944S2 Driving lamp refurbishment

[peanut]

yet another simple little job that has turned into a nightmare []

I need to change the bulbs in my driving lamp for the MOT.

The philips fixing screws (B) have all rusted so I drilled the heads off but the B****r still won't come out. I've levered so hard that I've already damaged the spoiler and I'm at the point where any more force is going to break the lamp and spoiler.

Is there anything I'm overlooking here ?

What are the 4x clips (A) for ?..............Will they release just the glass ?

Shall I just smash the whole thing out with a hammer ? at least it will give me some momentary pleasure.[]

frustrated......[]

 

[peanut]

well I'm pleased to report Brute Force won the day! []

 

[mike220]

You smashed it Nick ?

 

[Mike_Pollock]

How big was the hammer! Glad its sorted.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: mike220 You smashed it Nick ?

[][] no I just applied enough force and it finally came out . It was well jammed in there []

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: A9XXC How big was the hammer! Glad its sorted.

its a biggy when all else fails I resort to clouting it with 'enery' I'm just putting it back in .I've had to butcher and bodge it quite a bit so I'll need to source a replacement real soon. I'll post a picy of my bodging skills later[]

 

[spyro_x]

I have the same issue on my S2, although I put it through the MOT without doing it and it passed (the driving light works just not the side/parking light on one side). I was thinking of drilling out the rusted screws - what did you remove on your picture pryor to using the lever?

 

[wibble]

The best way is to remove the whole unit from behind the spoiler - I did the job last year and believe there are just two nuts that hold the unit in place. Any leverage from the front will lead to tears...

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: spyro_x I have the same issue on my S2, although I put it through the MOT without doing it and it passed (the driving light works just not the side/parking light on one side). I was thinking of drilling out the rusted screws - what did you remove on your picture pryor to using the lever?

well it turned into the king of bodges but I got it done in the end. be prepared for all the fixing bolts to be completly seized with rust. The driving lamps come in 2x pieces. the front lamp assembly with glass and reflectors etc and the rear plastic carrier behind which fixes to the spoiler with 3x nuts. First remove the 2x side plastic cover pieces either side of the lamp which are fixed with self tappers. Then you will find the 4x phillips head bolts which fix the lamp into its rear carrier . All my philips bolts were rusty. 1x bolt sheared off so I drilled all the bolt heads off leaving the rusty studs in the rear carrier which I drilled out from the rear. i then put a bolt through the carrier fixing hole from the rear and fitted a locking nut . Basically the bolt became a stud to which I could refix the lamp to. Hopefully it will be clear from the images.

 

[spyro_x]

Nick - thanks so much for those photo's will really help me sort mine. I'm also going to try pulling the whole thing out by undoing the bolts on the back and then use your bolt & Nut trick to put it back together - as they say a pictures says a 1000 words, so thanks again!

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: spyro_x Nick - thanks so much for those photo's will really help me sort mine. I'm also going to try pulling the whole thing out by undoing the bolts on the back and then use your bolt & Nut trick to put it back together - as they say a pictures says a 1000 words, so thanks again!

if your car is also an S2 there are no fixings at the back of the spoiler ? The lamps are fixed into closed wells within the spoiler . The lamps only come out of the front of the spoiler. Early 944 which don't have the turbo spoilers may be fixed from the rear of the spoiler I don't know I'm afraid. If you hit any snags let me know I may be able to help.

 

[zcacogp]

Nick, From your threads on here you are tackling those jobs on your S2 very briskly - glad to see it! A note for others (as Nick seems to have finished this job) - drilling the heads off the four pozi-head bolts holding the lens in is often the only way to get them out. This, as Nick pointed out, leaves rusty studs sticking out of the plastic back cover. If you drill these from behind with a small drill (1.0mm or 1.5mm) you can often free them off without doing any further damage, and then unscrew the rest of the stud (they go into a small brass ferrule mounted in the plastic, and it's good if you can keep this ferrule intact.) Once you have the studs out, replace the drilled-out bolts (standard M4) with stainless ones, so no more rust in the future, and put some waterproof grease on the threads to ensure they don't jam. I used insert-head bolts as they are much easier to get a grip on once they have filled up with crud, but normal bolts will do. Another top tip; the two little trim pieces which fit either side of the twp driving lamps often look quite grubby, which makes the whole light look a bit grotty. If you look at the trim pieces closely you'll see they are two pieces, clipped together. Unclip them with a small screwdriver, scrub them with a small scrubbing brush (old toothbrush is ideal), dry them and clip them back together - they sparkle as if new! Another top tip; if your driving light lenses are chipped and cracked (as many are), you can buy transparent araldite (epoxy resin). If you fill in the chips with this, it's the same colour and refractive index as the glass, and therefore can't be seen - making for an invisible repair. Oli.

 

[peanut]

Oli you are a little gem . What an excellent write up. I was feeling a little knackered last night after working on the car all day and cooking and cleaning the house so I didn't really spend much time on my notes I'm ashamed to say. If I hadn't made such a bodgeup of the lamp repair I would rewrite it as a guide but to be honest the lamp is so badly damaged that its beyond salvage so the images are rubbish

 

[zcacogp]

Nick, Your repair ain't the prettiest, but it clearly does the job well enough. I think you need to edit your post to remove the word "Bodge". "Workmanlike repair effected at good value" would be a better bit of phrasing ... What else is wrong with it? You say it is beyond salvage. Looks fine to me. Oli.

 

[peanut]

well its nice of you to say so but I was far from happy putting it back to be honest. One of the plastic insert holders tore off the body when trying to get the thing out and none of the lamp beam adjusters work because the fixings are so corroded. When i have more time and better weather I'll put a replacement in. It'll do for now if it passes the retest i guess. I suppose its quite possible its the original lamp and therefore over 23 years old which is probably a bit older than Ferdy originally envisaged []