"Spot light for illuminating heater levers..." ?

Boble

Hi,

Does anyone here have a close-up picture of this funny spotlight thing?

Never seen one, wonder what it looks like. Have searched, no pictures. Only inconsistent statements that they were of little use. Which makes it even more interresting... Very Happy

#20 on the picture below:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

torsionbar · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:20 pm Post subject:

yes, it's a small bulb on a swivel. my '79 super has it. it aims downward, towards the shifter and heater levers. it's very dim, so usefulness is limited, unless maybe you're inside a cave.
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Paul Wright · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject:

I was just fooling with mine last night. He is right, way too dim to be of any use. I was thinking of putting a LED in that spot. I would have to wire it to the lighting circuit tho cause I dont think the LED would work too good thru the rheostat used to control the brightness of the dash lights.
I can take a pic of mine when I get home.
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Redvolk65 · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:05 pm Post subject:

I used a 99 cent clip and work fine no mess with wires lol

them

19super73 · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:17 pm Post subject:

Most useful when you are on the highway at night, not so much in town.
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1970 Campmobile [url=https://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-47260.png]Click to view image[/URL]
1970 Fastback 1600 TL
1971 Doka [url=https://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-14845.png]Click to view image[/URL]
1973 Super Beetle
1973 Westfalia [url=https://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-31892.png]Click to view image[/URL]
1974 412 Variant
1975 La Grande Bug
1984 Vanagon

gt1953 · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:21 pm Post subject:

The heater levers are stationary, unless you grab lever it stays in place. I adjust mine by feel anyway. That little light is or was agreat idea at the time but really worthless.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

olspeed · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:

Joel · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:26 pm Post subject:

It was just a stupid US regulation at the time, the heater controls had to be illuminated

Standard bug

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HankScorpio · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:29 pm Post subject:

Unless you're going for an all original restore I'd recommend trying to improve on the original with the LED spotlight or some dim back-lighting under the levers
If you're going to "customize" your car with lighting. I'd say extra ambient (dim) lightning on anything you might use in the dark is a good idea as long as the lights aren't so bright that they distract from the view of the road. Orange and red lights are usually good choices.

My 06' Mini has lighted interior door handles which is an amazingly good simple idea. Who hasn't been in a car where the passenger fumbles around for the door handle getting out in the dark?

I'd even go as far to say Scion's LED cup holder are not a stupid option. If you can see the cup holder you're probably less likely to spill

68IHscout · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:39 pm Post subject:

Have mine in my 74sb,it didn't work but one day I decided to mess with it,the bub was burnt out so I replaced it ,still didn't work so I left it alone , and one night it decided to work ,its worthles really but its nice that at least it works now ,...I have a led flashlight in glove box just incase ...

Boble · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject:

Boble · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:06 pm Post subject:

Did some more searches, and found a nice guy here on samba that had one for sale. Bought it. Just need that stupid thing in my car, for the historic aspects of things.

Thanks again for the contributions here - like always, this forum is a great asset!

jhvw1976 · Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 4:36 pm Post subject:

back in high school I would just slide the bulb cover off and it would illuminate under the dash quite nicely. The bulb never got too hot and just kinda hung from the front of the mount. You could notice it looking in from outside. I'd only use it when I needed it, easy to pop on and off by feel.
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CarlIseminger · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:00 am Post subject:

Actually, it wasn't meant to illumnitate the "heater" levers. The US Regulation stated that all DEFROST systems had to be labeled and at night, be visible with some sort of light. This was also the reason for the yellow knobs with the wording printed on them. We drivers were starting to become "dumber" and the US regulators wanted us idiots to be able to find these things in an unfamilier car.

PaRacer · Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:47 pm Post subject:

I thought that light was put there in case you had to stop and "roll one"! Cool

In the good ole' days, of course!

andk5591 · Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:24 am Post subject:

The LED license plate bolts that illuminate the plate are waay cool for easy additional lighting. I have a pair on my windshield header to augment the dome light.
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marchanel · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject: Light

This is a light I found in the glove box of our bug. Maybe serves the same function?

Brian Allen

I finally found one for my standard 73 Beetle at a junkyard. I was aware of them because I also own a 74 Super but was unsure of where it went. I wondered what those 2 little holes under the dash were for, now I know. And the light, though dim and kind of useless does an admiral job of plugging those holes up.

Tim Donahoe

That light works in my 1974 Super Beetle, but it’s a silly little thing that doesn’t really do squat. When my light burns out, it won’t make much difference. Still, we like to keep things stock.

Tim
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FreeBug

I'd never seen one of those, they were never used in Europe as far as I know.

If you have to look down at your levers to know what you're doing, you probably shouldn't be driving...

And how does lighting something up increase safety? Wouldn't you be tempted do things by sight rather than by feel? Those are moments your eyes are off the road...

And same for other uses of the light...if you can't roll a doobie in the dark, you probably should't be rolling doobies. And if you can't roll one while driving, using your knees to aim the car, you're life expectancy just went up!


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