Needed SWB Driving Light Info.

[Allen Henderson]

Those who've seen the light,

Information, such as diameter, lens and housing, make-believe it is Hella, bulb type, etc. for factory above the bumper Driving Lights for SWB cars would be greatly appreciated. If you have a Hella model number that would be good too. Appologize to the list member who I believe posted this photo as I can not credit you as I've forgotten when it was posted. Thanks.
-Allen-

[Soterik]

I wrote this a while back for our Northwest Rgruppe magazine... there are a few things I would add now, such as diameters of the lights (5" 1/8"), and the lenses (4 5/8" for the Euro type).


Horn Grill Fog and Driving Lights

Horn grill mounted fog and driving lights have long been a nice option for the early 911, but lately as drivers look to differentiate their cars these lights have become a very desireable and expensive addition.

The lights were manufactured by Hella, and are commonly referred to as the Hella 118. They have been an option for the cars starting with the SWB models, and appears to have been available as early as 1965 production. The lights were offered in most if not all markets that Porsche offered cars in, and due to local regulations, they differed in the type of bulbs and reflectors being offered.

For the US market, and for “most” of the world, the driving light version was offered in only one bulb type, the h-3 halogen type, originally referred to as “quartz iodine” referring to the composite of the early type of bulb manufacturing. This light is referred to in the factory parts manual as “additional long range lights”. If you ordered the car with this factory option, or if you ordered it from the dealer to add to your car, it only came one way…clear lense, with silver reflector, and h-3 bulb type. It appears that there was also an h-1 version of this light for limited markets, and it is rarely seen.

The fog light came in many different versions depending upon the country, and Porsche’s decision of how to offer the option. For the US market, if you ordered this light as an option for your car new, it only came in one bulb type, the tungsten 35 watt bulb. In other countries the fog light was available as an original factory option with an h-3 bulb. From my own research it would appear that you could get the light with either silver reflector, or yellow reflector in the US with the tungsten bulb. Now, if you went to the dealer after you purchased the car, and wished to add these fog lights to your car, it would appear that you had the option of either getting the tungsten bulb, OR the h-3 versions of this lamp. The h-3 version was also available with either silver reflector or yellow reflector. It also appears that there was an h-1 version of the fog lamp for limited markets, and it is also rarely seen.

Note that there is an easy way to determine whether you are looking at a tungsten bulb or h-3 version of the Hella 118 fog light. The tungsten bulb version has a slightly smaller diameter lens, and the trim ring for the tungsten version is slightly wider. Note the picture for comparison differences.

Regarding the horn grills, if the car was ordered new from Porsche with the lights as an option, ALL the grills came as chrome pot-metal, including 1973. There are black plastic horn grills out there for the fog lights, and those primarily came in the dealer offered LWB “kits” to retrofit a car not previously ordered with fog/driving lights. The SWB version of the kits were offered with the chrome metal horn grills These kits were an alternative to ordering individual parts to install the fog/driving lights on a car. The kits contained a wiring loom, relay, lights, brackets, swivel mount, switch, and all hardware….curiously they never came with the knob or knob insert.

The 911 fog/driving lights are similar to the accessory lights offered on the 914 (1970 to 1974). Most of the fog lights you will see for the 914 are the tungsten bulb version of the 911 US fog light Hella 118, but offered in a black body. There was a driving light version of the 914 Hella 118, but it was only available in black body. I have only seen this lamp on 914/6’s and on European 914’s. There was also an h-3 bulb version of the 914 fog lamp, but again, this I have only found on the 914/6 or a Euro 914, and again only offered in black body.

Currently there are no “new” Hella 118 lights available from any source, with the exception of some US tungsten version lights that an Ebay seller based in Germany is offering, his price is currently roughly $325 per pair, plus shipping. Note that these lights are something that this seller has managed to “put together” using a farm tractor Hella stop light with the lens switched to an incorrect fog light lens. Regardless, they are “semi-correct” for horn grill application (correct body, nice lens, trim ring, mounting bracket etc.). Note that I haven’t been able to find this tractor light in the US market, and may be only available to the European market.

As far as alternative lights that duplicate the size and looks of the original Hella 118, the Cibie Tango is an almost perfect replica for street use. This light offers far better optics than the original Hella 118, and you can also use the lens/reflector combo as a replacement for the original Hella 118 h-3 bulb type lens/reflector (unfortunately the cibie unit won’t swap into the tungsten bulb Hella unit). This is a great way to update an original h-3 Hella 118, though it isn’t quite “correct”. The only modification that needs to be made is that the trim ring needs to be slightly notched at the 6 oclock position to accommodate a nub on the Tango glass. Roger Grago is running this Hella 118/ Cibie Tango bulb on his car.

For correct original replacement pieces for the original Hella 118, the only item that appears to be regularly available is the fog light lens for the tungsten bulb version. So….be very careful with these lights, as you aren’t just going to order replacement h-3 lenses from Pelican, or from Stoddard for that matter.

One final note…for those of you lucky enough to find a set of original Hella 118 lights for your car. You can get a reproduction bracket off of Ebay (usual seller is MSRoadrace), and you can dremel cut a set of original horn grills to get a fairly original look. Note that to correctly mount the lights to the bracket that you will need a ¾ inch spacer to position the light slightly away from the horn grill, so that it can be accurately adjusted, see picture attached for reference. The spacer can be made from a piece of brass or copper tubing cut to the right length and painted black.

[Soterik]

By the way,... Michael (can't remember is online name), can update with quite a few other serious details.
Here's a pic of a European 914 driving light, and a European fog light with clear reflector and another one with amber reflector.

[Zithlord]

What about the lights that my friend have on his 69, mentioned in the general section. He got his COA from the factory recently an it states that his 118 drivinglights had yellow light " 432 yellow highbeam lights above the bumper"

Dos this mean that there also was a version of the driving light with yellow bulb, reflector or lens?

John

[Soterik]

Yellow lens, sorry no pics of those, but I've seen them.

e

[Zithlord]

Thanks Soterik(lighs expert!)

They are missing from his car, but I guess finding a set will be more difficult than getting a date with Halle Berry.

John

[kenikh]

Michael = 70SATman

[Soterik]

Thanks Soterik(lighs expert!)

They are missing from his car, but I guess finding a set will be more difficult than getting a date with Halle Berry.

John

Get a clear set and paint them. Not easy to find the clear set either I know.
Someone over on Pelican painted a set of h4 lenses with some kind of clear yellow paint/tint and it looked very nice.

[kenikh]

This is the stuff Erik is referring to:

http://www.krylon.com/main/color_pro...ge_alt=Krylon® Stained Glass Color

Misterart.com used to carry it, but for some reason, they no longer list yellow...

[Soterik]

Cool! Paint one Red, paint one blue, and put a fast flashing relay on them