Backdate 911 Conversion Signal Light Boxes

[Arne2]

Originally Posted by Elombard

Left Front Fender signal light box 1965-68: Restoration Design

Any body tried these? may have already been posted.

I've seen a thread where those were used, but they are only light boxes, the part from the lightbox to the wheel opening still must be fabricated. The fab costs are what I'd like to avoid, if possible. A lightbox/fender extension that can simply be welded on with little-to-no metalwork would be ideal. Weld it on, dress the weld, skim with filler and paint. That's what I'm hoping for.

[pksystems]

Originally Posted by Elombard

Left Front Fender signal light box 1965-68: Restoration Design

Any body tried these? may have already been posted.

Those will be different then the 69-73 light boxes. Will work if you want the SWB look front end, but the horn grill section is alot wider.

[theFONZ]

I am interested in these as well. Has anyone had success with the fiberglass ones? A steel version sure would be nice.

[Iciclehead]

They are not bad to fabricate, particularly if you have the short hood fender filler pieces and the Porsche signal light frames which I think are 901 503 043 23 GRV and 901 503 044 23 GRV.

A small piece of sheet metal, bit of welding and off you go.

Oh yeah, you have to bend down the front flange on the shorthood fender to hold the signal light.

Dennis

[Elombard]

Interesting - I wonder why they chose to do the earlier light boxes and not the later. I did not realize there was a difference until I looked closely.

[Maxhouse97]

Did TRE ever come out with the steel turn signal boxes?

[Arne2]

Originally Posted by Iciclehead

They are not bad to fabricate, particularly if you have the short hood fender filler pieces and the Porsche signal light frames which I think are 901 503 043 23 GRV and 901 503 044 23 GRV.

A small piece of sheet metal, bit of welding and off you go.

Oh yeah, you have to bend down the front flange on the shorthood fender to hold the signal light.

Dennis

I know my limits. I'm not skilled enough to do that work myself. (At least, not well enough that I'd be happy with the result.) And paying to have this stuff done isn't cheap. The simpler and more straightforward the better.

[micheloaks]

Originally Posted by micheloaks

Hi Jason bobruk at Real Steel Restorations has begun making quality steel lwb parts.
They are located in australia.

Will send you their contact details.

Cheers Michel

restore1@me.com

[theFONZ]

Originally Posted by micheloaks

restore1@me.com

Do you know if he makes the steel longhood lightbox conversions?

[micheloaks]

Originally Posted by theFONZ

Do you know if he makes the steel longhood lightbox conversions?

Saw jason working on a set two weeks ago. Not sure where he is up to re: production. Send an email . Cheers Michel

[super80]

Bump for vendor updates. Would like to know about current availability of metal light boxes for LWB cars. Trying to avoid paying top $$$ for older fenders if I can help it...

[356graham]

I hand made a set as Iciclehead suggested, but it did required a great deal of patience. Not real pretty, but they will not show.

[TRE Cup]

okay- update 10.18.16
We gave up on our USA based metal guy. Frankly these were causing him a head ache to make them.
So we connected with a european based outfit about 4 years ago, and import these conversion parts. We currently have inventory, and cost is $700 a pair.

BUT heads up as these parts are not 100% correct ready to weld on. They do need some manipulation/ small mods to get them right. We have gone over this with the manufacturer, but they claim the product is perfect . NOT. so no changes

Still it is decent enough to work with and we have sold approximately 100 sets so far. Our body shops have installed them, so talking from personal experience'

And sorry: NO turbo / RSR version planned at all

[SoCal911SC]

Originally Posted by TRE Cup

okay- update 10.18.16
We gave up on our USA based metal guy. Frankly these were causing him a head ache to make them.
So we connected with a european based outfit about 4 years ago, and import these conversion parts. We currently have inventory, and cost is $700 a pair.

BUT heads up as these parts are not 100% correct ready to weld on. They do need some manipulation/ small mods to get them right. We have gone over this with the manufacturer, but they claim the product is perfect . NOT. so no changes

Still it is decent enough to work with and we have sold approximately 100 sets so far. Our body shops have installed them, so talking from personal experience'

And sorry: NO turbo / RSR version planned at all

In this last picture, it looks like you also have the sheet metal that fills the gaps above and to the side of the light box back to the fender. Are these also included in the kit? Or are they sold separately?

Which front fenders are these applicable to? Mid-years, SC/Carrerras, etc.? Or do they all have the same front fender dimensions?

Thanks.

[TRE Cup]

Thanks for asking: Yes, the grey/green metal you see is what you get to weld to your car. The turn signal assembly, lenses, horn grills are available separately.
These fit 1974-1994 fenders

[SoCal911SC]

Originally Posted by TRE Cup

Thanks for asking: Yes, the grey/green metal you see is what you get to weld to your car. The turn signal assembly, lenses, horn grills are available separately.
These fit 1974-1994 fenders

Ok. So for something with late 60's fenders like a 912 and the quarter panel would either have to be changed out, or the fenders modified right?

[jm993rs]

Very good !!

[shamrok]

Wanted to bump this. Anybody DIY'd this? Any tips?

[Showdown]

I just did this with the weld-in metal versions. There are photos in my build thread.

Basically;

After you have your long hood in place you need to cut the bottom of the fender off, maybe a centimeter, just enough to get rid of the bottom and enable the new light box frame to slide over the fender. You may have to do some additional cutting where the fender needs the front bulkhead wall to create clearance for the light box. I did, but be careful because there’s a mounting bolt there that you don’t want to cut. You’ll also probably have to trim some of the light box frame to make it fit.

Once you can slide the fender up you need your bumper. You’ll have to position the bumper in its place and then align the light box with it- this is a matter of tilting, twisting, bending and forcing the light box into position so that 1.) the light box fits into it 2.) the frame fits on the fender and 3.) the frame aligns with the bumper. There are no other specific instructions other than to work the light box over and over. Do both sides at the same time otherwise you may be off and not know it.

When in place you then need to trace the top edge of the light box frame onto the fender. This will be your cut line for the butt weld.

Cut close to the line but be careful. Test fit, trim, test fit, trim… use a sander to nibble away until you have a really tight fit. Clamp everything in place and begin welding. The light box frames are significantly thinner than the fender metal so keep that in mind when clamping- most clamps won’t hold the outer face flush so you will likely have to hold it while tacking it in place.

My light boxes were so thin (26-28 ga) that I wasn’t able to successfully TIG weld them as I’m not that good, so I MIG welded them and then ground the welds and did hammer and dolly work where I could.

Here are some photos of mine and others that I found:

[shamrok]

Great stuff, thanks for the info. It seems getting steel fenders is hit and miss and they often need working as well, so I wonder which is easier.