RE: cig lighter

[Kevin Toney <bodhran-man@bigfoot.com>]

Rather than cut a hole in the dash, use an existing one.  I don't smoke, (in fact I think they should be put out of our misery) but a cig. outlet is a handy power tap.  I converted my column to '72 style w/ wiper control.  I then used the wiper hole on dash to install a pull style switch for rear defrost(using a T4 switch, it looks stock T3).  Thus I had that rectangular hole from the old defrost switch.  I cut/shaped a round hole in the face of the old plastic switch and install a lighter receptical from a wreck.  I don't exactly remember what kind of VW I got it from, but it is the same ribbed, black, rubber knob with an insert of a lighter on it.  It all looks like it could be stock, but its not.  Best, it gives convenient power.

Yours,

Kevin Toney
bodhran-man@bigfoot.com
________________________________________________________________
'70 Sqbk/Variant
'71 Sqbk/Variant
'85 Golf
'85 Vanagon (Dead) 
________________________________________________________________
"Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human.  At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house."  L.L.

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From: 	Theo Thepen[SMTP:thepen@pi.net]
Sent: 	Tuesday, May 13, 1997 12:13 PM
To: 	type-3@umich.edu
Subject: 	Re: cig lighter

So the question is, where should it go ? I assume left
> >from the ashtray, but how far to the left and how high, can anybody give
> >me the exact measurements??
> 
> Theo,
> 
> You surprise me!  Wasn't the lighter a dealer add-on, or aftermarket, only?
> I would think you would have to be a pretty dedicated smoker to even
> CONSIDER putting a hole in your dash for this.   ;-)
> 
> Jim

First of all, yes. I am a decicated smoker. In the states though, you feel pretty much an 
outcast when smoking. I'd personally never smoke in somebodies house or near someone who 
doesn't smoke or is bothered by it, I always ask first. I found it pretty sad (and also 
amusing) to see people smoking outside office building during their break in the US.
Re the lighter, I can get by using matches or a normal lighter. I'm not really sure 
whether a lighter was a factory option. My father always had a lighter in the beetles he 
owned and they always came with the car from new. There's is no mention of it in the parts 
books, or brochures I have, so it probably was at least a dealer option. In my memory 
there should be a lighter on the dash, next to the ashtray which is there for a purpose 
(and that's not for keeping candy, small change or birth control thingies) At swapmeets 
overhere you frequently see them. The knob is the same as the other knobs on the dash 
meaning that for every type of knob VW used during a given period there was a matching 
lighter. '67 is an odd year as it has a rubber knob that is different from the later ones. 
The early, with ivory knob, and later, with large ribbed plastic knob (sometimes with a 
smoking cigaret symbol on it) are easy to get. The lighter I have even has a VW mark on 
it.
Paul's suggestion to wait till the Aalsmeer meeting is a good one, there should be someone 
with a lighter in the car there.
Thanks,
Theo