Aftermarket Headlight Covers

[fixitman]

What has been your experience with aftermarket headlight covers, especially means of attachment? Is Altec the only current manufacturer? Does acrylic tape attachment hold well over time? How much hand fitting is required?

Thanks,

Fixitman

[d240zx2]

I've only used the screw-mount type from MSA. It takes a couple of minutes of fiddling to get them just right....

[fixitman]

Years ago, headlight covers came with Wellnut B-832 threaded fastner. "WELL-NUTS® are a flanged rubber bushing with a brass machine nut molded into one end.

When seated in the work piece, a conventional machine screw is threaded through the head of the Well-Nut® into the brass nut and tightened. This causes the insert to expand, making a secure fastening."

Are any headlight cover manufacturer's still supplying this fastener?

Fixitman

[240260280z]

Well Nut Info:http://fasteners.oemfast.com/item/pop-well-nuts/pop-well-nut-threaded-inserts/b832

I have seen these in the pars bins at ACE hardware.

Nutserts would also do the job: http://www.google.ca/search?um=1&hl=en&newwindow=1&biw=1280&bih=713&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=nutsert&oq=nutsert&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i5j0i24l6.167071.168686.0.169227.7.7.0.0.0.0.112.639.2j5.7.0...0.0...1c.1.D_uKQ_MH56w

Edited October 14, 2012 by Blue

[olzed]

Do you have to drill holes to fit these headlight covers?

[fixitman]

Do you have to drill holes to fit these headlight covers?

Not yet. What is the best way to attach the covers, screws, tape, combination of screws and tape or Wellnuts? Does tape alone provide a good long term attachment?

[grannyknot]

I haven't done it yet but I intend to screw the clip to the headlight cover then JB weld three rare earth magnets to the clips, that way as long as the sugar scoops are steel I can still remove the cover to clean but be confident that they won't fly off at high speed .

Chris

[Bonzi Lon]

My covers are held on by 3 'very strong' magnets, (unknown composition) but are for show only, not intended for the road. After one show I was 30 miles away doing at least 70mph when i realized I forgot to take them off, pulled over and to my surprise they were still on. Each magnet is 1/2 x 3/8 x 1/4 inch, with a piece of rubber glued on to prevent scratching the paint on the metal buckets. My avitar shows them with no visible means of attachment. I painted them black because they were crazed from sitting on the shelf for 28+ years.

Bonzi Lon

[grannyknot]

Bonzi, I probably got the idea from one of your postings.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I actually did that rare earth magnet trick on my car. The problem is the covers are not perfectly shaped to the scoops. The are close, and I can get two magnets to attach to the scoop with no issues, but getting the third one is a bit difficult without it pulling off. I am using one magnet about 9mm in diameter on each tab that was epoxied together. I had issues with the epoxy holding. You really need to scuff up the surfaces. I have never driven with the covers as I am not totally sold on the ability of the magnets to hold on to them. I may try again, as I will be trailering my car to a rally soon and I want to protect my headlights.

[Bonzi Lon]

I spent many hours trimming & filing to get them to fit the bucket properly. The magnets were only an experiment because I did not want to put any holes in the buckets. The experiment worked very well. If you see me at a show ask about some magnets, I have given lots of them away. One is always on the oil drain plug, trans & diff are already magnetized.

Bonzi Lon