Bill, if you have the original light socket in there you cannot just change the bulb.  The original set-up was bulb and socket were one piece.  VW has since made available a bulb socket and bulb that are separate pieces and the bulb can be changed.  The part numbers for these parts are below.

Bulb socket, heater control, 321 919 039 

Bulb, light switches, heater controls, auto trans shifter, 12v1.2w, N 017 751 2

 On 2011-04-02, at 9:03 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> OK so I found some grain-of-rice bulbs while I was cleaning things out
> yesterday, and thought I'd get the light behind the heater control levers
> going again. I have power to the bulb socket. I have ground from the bulb
> socket. I have a good bulb ( touch the wires to the bulb and it lights
> up!!!). Damned If I can figure out how to put the bulb in the socket so that
> it makes contact with the ground and power supply.
> Any suggestions? I've already had the contact wires on two bulbs fall off
> fiddling ( carefully ) to make contact.

       Please note that I will be away from my business travelling from December 06 until April 30, 2011.  Parts orders will be processed although not as quickly as usual.  I will always be available for contact by E-mail.  If you phone your call will be addressed by Greg T. Brown here and he will either call you back or advise you to contact me directly by E-mail. Details of this adventure are on our Travel Blog: http://frankcondelli.com/travels/

Cheers,    

Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains (Collection for sale)
Frank Condelli & Associates - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems
BusFusion a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2011