Rear Side Marker Area Repair - 1978 Bus

[Bookwus]

Hiya met,

....... i'm also painting the plastic interior with chrome/silver paint to increase reflectivity (works nice on taillights), doing that in turn to all my light housings.

You just might want to check out aluminum tape before you do any painting. It is VERY shiny (like chrome). The hardest part of applying it to the sidemarker plastic body is cutting it to fit properly. I used a template and cut a bunch of 'em. Then it was just peel 'n stick. Big difference in the light output.

I'm thinking of redoing my taillight surrounds with the stuff.

[Runamuck Bus]

Nice job on the side markers. Also, thanks to bretski for the side marker wire help; I will try when I get back to that project. Meanwhile...

I tried the tape lining, I didn't like the way it came out and it took a long time.
I bought the 'inexpensive' busdepot set; then returned them (did not fit) for the 'VW' ones -

I might paint the housings shiney, not sure yet..geno?

[bretski]

What kind of wheel did you use on your drill? I've always done that by hand with a screwdriver and file, then sandpaper. Too much work.

It's a 3M wheel, made of a resinous material. Works great, and doesn't get the metal too hot. Found it at the hardware store for about $8. They also make a thinner disc for tighter areas.

I might paint the housings shiney, not sure yet..geno?

I'd paint them. Colin and I were talking about that subject during his visit.

What do you think of the VW tail light housings? The plastic "fins" that divide the lights are disintigrating on mine. :(

[Runamuck Bus]

What do you think of the VW tail light housings? The plastic "fins" that divide the lights are disintigrating on mine.

These housings and lenses are much nicer than the 'cheaper' (taiwan) ones. The area for the mounting stud (on back of housing) is tapered to fit the 'body tabs' on the bus; the less expensive ones were strait and the tabs did not fit. The lenses are smoother, less wavy surface. The VW ones do not come with back covers - I will reuse my old covers. The bulb holders are tighter (and very clean!). I have to get new seals - mine are shot. My old housings are turning to dust in my hands - tape and clear coat (spray) did not help much.

[chitwnvw]

Sounds like it's worth spending the extra $ to get the quality product.

[metric Cwrench]

here's pics of my painted taillight housings, cheap and easy. one can of primer and one can of paint will do all light housings and then some, easily.

housing interior without flash from camera



with flash, shows the increased reflectivity pretty well, i'd say...



i just think this is way simpler than fiddling with aluminum tape in all those tight spots. cost under $8 all together. just my opinion, though.

these are the vw-made, more expensive replacements, but they match exactly my old one (the one that survived more or less intact, keeping that for an emergency spare). good seals- body to housing, housing to lens cover. good bolt posts that don't have much wiggle room in the body tabs (you get to supply your own washers and nuts, M5 but with a wierd threading that's not exactly common, but didn't pose too much trouble to locate at my local hardware shop). the electrical connections are good, and the metal backing plate is well-fit, pops out and back in easily enough without becoming loose. you need to have your old plastic rear covers, though- that's just annoying for the price i paid.

[chitwnvw]

Someone should do a pic at night with one painted and one unpainted. Mine seem bright enough and I never really considered this a safety hazard...but I am willing to be convinced.

[metric Cwrench]

it's not really a safety hazard, per se. more of a safety improvement. more visability= less chance of getting hit. like wearing reflective clothing/strips when you ride a bike at night, it just makes sense (at least to me).

i'll work on doing some night-time photos for comparison, but i think someone already did this.

[hercdriver]

Glad to see this thread. I just bought a set of tail light asseblies from bus depot. Spent a little more than other retailers were offering, in hopes that I was buying quality. Here's what I bought.

http://www.busdepot.com/details.jsp?par ... 11945241RK

When I went to put them in, I found that the brake light post was larger than the original. At the time I just assumed that was the only option, but it seems as if it is a part made in Taiwan? I feel a little burned by Bus Depot for advertising them as "genuine VW" when they aren't even the original design.

I took snips and split the post so that it would accept both wires, but now I'm having light issues. I can get parking lights and brake lights, but not at the same time. What I mean is the parking and brake lights are one in the same. When you have the parking lights on you don't get a brighter light with brakes on.

Sorry about the rant. I feel like I'm taking one step forward and two steps back on this project to undo years of neglect.

[metric Cwrench]

uh oh, you got me thinking on that. went and dug out the old light assembly and compared it to the new one (that "genuine vw" bus depot item). there's a bit of difference. pics:



old piece terminals, from left to right: BL, 31, 54, 58, RF
new piece terminals, from left to right: BL, 31, 54 (top), 58 (bottom), RF

please bear in mind that i've got a 78 westy, could be some wiring differences for other years, etc (i just don't know). the difference is: in the original unit (top of pic, looks 30+yr old) plug 58 has two posts (lt and rt) and plug 54 is set opposite 58, the replacement (bottom of pic, shiny and new) plug 58 has one post and plug 54 is right next to it. dug out my notes from when i was removing the lights.

driver side light unit was set up this way (letters, numbers stamped into the plate, and both new and original units have them, excepting the lt and rt notation i made to differentiate the split post 58- it shouldn't matter tho):
BL- black wire w/ white stripe
31- brown wire (GROUND)
54- black wire w/ red stripe
58, lt- white wire w/ black stripe
58, rt- solid black wire (which goes to the left side marker light)
RF- solid black wire

passenger side light unit:
BL- back wire w/ green stripe
31- brown wire (GROUND)
54- black wire w/ red stripe (2 identical wires use 1 push-on connector, one continues over to the driver side taillight)
58, lt- white wire w/red stripe (2 identical wires use 1 push-on connector)
58, rt- solid black wire (which goes to the right side marker light).

this shouldn't be a major problem, just put a splitter on the one fat terminal ( new light's 58) to accomodate 2 thin ones. problem solved! (i hope)

it dawns on me now that i might have misinterpreted the wire color, won't know till i can go check (it also dawns on me that i just locked my garage key in the garage, will have to wait til tomorrow to gain entry). it is possible (likely, in fact) that one of the white wire w/ red stripe from the pass side housing (58, lt) goes over to the driver side housing (58, lt). i thought it was white wire w/ black stripe, could be wrong on that one. that's gonna bug me til i know for sure... crap...

[metric Cwrench]

that bugged me, couldn't get to sleep. got spare set of keys from the office and got into the garage to check those wires. one of the perks (there aren't many) of being the on-site dude at the apartment complex.

the wiring i stated in the last post was correct. the 2nd white wire w/ red stripe (pass side housing, terminal 58 lt) goes to the license plate light. the driver side housing, terminal 58 lt is a white wire w/ black stripe. ha! now i can go to sleep, dreaming of all the other issues i have in my bus.[/i]

[Ritter]

GoWesty has a taillight assy they claim is VW German. Anyone order these?

http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details. ... parent_id=