Replacement stems for Lucas fog lights?

[alexb_]

I was pulling apart the front end on my car today, when I discovered this:



One of these things is not like the other



Yes, that's a bolt welded on to the bottom of the stem. Yes, it's not a very good job. No, I didn't do it

So how hard is it to replace the stems on these things? Can they be re-worked? There seems to be a fair bit of rust on the one with the bolt welded on.

 

[tx65coupe]

Isn't it just like a carriage bolt. I would think you could just get a new pair of stainless carriage bolts that size and length. Wouldn't that work, or is the inside of the light housing shaped so that that wouldn't work? This is just my 2 cents.

 

[AllStangs]

I would try the carriage bolt option first also. From the underside that's exactly what it looks like. The top might need to be modified depending on what the inside of the fog housing looks like, but hopefully it's not too bad.

Are these going on the higher pedestal mounts like the GT/CS cars or on the low square mounts like the Shelbys?

 

[alexb_]

Thanks for the tip, I was previously unaware of the term "carriage bolt"

It's a GT/CS, there's a 3" or so metal cylinder between the fog lamp and the bottom lip of the grill that the threaded part of the carriage bolt goes through.

The cup that the head of the carriage bolt is in is riveted to the rest of the assembly. How hard would it be for a metal shop to deal with that and have it not look like it had been taken apart and put back together?

Pics of both sides of the bowl:

 

[AllStangs]

The rivets could easily be replaced, but you'd have a hard time finding the perfect replacement for the original. So upon VERY close inspection you might notice they'd been changed.

Another option is to grind off the backside of the rivets (your 2nd pic) and then epoxy everything back together again after replacing the carriage bolt. Keep in mind you'd have a hard time getting things back apart again in the future should you need to.

A 3rd option is to try and grind down the rusty bolt and get down to good clean metal. If you can do that (up near the fog base) then you could either weld an extension on or sleeve it (again with epoxy) You'll never notice the repair to the threaded bolt itself because it will be hidden inside your 3" pedestals.