Adding Fog Lights, How hard is it to add fog lights to a '73? Options

[Last930]

I like the looks of the early chrome front bumper with fog lights - how difficult is it to retrofit to a '73 an early chrome bumper without the rubber extensions and add foglights? Is the wiring already there in the existing wiring harness, or, do I need to add all the wiring to do this?

[Tom_T]

I like the looks of the early chrome front bumper with fog lights - how difficult is it to retrofit to a '73 an early chrome bumper without the rubber extensions and add foglights? Is the wiring already there in the existing wiring harness, or, do I need to add all the wiring to do this?

Pull your bumper & look - easy swap if it's all there, but beware that when dealers wanted fog lights they often got lazy & clipped the wires to take/steal them off other cars on their lot & retrofit for a customer wanting them added. That was done to my early `73 914-2.0 "914S" which definitely had them, but they cut the wires, left the hole in the dash from the switch & sold it to the PO/OO as he told me when I bought it back in `75. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

You'll also need the dash switch for the light (wiring is in the harness also) & they used green in early 73 MY (Aug`72-early`73), & then switched to amber sometime in spring 73. Look at p914.com under lights for the date that happened, & your VIN sticker or Karmann plate should give you the date of mfgr of your 914.

Also, if you want a DD quality front "tit-less" chrome bumper you may be able to find a good one already rechromed or a core to have rechromed there in IN/IL/OH (or look in Hemmings magazine for the classic/collector car rechromers back there).

Bruce stone/bdstone out here sometimes has nice rechromed driver quality ones at reasonable prices, but shipping may kill you.

There are also polished SS ones available from Rich Bontempi/HPH in SF Bay area, & another group online sells them in the UK but ships from Southeast Asia mfgr (Vietnam?) which some members here have purchase. Both sell F&R in Chrome.

BTW - it your 73 is a 2.0 up to about March `73 production, then it probably also had chrome bumpers originally, but got swapped by the dealership when new for another customer, or a down-option, or taken off by a PO. Dealers were also famous for stealing the factory alloy wheel spare (Pedrini, Mahle baby-gasburner & Fuchs 2L) & replacing it with a steelie, then selling 4 stolen alloys to another customer as an upgrade for 100% profit! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)

FWIW - if you're a CW nut & want originality, then stick with a well done triple-chromed CW quality set of bumpers with a nice set of the front "tits" for both concours/show & resale reasons.