[T3] NOS Bosch Reverse Light Kit - Installation Help Needed

[Sean Bartnik]

> The first thing to do is to take a good look at your tranny nose 
> cone. The earliest nose cones were not drilled and tapped for the 
> switch. Later, VW started drilling and tapping that place but 
> installing a plug there instead of the backup light switch. Starting 
> in '67, IIRC, the cars came with the switch and backup lights 
> installed.
> 
> If you have a plug there, you can unscrew it and install the switch 
> in its place. If that spot is blank, you're out of luck.

Jim, good call.  I didn’t even think to check to see if the transaxle might be tapped for the forthcoming reverse light switch.  If it was, that would make my life a lot easier.  I will definitely check - though what I got is a cool accessory, I would prefer to use the less kludgy VW option if possible.  :-)

The switch I got is a Bosch accessory, here’s the same thing available on the Samba; I got mine from Germany for cheaper on eBay:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1749879 <http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1749879>

It has a switch that mounts on a bracket which installs in the tunnel above the inspection plate.  The switch bracket installs on the nose cone of the transaxle and the operating lever installs on the shift rod, so that when the shift rod is moved into reverse position, the operating lever contacts the switch and closes the circuit.

> If there's no plug in the nose cone, I believe VDO made a little 
> device that mounts in line with the speedo cable that switches power 
> to the backup lights whenever the speedo cable reverses. Those will 
> be VERY hard to find, and if you manage to find one, you'll have to 
> run power back from the front.

I have seen these as the alternative to the Bosch kit that I got, but I think this is an unsatisfactory alternative as it requires you to be moving backwards already before it comes on, which isn’t particularly helpful at letting pedestrians and other traffic know that you’re about to begin moving in reverse.

> 
> The thing to be aware of, if you're running power from the front, is 
> that the body metal there is double, with maybe 4" between plates. 
> It's still possible to do, but you have to pry out the grommets at 
> both ends, feed the wire thru, and reinstall the grommets. This may 
> sound hard, but it's actually even harder than it sounds.

LOL thanks Jim. :-)
Yeah this is what I ran into yesterday.  It was getting late so I decided to save it for another day and see if I was missing something, hence my post.  

I will check out the tranny nosecone and cross my fingers.

Thanks
Sean

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