944 Turbo Lights

[tykes]

I am about to import my 1987 Turbo and will need to get it MOTD before I can register the car.

Being a LHD American spec car I will need to sort the lights. The headlights I assume are just a swap to some RHD units but I am confused by the sidelights. Where is the best place to get headlamp units?

On my car when you switch on the sidelights (the headlights don't open) the front indicators light up orange. If I operate the indicators they then flash. There is a single double filament bulb in the holder.

So my question is - where are the sidelights on a Euro spec car? Simply changing the indicator lens to clear won't solve the problem as there is only one bulb holder. Do Euro spec cars have a separate bulb in the headlamp unit although that would mean the lights have to pop up when switching on sidelights only.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Richard

 

[bmnelsc]

I had the opposite situation to deal with. I'm in Canada and acquired a '91 S2 that came from Japan (so RHD headlights while I require LHD). I also had the M605 option (headlight levelers). In order to swap these I needed Porsche LHD headlamp units in order to mate with the headlight frames which contain the leveling motors. Being a Japanese delivery (basically ROW) - my front side lights are on the wing between the wheel and door opening and rears are integrated in the tail lights. No changes required for me for Canadian rules for these however - Canada requires Daytime Running Lights (DRL) from '91 so my "alternate" headlamps are jumpered in the fuse box to come on when the car is started. They stay on with the regular headlights also. Nuisance but I need to put 3 relays back for it to work properly and then I'd be illegal as far as DRL goes.

Your car - being a USA delivery will have sealed beam headlights (unless it has M492 option - headlight levelers for LHD). If you have sealed beams then any 7" H4 unit will likely fit. If you have M492 then you must buy Porsche headlights which are quite expensive and IMHO pretty poor for H4 lights. If you want to eliminate the levelers then you need to replace the headlight frames with standard non-leveling type - also Porsche parts. As for side lights - USA cars had separate side lights front and rear - the fronts being between the front bumper and the front wheel, the rears being between the rear wheel and the bumper. These side lights are quite a bit larger than the euro spec and include reflectors as well as the lighted portion so I'd be surprised if these weren't acceptable as is. One difference is the side lights on USA cars do not function as indicators - they are simply on when the park lights/head lights are on.

Not exactly an answer to your question but I hope it helps.

 

[zcacogp]

If you have sealed beams then any 7" H4 unit will likely fit.

Not quite. The headlight unit on the S2 (and therefore I assume on the turbo)has lugs that are spaced differently to the 7inch VW Golf unit from the Mk2, and hence they aren't interchangable. However if you are careful you can pinch the glass from the front of a Golf unit and stick it to the reflector bowl from the back of your light (presuming that the reflector bowl is the same in LHD and RHD cars). More details in this thread here:


https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=676223


Oli.

 

[tykes]

Thanks for the replies but I think I may have misled you. My car has the American sidelights between wheel and bumper but what I was referring to were the front side lights - perhaps I should call them parking lights. In UK we have small white lights on the front and red at the rear that come on before the main headlights. We call these sidelights - well I do!!

Does anyone with an 87 turbo have a picture of their car with side lights (but not main) on?

Thanks

Richard

 

[bmnelsc]

Yes - the front sidelights you refer to serve as both front parking lights and indicators (on my 91 - my front lenses are yellow as yours will be).

Regarding zagacop's comments - the headlights on mine (with M605 which I converted to M492 by purchasing the Porsche parts) don't appear to come apart - it looks like the metal retainers (flat tabs with approx 1/2" hole that the nylon "articulates" insert into) are molded into the headlight assembly rather than attached to the reflector as the post he refers to shows. The lights that were in mine and the replacements from Porsche had no metal ring around the front - all glass. At least the lens is not obviously "stuck" on like you see on the old style Cibie H4 headlights where the lenses were fixed to the reflector body of the light with a white compound which could be scraped down until the lens came free.

I can't comment on the Golf headlights but as your car was a USA delivery, it will have headlight frames that accept standard sealed beam units (number 6024 in US speak - H6024 for 7" round H4 halogen hi/lo, 6024 for 7" round standard hi/lo sealed headlight) which had 3 locating protuberances molded into the back side outer edge of the headlight which fit into corresponding notches in the headlight mounting ring. This is a totally different arrangement than the headlights shown in zagacop's post. The headlights are retained to the mounting ring by a separate metal ring that fits over the front of the headlight and "clamps" the headlight between the two components. The resulting assembly is then mounted to the frame via the adjusting screws that allow you to aim the headlights. If you look through the Porsche parts manual you will see both styles of lights represented (M605/M492 OR sealed beam) and you can go from there.