Early headlight bucket assembly made easy.

[texstardetail]

Agree, this was very helpful when I pulled my lights apart a few months ago. Had no idea how to put them back together.

[vwnut1]

Thumbs up to Duginabug for posting. It's one of the better "how to" steps on what could be a confusing assembly process, especially if you disassembled both headlights many months (years?) ago. I decided to refurbish the sad looking OE headlights after being disappointed with the aftermarket units. This is another one those VW part assembly procedures that I would love to see how it was originally done at the VW factory or Hella assembly line.

The second headlight went together in about 1/4 of the time it took me to do the 1st one. The hold down clips take a special technique to install properly. Once I figured that out it went very smooth. I must have popped the clips out about 4-6 times on the 1st headlight, but zero on the 2nd one. I was glad I had donned my safety glasses:)

Someone replaced the headlight on the passenger side at some point with the wrong one, so I sourced this used one from another Samba member. This is what it looked like before cleaning up the parts.

Parts after they were stripped down to bare metal, primed and painted with Smoke Gray Rustoleum spray paint.

Here is the end result with new rubber seals, bulbs, fluted glass, trim ring, etc.

_________________
1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[andk5591]

FYI - got a set of WW repro headlights for a 66 I am working on. Amazingling good units. Till you are done buying seals, a new quality trim ring, then pull your old ones apart, try to fix the parking light, clean up and paint, these suckers are a bargain.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1914.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
"John's car" 64 VW woodie - The first ever
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard Beetle hearse project - For sale
66 bug project - Real patina & Suby conversion
There's more, but not keeping them...

[Sharp64]

was going through the buckets on my 64 and I seem to have the type below. What I am noticing is that due to the pivot sleeve the headlights seem to be pushing to the left into what would be oncoming traffic. Even if I adjust the adjusters out it they just don't seem to shoot straight ahead. On at least one, I did notice there is a hole that is drilled through both the main housing and the lamp housing, but there is nothing in it. I have pointed it out in gold in the pic below. Its been about 25 years since I had one of these apart, but I think I remember that there should be a screw or something in this? I found that typically there weren't any non used holes. I can get a pic of my actual bucket if needed.

[vwgirl1961a]

I bought a replacement headlight lens for my 1965 bug over a month ago to replace the one the was cracked. I was told it's easy to remove and put the new one on. I was wondering if there are any car cruises near 7th st and Bell where I can go and maybe someone who knows how to do this can help?

Thanks in advance
_________________
_________________
"Age doesn't really matter unless you are a cheese".

[andk5591]

[hitest]

Bummer, our cruise is nearer to 14th and Ball.

But really, after reading this thread (and the many others) just lay your old one on a towel, on the floor in front of you. You need a small flat blade screwdriver to wiggle the clips and a pair of needlenose pliers. Wear your glasses. It's easier than some say. While it's spread out a little- clean the chrome ring inside and out with an sos pad. If you were close by, we'd knock out a few of these in no time.
_________________

[61SNRF]

[vwgirl1961a]

14th st and Bell? When are the cruises?

[vwgirl1961a]

OOPS!!!!! I am in N. Phoenix, AZ

[57BLITZ]

A BIG THANK YOU to Duginabug for this post!!!!

[vwgirl1961a]

Thanks! I still have it in my trunk. Will put it on one of these days

[03hdfatboy]

I had mine apart the other day. Both of mine are a mess. Where can I buy the "guts" to repair them that are as good as the original?
_________________
Early 1964 1835cc, single Dellorto 40 carb. Freeway flyer transaxle from Don's bus box. Replacing 4” narrowed Shockless front beam is my next project.

[57BLITZ]

[Cali_Army_Guy]

[andk5591]

[nvrgvupjw]

[quote="vwgirl1961a"]OOPS!!!!! I am in N. Phoenix, AZ

[quote="andk5591"]

[hifibuf]

Well, I just had to wake up this thread to post my thanks to the OP for pulling my A$$ out of the fire. When I finally figured out that the lens seals really were the small circular ones that I thought were wrong, I set about trying to stretch them onto the lenses. Upon closer inspection I realized that there were four different ways to orient the seal and I didn't have a clue which was the correct one. The seals that were on mine were in tatters and turned to dust when they were removed over a year ago.

A few quick searches brought me to this post and I had my answer in two minutes!!

Thank you, duginabug, for a great post.

[EVfun]

This thread is great and really should be a sticky. Having found it I decided it was the best place to post my questions about the early headlights (even though mine are in a '57 oval.)

1. How many clips did the factory use between the outside chrome ring and the headlight assembly behind it? What I've found is 4, and mine have 4 each.

2. How many clips did the factory use between the headlamp bulb and the bucket? The author shows 3, I've found a range of numbers from 3, like the author shows, up to 6.

I have 2 different types of headlamp bulb retaining clips. I have pictured them in the same direction where the left side is slipped into the bucket first, the middle presses against the headlight, and the right side clips into the bucket. The lower one has that last tang as a place to press down with your finger for installation and removal. The clip is tighter than the other one but with the "handle" easier to install. It also has a nice long area (the bump in the middle) to press against the headlight. The lower one is better, was it ever a factory headlight clip? The upper one is the one I most commonly see, but I would like a few more of the lower one, so my left headlight can use those clips like the right headlight.

_________________

[janerick3]