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Lars S
Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2007
Posts: 786
Location: Sweden
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 Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:13 am Post subject: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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Clip below is from "1973 VW Product Changes Brochure", it says that there should be spotlights from under the dash illuminating the heater levers...never seen that...do they mean light from the auto stick lever box or did this never happen...?
///Lars S
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Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver 
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold 
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold |
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21520
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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The heater lever spotlight was mainly used on cars with "M" # M553...US and Canada.
Its really a cool little part. It has a rubber bracket that is held onto the body with a single sheet metal screw....right above of below the dash blower assembly on its centerline.
It is a rice grain lamp bulb identical to what goes in the instruments. It has a little lens that is a ball socket kind of like on airplane seats...and its tiny. Maybe a 6-7mm light aperture and the whole lamp assembly is about 14mm in diameter.
I will try to get you pictures of mine.
Ray |
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Pepperbilly
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Joined: April 08, 2017
Posts: 977
Location: Seattle, Wa
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| Posted: Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:24 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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Ray is exactly correct. My USA ‘73 wagon has this. I always thought it was kind of a joke though. Very small and not very bright unless it is a very dark situation. Not sure why VW thought this was needed.
Bill |
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Lars S
Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2007
Posts: 786
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 4:44 am Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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Thanks guys...a other 411/412 mysterium revield...
/Lars S
_________________
Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold |
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21520
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 7:22 am Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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| Pepperbilly wrote: |
Ray is exactly correct. My USA ‘73 wagon has this. I always thought it was kind of a joke though. Very small and not very bright unless it is a very dark situation. Not sure why VW thought this was needed.
Bill |
I know its odd.
But its one of those things that if my car had it, I wanted it to work correctly. Back when I drove my car as a daily driver, this little spotlight was annoying because It took me a little while to get it working properly.
1. It uses the same lamps as the instruments. Those I always considered slightly too dim at the wattage the factory installed.
. Later on I found that there were higher wattage bulbs that could be bought. Of course I am picky and will not tolerate overly bright instruments like some American cars that cannot get it right.....adjustment wise.
This spotlight had the same problem. Needed a brighter bulb.
2. The little rubber bracket. You cannot get the screw too tight or you will damage the bracket. Get it too loose and the spotlight migrates with driving vibration and is pointing in the wrong direction.
3. In places with alternating very hot and decently cold climates over the years .....the plastic on either the ball or socket assembly slowly wears a small amount.....and there is no friction on the ball to allow it to keep its aim. Within a short time of driving.....the aim changes.
4. The short wiring pigtail and those crappy 2mm-ish fuel injection female connectors were always an issue keeping it connected.
Really.....I never considered it useful as a "heater lever spotlight"......not because it did not work once you got it adjusted and got something like a 2.2 watt bulb into it.....but because it was not NEEDED as a "heater lever" spotlight.
When you drive these cars on a regular basis.....a very quick reach down to that area tells you everything you need by feel......main lever up/on or down/off....selector lever down or up for windshield or floor.
What it was useful for was somewhat for seat position knobs and seatbelt recepticles.......but mainly to see if my drink was secure next to the emergency brake 
Over the years I collected a handful of these because they were hard to find. I think they were used on some type 3 and on some other cars.
I always liked them as small spotlights ....because they could be good to produce a small amount of light on a specific spot.....without actually being visible from another direction and being a distraction. .....and thought they would be more useful.....say.....mounted in a door panel and pointing down into the door pocket......or even a couple of them in the trunk to help locate things at night......or actually under the drivers seat to point at the battery terminals........and most importantly......one pointing at the fuse panel that is direct wired to the battery ao it will always work when the main fuse blows and absolutely NOTHING works......which happened to me a few times and almost got me killed on e!
All of this.....remebering that back in the 90s and early 2000's.....we did not yet have LED flashlights with great batteries. It was hard to keep a working flashlight in the car unless you really kept up with it.
One of the coolest lights I found.....was a map light that was installed behind the rear view mirror on my Saab 900. It was small and rectangular and made my Hella....and moved on a ball....and had roughly the same bulb as our dome lights. I cut one out of a wreck and still have it.
Ray |
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Lars S
Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2007
Posts: 786
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 8:01 am Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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In fact the 73 and 74 user (US) manual mentions the spotlight.
Possibly this lamp was more required in the US where there was text on the white heater lever knobs (required for US safety rules?) while in most other markets the knobs were just round and black.
/Lars S
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_________________
Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold |
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vwfye
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Joined: April 15, 2000
Posts: 7661
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| Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 11:01 am Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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My 74 had one, but I never realized what it was aimed at.
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64 No'back Speedster "Pearl"
1980s Sand Dragster "The Plunger"
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sjbartnik
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Joined: September 01, 2011
Posts: 5998
Location: Brooklyn
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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| Pepperbilly wrote: |
Ray is exactly correct. My USA ‘73 wagon has this. I always thought it was kind of a joke though. Very small and not very bright unless it is a very dark situation. Not sure why VW thought this was needed.
Bill |
It's not that VW thought it was needed (indeed if VW thought it was needed they would have done it in all markets) but rather there was a USA regulation that went into effect in 1973 that the defroster controls must be illuminated when the headlights/dash lights are on. VW came up with the cheapest/easiest way to meet the regulation.
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Pepperbilly
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Joined: April 08, 2017
Posts: 977
Location: Seattle, Wa
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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That makes perfect sense. Rules and regulations always pushed the auto manufacturers to do legal things, especially in the US.
Bill |
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raygreenwood
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Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21520
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 9:35 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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Some views of a spotlight. Sorry it so filthy. It was in one of my special parts boxes. I have a few of them.
I always liked these. I had no idea for years that it was a spotlight for the heater levers. Its really too far away for that and to constricted.
Just like the dash lights (same bulbs) you can put a higher wattage brighter light in it.
I always wanted a few more for other things in the car. Never (yet) got around for installing them. I did a lot of night driving and was a stickler for getting rid of extraneous, distracting bright lights anywhere in the car. For a while I had a hazard light without the little dimming shade inside teh knob and it drove me nuts. I would catch "red light" out of the corner of my eye. Red is not good.
Its not that they are bad little spotlights for really low level light needed in areas. Jut that its a bad location if one really one to use it for heater lever illumination.
Ray |
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Lars S
Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2007
Posts: 786
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:39 pm Post subject: Re: Spotlights for heater levers on 412? |
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Intresting to see Ray, many thanks for sharing!
/Lars S
_________________
Porsche 914 -72, Bahia Red daily driver
VW411 2-d -70, White, sold
VW412 4-d, -73, Gold Metallic, daily driver
Suzuki T500, -69, Candy Gold, sold
Suzuki K50, -77, Black, daily driver
BMW R69S -69, White, sold
Husqvarna 118cc, -47, Black, Sold |
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