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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:18 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Thanks Sput!
I am confused a bit — so the hardware on the car is different than what is required by the European headlights?
Here’s what we’ve got:
_________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12815 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:50 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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These fine Ghia enthusiasts just love making you spend money _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:51 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Oh, the only thing I mind is buying something that I have to turn around and try to sell because its not right. _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:39 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Blue/white wire connected:
To be continued... Stay tuned! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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sputnick60 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007 Posts: 3907 Location: In Molinya Orbit
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:18 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Trylon wrote: |
Thanks Sput!
I am confused a bit — so the hardware on the car is different than what is required by the European headlights? |
Three types of head lights existed, two are appropriate for your car. You show the early seal beam style. Just buy a matching pair of sealed beams.Maybe buy Hella or Bosch to keep the german theme, otherwise anything of US manufacture will be fine to use. You can clean up the other bits to make them look a bit fresher.
You would have seen these diagrams in the parts book...
Euro headlight- not usually on US delivery cars. Can be fitted to your car but expensive
Both sealed headlight types, the upper type is appropriate for a US delivery lowlight. This is the type fitted to your car
Nicholas _________________ '66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
Last edited by sputnick60 on Sat Apr 24, 2021 5:54 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Thanks for all the information Sput.
Again, in the interest of getting on the road, let’s postpone changes. Gotta leave something else to do for this winter.
On another note—
Driving to our PR place and saw my first one in the wild (barring those I saw as a kid):
Almost had an accident I was so excited! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Marcdeb Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2019 Posts: 3009 Location: Vermont
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:12 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Trylon wrote: |
Thanks for all the information Sput.
Again, in the interest of getting on the road, let’s postpone changes. Gotta leave something else to do for this winter.
On another note—
Driving to our PR place and saw my first one in the wild (barring those I saw as a kid):
Almost had an accident I was so excited! |
Yup, siting's here in Vermont are even more rare. Two summers ago, I went by what turned out to be a 68 Beetle driving down the road. First one in quite a long time. I found out later it was for sale and I test drove it. It was only the 2nd time ever that I drove an air cooled VW. _________________ Marc
68 Karmann Ghia Cabrio Autostick
71 Karmann Ghia Cabrio
Previously Owned:
2011 VW EOS Hard Top Conv
2008 Saab 9-3 2.0T Conv
2003 Saab 9-3 SE Conv
2001 Saab 9-3 Conv
1998 BMW 3 Series Conv
1997 Saab 900 Conv
1997 Mazda Miata
68 Ghia Vert Survivor with 22,350 miles: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768107&highlight=
71 Ghia Vert Restoration: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=726710&postorder=asc |
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Loren Samba Member
Joined: January 10, 2004 Posts: 1694
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Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:58 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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I would stick with the US style headlights, especially for now. You might consider using LED headlight bulbs since they will be much brighter and you might want to run them during daylight driving too (if so you might consider installing a buzzer to remind you to turn them off when you park the Ghia). |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9602 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:22 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Those Hellas can work fine, but too bad the ad leaves out some vital information: Lens shape and bulb wattage. Many Euro-style headlamp lenses, especially H4's are FLAT instead of rounded. Seeing that style is important to you, having a flat lens disrupts the natural curvature profile of the fender compared to the traditional rounded lens when viewed from the side.
The most prevalent H4 bulb rating is 55 watts, whereby higher-powered bulbs can be bought that go up to 100 watts. The 55 watts is usually fully sufficient in output and are indeed a big improvement on sealed-beam type filaments. Although many people can say that H4 is outdated technology and to substitute an LED bulb conversion, the LED light is too "modern" looking and the light output too "white" compared to the H4 for a vintage car IMO.
As an alternative, on my '64 Ghia I installed a pair of Sylvania Halogen lamps over 30 years ago. Those are still sealed beam, meaning that the 3-prong wiring connector to the lamps goes directly to the integral bulb instead of the H4's removable bulb holder. The light output is very good, though in the past many years I've not driven at night anymore. And the lenses are curved... |
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Loren Samba Member
Joined: January 10, 2004 Posts: 1694
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 12:23 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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How about these:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1934150
They will have a much whiter light than the original bulbs, but they look stock and will be nice and bright. Maybe someone has some experience with this sell and bulb that they can share???? |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 5:07 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Random find down a dead end street in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Link
_________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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So where were we...
Have decided, since we have a hard date for the vintage car parade, I will focus on rewiring and interior assembly to give us the best chance to make it.
So, for instance, I will not be making decisions and dealing with headlight options. This will make a great winter project. As will many other things that I intend to gloss over for now.
Tested high and low on a headlight just because I can:
Also tested the odd ground wires in the headlight buckets by checking for continuity between them. They are grounded.
Don’t have the female spade terminals required for the headlights so have ordered some (after many measurements and much searching). Why do I think they will still be the wrong thing?
The car has been up on stands as I worked on it to make it a bit easier to access. Lowered it and loosened the lug nuts to get the wheels off (after putting it back on stands) for accessing the brake light terminals on the master cylinder.
Clearly the wiring harness is for a single cylinder— I am thinking that I can just daisy chain the two and get the same result but what do I know. Will investigate.
Great to be back! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 4:54 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Thinking about it, it seems that the two cylinders have to be wired in parallel.
That means I am going to have to supply another pair of wires and connect them to the other ends of the pair that is there already. I’m thinking that the third terminal on the switches has to do with some test light found in later Ghias.
Am I on the right track? _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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VeloMikey Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2012 Posts: 646 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 8:40 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Plug the port closest to the fire wall and use a standard two wire screw terminal brake light switch in the front port. You can use the old brake light switch as a plug but it won't look clean and could develop a leak in the future. _________________ '58 Ghia 2387cc with a Berg / Folts 5 Speed
Ghia Build Thread https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768748 |
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Trylon Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2019 Posts: 4853 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 8:55 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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VeloMikey wrote: |
Plug the port closest to the fire wall and use a standard two wire screw terminal brake light switch in the front port. You can use the old brake light switch as a plug but it won't look clean and could develop a leak in the future. |
Interesting plan. Seems that brake lights will fail when front cylinder does. Guess this is not really significant given that the second I realized the brakes were not functioning fully I would pull off the road and have it towed!
Let me look into switches and plugs. I take it that I will have to drain first and bleed the brakes after.
Thanks for the direction! _________________ 1973 Porsche 914 2.0
1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
1973 Volkswagen Bus
1970 MGB-GT
1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire
More tomfoolery on
The Karmann Ghia Fever YouTube Channel! |
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PeteSC Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2011 Posts: 881
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 11:06 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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I abandoned using my booster switches to power my brake lights altogether and went with this:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2140061
I know it's not the 100% stock you're after, but for a car that's driven often I love that I have instant brake lights as soon as I touch the pedal and none of the pressure-activated lag that comes with the booster switch.
Last edited by PeteSC on Mon May 03, 2021 11:10 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Vladiiiii Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2019 Posts: 518 Location: Munich, Germany
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 11:10 am Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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I'm in the exact same boat, can second on that
And as a small bonus, nice to hear that satisfying click every time you touch the pedal
Vlad _________________ Vlad's 72 Ghia (Once in a Lifetime Restoration topic)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9237746#9237746 |
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jeffrey8164 Samba Member
Joined: January 06, 2018 Posts: 3804 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 12:20 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Trylon wrote: |
Thinking about it, it seems that the two cylinders have to be wired in parallel.
That means I am going to have to supply another pair of wires and connect them to the other ends of the pair that is there already. I’m thinking that the third terminal on the switches has to do with some test light found in later Ghias.
Am I on the right track? |
Yes. Later Ghias have a “B” button on the dash. When you push it, it lights up letting you know the brake light circuit works and if one of the brake circuits has no pressure it will light up when you press the brakes. Note: If you have chineseum switches like I do they may light up the “B” button every time you apply the brake. I’ve decided that it’s a good indicator of when the brake lights are on. And yes. Both switches are in parallel. _________________ Volkswagen!
Turning owners into mechanics since 1938.
“Let he that is without oil throw the first rod”
(Compression 8.7:1) |
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VeloMikey Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2012 Posts: 646 Location: So Cal
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2021 12:51 pm Post subject: Re: '59 Karmann Ghia fever |
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Trylon wrote: |
VeloMikey wrote: |
Plug the port closest to the fire wall and use a standard two wire screw terminal brake light switch in the front port. You can use the old brake light switch as a plug but it won't look clean and could develop a leak in the future. |
Interesting plan. Seems that brake lights will fail when front cylinder does. Guess this is not really significant given that the second I realized the brakes were not functioning fully I would pull off the road and have it towed!
Let me look into switches and plugs. I take it that I will have to drain first and bleed the brakes after.
Thanks for the direction! |
Put a rag under it and pull out the switch then replace with the plug. Bleed brakes if necessary. _________________ '58 Ghia 2387cc with a Berg / Folts 5 Speed
Ghia Build Thread https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=768748 |
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