Pickup Tail Lights

[Russell Gavel]

I have a 1981 VW pickup that the rear tail light lenses are breaking apart. I need new ones and cannot find them. Does anyone have a source where I can buy new or used?

Thank you for your help.

Russell Gavel

[Iowa Caddy]

You don't have a location in your profile, so don't know which side of the pond you are -- but either from our fearless leader Al the Admin:

http://vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=637

or from eBay?

BTW, Al is on holidays so you might not get a reply for a week or two.

[mortskeg]

Iowa you beat me... ha ha
http://vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=637

[Travis Nutsch]

miscatagorized?

[JuniorMcNasty]

miscatagorized?
Quoted for truth :td

[Russell Gavel]

Thank you for your help finding a source for taillights. I am waiting for an answer as how to order them. My old ones are braking apart.

I have a 1981 diesel pickup that is a running project. So far is not has been raised three inches with 14-inch wheels. The engine and transaxle have been changed. The engine is a turbo 1900CC VW diesel and the transaxle is out of a Jetta. Next comes fixing the body and paint. After that comes a complete upholstery job inside the cab.

Russell Gavel

[nekto]

Thank you for your help finding a source for taillights. I am waiting for an answer as how to order them. My old ones are braking apart.

I have a 1981 diesel pickup that is a running project. So far is not has been raised three inches with 14-inch wheels. The engine and transaxle have been changed. The engine is a turbo 1900CC VW diesel and the transaxle is out of a Jetta. Next comes fixing the body and paint. After that comes a complete upholstery job inside the cab.

Russell Gavel

did you have to change the transaxle to do the lift? How hard was it to recalibrate the speedometer to handle the difference in the size of the tire?

[Iowa Caddy]

nekto: "How hard was it to recalibrate the speedometer..." -- you may want to take a look at this thread:

http://vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=4110

[Russell Gavel]

did you have to change the transaxle to do the lift? How hard was it to recalibrate the speedometer to handle the difference in the size of the tire?

You could use the same transaxle, but when I went to the TDI engine, it had more power than the old stock five speeds would take. You have to use an old Dasher axle on the left side and an automatic transmission on the left side to adjust for the extra length because of the lift. The rack and pinion must be lowered the same distance as the lift. There is the changing of the spring position on the strut of extending the lower part of the strut to make the lift. It requires a lot of machine work and many hours making special spacers and parts to make the conversion.

The speedometer is ten miles per hour slow at 65 miles per hour. The odometer reads 9 miles when you have gone 12 miles. I have tried two shops and was told that they cannot make it any more accurate. If some were to steal the VW pickup, they would probably get a speeding tick before they went far.

[Russell Gavel]

nekto: "How hard was it to recalibrate the speedometer..." -- you may want to take a look at this thread:

http://vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=4110

Thank you for the web sight. The changes that they talk about have been made, and because I running transaxle that goes about eighty miles par hour at the same RPM am the stock one went at sixty miles par hour and the tires are six inches larger in diameter I was told that I have to live with it. If any one has any suggestions on how to fix the problem, I am interested.

[Iowa Caddy]

RG -- "The rack and pinion must be lowered the same distance as the lift. There is the changing of the spring position on the strut of extending the lower part of the strut to make the lift." The Forum badly needs pix, since there are nearly as many questions on how-to-lift as how-to-lower, with most lifting answers being mere speculation, or citing the problem of half-shafts fouling the chassis. A real-life example would be welcomed.

"You have to use an old Dasher axle on the left side and an automatic transmission on the left side to adjust for the extra length because of the lift." This is a wee bit confusing -- could you clarify?

"Thank you for the web sight. The changes that they talk about have been made, and because I running transaxle that goes about eighty miles par hour at the same RPM am the stock one went at sixty miles par hour and the tires are six inches larger in diameter I was told that I have to live with it. If any one has any suggestions on how to fix the problem, I am interested." Since your speedo is off by that amount, you might be able to get relief from the over-the-road trucks. It's not un-common for them to be changing rear-end ratios and there was available a small "quick-change" gearbox to be inserted in the speedo cable to change the cable speed. I think it was by Stewart-Warner, but not 100% sure. And that's been years ago that I knew of it, so might not still be available. I'll do a bit of 'net searching and see what I come up with.

Your diesel has a one-piece speedo cable, but A1 gas versions of the same era had a 2-piece cable with an 02/Cat "black-box" mileage switch inserted in the middle. If the S-W quick-change box happened to have the same cable-end scheme, you'd be all set -- otherwise you might have to fab custom cable ends. Or if you're a crack machinist, CNC your own little quick-change. ;)

[Iowa Caddy]

Found out that S-W calls it a "Drive Joint" kit (huh???), either 666 Series (off-set) or 777 Series (straight-through) from here: http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/stewartwarner.htm

but S-W's web-site doesn't give a link to it -- must be either discontinued or special order? (At the very bottom, right of this page: http://www.stewartwarner.com/Catalog/1catindex.html

You could always go to an electric speedo which would be (almost) infinitely calibratable. ;)