Lonely Raven

Well, if they are used over that much of the car, I'm going to need more
then a few myself. Let me check my budget and see whats what, but
count me in IceShark. Hey, do you accept Pay pal?

ErichCS

IceShark:
I called the contact you gave me for the sockets(thanks for all the info btw!) he asked how i knew they had them, i just told them from the database via a friend. He confirmed the inventory and looked for the 2 and was unable to find them on the shelves. He offered to call me back later on in the day after he had some more time to look. I just called them again and he said they didnt have them but offered to look again in the database for me....of course i said 'sure ill hold!' and what do you know he finds three maybe more in a warehouse in NJ. He ordered all of them for me and should have them to send to me by friday...

Thanks for your help IceShark with the initial trackdown! Depending on how many i get i'll offer them to lister's obviously...
-Erich

IceShark

Erich, glad you could find a few. Now hope they are really there in the warehouse and actually show up in your hot little hands.

I got something like 89 of them for Rennlisters. I was told that they searched all of North America and that was it other than those 2 in the NY dealership. In any event, it is going to be damn hard to find any brand new ones at any price since they are not being made anymore. Maybe some of the guys in Europe can chase some down but it would probably be easier for us North Americans to go to the parts breakers and salvage the old ones, clean them up, and even re-tin the contacts if they are too corroded. The same socket is used in our sidelights if someone is going to the junkyard.

Lonely, naw on the PayPal. Just send me a check when you figure out how many bulbs you want.

NZ951

Awww, no paypal?

IceShark

NZ951, well, I helped a girlfriend try and resolve a problem with PayPal and dealing with those jerks was so frustrating I swore I would never do business with them again.

So, what to do if you want some of the bulbs. How much does it cost to get a USD check in NZ? NZ Rennlister Martin T. bought a voltage regulator from me. That is only $16.50 plus a few bucks postage so not a lot of money to spread bank fees over but he thought it was worth it. I think he sent me a bank check in USD or maybe a postal money order but I would need to dig through my records to see exactly what he did. Check out bank fees, but we can figure something out.


Edit: I guess you could send me one of your country's famous sweaters - it is starting to get cold up here in Minnesota.

ErichCS

Hey everyone! Just wanted to update on the sockets, the dealer called today and recieved all that his NJ warehouse had, and the last new ones that appeared in his database, which was only two. At 3 dollars a piece i told him i'd take them all, but two is what i got and it was sent to me today, should have them next week....i guess now that i got mine ordered and confirmed i can post the part number IceShark gave me: VW part 111-945-265.
Thanks again for the info, and goodluck to anyone else who's looking fo them!
-Erich

IceShark

That sort of explains it. I knew there were 2 new ones out there on the East Coast somewhere. Unfortunately, I think that is it unless a dealer's inventory data is under reporting. Which doesn't usually happen; it is the other way around: they think they have more parts than they actually do.

Well, at least you are set. You will like the dead cell being lit up and it is very simple to do.

ErichCS

Can't thank you enough for the help Dan! I'll let the list know once i get them all set on my car...
-Erich

ErichCS

Oh yea forgot something, i think im going to have them work with the normal driving lights back there. Prolly not the brakes...we'll see though....
-Erich

IceShark

I turned them into running lights also. All you have to do is sister the positive feed into the normal running light. Use a 5 watt #1155 bulb in the cell. You can do both sides in an hour fairly easy.

If you want the brakes in US spec cars to light brighter get the 35 watt halogens.

You North Americans will be surprised to learn this but most of the ROW tail lights use the US running light (lower outboard cell) as the brake light and double inboard brake cells as either a fog light or just make it the dead cell(s). I was pretty surprised to hear this from Rennlisters in Finland, Europe and Australia.

washington951

dan - you ARE the man. i FINALLY got time to do your dead-cell mod. turned them into brake lights as well as changing out all the lamps with the ones you supplied. easily done. nice final product. i got the clear front turnsignal lenses from our euro friends - so those are in, too. used the amber equiv. of the standard bulb - haven't located any silverized ones yet - but i like the look a LOT. i'll be doing the side markers next week and will do the mod to make them flash with the signals, too.

don't mean to hijack this thread, but dan - thanks again for your input, services and contributions to this list!!!

brian

IceShark

Thanks for the kind words.

Brian, there is this outfit out in California called APC. Find them at http://www.4apc.net

They have some Asian manufactured silvered amber #1157 bulbs so you can track down a local supplier. I don't know exactly what the bulbs cost since I got free samples to test.

What I did discover is they don't light up very good. I even went and steel wooled off the back section of the silvering to increase light output off the reflector but still not too good. No where near as good as stock.

I don't know where else to get an #1157 for your clear front signals for this application. The European manufacturers only do single filament bulbs and have base prongs that are at 120 degrees rather than the 180 we need. So no help there.

You may want to just stick with the amber 1157 as a switch to redoing the bulb sockets and getting high power light may not be possible due to the casting bubbles in the plastic of the Swede's lenses and these darn silverized bulbs. I think the bubbles are deflecting the light rays in all sorts of directions than they should be. Like back into the housing.

In any event, it works, but not the best by a long shot.