Installing TTG fog lights

[Bob Harriman]

After taking apart and cleaning the lights, getting brackets, TTG horn grilles, fog light switch and wiring harness I think I *ucked up on the lights I bought. After toying around with the brackets to see where they mount I noticed that the light mounting hole is faced forward and not upright as I assumed. Shoulda done my homework. The lights I got I'm afraid are not going to work. Any ideas if/how these can work? They are hella with a lens that says N=20cm/5m. I'm thinking they are 356 lights. Help anyone

[John Z Goriup]

Bob,

don't despair……….it's not necessarily the end of the world.

You are right, they're not the correct Hella lights that 'long hood' 911/2s used, and also be aware that there is a significant difference in the brackets between SWB 911s and '69 up to & incl. '73 - but there are dozens if not hundreds of 911s with "non-standard" TTG auxiliary lights.

Here are some things to consider in addressing your "problem" - You have more than one avenue of 'escape':

1. Depending how much you have in the lights shown in your post and your tolerance for financial pain, you can swap / sell them and then upgrade to the correct lights. These are generally available as real, period correct Hellas ( I belive the correct type designation for the TTG installation is #118 ) which can & most likely will cost you from approximately $700 to 800 and up. They are also available as reproductions for about $300 to 400 or so, or you can also look for 914 lights which are virtually identical but are black - chroming would be optional, but they're a lot less expensive.

2. Keep what you have because they seem to be in good, servicable condition and adapt them to you car via the following actions:

A. make your own hand-made bracket which in turn would bolt or be welded to the factory brfackets you mention you already have, or modify those brackets to accept your existing lights. No big deal, just make a cardboard bracket until everything fits and can be made to work, fabricate the pieces from 1'4" steel, paint black and be happy.

B. Before you do that however, it's extremely important to measure the diameter of the lights you have and compare that measurement to standard Hella #118s. I believe the #118 lights are approx. 5" in diameter. If the lights you show in your post are larger, you must fabricate brackets to provide the necessary offset toward the outside of the car to accomodate the difference in maximum light diameter so you can lift your front lid without interference from the larger lights……………just takes a little thought, planning and probably a little cut & fit, but it'll work.

I noticed that in one of the photos there is a wire-mesh grill - if that's what you intend to use it'll probably be easier than fitting your custom bracket to the original Porsche or aftermarket cast grilles without screwing those up as well.

I have attached a couple of photos of the kind of "hand jobbed" solution on a very clean and fast 911 at one of the CSRG meetings using non-standard lights with similar, vertical mounting lugs your lights have, a few years ago and even back then thought how ingenious, clean and effective this set-up is, and took these shots in case I ever needed something like that. The silver-plated component sticking out of the horn-grill is nothing more than a commercially available eye-bolt which is screwed ( you could weld it ) into the Porsche TTG light bracket which mounts to your battery box(es).

Best of luck

JZG

[John Z Goriup]

Bob,

as an afterthought and to assist you in arriving at a plan, I searched my files and came up with another handful of images showing early 911s with non-standard, and in most cases larger 'TTG' lights., many on ESReg member's cars, meaning that perhaps you can obtain addfitional info from the owners of how they arrived at their solutions.

None of the following are my images, using them just for illustrative purposes. Note the use of a 911R front light panel on the grey car………something to consider since it dispenses with the need for a horn-grill altogether, and preserves a thoroughly "Porsche" look. about the same as the white #99 car in my first post.
JZG

[ejboyd5]

I like the eye bolt adaptation.

[steve shea]

I cannot tell from the photos but there two types of 356 Hella mounts. Body mount and bumper mount. They look like bumper. Also the originals had the size on the chrome bezel. If you have this they could be worth a good sum to 356er with an A, T1 or T2, car. Maybe even for Pre A. Go to 356 registry, sell and buy what you need. B/C cars had different lights.

[John Z Goriup]

…….and two more examples. Please note that in the final image the aux. lights are mounted on the front bumper - If you choose that route I'd suggest using the front bumperettes to protect the lights from minor contact with other cars / objects.

JZG

[Bob Harriman]

I cannot tell from the photos but there two types of 356 Hella mounts. Body mount and bumper mount. They look like bumper. Also the originals had the size on the chrome bezel. If you have this they could be worth a good sum to 356er with an A, T1 or T2, car. Maybe even for Pre A. Go to 356 registry, sell and buy what you need. B/C cars had different lights.

Lights have N=20cm/5m on the lens so I'm assuming they are a 20cm diameter. They measure 5.5". The bezel only has the word Hella with a bit of curvature in the text. The lenses also say Made in Germany and have the logo Hella with a crown on top. I do appreciate your help and suggestion John but I'm looking for a cleaner look without the brackets exposed. The mesh horn grilles were on but I also have the originals and a steel/chrome pair of TTG grills. I believe these are bumper mount. I turned the lenses 180* to mount upward then the triangle is on top when they stand up which I guess means they should be mounted underneath the bumper if that is a drain.

[route66kix]

heres what the factory lights look like bob, and you can see how they mount

[Bob Harriman]

Got any :-) If you see any will you let me know? I'm looking on here, 912R, bird and ebay. I guess I have to be a paid 356R member to list a classified to sell the ones I have.

Bob

[classic]

Bob,

Eric from Auto Foreign is apparently about to launch some repo's that will go with his grills......and judging from every thing else he's done they will be exceptional.

Found the post, but unfortuntly it's been edited and the photos are gone