean things up, but opted to leave them.

Going back to the black wire….. as described above, on the original switch it’s a black/white/green wire and it didn’t go to the fuse box. I started out thinking I would move the wire to the fuse box but opted to investigate first. It was butt spliced to a 6” long piece of grey/red wire, and then butt spliced to a blue wire which went back to the emergency flasher switch. It’s way back in the corner so I followed it with my fingers into a loom that goes to that switch. Position 2 on the fuse panel had no tab for an additional wire. I cut the wire and tested the blue one that goes back to the emergency flasher switch. It’s hot on ignition. So, I opted to just connect my black wire there since that’s where it was before and it was working fine. Also since there was no tab to connect it on the fuse panel it would have required a splice or an adaptor so this made sense. I might address this later if/when I rewire the car.

Edit:

I figured out the black Vs black/white/green mystery. On the JBugs website they have a tech help section with diagrams where is found these two… one of the flasher relay and one of the turn signal switch:

The black/white/green wire from the turn signal switch gets its power from terminal 49a of the flasher relay (J2) It also connects to the emergency flasher switch (E3) This would explain why in my car, it was connected to the emergency flasher switch, as that connection could have been made a junction, or on terminals 49a of the flasher relay or the emergency flasher switch.

The black wire I was following on the diagram was actually the switched 12v out from the ignition harness. I was just confused because it was black. Basically what it all boils down to is that my after market turn signal switch has a black wire where it should have a black/white/green wire.

After that fun exercise, everything was working great… but I noticed my passenger side head light was out. Armed with the wiring diagram I narrowed it down to the fuse, but the fuse was intact. The fuse panel was however painted by the excited painter…

I sanded the ends of the headlight fuse and the holder and it came back to life. What a relief!! I took this opportunity to sand all of the other fuses and contacts. I was really concerned when right after doing wiring, another electrical item stopped working. What are the odds! Hopefully that won’t happen again now that they are all clean.

Finally the white wire was connected to the horn negative that goes through the headlight harness to the horn relay.

The next step is to install the horn relay, the horns, and finally the contact ring on the back of the steering wheel.

Craig.

Update: October 30, 2025

I got to work on the horn contact ring today. It would not fit over the stump on the back side of the Grant adapter so I used a file to widen the hole just a bit, and found some 6/32 screws that fit the adapter.

With the ring flat on the back of the adapter it barely made contact with the turn signal switch so I put a washer between it and the adapter. I tried a few washers first but it pushed it forward enough that it closed the high beam contact. One washer was perfect.

Here it is fully seated again shed the steering shaft and there is plenty of clearance on the high beam contacts.

And with that complete, all that remains is to install the horn cap, the relay, and put the horns back in the car.

Oh and as an added bonus, thanks to the tab here and the new turn signal switch…

I have auto cancelling signals again!

Craig

Final update!! October 31, 2025

Today I officially wrapped up the restoration of the horn.

I installed the horns and the wiring that I scavenged from my donor car. The mounting bracket and ring terminal got hit with a wire wheel to ensure a good ground.

And since this is an environment where there is bound to be moisture, all electrical contact surfaces got a little spray or dielectric grease.

I found a 40A relay in my collection and it was wired in. It doesn’t have a mounting tab so I made one from a zip tie that has a screw tab. I also wrapped the relay in electrical tape just incase.

The last piece was the horn button. The wheel has a cool button with a Wolfsburg logo on it but it doesn’t fit the wheel. The previous own solved this with some bits of chrome body trim stuck around the edges. The stuck out past the button and made it stand proud about 1/8”, which all looked terrible.

My other passion is model railroading and I have lots of plastic strips and shapes in stock. I decided to wrap the buttons mounting tabs in a couple of layers of strip styrene.

Once I had a nice press fit, I added three extra short pieces just to create a bit of extra friction.

I wired it up and popped it in…

And it’s done!! I have a working horn, back to factory spec!! I still need the rubber boot but I’m calling this one

Thu Oct 23, 2025 1:54 pm

Great story, I respect the will power it must have taken to walk away from that Quebec car, especially after driving all that way and being pressured. It takes a strong person to accept its not the right car and walk! I would of caved.

Great read, looking forward to seeing the progress and possibly the car out on the road. Not far from you, Milton here

Best of luck!

Thu Oct 23, 2025 5:34 pm

MiltonGhia wrote: Great story, I respect the will power it must have taken to walk away from that Quebec car, especially after driving all that way and being pressured. It takes a strong person to accept its not the right car and walk! I would of caved.

Great read, looking forward to seeing the progress and possibly the car out on the road. Not far from you, Milton here

Best of luck!

Oh right on. I’m definitely looking forward to connecting with other local VW enthusiasts now and again.

I really had a hard time walking aware from Quebec. The 6 hour drive home with that u-haul trailer bouncing behind me… it honestly took me months to stop thinking about it. I felt like I’d never find another and the experience made me really hesitant to shop in the dry states for fear of the same thing happening several days from home. Anyway, it was obviously not the right car and not the right time. I’m soooo happy with this one.

Thanks for joining the journey!

Craig.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 5:09 am

I'm trying to figure out how to organize projects I'll be working on in this thread. I'll be working on different things at different times and I don't want pages of random things all over the place. Unless someone has a better idea,(I am NOT a master at using these forums!) I think the first project, "The Horn Project" will become the singular projects post and I'll update it. Then just bump the thread indicating what I changed each time. Thoughts?

Craig

Fri Oct 31, 2025 9:42 am

Big day today!! The horn is working and back to factory equipment and wiring.

There was also progress on the wheels/tires (rear tires were fit and now don’t rub) and the audio system (I put in a CD player and actually have tunes now).

Scroll up to the project post if you’d like to see how it went down. I sure learned a lot and there was so much information buried deep in The Samba. I’m so great full to have this resource.

Craig.

Fri Oct 31, 2025 12:12 pm

craigolio1 wrote: There was also progress on the ... audio system (I put in a CD player and actually have tunes now). That Alpine unit looks familiar; my photo doesn't belong in your thread, so here's a link if you're interested. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2111840.jpg

Fri Oct 31, 2025 1:19 pm

crocteau wrote: craigolio1 wrote: There was also progress on the ... audio system (I put in a CD player and actually have tunes now). That Alpine unit looks familiar; my photo doesn't belong in your thread, so here's a link if you're interested. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2111840.jpg

When I bought that head unit many years ago, I felt at the time that I was buying into one of the most respected brands in car audio. I had always wanted an Alpine. I’m glad I hung onto it for all these years. To be honest, I didn’t even remember that I had it.

Thank you very much for sharing your picture. I spent some time looking over it and I see a lot there that I really like. Your kick panels do not look like the aftermarket ones that you can buy. Did you custom make those? I also really like your instrument cluster. It’s very tastefully laid out with the gauges and kind of an upward curve versus the straight across that you see quite often. If the outside of your car looks anything like the inside, I imagine it’s stunning.

Fri Oct 31, 2025 1:45 pm

More progress today! I was able to get all of the instrument cluster lighting, working, and added an LED to the high beam indicator making it much more visible. Details in the thread above.

That’s all for today. Go Jays! And happy Halloween. Sorry to all the kids who are late but trick-or-treating is over at 8 o’clock, ha ha.

Craig.

Fri Oct 31, 2025 2:06 pm

Fantastic progress! It's nice to see such clean electrical repairs, very well done. Your Ghia is looking better every day. Keep the updates coming.

Fri Oct 31, 2025 4:01 pm

Loren wrote: Fantastic progress! It's nice to see such clean electrical repairs, very well done. Your Ghia is looking better every day. Keep the updates coming.

Thank you! I mentioned before that wiring is kind of my thing so I’m really having fun with this.

I snuck in a bit more progress before the kids started coming and got my dome light working. Details above!

Craig.

Sat Nov 08, 2025 6:39 am

Project 2: instrument cluster lights

At this time there is no instrument back lighting, the high beam indicator is missing (they do work), and the generator light keeps falling out.

I went shopping on the parts car and was able to collect a handful of the plastic holders and bulbs. After testing I found that all but two are working!

Update: Oct 31, 2025

Into the instrument cluster lighting today and it turns out the back lighting does work! It’s just really really dim. One bulb was missing so I replaced that. I also put a bulb behind the parking light indicator which I don’t really need, but I think lights are cool so I added it. And finally, I added a light to the high beam indicator. This one was really dim as in you could barely see it. In the picture it appears much brighter than in person.

I decided I would try and light it with an LED using the original light socket. To prove the idea, I used a socket that had one of the tabs broken off, so it wouldn’t stay permanently in the hole. For this project I needed a light holder, a 3 mm warm, white LED and a 1K resistor. In the lightbulb holder, I removed the positive contact by ripping it out with needle nose pliers. It broke into two pieces. Part came out the front, and part came out the back. I also used a small screwdriver to bend the remaining negative side contacts closer together.

For the LED, the negative, or an anode side, is the shorter leg. I bent that over itself three times to make a bulky leg that would be trapped in the remaining negative side connector.

This was inserted into the bulb holder with the positive, or cathode leg, sticking out the hole where the positive tab used to be. I trimmed it short and then soldered a 1K resistor to it. For soldering in a high impact environment, like a car, I always use silver bearing solder as it creates a much stronger joint.

I wrapped tape around that to secure it to the bulb holder, leaving the other end of the resistor free to be soldered on a male spade terminal.

I didn’t have a small size male spade terminal that would match the factory terminal so I modified a wider one to fit.

I removed the plastic on the outside of the connector, squished it flat and soldered that onto the exposed leg of the resistor. That was wrapped in tape again to secure it to the side of the bulb holder.

A test in the car yielded a much brighter indicator. Again difficult to see how accurate is here, but it is definitely brighter.

As I mentioned before I used a broken bulb holder for the test so I needed to make a new one that could actually stay in the car. For version 2.0 I decided to let the LED stick as far out of the holder as the legs would allow. So it’s about 1 cm closer to the lens.

Again, you won’t see much of a difference here, but I’ll post a photo anyway. It’s definitely the brightest of the three. I’m happy with this and will call this one done.

I’m considering upgrading the instrument lighting to LEDs in the same manner. Edit…. They are on a dimmer and will be pain with LEDs. After evaluating it in the dark I’m happy to leave that as is…. I might change the turn signal indicator to a green though. I’d just paint that with clear green paint.

Update Nov 12, 2025

Thanks to @ghiamanjc I was made aware of LED wedge bulbs available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/WLJH-Extremely-Dashboard-Instrument-Indicators/dp/B0798R76CR

I grabbed a pack and replaced the hi-beam LED I made. These are way better!!

A note to anyone who uses them… LEDs are polarity sensitive and I wondered if these were designed to be not polarity sensitive. Not so much. When I first put the bulb in it didn’t work. Flipping it the other way worked fine. And they don’t appear to be marked.

They come in multiple colours. I’m considering getting some green ones and seeing how the dash cluster looks illuminated in green. I think I’ll lose the ability to dim, but I don’t think I’ll mind as the cluster lights are dimly lit anyway.