993 - Turbo Ducts and Hella Fog Lights
From pcarworkshop
This article is to replace the lousy lighting as shipped with most Turbo Ducts (including the ones from Porsche) and add a proper driving light.
So.....after some web searching for the smallest fog light I settled on the Hellas. The hole in the turbo duct is 1 7/8" which is pretty small. The smallest one is the Hella DE Micro Fog light...very nice unit and about $49 each. They are about 2 1/4" at the nose...but there is a trim ring. I ordered them figuring that I could do something about the trim ring. Oh, you don't need the whole kit because it includes relays and switches. Check out http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Micro_DE.asp for more information.
Nice looking light eh? Very nice lens, proper mount for the build, magnesium case for the heat, etc. I like the lens pattern...and it turns out that the old lens was from a Hella design as well so the oval shape was almost a perfect match...
So how to I manage to get these mounted? Well, the first problem is that the light is too large for the duct so some creative "carving" has to occur...this is the light bottomed out on the fixture. The trim ring on the light is in the way as well as the mount for the old lens...
So lets get carving. I used a square bottomed cutter on my trusty air tool and carved out the mounts at the bottom of the duct. The mounts were to hold the hold lens in. Keep carving the mount until you can see the joint between the case and the shell.
Ok, hold your breath for the next part. The trim ring on the lights has to be removed. Its glued on so I could not take it off in one piece so I, well, broke it off in bits..
Almost done, I smoothed out the rubber seal using a very sharp knife and then reapplied some urethane to make an nice seal...I did not take a picture after it was sealed....leave it as an excercise fo the student...
The old reflector was a bit smaller than this new Hella so I had to trim out the mounting hole a bit...sorry about the poor picture.
The lights out of the box are not threaded...I tapped some 6mm threads (heh, we have to remain metrica after all)....
I used some Stainless allen head bolts but these were a bit long... ;-)
OK, they are all trimmed and fit nicely.
Ok, tricky stuff. In order to get the clearance for the inside mounting bolt I needed to drill an access hole across the cool air duct with across. If you are good with a drill its no problem but take carefull aim (in three dimensions..).
Now you can see why I did this...I needed to thread the bolt in from the side. There just is not enough space between the duct and the light to fit it in so I used this method...worked fine and you can always use some rubber plugs for the duct..
Ok, here is the light mounted on the duct..its a good solid mount. The lights can be adjusted a bit using the slop in the screws...
Front view...
The bulb mount is much better on these lights..the wire connection on the ground is a bit flimsy but it seems to work fine...
The light with the rubber boot on the end...nice design.
I do not like to mickey mouse the connectors but do it properly. I solded all the exposed wires after mounting the spades...
Okay, I will get flack for this...I actually CUT the old connector off the car to replace it. I figured I can always put another connector on that one in case I take the ducts out...which is unlikely to happen.
- SNIP** !
Putting the connector on the car side...
And the finished connector with water sealing on the cables and the connector housings....nice and reliable and much better than trying to jam some spade connectors into the factory connector...
And the final test...what do their patterns look like....here you go!
I think this "upgrade" to the original turbo ducts is worth it...it takes a bit of carefull work but it gives a better light and better maintenance.
The Hella Micro DE also comes in a driving light for those who are light challenged if if you want to spend lots of money you can get a Xenon version!!!
