CF/Fiberglass Fenders - how to attach headlights?

[widebody911]

I'm installing a set of carbon fiber front fenders, and there are no tabs for mounting the headlights. Those of you who've been down this road - how did you attach the lights? My first thought was to pop-rivet the tabs from the steel fenders into the CF fender, and perhaps back it up with a little epoxy.

[jpnovak]

Mine had the lip on the outside to hook a set of H4s too. They needed to be "massaged" though. I then epoxied large surface area metal tabs to the bottom of the bucket. I installed the lights and made a locating mark with a sharpie. Then I drilled a hole for the mounting screw. you can use speed clips or rivet thread inserts depending on your choice for a machine screw or sheet metal screw.

I have driven the car like this for about 2 years with long trips in the hill country and several 3.5 hour/each way trips to the track. No problems with them coming loose yet.

A more permanant solution would be to cut out the glass buckets and mount steel buckets.

[widebody911]

Hmm. I have H5's...

[jpnovak]

Thom,

I don't know how H5 housings attach. I assume its the same as the H4 housing since so many people do the swap.

[deanprichard]

i have the 993 fenders (glass) and i guess i have some headlight buckets that are not installed... id like info on this too, subscribing

[78targa]

If you have buckets in the fenders, rivet or bolt a piece of metal sheet metal with a lip a the top of the headlight bucket. At the bottom, you want to put in a metal tab with a threaded hole that aligns with the stock screw on the headlight.

Not having a bucket...you could do the similar thing as noted above but you would need to go through the fender to secure the tabs.

I would not recomend relying on epoxy as the fenders vibrate alot and you would risk losing an expensive headlight.

On my last car I used the poor man's approach at the track and while implementing the bottom tab with the threaded hole, I opted for the fiberous adhesive at the top...you know...duct tape.

[Jeff Alton]

A common solution is to cut out the fiberglass buckets and put in steel ones from a factory fender. Just curious, where did you get the fenders, and how is the rest of the fit?

Cheers

[Jack Olsen]

When he painted BB2, Pelicanite KevinP73 added a tab for the headlight screw, since glass won't hold any kind of a thread.



That's a terrible picture, but the idea is you cut a small slot in the base of the bucket, and then position an L-shaped piece of steel with a threaded hole in such a way that the half with the threaded hole comes up through the slot while the other end is secured underneath with a short bolt and nut.

But make sure the upper lip is in good shape, since it does 90% of the work holding the light assembly in.

I still have the steel buckets. If anyone wants to buy them, send me a PM.

[wcc]

I don't know if any of this will help but I have H5s on my '87. The small screw on the bottom just holds the ring on and there are four screws inside that hold the bucket in.

[78targa]

My lower tabs look identical to Jack's.

We tried using the upper lip of the fiberglass to hold the headlight in, but it wasn't quite enough. In the end we added a 2 inch metal lip at the top to better secure the headlight.

Steel buckets would allow for the best fitment. In my case the car was already painted and we didn't want to bugger up the paint...

[widebody911]

These fenders have buckets in them, and my lights were originally held on by 4 tabs inside the bucket @ 2:00, 4:00, 8:00 and 10:00, and only the trim ring was held on by the lip and the tab @ 6:00.

I don't want to do too much surgery (ie section in a steel bucket) because I'm planning on leaving the fenders raw for the time being; they'll go nicely with my CF top, reflector panel and soon-to-be carbon engine lid.

For the weight-concious, the CF fenders were an 11lb improvement over steel.

[Jeff Alton]

They are 11lbs lighter each? Or combined?

Cheers

[widebody911]

Originally posted by catca
They are 11lbs lighter each? Or combined?

Each.