Porsche Headlight Retrofit [from CAD, prototyping to finish)

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by tommy583

Fred I would say your car is much cooler looking than mine!! But thanks!!

Don't get fooled by cheapo fiberglass. Mine is all good entertainment but as real porsche enthusiasts, we would all agree that a Boxster car equipped with a "genuine Porsche part aero kit" makes it one of the best out there (imo anyway). Proof above. I love this little roadster and I bet you can find previous posts on this forum where I've expressed my (personal) vision of a perfect Porsche car/color scheme. All the pics I've posted were silver color boxsters with "red" interiors.

I stared at your car here for about 10min sipping my coffee with a jealous look on my face.

honestly, thanks for the pics man. It is absolutely beautiful (looks so much younger now as well. Shocking lol)

[Nine8Six]

Angel eyes are sweet. Not stupid bright.... just enough to notice. Show car stuff.

Take good care of your car and its interior mate, lucky you

[tommy583]

Thanks Fred! I feel the same way about the factory aero kit 1. I think it makes the car look way more aggressive, yet still understated. The lights help bring out the beautiful lines of the car even more in my opinion. I can't thank you and particlewave enough!

[particlewave]

Thank you, Richard!

I received a $50 gift card from Richard today in thanks for doing the job for him. He really didn't have to do that, but it just speaks to the quality of people that occupy this forum.
Next week when I'm all caught up on retrofits and my girl isn't so busy with work, I'm going to take her out to dinner and have a nice quiet night.




Your car looks fantastic, by the way!

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Thank you, Richard!
I received a $50 gift card from Richard today in thanks for doing the job for him. He really didn't have to do that, but it just speaks to the quality of people that occupy this forum.

You lucky bugger :/

RE "the quality of people that occupy this forum".

^^^ yep, and you Charles is ranking sky-high on that list. Nice work bro

[Nine8Six]

I think I fully understand what Richard meant by 'miracle' now.

Geezz man... you just never stop to surprise

[BruceH]

Amateur? You are too humble Charles, seriously nice work Those before pictures are going to get you even more work!

[particlewave]

This stuff is a pretty good fit and is self adhesive
Not perfect though...The fit is tight on the sides and loose up top.

Frost King E/O 5/16 in. x 1/4 in. x 17 ft. Rubber Weather-Strip Tape-V25BA at The Home Depot

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by particlewave

This stuff is a pretty good fit and is self adhesive

Frost King E/O 5/16 in. x 1/4 in. x 17 ft. Rubber Weather-Strip Tape-V25BA at The Home Depot

The only reason I settle for the hd foam was to fight the 'fitting' issue. Tried some rubber seal but I just couldn't get the thing to 'squeeze' enough to fit the headlight in place. Those are normally industrial stiff :/ Tried smaller rubber seal but then.... worked just fine but no seal, water would have gone inside the fender like in the Niagara falls.

The HD foam made the fit so (too) easy, tight squeeze, perfect seal, no water and all but again.... not sure if the stuff will last years. I'm thinking NOT but we just never know

[Nine8Six]

Charles, if you still got some around take the measurement and I'll look around for it. Guessing this is made in my backyard here anyway so it shouldn't be hard to find.

Frost King lollll the name some gives to their products sometimes....

[particlewave]

To be honest, I have not actually tried it, but a few customers have. They said the same thing;
The fit is tight on the sides and loose up top.

This may require some garage R & D, lol

[Nine8Six]

I say srew it, finding the oem rubber from a dismantler of buy damaged headlight from a member is what needs to be done. Long term "fix" wise anyway

[nieuwhzn]

The crazy thing of course is that Porsche is not selling this seal separately from the rest of the assembly.
All these seals are turning into mush after a couple of years, so getting them from a dismantler or so just postpones the inevitable.
Fred, Charles, thanks for the suggestions. I think I have actually some of the Frost-King stuff lying around. I used it for its intended purpose, i.e. sealing doors and windows, but I was never very impressed with the quality. I'll get some of the high density foam.

[rfuerst911sc]

It is disturbing that Porsche does not have this headlight seal as a separate replaceable item. But as it turns out I know someone that makes aftermarket rubber seals ! He currently makes many Porsche seals for the older air cooled cars. I sent him an email asking if he would be interested in looking into making these and he said he is. But to do that he needs at the very least a small sample but preferably one complete seal. Does anyone have one they can give up for the R&D effort ? For my recently departed Porsche I had almost every seal he sells and they all fit and were of equal or better quality than OEM. I have no idea if this will come to fruition or not but it's worth a shot. I have nothing to gain from this just trying to help myself and the community. If anyone has a seal they can donate please send me a PM and we'll go from there. Should I post this anywhere else on this forum ?

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

It is disturbing that Porsche does not have this headlight seal as a separate replaceable item. But as it turns out I know someone that makes aftermarket rubber seals ! He currently makes many Porsche seals for the older air cooled cars. I sent him an email asking if he would be interested in looking into making these and he said he is. But to do that he needs at the very least a small sample but preferably one complete seal. Does anyone have one they can give up for the R&D effort ? For my recently departed Porsche I had almost every seal he sells and they all fit and were of equal or better quality than OEM. I have no idea if this will come to fruition or not but it's worth a shot. I have nothing to gain from this just trying to help myself and the community. If anyone has a seal they can donate please send me a PM and we'll go from there. Should I post this anywhere else on this forum ?

Any progress on this? I don't think mine will survive being pulled and put back on.

[CHRISP357]

I want to go order a set of projectors but here are my questions:
What is the difference in the three models?
What is meant by beam distribution? (Rh or lh)
What bulb type do I need?
Thanks!

[swaff]

Originally Posted by CraigM

Any progress on this? I don't think mine will survive being pulled and put back on.

I have a pair of headlights where the little rubber seal that goes around the whole outer edge of the outside lens was really gummy and messed up. I found that you can use marine/automotive rubber strip like this to do a DIY gasket or O-ring cord. The marine stripping like below is a little easier DIY as you just stick it on, but o-ring cord will look a little more factory, you'll just need to get some rubber cement and glue it on. I hope this helps some of you with the gummy outer rings.

O-ring (this .210" works well) - JEGS Performance Products 21603, JEGS Nitrile O-Ring Cord | JEGS Performance Products

Marine/Automotive rubber strip -
MD Building Products 19/32 in. x 10 ft. EPDM Cellular Rubber Auto and Marine Weatherstrip-01033 - The Home Depot

Swaff

[swaff]

Originally Posted by CraigM

Any progress on this? I don't think mine will survive being pulled and put back on.

For the rubber seal that goes all the way around the headlight, I found 2 options that work pretty nice. This is for headlights with a gummy seal (seemed to be kind of permanently melted).

You can do a more factory look by ordering some o-ring cord and rubber cementing it around the edge. Amazon.com: JEGS Performance Products 21603 Nitrile O-Ring Cord: Automotive

Another option that works is to get marine/automotive rubber strip and stick that around the edges. You can cut it where it needs to be thinner. This is an easier DIY because you just stick it on. Just be sure to clean the surface very well before sticking it on so it will last you a long time. Depending on how you stick it on there, this can look pretty factory once the headlights are installed into their bays. MD Building Products 19/32 in. x 10 ft. EPDM Cellular Rubber Auto and Marine Weatherstrip-01033 - The Home Depot

I hope this helps some of you with the old and gummed-up seals!

Swaff

[particlewave]

Richard,

I have one spare passenger side. It's a little gummy on one end, but it's all there.
By the way, I did not put your seals back on before shipping your headlights because they were pretty gummy and I didn't want to risk tearing them, so I'll just leave that to you. I included them in a separate Ziploc bag with the screws

I'll send the spare seal to you on Monday.

[rfuerst911sc]

Great I may end up being the guinea pig for this development !