The Official 356Talk Forum

Hello, I am somewhat new to the forum and am looking for the right hella 128 fog lights for my car 356 coupe T6. While there are many posts around the relay, position of fog light switches, it seems to me that even the yellow lense V shaped glasses over time changed. Please see the glasses of my fog light compared to others sold on the market. My glass only has 2 marks on the glass besides the Hella sign, it says "oben" for top on the top of the glass and there is this snake type line at the bottom, that's it. I have seen other V shaped glasses which have numbers on it and also say "Made in Germany", which is not on my glasses. Can someone tell me which are original or was there a slight evolution of the glasses between 1960 (T5 hella fog lights versions) and later T6 and into porsche 356's?

Thanks,

Paul

I haven't seen any repsonse yet, it should not matter if the fog light glasses are yellow or white just some examples perceived to be original from 1960 to 1962 would be good.

Thanks,

seems I am answering my own questions . After opening the fog lights and looking at the base with the glass, I saw that they contain the date marks N40 and P45. If it is true what Paul Hatflied wrote in his article some time ago, one glass and base would be from 1955 and the other from 1956. This explains the simple marks on the glasses that I have, i. e. just the word "oben" and the snakey line at the bottom. The older the glass the less marks on it. But I was wrong with my initial question, i. e. between 1960 and 1965, how did the flog light glasses develop, at least we can say the bottom simple glasses look like when Hella started their series of 128 fog lights in 1955 I read somewhere, later more markings were put on as the market progressed.

Paul:

I think there was a thread a while back that talked about the various fog light differences. Try a search to see if you can locate it.

Mike

Thanks Mike, I thought I had looked through all threads on fog lights, searching for the right term on different glasses, but as I found out regarding above, my fog lights are from 1955, where I assume very few people had fog lights on their 356 A's when this was not a regular Porsche supported item. So the topic of this thread should have been, who has fog lights installed one their 356 A, before it was a factory supported item. Wrong assumption by myself.

Fog lights were a factory option as far back as 1952, just not 128s at the time

Maybe these photos will be some help.

These are the Hella 128s which came with my '65 911 which was probably completed in May 1965. I believe them to be original but I can't prove it.
I'm sure the photo of the lens is helpful.

One thing to note: there aren't any rivets on the side. The reproductions have the rivets. Here's a photo of a '68 912's foglight:
As you can see, it has the rivets (and it's not the familiar "V" lens). I think earlier Hella 128s also had the rivets so the rivetless style may have been something Hella did for a while and either found too difficult or it didn't work well.

There were definitely different lenses over time.

thank you Jim, this is helpful

I am working on a 1960 356B coupe with factory installed fog lights listed on the Kardex. I will attach some pictures

Here are some pictures

These are a bit different from the mid 60s ones pictured. The housings do not have a recess formed into them for the front piece. Instead, there is a cadmium plated piece that is cemented into the back of the housing. The lenses are clear with yellow flash on the back side. The lettering on the lens is as follows from the perimeter of the lens. Squiggly line, K1112, 13-66893, Made in Germany, IGM 2042 PM, SAE F64. The top center of the lens says oben. Below that the number 66893, below that the "hella" name molded in the back side of the glass, below that an A in a circle.

These appear to be original to the car

thank you Eric, seems there is tendency visible between 1956 and 1965. Mine have the same cadmium plated piece as yours, also the same clear lense with yellow flash on the back side, but no numbers, nothing except for the word "oben" and the squiggly line at the bottom. So the younger, the more numbers and letters on the glass.

A bit more information on early fog light installations. I am not sure when fog light relays were added to the scheme. My factory fog light equipped 1960 B ( 7/60) does not have a fog light relay. Straight switch is all. Attached is a picture of the complete "harness". Two black wires in a sleeve from the switch to the fuse box. That is it.

Joe's book does indicate that T-5s would have a relay. However, maybe not....

Does anyone have pictures of the factory fog light relay mounting location and wiring? I can’t seem to find one picture in any book or source.
Thanks