While your at it put a drain plug in the headlight bucket. Yours has gone missing.

Thanks - ordered two. It was never there so I didn't realize it had gone missing and expect the other side is also gone. I also looked the PET and I believe my lights are also missing the spacer on the retaining screw which probably didn't help.. on order also.

This thread is really troubling. I have a pair of beautifully restored H4s in transit to be right now from John Audette and I really what them to remain securely on my car once installed. Surely there must be g'zillions of H4s and even H1s running around out there for decades with absolutely no falling off problems. Could it be that this is a non-issue if they are installed correctly, or am I being too simplistic? Maybe zip-tied headlights are in my immediate future!

Rob

I've never had a problem with loose lights in the last 35 years. It mystifies me how anybody has trouble with this.

JR

I think issues arise with fenders that may not be in perfect shape. Then you probably have quality that isn't the same as it was way back when. The right side went on fine for me, left side, no frickn way it would stay on and I tried everything. Probably spent 5 hours, scratched my paint, I was pissed.

The headlight assembly does sort of snap or pop onto the fender. The retaining screw just keeps it from popping back off. It's not there to actually hold the headlight on. The headlight shouldn't be moving around when you put the screw in, it should already be solidly attached to the fender. If it's moving around, it isn't attached correctly.

After further review, I'm convinced that the light assembly was STOLEN. I got the new screw today and it threads fine, no issues, not stripped. Given how far the screw threads into the nut and the fact it was rock solid the day before (not loose in anyway), I have to conclude it was taken. That's the only possible answer when entire assembly, screw and all are gone with no thread damage, no car damage and no wiring harness damage. Hard to believe it but it's just gone clean away. Maybe I need locking screws now although they don't exist for this application due to the inner/outer setup.

Anyway, I will be extra careful when re-installing the new assembly when it arrives and will rig a safety tether for peace-of-mind and theft deterrent. Really disappointed someone would steal it at a C&C event but I guess it's a great place to shop.. I bet it happened when someone who was a little strange asked to look under the engine cover. I never went back to the front of the car after that - expensive lesson learned :(

Maybe it's the way I sit in the car, there's no way I'd miss one of the headlights being off. I can clearly see the top and the side of the trim ring from the driver's position. The right hand side like your picture shows is even more visible.

Sorry for your loss. I used tie wraps on mine to hold them...no way they will get stolen easily. I don't think I could easily remove them anymore.

so my replacement headlights arrived and are out having protective film applied to prevent sandblasting before I install them. In an effort to make lemonade out of lemons I took advantage of the situation to install the Jwest headlight relay kit from our host. I had been planning to do that for a long time so now I have protection for the stalk and hopefully nice brightness from the lights.

It installed fairly easily and then directions are excellent. The nut that holds the battery ground strap is a bit annoying to get to as the Porsche engineers routed a tube tightly right over it.. anyway went in well and everything works. The new relay is nice and straight after I tightened it up after this photo was taken with it loose.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1438974275.jpg

I'll post pics of the new lights after I install them this weekend. My old remaining H4 will be for sale and it has the lens with "Bosch" in the glass as is NLA.

Success
 

New H4s installed. Thanks for the feedback along the way. Both lights made the right sounds as they snapped into place. I rigged a anti-theft tether so hopefully these will stay in place for a long time to come. Test fit the outer rings and all is good so they go off to the body shop tomorrow for some fresh white paint.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1439346180.jpg

I'm not seeing how any of you guys are zip-tying or tethering your headlights, because there's no access to the rear or the headlight bucket while you're installing the light assembly.

Also, and I've said this before, if you put a tether that's long enough to allow the light to dangle if it comes loose, it will bang the hell out of the front fender and cause damage that will cost several times what a new H4 would cost (not to mention the H4 itself will likely be damaged and need replacing). If a light does come loose while driving, the best thing is for it to be gone in an instant, cleanly.

Yes, my new H4s snapped on requiring considerable force. They are tight enough that I had to fabricate a little "tool" to put inside the mounting screw hole to get them to come off! With the lower screw in place, I cannot envision how in the world these things can possibly come off. I'm wondering if it's possible that some (many?) of the falling-off headlight assemblies were simply not fully "snapped" properly into place. Not "accusing," just "asking!"

Rob

Long, thicker zip ties. Takes a few minutes to line up the ties with the holes in back of bucket, once they are in, zip it, pull it semi-tight, install light, then pull zips super tight, snip excess off, seal with goop. No frickn way they are moving.

The original headlight screws get pretty nasty after 30 years if a car has mileage commensurate with it's age. After replacing the headlamps however many times, the threads in the nut tend to wear out.
A few years back, mine got to the point that even a new retaining screw would not hold the headlamp assembly on.
I ground down the nuts in the bucket and installed new rivnuts in their place.

Thanks. Now it makes sense.

Any suggestions as to how to remove the painted trim ring around the H4? The lights have been in place for several years and I need to replace a bulb. I removed the screw at the bottom of the trim ring but the trim ring won't move!! I don't want to use a flat head screw driver to pry it off because I might damage the paint.

Any good ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Smack the bottom of the ring with the palm of your hand.

You can use a tool with a hook to pull from inside the screw hole. Works well, no scratches.

Perfect solution!

I used one of those little metal 'free' paint can openers like they give you at Home Depot. I just ground a bit off of each side 'till it would go into the hole. Tug a bit and off it comes.

Rob