Evening all,
Was fixing up the electrics of a 1972 Beetle t'other day and came across a couple of spade connectors used as connections to the dip/high beam relay that have seen better days. They're basically standard 1/4" female connectors but with a little barb that locks them into the Delrin/Bakelite type relay board. I've hunted about but can't seem to find any - possibly I don't know what they're called.
Any ideas?
Try Ebay with "spade connector with locking tab"
That's the ticket, ordered a bag now! Thanks very much for that. For some reason I'd not tried searching on that, possibly because I'd been looking at general spades for something else the other day and had "locking" down mentally as the sort that lock the blade into the female part. Or possibly because I'm a twit. Either way I'm grateful!
There are hundreds of variations on these 1/4" connectors.
Vehicle Wiring Products is one supplier. But sadly not all the barb type are in identical - so what they supply may not be perfect. Also look at the ones they supply as part of a 1/4" connector, rather than just their generic ones. Which may be closer to what you need. Those that fit in a relay base may have a longer socket than the standard wire end type.
There are lots of suppliers of such products in the UK and elsewhere. With luck you'll find an exact replacment, but may take some finding.
You could also ask on a Beetle forum.
Can't help alas. In some ways I miss my old beetle (my first car) but not that much. Utterly gutless (which might have been acceptable if it had been economical) but thirsty too (22-25 mpg). Exciting in crosswinds too...
Tim
That was how I crashed one, straight but snowy and icy main A13 road, initially sheltered from the left by housing, as soon as I left the housing area, the open fields were letting the wind belt across the road taking snow with it, the Beetle rotated clockwise, the wind had unstuck the front tyres, it then turned into a gently rotating spinny thing and parked itself backwards into a fence, I drove it home, and there was little important damage. Nowadays I would have had a couple of bags of cement in the front, but I was much, much younger then.
This was very standardly sized with a bard on the back so hopefully the ones I turned up on eBay will fit. At worst I can probably push the connector up from the back of the relay board as it stands proud of the metalwork it's mounted to. The car doesn't go out at night (owner's night sight isn't too good) so he's unlikely to wear out the new dim-dip relay that went in.
I'd never been close to a Beetle before and it surprised me just how much it felt like something from the 50s. I know they'd been making them forever but surprised they'd never felt the need to do much to the design as time went past. I wonder if, by the 70s, it was derided for being willfully old fashioned?
Even if the barb isn't in the right place you may be able to push the connector fully home from the back of the relay base.
The Beetle was very popular in the 70s. In the 80s what you say became true.
NT
It was my first car, picked up at trade. It had been imported from South Africa, and was a bit behind the European model changes. IIRC the greasing interval was 1500 miles. It was OK as a first car, but not after driving anything else. Motorway trips in a cross wind were very interesting, as the steering, even with new king pins, was incredibly soggy.
M62 eastbound was fun. If I didn't get a good run at it I had to change down before the summit.
A fun job was changing the spark plugs - on the 1500 engine you needed a plug spanner that would take the tommy bar at 45 degrees.
Then there was the heater designed so that, if it was going to stick, it would do so fully on. As it was a waterless system, the air could get pretty hot, and a passenger once had a pair of shoes ruined.
It had an interesting screenwash system. The water reservoir was connected to, and pressurised by, the spare wheel. You simply pushed the control and water squirted.
Only when it eventually stopped working did it become clear that there was a pressure limiter to make sure that you didn't run the tyre flat.
My only success was once getting an exhaust fitted free - almost all the free fit exhaust firms wouldn't touch it without an extra charge. They took all day and had to change a stud.
Chris
They were still made in Mexico and Brazil until quite recently.
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