230 in, 190 out…at idle on an 80-degree day?

dang. I don’t think you’re there yet.

Ongoing concerns with operating temperatures. If only I could get consistent readings I’d feel a lot better driving it. I’ve put a few miles on it constantly stopping to check temps. I’ve never encountered boil overs or errant steam which is a good thing. It makes me leery to take it any distance.

With Allen’s last note I now understand his reference to a relay. My TDR was using a 69 Bug chassis which apparently did not use relays. As my Ghia is a 71 and Allen’s donor chassis was a 71 they must have introduced the use of relays instead of relying solely on switches for powering loads on VWs between 69 and 71. Hence go with his dir…[Read more]

I used the wiring diagram from a 71 Beetle as my TDR is on a 71 beetle chassis. These are the connections for my lights.

Light Switch
Terminal 1: one RED wire – Power in
Terminal 2: one YELLOW wire – to instrument lights; one WHITE wire to Fuse 2 on fuse panel (input side)
Terminal 3: Unused
Terminal 4: One YELLOW wire – to Hi Beam Relay…[Read more]

On my FibreFab TD there was an old style foot activated switch located to the left of the clutch pedal that allowed selection between high and low beam. The circuit ran from the dash mounted headlight switch to the hi/lo beam switch and then separate wires from the the hi/lo switch for the high beam element and another to the low beam element on…[Read more]

Before you take it to Midwest, check the headlight (high beam) relay. I believe the headlight power goes through the hi beam relay  either before the headlights or before the switch. If that is not working or properly connected, neither headlight will work.

God I love technology, and a buddy with a 3D printer! If only I had one, of either. While I admittedly haven’t shopped around for a 3D printer or the materials required to produce parts, I imagine the buy in is in the realm of the sum being far beyond the contents of it’s parts. For now anyway.

Thanks toller and kall! I replaced one lamp first. Nope. I cut out all that ridiculous looking , mismatched, multicolor, wiring under the bonnet and rewired the headlights directly to the loom with the connections as they had been, minus the whips and with matching crimps, looks great! No headlights. I ran a wire from the negative post on the…[Read more]

Ric, re oil hoses: you can use regular clamps but most people go with more expensive and better stuff—AN 8 or AN 10 fittings, say. Oil pressure above 80 lbs on startup, and a heat cycle on the hoses that’s worse than your coolant system, means you should get short lengths of heavy-duty neoprene hoses designed for use with hot oil, and preferably b…[Read more]

About the only thing you can damage if you guess the polarity wrong is the radio (if it has one).  You might want to disconnect it before you hook up the battery.  The engine, lights etc won’t be hurt by experimenting.  But, you can probably determine whether positive or negative ground by some simple detective work.

Paul’s right, my money is on…[Read more]

Cool!

Are you ready to take custom parts orders?

For the USA market, VW switched to 12v with the 1967 model year.

Chances are high it’s a 12 volt, negative ground.

This sounds obvious, but you say there is a battery; is it in the car? Is there a ground strap on the battery? Which pole?

Looks at the bulbs. If they are 12v bulbs, you have a 12 volt, negative ground system.