914 driving lights, Installing OEM type driving lights to a 1974 914 Options

[Jezibel]

I have a '74 914-4 that did not come with the optional driving light set and wish to add them to my car. The 73-76 914s came with pre-installed wiring exiting from behind the front bumper, from my understanding, that would allow lights to be added simply by installing and connecting them.

My car seems to have these wires, as expected, but due to paint overspray effects, the wire colors have been obscured, making it hard to determine which is the brown GND wire and which is the black (+) wire.

I'd appreciate any help available advice from others who have retroactively installed the accessory (OEM type) driving lights to their cars. This might simplify my efforts considerably.

Also, my car's horn was removed and I wish to install a set of the HELLA OEM type dual-tone Superlouds. Again, the wiring is oversprayed by body paint, so any way to quickly determine what wire is the brown GND and (+) power wires for the original (now removed) horn? Is the original horn relay located on the engine-bay relay tray or somewhere else on the car?

Thanks.[font=Verdana]

[rjames]

You can determine the ground from the positive using a multimeter.

Set your multimeter to DC voltage and put the black probe on what you believe to be ground, and the red on what you believe to be positive. If you don't see a 'minus' sign next to the voltage reading then you've identified them correctly. If there is a minus sign then they are flipped.

[914werke]

74 were different (round) from late (75-76) rectangular lights & the wiring while similar is specific,
The early lights use a tinned 22g (i think) wire as a hot. on one side it is pair of wires the ground is a femail blade connector
BTW the OE are Fog not Driving lights

[Artfrombama]

The horn relay is located on top of the fuse holder above the drivers L knee. Remove two Phillips screws, the fuse holder will drop down and the relay is one of the round ones, should "click" when you press the horn ring.
Lacquer thinner on a rag and a little elbow grease will usually remove the overspray from wires.

I too am interested in adding fog lights to my 74, hopefully someone that has done this can supply a "shopping list".

[ClayPerrine]

74 were different (round) from late (75-76) rectangular lights & the wiring while similar is specific,
The early lights use a tinned 22g (i think) wire as a hot. on one side it is pair of wires the ground is a femail blade connector
BTW the OE are Fog not Driving lights

Just a piece of trivia....

The 914 fog lights are the same housing and mounts as the 911S driving lights of the same era. The glass lenses and the bulbs are different. And, of course, the part number on them are different between the 911S driving lights and the 914 fog lights.

I know this because i bought a set of 911S driving lights at a swap meet and installed them on my red 914-6 conversion. I have had multiple 911 guys try to buy them from me because apparently they are fairly rare.

[SirAndy]

There is no such thing as OEM driving lights for the 914.

They are all fog lights.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[L-Jet914]

I installed a set of Euro spec halogen fog lights (clear lens, black body) on my 914 a while back. I purchased them from a member here a while back. I also installed a second horn on behind the passenger side fog light. You will need the fog light switch (yellow insert for 74) and will need to cut a hole in the dash vinyl where the fog light switch resides (I cut a small plus sign in the vinyl instead of removing it completely. Then you will have to find the wiring for the fog light switch that is tucked away in the dash. I put the high tone horn on the left side and the low tone horn on the right side of the vehicle. I used horns from a mid to late 90s vw golf/jetta. I wired in spade connectors to the factory VW pigtail connectors that I cut out of the harness the horns came from so that I could revert back to factory at any time. Photo was taken before I added the spade connectors.

[rgalla9146]

74 were different (round) from late (75-76) rectangular lights & the wiring while similar is specific,
The early lights use a tinned 22g (i think) wire as a hot. on one side it is pair of wires the ground is a femail blade connector
BTW the OE are Fog not Driving lights

Just a piece of trivia....

The 914 fog lights are the same housing and mounts as the 911S driving lights of the same era. The glass lenses and the bulbs are different. And, of course, the part number on them are different between the 911S driving lights and the 914 fog lights.

I know this because i bought a set of 911S driving lights at a swap meet and installed them on my red 914-6 conversion. I have had multiple 911 guys try to buy them from me because apparently they are fairly rare.

When seen on early 911s (before 1974) they have a chrome rim and stainless or
chrome body, not black like on a 914. They're known as 'through the grill lamps'
and are high value items.

[Jezibel]

Just a piece of trivia....
The 914 fog lights are the same housing and mounts as the 911S driving lights of the same era. The glass lenses and the bulbs are different. And, of course, the part number on them are different between the 911S driving lights and the 914 fog lights.
I know this because i bought a set of 911S driving lights at a swap meet and installed them on my red 914-6 conversion. I have had multiple 911 guys try to buy them from me because apparently they are fairly rare.

When seen on early 911s (before 1974) they have a chrome rim and stainless or
chrome body, not black like on a 914. They're known as 'through the grill lamps'
and are high value items.

Thanks to you and all others who have weighed in on this matter. Few things are more exasperating than PO (previous owners) having made wiring changes to suit their intended applications without drawing up a diagram for any subsequent owners to follow, should they wish to alter/modify/revert wiring mods. I have had numerous VW Bugs and five 914s (including a beautiful Six) in past years and have always taken great pains to diagram everything I've altered', and placed in the car's documentation folio....since as we all know, one never "owns" a 914 outright, we merely become temporary custodians of the car until it ends up being re-homed.

While I understand that may seem OCD'ish or pedantish to some with vast experience and/or automotive electrical knowledge, for a great many whose equivalent understanding is modest, it can be a life-saver (and certainly offer relief from the frustrations of trying to puzzle everything out using electrical diagrams).

In all contexts and applications, colloquies such as are provided by 914WORLD are absolutely invaluable! Thanks, everyone! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Jezibel]

Just a piece of trivia....
The 914 fog lights are the same housing and mounts as the 911S driving lights of the same era. The glass lenses and the bulbs are different. And, of course, the part number on them are different between the 911S driving lights and the 914 fog lights.
I know this because i bought a set of 911S driving lights at a swap meet and installed them on my red 914-6 conversion. I have had multiple 911 guys try to buy them from me because apparently they are fairly rare.

When seen on early 911s (before 1974) they have a chrome rim and stainless or
chrome body, not black like on a 914. They're known as 'through the grill lamps'
and are high value items.

Thanks to you and all others who have weighed in on this matter. Few things are more exasperating than PO (previous owners) having made wiring changes to suit their intended applications without drawing up a diagram for any subsequent owners to follow, should they wish to alter/modify/revert wiring mods. I have had numerous VW Bugs and five 914s (including a beautiful Six) in past years and have always taken great pains to diagram everything I've altered', and placed in the car's documentation folio....since as we all know, one never "owns" a 914 outright, we merely become temporary custodians of the car until it ends up being re-homed.

While I understand that may seem OCD'ish or pedantish to some with vast experience and/or automotive electrical knowledge, for a great many whose equivalent understanding is modest, it can be a life-saver (and certainly offer relief from the frustrations of trying to puzzle everything out using electrical diagrams).

In all contexts and applications, colloquies such as are provided by 914WORLD are absolutely invaluable! Thanks, everyone! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[NARP74]

They are fog lights for driving.
I gave up trying to teach the world years ago, not this world, so many terms get used so much that they actually get added to common vernacular.
Tinnitus, tinitus
Flautist, flutist
pianist, pianist, emphasis on different syllables
truck, rig
clip, magazine
The list is too big to keep track of!

[SirAndy]

They are fog lights for driving.
I gave up trying to teach the world years ago, not this world, so many terms get used so much that they actually get added to common vernacular.
Tinnitus, tinitus
Flautist, flutist
pianist, pianist, emphasis on different syllables
truck, rig
clip, magazine
The list is too big to keep track of!

Driving lights and fog lights are physically different.
They are made for different use cases.

Different bulbs, different reflectors, different lenses, different light cones.

So much different in fact that in Germany it is illegal to use your fog lights as driving lights when it isn't foggy. You can, and will, get pulled over and ticketed if you do.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[914werke]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) There is always this option...

[NARP74]

I know that... my point was that I stopped trying to be the editor and teach proper usage of every term. It is futile. I used to live in a resort town, every week new people showed up in droves and made the same mistakes over and over. Just when i thought it was getting better, people figured things out, the week was over and a whole new group of tourists showed up and it started all over again. 52 weeks a year, got old after a while. I just let it slide now.
This isn't Germany.
My English off road vehicle has fog light taillights, to be seen better from behind. I occasionally hit the switch by mistake or just to wake someone up that I think is not paying attention. I am not sure what to call them but I bet they use them properly in England. This isn't England either.

[Jezibel]

I know that... my point was that I stopped trying to be the editor and teach proper usage of every term. It is futile. I used to live in a resort town, every week new people showed up in droves and made the same mistakes over and over. Just when i thought it was getting better, people figured things out, the week was over and a whole new group of tourists showed up and it started all over again. 52 weeks a year, got old after a while. I just let it slide now.
This isn't Germany.

I think we're quibbling a bit, here. Driving lights were an available option in Europe. They were not, here in the USA. But leave us not be pedantic about nomenclature. Lets jes call 'em "Them funny lil shiney thangs in the front of the car" and leave it at that, eh! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

OK, that said, I've attached two images of the driver's left and right side horn/FOG lamps on my '74. In both images, two sets of wires appear. on the right image and also on the left side, the smaller set of wires reveal BLK/BRN, which presumably means (+) and (GND). The slightly larger (longer) set of wires shows WHT-YEL/BRN wirings (+ and GND). I assume the smaller set of wires on both sides are for a twin-horn set-up and the larger wires are for the FOG lamps. Any dissenting opinions on this surmise, here?

I've at last tackled the perplexities of retro-installing a set of Hella SHARP-TONE horns and a set of modern reproductions of the FOG lamps and grills). Now I'm about to see if I can trace the wiring from the horn relay on my fuse-panel aft side, so as to use those existing wires, after also installing a suitable switch for the lights. It's going to be a slow process, since working on 914 is somewhat akin to being a contortionist and it's never been simple or easy to 'assume the position' required to access some of the car's components.

Can we assume that the two wire sets referenced above are indeed for horns and FOGS? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

[Shivers]

Yes they are. The wires for the switch are under the dash in the loom, left side of the steering column

@Jezibel

[dtmehall]

check out the thread listed below. i added driving lights to my 73 using the existing wiring.

914 fog lights, Any Experience Buying New or Used Fog Lights

this thread started on 02/21/2024

[VaccaRabite]

I have Supertones on my 914.
You will want to upgrade the relay!
The stock wiring will not provide enough current to really make the supertones shine. When I did it, I quickly put in a new relay and pulled a wire (with an inline fuse) direct from the battery to the relay and then out to the horns.

Whenever you can, reduce load on the stock wire harness! Especially in the dashboard.

Zach

[Jezibel]

Yes they are. The wires for the switch are under the dash in the loom, left side of the steering column

@Jezibel

Thanks for that helpful input, Shivers! Most useful, especially when the thought of mucking about with electrical wiring in my car always sends tremors down my spine! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jezibel]

check out the thread listed below. i added driving lights to my 73 using the existing wiring.

914 fog lights, Any Experience Buying New or Used Fog Lights

this thread started on 02/21/2024

More great help, dtmehall! I'm after it like Elmer Fudd after a wascally wabbit! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)