'56 Tail light locations

[Jim Henderson]

I need advice on how to locate where to drill holes for the correct placement of snowflake tail lights on a '56. When I bought the car, it didn't have rear fenders and I replaced them with after market parts. THANKS!

[Pharquarx]

I can do this for you if you give me a day. My 56 is in the body shop and the rear fenders are painted, but with the lights unmounted. I will photo and measure tomorrow and post as I did for the location of the 56 front fender bullets. My rear fenders are also OG, so we know that the location is correct.

See my previous contribution under this link for the front fenders

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=268428
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Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[57 Rag]

Does it make a difference if you have a Euro beetle? Appears that it does to me anyway. The lights seem lower on those.
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57 Ragtop
84x94 86C
IDAs

[Jim Henderson]

Wow Charlie, that will take out the guess work. If you don't mind, also measure for the over rider supports because mine are different on each fender and I'm not sure which is correct (if either one is). I'm not in any rush, so take your time.
Jimmy

[Pharquarx]

At least you can see the photo of the rear fenders from my 56 bug. I will mark up dimensions to allow you to locate the holes for the rear tail lights and the bumper bracket and support and post tomorrow in a larger size. Color is Horizon Blue, single stage, color sanded and buffed, no clear coat or wax. Note too the ribbing on the fender to body surface between the bolt holes.

_________________
Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[BigHerc]

can you post the hole diameters also, thanks charlie

[Jim Henderson]

This might be a good way to acurately locate the center of the holes.

[Speedy]

use a square (or two) and measure from corners, squares are a common tool and anyone can get them at a hardware store.
_________________
pimp
_________________________________

Wanted:
A.J. Pierson VW Tag Frame - Orlando FL.
Original Solid Ragtop or Convertible Beetle In Central Florida!
(O\ ! /O)

[Pharquarx]

Jimmy,

I have a tracing and measurements. Again it is late, I will post everything tomorrow.

Charlie
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Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[Pharquarx]

Couldn't sleep, here we go. Reference the diagram above provided by Jim Henderson. These measurements I took off of my fenders were done with a tailor's tape and verified on a tracing, so they are actual dimensions, along the, and accounting for, the curve of the fender.

Blue Line dimension from the lower corner of the fender to the center of the large taillight hole = 15"
Blue Line dimension from the upper corner to the center of the large taillight hole = 6 3/4"
The large taillight hole is 1/2" diameter

Red line dimension from the lower corner of the fender to the center of the overrider hole = 7 3/8"
Red line dimension from the upper corner on the fender to the center of the overrider hole = 7"
The Horizontal dimension from the edge of the fender to the center of the overrider hole is 1 1/2"
The overrider hole diameter is 1"

Yellow line dimension from the lower corner of the fender to the center of the upper most tail light hole = 18 1/8"
Yellow line dimension from the upper corner on the fender to the center of the upper most taillight hole = 7 1/4"
The diameter of the upper most tail light hole is 3/8"

The middle tail light hole is located along a line between the lower larger tail light hole (intersection of the blue lines) and the upper most smaller tail light hole (intersection of the yellow lines)
The middle tail light hole (small lower one) is located 5/8" above the lower larger tail light hole (intersection of the blue lines) and 2 7/8 " below the upper most tail light hole (intersection of the yellow lines)
The distance between the center of the lower tail light hole (intersection of the blue lines) and the center of the upper most tail light hole (intersection of the yellow lines) is 3 1/2"
The diameter of the middle taillight hole is also 3/8"

Thanks to John at Sun Motors and especially to Jim Henderson with his markup above. I'm sure that I could have done this in a much more difficult way without their help.
_________________
Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[Pharquarx]

I checked everything again just to make sure.

Only one correction. The two upper tail light holes are 3/16" diameter, not 3/8" as previously posted.
_________________
Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[johnshenry]

[Jim Henderson]

Thanks Charlie!
This will be extremely helpful. If you could measure the white line, it would verify that my aftermarket fenders are stamped correctly, and if they are not, I can use your measurement to get an accurate triangulation using the top corner as the constant.

[Pharquarx]

John

I measure that dimension to be 14 1/4". That is consistent with my notes as well as the tracing that I took.

Hope this works for you, let me know if you need anything additional.
_________________
Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[Pharquarx]

Jim, I mean.
_________________
Charlie

Stock 67 Vert Under Restoration
1958 Lambretta TV175 Series 1
1957 Vespa Messerschmitt 150 GS
1951 Douglas Vespa Rod Type (First month of production!!!)
1970 Triumph T120R (Bonneville)
1950 Vincent Comet
1952 Moto Rumi Sport 125
1973 Ducati 750 Sport

[ian c]

[Jim Henderson]

Thanks to Charlie and everyone else who contributed to this guide. I went ahead and compiled all of the information into one printable photo. I hope this will help others as much as it has helped me! If you have anything else to add...please do. Merry Christmas!

[BigHerc]

drilled mine today and they look great thanks again charlie the bullets also came out good thanks for the easy to read diagrams Jim made it very easy and fast
merry christmas

[BigHerc]

oh and after market fenders are really bad, the 14.25 line was way off and the overider hole wasn't even close to 7.375 to the center, probably why the bumper brackets don't really line up not really sure what to do about that may have to find some og fenders

[glasiewski]

Would a 54 bug have tailights in the location as this? I also have to drill my aftermarket fenders with the correct location for tail lights.

Thanks!