Installing euro H4s: What am I doing wrong?
 

I cannot get the euro H4 headlights I purchased (new in box) to properly fit my car. I know H4s are a tight fit to begin with...The car has repro/replacement fenders from circa 1990. Could this have anything to do with it?

You are supposed to hinge down from the 12 o clock position, right? I can't get the assembly to fit on the fender/headlight bucket. One side is always off.

Grrr!!!

Any ideas?

Could be one of three things. First are the fenders 911 fenders or 964 fenders? They are different. Second is that damn new rubber gasket which seems way too thick. I ended up using my old gaskets to get my H4's to fit. Third is you have poorly made repro fenders that are off just enough to keep the H4's from fitting. I would think this would not be the problem as your stock lights fit right?

Hi Kurt
No, they appear to be longhood fenders. I say 1990 because that's when records indicate they were replaced during the car's restoration. I can't get em to fit even without the new rubber gaskets. Now, the stock sugarscoop lights fit just fine.

Will try again tonight.

My H4s fit ok before restoring my '72 - when I reassembled everything and used new seals, they were near impossible. I glued the seals down securely to the fenders. When the glue was cured, I generously lubed up the seals with silicon grease and installed the lights (yes, starting from 12pm). It was extremely difficult to get them on straight. They did like to shift from side to side.

Have you tried comparing your H4 trim rings to the DOT rings, to make sure they are not warped or something?

I too went with my old seals, they can be a pita and really a mickey mouse setup for all the finer parts of these cars. I have even had mine pop loose.

Yep, some Silicon lube or just Vaseline on the rubber seals is a must.
Press down hard from the top to seat the buckets into the seals.

Also, since there is a possibility for them to pop out while driving, I installed a thin steel fishing leader looped loosely so it holds the buckets just in case.

You don't want to drive over them. :(

I had an H1 pop out, not pretty and somewhat expensive.

Lots of pressure and some aptly placed swears will make this go fairly smoothly. I replaced my H-5s w/ Euro H-4's, with new gaskets in about 30 minutes, not including making the wiring adapter. The first side took about 20 minutes, to get down the "feel" for how to put the screw in (angle, etc) the other side was pretty quick. Here's what I did:

1) put new gasket on the fender - make sure it is perfectly lined up
2) hook the top of the H-4 bucket on the headlight bucket tab
3) triple check to make sure the H-4 screw hole is lined up
4) quadruple check to make sure the H-4 screw hole is lined up
5) press down and in, from the top of the H-4 assembly
6) while still pressing down/in put the retaining screw into place and tighten

I had one headlight pop off about 2 days after the initial install, but the retaining screw held it in place. I repeated the steps above, and in about 5 mintues had the headlight back in and it's been there for over a year w/o any issues.

For me, "press down on the top" was the key.

Make sure the screw hole is lined up, and also, I find it helpful to thread in the screw a little prior without the H-4 assemply just so you have a good idea of the angle of the screw as it goes in--otherwise you might get it started and it will bind right away from starting to cross-thread.

I had a similar problem using the new rubber gaskets. I took an exacto knife to the rubber gasket and cut a very small wedge the shape of the hinge at the top of where the light is supposed to hook. Fit perfectly after that.

my problem seems to be that the fender headlight buckets are out of round, I swear.

What are you replacing? - if they were stock sugar scoops or similar, the H4's should fit just as well. Where did you get the H4's - are you sure they are legit? Tip -Don't strip the H4 screw trying to force it.