accordin to my workshop manual my beetle is ment to come with reversin lights and it doesnt have em.eny ideas and i want to rewire the whole car....

The workshop manual you are reading must be a US one then; because Aussie bugs did not get reversing lights until 1972 (the first and only year of the flat-bottom tail lights with the clear bottom section for the reversing lights). The US got reversing lights in 67 (and heated rear windows from about 1970, which we never saw at all.)

And for conformation, I've had my 70 bug since new and it doesn't have reversing lights and never did.

If you want to add reversing lights, you take a wire from the + side of the coil (the black wire - which also goes to the choke and cut-off solenoid), use an 8 amp inline fuse, then take the wire down to the nose of the gearbox where you insert the reversing switch (there's a blanked off plug in there at the moment) and then back to the tail lights, and the other side of the light globe is then connected to the chassis/body.

You can get the 1972 style clear-section tail lights to replace the all red/amber ones you have now, or you can use a separate add-on reversing light mounted on the bumper mounts.

This means the lights will only work with the ignition switched on and the gearbox in reverse, as VW arranged it in those models which do have reversing lights.

If you are rewiring the whole car, you'll need wiring diagrams. If your book does not have them, you can get them from http://www.vintagebus.com  The US versions do not have the connector numbers for each component listed on their diagrams, but if you also download the Aussie wiring diagram there (which I supplied to the site), this black/white diagram DOES have the connector numbers, so between the two, you can trace each wire exactly.

Just ignore those sections for the US wiring which don't match the Aussie bugs (reversing lights, heater rear window, ignition switch buzzer).

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/ 

ok thx heaps

Ok 2 Q's maybe someone maybe able to help out on.

What's the best way to get the wiring through the roof under the rain gutter (as per the factory). I was thinking tying a rope to the end to the old wiring harness as I pulled it out (thus pulling the rope through) and then in turn tying that to the new and pulling it through. Just my pathetic thought on the problem, although I'm sure a there is a better/simpler method.

Secondly, what's the best way of threading wire through PVC tubing. Doing it pisses me off so much, I'm considering running the split corrugated PVC stuff and wrapping it with insulation tape.

Cheers.

The rope ideas the best one to use for a new harness.
I had to run a wire from the engine to dash for a oil temp guage and used a sparkies trick and taped then new wire to a lenght of yellow tonge. Its a plastic insert that builders use between sheets of MDF flooring comes in 3 mtr lenghts. Available from Hardware stores. Can be pushed easily up the windscreen pillars and along the inner roof. :thumb

ok good that was gonna b my next question
thx

Aussiebug: You've had your '70 since new - I'm impressed!!! Bet you've got even more stories to tell than you can publish!

Hi 70autostick

Yes - Bertie Beetle has a few tales to tell. He's been everywhere in Aus apart from the North West, been registered in 4 states and the NT, and has had numerous trips across Aus - both EW and NS.

He's being very slowly restored after being squashed by a nasty Ford a few years ago.

I was very lucky in finding a replacement body (the original body was very badly damaged but the chassis is fine) which was built in the German factory only 15 days before Bertie - so it's a perfect match. Interesting since Bertie was bought in Perth on 5 Jan 71 (but he's a 3 June 70 car) and the replacement is a South Australian car, built on about 18 May 1970 and came on a different ship to Aus. The most interesting part is that Bertie was supposed to be white with a black interior, but because of the assembly method used by VW at Clayton, ended up tan with a brown interior, and not quite the right engine number. The new body is the correct white, so in one sense he is now more original than he was before!

He still has his original engine - which has 248,000 miles on it. The engine was still running on 2 cylinders after the Ford hit my rear - despite a broken distributor cap and crushed vacuum canister - that engine did NOT want to quit.

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/ 

My old Beetle, made June 1964, had the wiring harness run through the roof; perhaps all the Aussie-manufactured cars did it that way and they changed to a floor harness for the CKD cars from 1968?

If it was any earlier, perhaps it was when the 1300 Beetle appeared at the start of 1966 that was the change time. Does anyone have a '65, '66 or '67 Beetle to confirm for us?

my bros 67 runs through the roof!
cheers
rhys