I am thinking of putting driving/fog lamps on my 78 280Z that has stock front bumpers and body panels. I am open to the type of fog lamp but have been looking at the hella rectangular lamps in Black Dragon's catalog. I have 2 questions:

1) where should I mount them to keep them out of harm's way?

2) What lamps would you recommend if not the Hellas?

There’s a difference between fog and driving lights…. Fog lights should be mounted as close to the ground as you can get. I hang mine down from the bumper and if I could get them lower I would. If you have a front spoiler, or you are thinking of getting one, you might want to consider putting them in there as some spoilers have slots for lights and these are usually well spaced apart which is good. For fog, low is best. Driving lights, on the other hand, are usually mounted higher, either above the bumper or inside the grill.

I lived in Belgium for seven years and fog is an almost daily occurrence in the country. As a matter of fact, EU law mandates that you have a proper rear fog light (red) as well as a First Aid kit, fire extinguisher and safety triangle. I went through Bosch lights (pretty mediocre) Cibie (better) and Hellas (pretty good at the top of their line). It wasn’t until I rode in a friend’s car one night when I realized what fog lights could do. His lights were PIAA. Next day I went out and bought a set and let me tell you they are absolutely fabulous. I put them on all my cars. The others pale in comparison and capabilities. Besides the obvious benefits of light projection, the PIAA’s come with a more substantial relay and wiring set-up. They are not dinky 18 gauge wires etc…commonly found on most other light sets. It is just a quality product. The one drawback is that they are a bit pricy but they are, IMO, the best and well worth the extra money.

I now have a set of PIAA driving lights (I now live in El Paso and there’s no fog here) that I placed in the same holes as the fogs underneath the bumper. Not the ideal place, but I wasn’t going to put any more holes in my bumpers. The PIAA driving lights are also phenomenal!!! So, I would recommend that you do some research. Some folks will jump in here and they will have their recommendations but do give PIAA a look and consider them. You will not regret it.

Gearge,

Thanks for the input. You sound like an expert. I will investigate teh PIAAs

Regards

Widget

George,

Do you pics of teh front end?

I have these - $100 - PM me.

Warren,

I'd jump all over those if I were you!

Will

I was (and still am) looking for these when I bought the ones I would sell. Chloe (remember her?) e-mailed me with a zcar.com ad and I bought them sight unseen. I think they are for the 280Z as a Datsun option. They are in pretty good shape but I do not know if the bulbs work. Metal and plastic housings. Glass lens. Plastic slip-on caps. I recall one of the caps has a scratch.

Does anyone have a good picture of the stock lights that are listed in my factory wiring diagram and is switched at the choke plate area. I can't say I have ever seen how this was done. I believe/ or led to believe this was a option on the overseas cars.

Thanks,

Bob

I think the lights that switch there are actually running lights that are individually switched(L or R side) for safety in pulling off the road, several threads have discussed this, and the fog light switch was actually on the dash in what lookes like a conventional cigarette lighter position. I'll try to find a thread and post it for you.

Will

Bob, here you go... there are more...

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12021&highlight=jdm+switch

Will

Thanks for the link, that clears it up. So, the early cars never had any kind of front driving light?

Enjoy the ride,

Bob

Hi, Bob. Nice to see yet another Oregonian here!

The early cars in other parts of the world could have fog lights as an option, but they were never offered on 240Zs here in the states. Escanlon (in Vancouver, WA) has one of the factory fog light switches, I believe. It went in the empty hole above the hazard switch on the early dashes.