What's out there for new interior lights? Doesn't need to be concours correct, just functional

for mine from Sierra Madre, good price, perfect fit

I think I have a '74 original light and upholstery, I think I have it now, but the thing is a PITA as it doesn't give a good clip and pops out if you don't get it in far enough. I notice the clip is bent out further on the repop than mine.

Note that's a VW type 1 part number available from any early VW parts house. Window crank and inside pull handle...lots of small parts are air cooled beetle, mostly T1 & T4 parts.

There is an LED replacement that is a real light.

I soldered the ends into the crappy clips so it wouldn't keep popping out.

Also in the stock version the heat from the bulb due to the crappy clip part would heat the assembly and eventualy it would crack.

FWIW.

i know it’s VW, , but it works. i also just used an LED bulb so not enough heat a all to cause damage like incandescent bulb.

So there is a LED that works for stock bulb? Is that in the Sierra Madre fixture?

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This is one I got from a new Bug and painted black

This is very slick @PanelBilly ! Did you do a thread? Does it fit the opening without any mods??

I bought the same one that Sierra Madre has from 914Rubber and it snaps in with a nice snug fit. By coincidence, today I received my order from Super Bright LEDs to replace all the bulbs in the car except headlights and instrument bulbs (already did those) with LED using their handy vehicle fitment wizard. It got every bulb on the car correct with a plug and play replacement EXCEPT the interior light. The bulb they claimed is a match is too long. This bulb should be the correct one but I won't know until my exchange is complete.

The bulb that is too long has 8 led chips and will burn your retina it is so bright. The assumed correct bulb has 6 chips so won't be quite as bright but should still be plenty to light the interior.

I like that a lot. How did it fit? Did the hole have to be enlarged?

@bbrock - I believe I have the 8-chip unit from superbright in mine and I don't remember any fitment issues. Maybe I just forced it! That's a good outlet and I have no doubt that they will easily make things right. keep in mind that there are LEDs on only one side of that board so you can rotate it a bit to direct the light to a less direct way. But really - can you have too much light coming from that fixture?!

Good to know. Their exchange process is super simple and nice so should be no trouble. They even have "incorrect information on vehicle bulb selector" listed as a reason for exchange.

I looked at just forcing the bulb in and I thought I probably could but didn't want to risk breaking the brittle plastic. I measured the bulb that came with the fixture and it is 38.5mm long where the replacement from SBL is 44.2mm. Since they have a 38mm version, I decided to try to get a better fit. I just need to print out the return label and pop it in the mail.

Go the next step and install a 20 second dome light delay switch. Amazon or eBay. I have one on my 914. Cheap mod that you will appreciate.

The light was a tight fit, but worked

Do you have a link to an example?

Probably something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015Z2EQCU/?colii...lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I'm thinking of doing the same thing for my car. My turn signals are not bright enough for me and the interior lights are too dim as well.

Questions:

1. Do the LED's need any sort of resistor/other mod or anything to make them work with the existing wiring, or are they truly plug and play?

2. When I looked up the lights for a 914, I clicked on the rear bulb just to see what happened and I got two choices: a CAN bulb and the recommended one. Which ons is for a 914?

3. They have colored bulbs. Should I get those of go with white?

4. How is this option different than going with the LED light kits sold by Spoke (I think that's who sells them)? Or are they just another option?

Thanks!

That’s it.....

For the most part, they are plug and play. The exception is the turn signal flasher. You need an LED compatible or you will get hyper flashing. Spoke has a tech article on his site that tells you how to modify an EP26 flasher from your local FLAPS to work for the 914, or you can just buy one he has modified for you. One other gotcha I discovered is that when I replaced the brake warning light and turn signal indicators in the instrument cluster with LEDs, they hyper flashed. It didn't affect the function of the bulbs but I found it annoying so switched those back to incandescent. Also, the alternator indicator light needs to stay incandescent. I think you can put a resistor inline to compensate for an LED but didn't seem worth the trouble to me.



I just bought the recommended bulbs and they worked fine.



For the most part, I don't think it makes a difference. I bought colored bulbs to match the lens colors with one exception. I compared the red LED tail light bulb on one side with a white incandescent in the other and couldn't see any difference in color. I didn't try a white LED behind a red lens though to see if it was still the same. The one exception to color matching is that I put red bulbs in the rear side marker sockets and am running European lenses that are amber. The red bulbs dominate so when the running lights are on, the tail lights look like full on red American lenses making them US DOT compliant. When the turn signal comes on, it flashes bright amber so a really nice contrast from the red running lights. Pretty cool really.



Spoke's lights are full plug and play replacement panels so much brighter and a more substantial upgrade. I wanted to stay close to the stock look while brightening the bulbs and reducing energy consumption and am very happy with the Super Bright LED bulbs. It is also affordable. My order to replace every bulb in the car other than instrument illumination was $122 shipped.

Hope this helps