H4 Conversion Headlight Mounting Problem

[Scungillee]

I was about to install a pair of H4 Bosch conversion headlights in my 73 911 T Targa last night when I noticed that the small tab on the bottom of the headlight bucket was broken off. That is the tab that holds down the new headlight unit. The old sugar scoop trim rings were held in place by a 2 inch metal screw screwed in the bucket rim.
What would ypu guys suggest - to weld a metal tab on the bottom of the bucket and tap it for the reatining screw or ????? I do not want to replace the bucket or drill a bogus hole with a long metal screw in the bucket. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[porschenut]

I think you'll have to weld a new tab on, and drill a hole in it. If you don't have the right sized drill tap, just use a speed nut on the tab.

[ntrylvl]

I had/have a similar problem with my car (which also started life as a 73 T). Unfortunately, I didn't notice until after I purchased the car. The previous owner had already installed H4's, but the passenger's side ring was not in good shape, so I decided to replace it. When I removed the headlight, I noticed that the original "tab" was missing, and that a very weak replacement had been riveted into place. Now curious, I removed the driver's side headlight as well, and found that the original tab on that side was/is missing too, although the replacement on that side had been welded (not riveted) into place. I reinstalled everything, but the headlight on the passenger's side (the one with the riveted tab) did not want to stay attached, no matter what, because the riveted tab had some right to left "play" that allowed the headlight ring to slide off the top of the bucket. So I had to weld the tab to keep it planted firmly in one spot. So far, this seems to have been effective. I'd share some pics, but I don't want to take my headlights off now that they are on

Good luck!

[KTL]

Very common for that tab to have stripped threads or be damaged, bent, replaced. The design is sort of poor in that the screw hole is stamped to create a "nipple" and then threaded. This results in the need for fine threads. I'd recommend you put a new tab on there that's much thicker than the thin original. You can tap the new tap with coarse threads or weld a suitable nut on the back of the tab in lieu of simply thread-tapping the new tab.