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Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 09:59:57
I've read on other threads that several people have fitted these. Where can I get some from and how much do they cost? Cheers, Malc

Posted by: tman - 29 May 2009 11:40:00
I got mine from a chap called Peter Nielsen. They were 75euros plus 10euros shipping to the UK. I'll PM you with his email address shortly. [ATTACH]3127[/Attach] [ATTACH]3128[/Attach] [ATTACH]3129[/Attach] [ATTACH]3130[/Attach]

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 12:43:17
Thanks Andrew, That sounds quite reasonable, I'll drop Peter an email. :d

Posted by: mrmagyar - 29 May 2009 13:56:29
Hi, My friend and I bought some of these for our ovals (a '55 and a '54) and to be blunt they're a complete waste of money. For a start they don't fit properly; the horizontal bracket which the tail-light housing screws to is far too low so it's impossible to align. The holes in the contacts posts are far too small for the bared cable ends and had to be drilled out. Because these posts are just very thin-walled hollow brass and are screwed to the brackets they break easily and strip their threads. In the end I had to use most of my old brackets and just drill out the twin filament bulb holders from the new ones and pop-rivet them to the old brackets. In my opinion it would be better to find a twin-filament bulb holder from a later VW or buy some from Auto Electrical Supplies for about 75p each (which have the correct screw terminals) and modify them to fit on the oval brackets.

Posted by: mrmagyar - 29 May 2009 13:56:29

Hi, My friend and I bought some of these for our ovals (a '55 and a '54) and to be blunt they're a complete waste of money. For a start they don't fit properly; the horizontal bracket which the tail-light housing screws to is far too low so it's impossible to align. The holes in the contacts posts are far too small for the bared cable ends and had to be drilled out. Because these posts are just very thin-walled hollow brass and are screwed to the brackets they break easily and strip their threads. In the end I had to use most of my old brackets and just drill out the twin filament bulb holders from the new ones and pop-rivet them to the old brackets. In my opinion it would be better to find a twin-filament bulb holder from a later VW or buy some from Auto Electrical Supplies for about 75p each (which have the correct screw terminals) and modify them to fit on the oval brackets.

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 14:19:18
That doesn't sound good! Did you have similar problems with yours Andrew? :? :?

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 14:56:02
We have had issues with ours. They have to be contorted into shape and the screw that holds on the shell does not want to sit squarely. Also, on 6v with the indicator under a red lense (heart) it is extremely hard to see it in the daytime. We plan on mounting seperate indicators on all four corners becasue they are really useless as an indicator. This is even after installing relays to give the flasher relays a good 6v power source, not through the 50 year old semaphore switch! :wink: However, we did not have the problems of the wires not wanting to sit in the termninals, perhaps they were changed after the flaw was found? :?: One problem we do have is that the captive nut that the screw for the shell holds onto came lose and I am having to Araldite it into palce otherwise the shell cannot be tighted on! :roll: Sorry, these are all quite big pictures but they have to be to show the detail! :wink: :oops: Here is a shot of the bracket on the car. This is the one with the broken off captive nut hence why the shell is off! :lol: [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts001.jpg?t=1243601392[/img] This shows where the captive nut has become lose. The red arrow shows it held on only by the screw! :wink: [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts002.jpg?t=1243601522[/img] This photo shows the housing on the other side, on and complete. However it took over half and hour of a lot of force to get it sat this well due to the bracket being a bit big on one side, the means that where the arrow is pointing you can see it not sat perfectly in the seal! :roll: :? [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts004.jpg?t=1243601653[/img]

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 14:56:02

We have had issues with ours. They have to be contorted into shape and the screw that holds on the shell does not want to sit squarely. Also, on 6v with the indicator under a red lense (heart) it is extremely hard to see it in the daytime. We plan on mounting seperate indicators on all four corners becasue they are really useless as an indicator. This is even after installing relays to give the flasher relays a good 6v power source, not through the 50 year old semaphore switch! :wink: However, we did not have the problems of the wires not wanting to sit in the termninals, perhaps they were changed after the flaw was found? :?: One problem we do have is that the captive nut that the screw for the shell holds onto came lose and I am having to Araldite it into palce otherwise the shell cannot be tighted on! :roll: Sorry, these are all quite big pictures but they have to be to show the detail! :wink: :oops: Here is a shot of the bracket on the car. This is the one with the broken off captive nut hence why the shell is off! :lol: [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts001.jpg?t=1243601392[/img] This shows where the captive nut has become lose. The red arrow shows it held on only by the screw! :wink: [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts002.jpg?t=1243601522[/img] This photo shows the housing on the other side, on and complete. However it took over half and hour of a lot of force to get it sat this well due to the bracket being a bit big on one side, the means that where the arrow is pointing you can see it not sat perfectly in the seal! :roll: :? [img]https://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww119/VWShowsPhotos/Random/hearts004.jpg?t=1243601653[/img]

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 15:09:04
This is a video of ours to show how dim the heart indicators are. This is however with the original red lenses (you can get orange, yuk!) which wont help! :wink: :? This is having watched it a bit kind to it really and when your in a car behind im sure they are about as useless as semaphores! :roll: :lol: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raf2GXU9WSo[/youtube]

Posted by: GKL 7 - 29 May 2009 15:26:41
Don't sound great to me. Gertie you have a colour co-ordinated wheelie bin:wink:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 15:30:01
[quote='50 Karmann]Don't sound great to me. Gertie you have a colour co-ordinated wheelie bin:wink: [/quote] Yes, the council came round with different colour bins to suit the car on the drive! :wink:

Posted by: 55Kab - 29 May 2009 17:09:31
Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol:

Posted by: 55Kab - 29 May 2009 17:09:31

Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 17:15:49
[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol: [/quote] We though of LEDs and may still do it but with the red lenses it doesnt really work! And to protect the car and its passengers, as said above, we plan on fitting small indicators on all four corners! :wink: [img]https://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/f2images/upgrades%20images/bulletindicator.jpg[/img] We have got 6v LEDs in the trailer wiring and the tail lights have never been a big issue as we are always towing a trailer! :roll: :lol: And, um, standard cars beat modified ones! Fact! [-x :lol: How will you be indicating at the front? :wink: Anyway, im off out in a minute to go and battle with the right hand side heart and pray to god that the Araldite has set! :lol:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 17:15:49

[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol: [/quote] We though of LEDs and may still do it but with the red lenses it doesnt really work! And to protect the car and its passengers, as said above, we plan on fitting small indicators on all four corners! :wink: [img]https://www.f2motorcycles.ltd.uk/f2images/upgrades%20images/bulletindicator.jpg[/img] We have got 6v LEDs in the trailer wiring and the tail lights have never been a big issue as we are always towing a trailer! :roll: :lol: And, um, standard cars beat modified ones! Fact! [-x :lol: How will you be indicating at the front? :wink: Anyway, im off out in a minute to go and battle with the right hand side heart and pray to god that the Araldite has set! :lol:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 17:38:00
[quote=54 Gertie] Anyway, im off out in a minute to go and battle with the right hand side heart and pray to god that the Araldite has set! :lol: [/quote] Please dear god dont buy these! :twisted: I just tried for the fifth time and the Araldite wont stick and there is no way of getting the heart on! :cry: :roll: Superglue anyone? :shock:

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 17:57:03
[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol: [/quote] Hi Martin, I AM concerned about safety, and I want to get an mot asap so need some brake lights you can see! If there was an 'off the shelf' led solution, I'd go for that but, I don't want to spend forever developing a solution of my own at the moment, just after a quick fix. :d

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 17:57:03

[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. Heart lights and 6v were fine in the fifties but or course, they're not today and anyone that thinks they are is kidding themselves. Besides the obvious upgrate to 12v which would help the illuminosity put out by the lights, why don't you change the whole of the rear face to LED's??? Look here as an example: (and I think this guy did it in 6v!) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=265165&highlight=led and here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240612&highlight=led It's what I'm doing to the Cabrio. For looks I want to keep the hearts, of course, but will make them as safe as possible. The rear face will have LED's, the heart will have a 21w indicator bulb and both the rear face and heart will eluminate together depending on whether you're braking, indicating etc. Think outside the box guys! :lol: :lol: [/quote] Hi Martin, I AM concerned about safety, and I want to get an mot asap so need some brake lights you can see! If there was an 'off the shelf' led solution, I'd go for that but, I don't want to spend forever developing a solution of my own at the moment, just after a quick fix. :d

Posted by: mrsherbie - 29 May 2009 20:30:47
[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. [/quote] RUBBISH. Thats your opinion not fact. I drove my 50 to Camberg with 6v and standard bulbs like most of the other attendees to that show and other stock shows like it. Our 356 is the same. Neither have seatbelts either, and that is about the only update that I think is actually important and worth doing, but we wont be doing it to ours. No our lights are not particularly bright :lol: but thats just an old car for you and personal choices over how correct you want your car to be or not. Nothing more. At the same time I dont think the slightly modified light brackets are exactly deviating from stock that much as they dont make anything look different visually. I dont want them myself, but I can see perfectly well why lots of people do. I think adding the small extra lights/flashers is always the best idea, 'add on's' are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact :d Its that old argument and guess what, the stockers win every time because whether you want to admit it or not, its a fact floor scraping cars with narrow beams drive like POO! have a ridiculously rubbish turning circle bump and scrape the living hell out of the beam and pan and wear the rear tyres only on their edges! Tyre contact with the road IS HUGELY important from a safety aspect, but that does'nt seem to bother any resto'ers, so dont start preaching about safety!! :shock: ...But if 'looks' are more important than ride quality and safety than thats your choice to go resto. All I do know is that my 50 just flew through its MOT again with old original stock mechanicals. You really should know better by now, especially posting this here on [i]this[/i] forum :lol:

Posted by: mrsherbie - 29 May 2009 20:30:47

[quote=55Kab]Have to say this made me laugh! :lol: All you buffers are so keen on originality that you are willing to jeopordise the safety of your car and it's passengers. It's examples like this which are prime cases of where a modified car beats a standard one. [/quote] RUBBISH. Thats your opinion not fact. I drove my 50 to Camberg with 6v and standard bulbs like most of the other attendees to that show and other stock shows like it. Our 356 is the same. Neither have seatbelts either, and that is about the only update that I think is actually important and worth doing, but we wont be doing it to ours. No our lights are not particularly bright :lol: but thats just an old car for you and personal choices over how correct you want your car to be or not. Nothing more. At the same time I dont think the slightly modified light brackets are exactly deviating from stock that much as they dont make anything look different visually. I dont want them myself, but I can see perfectly well why lots of people do. I think adding the small extra lights/flashers is always the best idea, 'add on's' are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact :d Its that old argument and guess what, the stockers win every time because whether you want to admit it or not, its a fact floor scraping cars with narrow beams drive like POO! have a ridiculously rubbish turning circle bump and scrape the living hell out of the beam and pan and wear the rear tyres only on their edges! Tyre contact with the road IS HUGELY important from a safety aspect, but that does'nt seem to bother any resto'ers, so dont start preaching about safety!! :shock: ...But if 'looks' are more important than ride quality and safety than thats your choice to go resto. All I do know is that my 50 just flew through its MOT again with old original stock mechanicals. You really should know better by now, especially posting this here on [i]this[/i] forum :lol:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 21:20:29
[quote=mrsherbie] I dont want them myself, [/quote] Cant say I blame you after the trouble ive had! :? However, we plan to make the heart brake light, and the lower lense brake/tail when we put on the external indicators. This was there is no chance of getting rear ended, again! :roll: :wink:

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 21:52:07
[quote=54 Gertie] Cant say I blame you after the trouble ive had! :? However, we plan to make the heart brake light, and the lower lense brake/tail when we put on the external indicators. This was there is no chance of getting rear ended, again! :roll: :wink: [/quote] That's what I'm planning too, with the addition of a high-level brake light in the rear window!

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 29 May 2009 22:01:03
[quote=VW Stan] That's what I'm planning too, with the addition of a high-level brake light in the rear window![/quote] Thats a good idea, suppose it could be made removable with a long cable and suction cups! :wink:

Posted by: VW Stan - 29 May 2009 22:20:40
[quote=54 Gertie] Thats a good idea, suppose it could be made removable with a long cable and suction cups! :wink: [/quote] As if by magic! [url=https://www.brakeflasher.com/brake.htm]https://www.brakeflasher.com/brake.htm[/url] :wink: [img]https://www.brakeflasher.com/led_brake_light_3.jpg[/img]

Posted by: tman - 30 May 2009 00:55:44
I couldn't really spend much time composing a proper post here earlier today because I was at work! :oops: I think everything has already pretty much been covered by now. The quality of the dual-filament brackets is not perfect, but when you consider the time that must have been spent making them versus the 75euro price tag then they are pretty good value IMO. I'm with the "majority" here... use them for the dual filament stop/tail light and supplement the stop light with a secondary bulb in the heart section. As an indicator, which was my original intention for these, I seriously doubt their value. I'm going to stick my neck out a little and say that the neat aftermarket amber lenses, offered on here for a very reasonable sum I hasten to add, do appeal to me but I don't think that changing the 18W heart flasher to amber is enough to grab the attention of today's road users. :( There are LED "festoon" 6v LED stop/tail lamps available. I had previously dismissd them because the majority of our use is as a sideways-viewed trailer lamp and the only 6v LED lamps were designed to be used end-on. I'll see if I can dig out links and post them here because they should be handy for rearward-facing heart applications. Malc: I love the idea of a high-vis LED brake warning light. As Will pointed out, we were very mildly rear-ended in our '55 last summer and I still get flashbacks to this day while [i]heavy[/i] braking! :shock: I'm thinking about rigging some Heath-Robinson affair that runs from a pair of AA batteries wirelessly hooked up to the brake light system. Having said that, it might just be easier running a wire from the brake lights - open to suggestions on how to run the wire! :d

Posted by: tman - 30 May 2009 00:55:44

I couldn't really spend much time composing a proper post here earlier today because I was at work! :oops: I think everything has already pretty much been covered by now. The quality of the dual-filament brackets is not perfect, but when you consider the time that must have been spent making them versus the 75euro price tag then they are pretty good value IMO. I'm with the "majority" here... use them for the dual filament stop/tail light and supplement the stop light with a secondary bulb in the heart section. As an indicator, which was my original intention for these, I seriously doubt their value. I'm going to stick my neck out a little and say that the neat aftermarket amber lenses, offered on here for a very reasonable sum I hasten to add, do appeal to me but I don't think that changing the 18W heart flasher to amber is enough to grab the attention of today's road users. :( There are LED "festoon" 6v LED stop/tail lamps available. I had previously dismissd them because the majority of our use is as a sideways-viewed trailer lamp and the only 6v LED lamps were designed to be used end-on. I'll see if I can dig out links and post them here because they should be handy for rearward-facing heart applications. Malc: I love the idea of a high-vis LED brake warning light. As Will pointed out, we were very mildly rear-ended in our '55 last summer and I still get flashbacks to this day while [i]heavy[/i] braking! :shock: I'm thinking about rigging some Heath-Robinson affair that runs from a pair of AA batteries wirelessly hooked up to the brake light system. Having said that, it might just be easier running a wire from the brake lights - open to suggestions on how to run the wire! :d

Posted by: VW Stan - 30 May 2009 01:12:05
I've ordered some 6 volt LED 380 bulbs, standard twin filament bulbs and bulb holders and, as the 'off the shelf' solution brackets don't seem too good, I'm gonna have a go at making my own (if I can find some cheap-ish original brackets or repros). :d

Posted by: tman - 30 May 2009 01:48:03
I must say that our early '55 oval came to us with incomplete later '55 brackets with snowflake lights, so we were compelled to do 'something'. If I was offered a decent set of OG heart brackets at a fair (whatever that is) price I might be tempted - I'm sure it's not too difficult to jerry-rig stop/tail. I'll have my early parts [i]hawk[/i] with me at Stonor this weekend looking out for a set of OG ones! :lol:

Posted by: tman - 30 May 2009 01:48:03

I must say that our early '55 oval came to us with incomplete later '55 brackets with snowflake lights, so we were compelled to do 'something'. If I was offered a decent set of OG heart brackets at a fair (whatever that is) price I might be tempted - I'm sure it's not too difficult to jerry-rig stop/tail. I'll have my early parts [i]hawk[/i] with me at Stonor this weekend looking out for a set of OG ones! :lol:

Posted by: 55Kab - 30 May 2009 09:34:24
[quote=mrsherbie] RUBBISH. Thats your opinion not fact. I drove my 50 to Camberg with 6v and standard bulbs like most of the other attendees to that show and other stock shows like it. Our 356 is the same. Neither have seatbelts either, and that is about the only update that I think is actually important and worth doing, but we wont be doing it to ours. I think adding the small extra lights/flashers is always the best idea, 'add on's' are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact :d Its that old argument and guess what, the stockers win every time because whether you want to admit it or not, its a fact floor scraping cars with narrow beams drive like POO! have a ridiculously rubbish turning circle bump and scrape the living hell out of the beam and pan and wear the rear tyres only on their edges! Tyre contact with the road IS HUGELY important from a safety aspect, but that does'nt seem to bother any resto'ers, so dont start preaching about safety!! :shock: ...But if 'looks' are more important than ride quality and safety than thats your choice to go resto. [/quote] Thought that would prove controversial, I love it! :lol: :lol: :beer: However, it's not rubbish Anna. Just because you drove to Camberg and back without a problem doesn't make the use of small 6v powered rear lights ideal. As Andrew confirms above, he has already suffered a mild rear ender where I'd lay money on the person behind not recognising he was stopping. You say you think adding the small extra lights/flashers is the best idea as they are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact. But talking progressive modifications, that's why I think a conversion to 12v electrics and the use of LED's fall into this category. After all ask yourself why VW themselves moved to 12v and why the use of LED's in rear lightss are now more and more common? The answers speak for themselves. More reliability and an improved safety aspect. If one can combine both of these features with the car looking stock then why would you not do it? We live in the 21st century now! And if you want to drive you car a lot or make journey's longer that just to the local shops it's the way to go. Not going to go into that boring old stock vs modified arguement only to say please judge my car on it's handling when it's finished and not from what you've experienced before :!: For your information, although the Cabrio will have a slightly narrowed beam, it will not be floor scraping and I lay money on my tyres having the same or more contact patch than any of your cars :!: :!: Don't judge everyone in the Resto-Cal scene with the same narrow minded view of what YOU think ALL the cars are like.... Back on topic, LED's are brighter than a bulb filament so if you can find a why cheaply to have LED's behind your rear glass and an indicator in your heart that both come on when you brake I'm positive you've got the best chance of someone regonising you're stopping. Couple this with a high level brake light and you should have no problems. :wink:

Posted by: 55Kab - 30 May 2009 09:34:24

[quote=mrsherbie] RUBBISH. Thats your opinion not fact. I drove my 50 to Camberg with 6v and standard bulbs like most of the other attendees to that show and other stock shows like it. Our 356 is the same. Neither have seatbelts either, and that is about the only update that I think is actually important and worth doing, but we wont be doing it to ours. I think adding the small extra lights/flashers is always the best idea, 'add on's' are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact :d Its that old argument and guess what, the stockers win every time because whether you want to admit it or not, its a fact floor scraping cars with narrow beams drive like POO! have a ridiculously rubbish turning circle bump and scrape the living hell out of the beam and pan and wear the rear tyres only on their edges! Tyre contact with the road IS HUGELY important from a safety aspect, but that does'nt seem to bother any resto'ers, so dont start preaching about safety!! :shock: ...But if 'looks' are more important than ride quality and safety than thats your choice to go resto. [/quote] Thought that would prove controversial, I love it! :lol: :lol: :beer: However, it's not rubbish Anna. Just because you drove to Camberg and back without a problem doesn't make the use of small 6v powered rear lights ideal. As Andrew confirms above, he has already suffered a mild rear ender where I'd lay money on the person behind not recognising he was stopping. You say you think adding the small extra lights/flashers is the best idea as they are always an acceptable progressive modification, as the original car is still stock and intact. But talking progressive modifications, that's why I think a conversion to 12v electrics and the use of LED's fall into this category. After all ask yourself why VW themselves moved to 12v and why the use of LED's in rear lightss are now more and more common? The answers speak for themselves. More reliability and an improved safety aspect. If one can combine both of these features with the car looking stock then why would you not do it? We live in the 21st century now! And if you want to drive you car a lot or make journey's longer that just to the local shops it's the way to go. Not going to go into that boring old stock vs modified arguement only to say please judge my car on it's handling when it's finished and not from what you've experienced before :!: For your information, although the Cabrio will have a slightly narrowed beam, it will not be floor scraping and I lay money on my tyres having the same or more contact patch than any of your cars :!: :!: Don't judge everyone in the Resto-Cal scene with the same narrow minded view of what YOU think ALL the cars are like.... Back on topic, LED's are brighter than a bulb filament so if you can find a why cheaply to have LED's behind your rear glass and an indicator in your heart that both come on when you brake I'm positive you've got the best chance of someone regonising you're stopping. Couple this with a high level brake light and you should have no problems. :wink:

Posted by: 55Kab - 30 May 2009 09:39:53
Hi Martin, I AM concerned about safety, and I want to get an mot asap so need some brake lights you can see! If there was an 'off the shelf' led solution, I'd go for that but, I don't want to spend forever developing a solution of my own at the moment, just after a quick fix.:d [/quote] Well I'm really more interested Malc about stopping someone from driving into the back of the car and anything that helps that has got to be worth improving what VW fitted in the fifties doesn't it:?: :?: There are a number of electronics websites around that advertise or sorts of 6v/12v LED's applications. I'll have a look around at them and post the links, it may help. :wink:

Posted by: 55Kab - 30 May 2009 09:39:53

Hi Martin, I AM concerned about safety, and I want to get an mot asap so need some brake lights you can see! If there was an 'off the shelf' led solution, I'd go for that but, I don't want to spend forever developing a solution of my own at the moment, just after a quick fix.:d [/quote] Well I'm really more interested Malc about stopping someone from driving into the back of the car and anything that helps that has got to be worth improving what VW fitted in the fifties doesn't it:?: :?: There are a number of electronics websites around that advertise or sorts of 6v/12v LED's applications. I'll have a look around at them and post the links, it may help. :wink:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 30 May 2009 11:02:09
[quote=55Kab] he has already suffered a mild rear ender [/quote] It would have helped if the idiot in the Mondeo wasnt watching some bloke mow his lawn in stop start traffic! :roll: :wink: But our tow bar got his radiator well without him knowing it so its all good! :lol:

Posted by: 55Kab - 30 May 2009 20:39:38
[quote=54 Gertie]But our tow bar got his radiator well without him knowing it so its all good! :lol: [/quote] :lol: :lol: :lol: Well hopefully that's another Mondeo off the road! :lol: In sure even Anna will agree a modified Beetle is better than a Mondeo!!! :wink: :lol:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 30 May 2009 20:55:25
[quote=55Kab] :lol: :lol: :lol: Well hopefully that's another Mondeo off the road! :lol: In sure even Anna will agree a modified Beetle is better than a Mondeo!!! :wink: :lol: [/quote] He was leaking coolant and oil, he could only have made it a matter of miles! 8) :lol: Oh, and the trusty 54 year old Volkswagen got use home after hammering the rocker cover back on! :wink:

Posted by: VW Stan - 31 May 2009 12:38:16
[quote=55Kab] :lol: :lol: :lol: Well hopefully that's another Mondeo off the road! :lol: In sure even Anna will agree a modified Beetle is better than a Mondeo!!! :wink: :lol: [/quote] Only just!!! :wink: I don't think Blackpool illuminations mounted on the back of you car is gonna help if the driver behind you is asleep! :d

Posted by: JULIANROBINSON - 01 June 2009 19:10:13
I'm paranoid about being rear ended in one of my ovals... forget the car it hurts like hell! I was rear ended in a Golf estate 6 1/2 years ago... nothing to do with the car just the numpty lorry driver that hit me... Then we were rear ended again this friday in wifes golf cabrio... again... nothing to do with the car... just a crap driver... and me with another bad back :cry: I fitted this to the irish oval... [img]https://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu40/JRVWJR2009/Stonor%20Park%202009/wwwvwbugcouk-StonorParkVWShow200-139.jpg[/img] (below the bumper) yep it looks horible... but everyone who has followed me has told me that it is a god send... and thats from people that know about heart brake lights and semaphores... Its not origanal... but I'd rather that than a rear end shunt again! :( julian

Posted by: JULIANROBINSON - 01 June 2009 19:10:13

I'm paranoid about being rear ended in one of my ovals... forget the car it hurts like hell! I was rear ended in a Golf estate 6 1/2 years ago... nothing to do with the car just the numpty lorry driver that hit me... Then we were rear ended again this friday in wifes golf cabrio... again... nothing to do with the car... just a crap driver... and me with another bad back :cry: I fitted this to the irish oval... [img]https://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu40/JRVWJR2009/Stonor%20Park%202009/wwwvwbugcouk-StonorParkVWShow200-139.jpg[/img] (below the bumper) yep it looks horible... but everyone who has followed me has told me that it is a god send... and thats from people that know about heart brake lights and semaphores... Its not origanal... but I'd rather that than a rear end shunt again! :( julian

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 01 June 2009 19:14:04
Nice to see you've "aged" the number plates! :wink:

Posted by: JULIANROBINSON - 01 June 2009 19:22:40
[quote=54 Gertie]Nice to see you've "aged" the number plates! :wink: [/quote] Don't mention it... I'm already in trouble from the wife for ruining perfectly good plates! :shock:

Posted by: 54 Gertie - 01 June 2009 19:30:55
[quote=JULIANROBINSON] Don't mention it... I'm already in trouble from the wife for ruining perfectly good plates! :shock: [/quote] What did you do, paint the whole thing satin then give it a quick sand? Looks good, they were a bit to "new" really! :lol: T'was a pity you couldnt keep the irish plates, they were lovely! :cry:

Posted by: 55Kab - 01 June 2009 21:52:46
[quote=JULIANROBINSON]Its not origanal... but I'd rather that than a rear end shunt again![/quote] Exactly my point Julian. A modified car here will ALWAYS (hear that Anna! :lol::beer: ) beat a standard one. As you say, doesn't make up for bad drivers but at least any mod to the brake lights will provide some degree of added protection. Question though - I guess it was makeshift after the Golf shunt (sorry to hear by the way, hope you both ok) but why under the bumper? I reckon a high intensity long LED light in the back window would ultimately be the best option.

Posted by: 55Kab - 01 June 2009 21:52:46

[quote=JULIANROBINSON]Its not origanal... but I'd rather that than a rear end shunt again![/quote] Exactly my point Julian. A modified car here will ALWAYS (hear that Anna! :lol::beer: ) beat a standard one. As you say, doesn't make up for bad drivers but at least any mod to the brake lights will provide some degree of added protection. Question though - I guess it was makeshift after the Golf shunt (sorry to hear by the way, hope you both ok) but why under the bumper? I reckon a high intensity long LED light in the back window would ultimately be the best option.

Posted by: JULIANROBINSON - 01 June 2009 22:40:36
[quote=55Kab] Exactly my point Julian. A modified car here will ALWAYS (hear that Anna! :lol::beer: ) beat a standard one. As you say, doesn't make up for bad drivers but at least any mod to the brake lights will provide some degree of added protection. Question though - I guess it was makeshift after the Golf shunt (sorry to hear by the way, hope you both ok) but why under the bumper? I reckon a high intensity long LED light in the back window would ultimately be the best option. [/quote] The light went on the car before the run down to the Volksworld show... I only need to be hit in the rear once to know! Its under the rear bumper as it is hiden away... wiring was easy and I didnt want anything obscuring the little view I had out the rear window... it was only put on as a temporary... but has proven worth keeping...

Posted by: JULIANROBINSON - 01 June 2009 22:40:36

[quote=55Kab] Exactly my point Julian. A modified car here will ALWAYS (hear that Anna! :lol::beer: ) beat a standard one. As you say, doesn't make up for bad drivers but at least any mod to the brake lights will provide some degree of added protection. Question though - I guess it was makeshift after the Golf shunt (sorry to hear by the way, hope you both ok) but why under the bumper? I reckon a high intensity long LED light in the back window would ultimately be the best option. [/quote] The light went on the car before the run down to the Volksworld show... I only need to be hit in the rear once to know! Its under the rear bumper as it is hiden away... wiring was easy and I didnt want anything obscuring the little view I had out the rear window... it was only put on as a temporary... but has proven worth keeping...

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