79 911sc h-4 headlight mounting issue

[phil freeman]

my 79 911 sc coupe hasn't had headlights in it for a while now but i am getting close to being on the road and i have new h-4 lights but they dont fit properly the screw at the bottom pushes up on the light and unhooks it at the top what am i doing wrong?

[freeform911]

Try readjusting the screw tab? Maybe more downward.

[darrin]

do you have new rubber seals between the headlight and bucket?

[kavadarci]

Photos will help.

[Discseven]

At the risk of being totally wrong... I think the ring needs to fully down at the top or this is what happens. (Fading memory faintly recalls same thing happening in my case.)

[phil freeman]

yes i have new rubber seal and brand new headlight assy.s. i have hesitated bending the tab for the screw but may be the way to go

[Flojo]

1 when screwing down, press headlight gently to fender to overcome the solid new seal seating.
2 the screw must have a near 45 degree angle to the tab. rebend the tab gently towards you. maybe readjust twice

[phil freeman]

flojo that did the trick bent tab a little and had a guy hold down on the light while i tightened it worked good on passenger side but the tab is stripped on driverside now. do they make a oversize threaded bolt to hold the light in? i can tap to a bigger size in the tab . i can make a new bolt if i have to but buying one would be easier.

[RSBob]

Insert one of these in the stripped recepticle and use the screw you have. Works great. Securely held mine for 5 years until the car was sold.

For general safety with H4s, always use zip ties between the light housing and the wire loom. Far cheaper than not mounting it correctly and having your light launch.

[darrin]

RSBob's trick is good, others have epoxied the proper sized nut onto the back of the stripped tab with success too

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by darrin

RSBob's trick is good, others have epoxied the proper sized nut onto the back of the stripped tab with success too

I did exactly this ^^^ some years ago, worked perfect and still working!

[7783911]

I had similar issues...

1 got a better seal then the standard..i used ome from a older volkswagen that was a bit more rigid and really holds its shape well
2 Adjusted tabs
3 Existing jack nut was garbage after 40 years, replaced with a new jacknut that is installed like using a rivet but is instead a matched thread to NEW screws (porsche HL screws)

solved all loose problems and even the seal looks better because its sitting in the channel without any distortion

bob

[Kraftwerk]

The H4 was never meant to be on the SC or earlier cars....The result is a beast of a time getting the rings on properly.. what helped, if I remember correctly was using the OLD seals the new rubber was just too thick..and pushing down on the ring from the top as others have said. Years later I got the new rubber seals to fit with the rings but I had to cut it them at the top so there was room for both the seal and the metal "tab" . It is possible to strip -out the bottom screw then you have to re -tap the threads. It's a pain..

[7783911]

I had that same issue and the VW rings resulted in a perfect fit with a great seal..no fussing around with original porsche seals that are soft and easily tear and or bend out of fit

Headlight Front Lights Rubber VW Beetle Bug Bus SS Porsche 356 Gasket 1pc 22 24

found on ebay for 5$

[RSBob]

I too used my old seals after fighting the new ones for an hour and not getting the lights properly seated. The old seals made life easy.