H4 installation

[TerryH]

Wayne's book says installation of H4's is about as easy as filling the tank with gas or putting air in the tires because the "talent rating" shows a lone guy smiling and holding a wrench. Piece of cake are words I usually avoid, because Murphy's law applies to me more often than I like to think.

I've owned my car for about 14 months now and I've been in, around, under and above it doing simple maintenance and upgrades. Because the car was painted before my purchase, I was especially leery of damage or rust, but never found anything substantial. UNTIL NOW!!....

Behind those old "sugar scoops" some rust reared it ugly head at the bottom of the buckets. Neither threaded retainer was going to work with that nice machined screw that comes with the H4's. I wire brushed, sanded and painted the areas with a few coats, but that's only a short term fix. Then I went to the local auto parts store and purchased some speed nuts, those spring steel clamping threaded clips and used some nice chrome sheet metal screws instead of the supplied machine screws. Added new rubber seals and they ended up looking pretty good and well secured. I did tie-wrap the H4's into the buckets so they can't leave the vehicle completely if they were ever to come loose.

Anyway, the 1 hour allotted time turned into 4 hours. I could see this job taking 30 minutes if the date was 1981.

A few photos....

Before....


During....


After

[Spede]

Much nicer!

[FrayAdjacent911]

I'm gonna have to do that someday... my headlights are pretty pathetic as is. The rings are in poor shape, screws are missing...

I think the H4 upgrade will be very nice. Yours turned out lookin real nice Terry!

[TerryH]

Thanks guys. I like both looks, but this is new and different.

I was wondering about drainage. Is there supposed to be a drain hole in the bucket? Other than the wiring grommet, there wasn't any way for water to escape. Maybe this is leading to corrosion/rust.

Should I drill a drain hole and paint around the edges, of course?

[RoninLB]

Originally posted by TerryH
Is there supposed to be a drain hole in the bucket?

mine has a drain

[Wil Ferch]

Yes...a drain hole...

I *think*...from the factory...there is a small drain tube attached, which by necessity will create a small "lip" or "dam" around the hole....

On my car, I found the drain tube gone...and I beleive it's a better deal in that the "low point" will always find its way out. Of course, the tube helps prevent water re-entry ( an open hole...I guess...could serve as an inlet for spalsh water)...but I think the benefits outweigh the negatives without a drain tube.

Wil

EDIT....Oh...BTW.... the aero H4's ( Bosch) now installed will prevent a LOT of water to enter the bucket in the first place..compared to the USA style "sugar scoop" trim ring that drives water into the bucket when driving in the rain !

[k9handler]

very nice!