Does anyone recognize this fastener on engine compartment light?
 

At the risk of looking like a complete maroon...

It seems the engine compartment light on my car may have been installed using some sort of backyard engineering.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...808_193430.jpg


There are the two tabs on the outer edges of the housing, but on mine they don't go anywhere. Instead I have this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...808_221421.jpg

It's nearly impossible to get a good view of, let alone get a picture of. I can't see a screw head on the underside, and there are two tabs on either side lapped over the fastener.

Thoughts?

Looks like an electrical pass-through.
The device has a ceramic core to insulate the center metal part....and an thin nut to secure itin the housing.
It appears they used the nut to mount the whole item (secure it to the housing AND the engine lid).
Bob

I'd be willing to bet you're correct, but you'll notice on the bottom side of the second picture, between the tab on the right and the cylinder that houses the bulb, there's a cylindrical post. I'd removed the screws before the pictures, but that's where the wires connect.

It seems the fasteners holding it to the deck lid are doing that alone. I just have no clue how it's supposed to come off! Without breaking the part, there's no visible screw head at all. I thought about disassembling the whole thing, but don't see a safe way to do that either. Everything seems to be riveted together.

Above the light assy there is a tab bent way over right next to the skin of the lid.
I bet the tab is part of the nut that locks the assy to the support.
Try turning the tab/nut on the larger part (lefty-loosey) and see if it unscrews.
Bob

I have seen a similarly mounted engine light on a duck tail. Remove the outer screws and drop the light. There is a bracket underneath with screws and holes that correspond to the inner clips you see holding it to the hood brace. You will see the inner screw heads once you remove the outer screws and drop the light.

Duck tail with similar mounting, taken from a recent eBay listing ...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1407589107.jpg

Thanks a ton! I will go give it a shot this afternoon.