driving/fog light installation

[JayGoss]

My 1960 Series II resto is nearly finished and I'd like to install some Hella or PIAA driving lights in front of the radiator panel. I'm reluctant to drill any holes into the perfect apron panel or freshly galvanized bumper. Was wondering if anyone out there has fabricated any brackets or knows of a way to mount auxiliary lights utilizing the existing bumper mounting or apron panel bolts? Open to any suggestions of ideas. Thanks!

[yorker]

Come on drill the bumper... :D

[autoguy]

i had two holes in my bumper and two holes where the license plate was originally mounted and i made a bracket from some aluminum :)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/autoguy5/IMG_0090.jpg?t=1210217803

[LaneRover]

What about fabbing up a bracket that uses the bumper's mounting points. No new holes AND you can probably use the same bolts.

Personally I want to find some nice little lights that fit in the area between the bumper and the military bumperettes on my 109 .....

[Tim Smith]

I only hope those KC's were standard Belgium military stock.
:p
Can just imagine the invading force being confronted with all those happy little rovers coming toward. "We may want to rethink this boys, I'm not sure why but they seem happy about this."

i had two holes in my bumper and two holes where the license plate was originally mounted and i made a bracket from some aluminum :)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i198/autoguy5/IMG_0090.jpg?t=1210217803

[greenmeanie]

I only hope those KC's were standard Belgium military stock.
:p
Can just imagine the invading force being confronted with all those happy little rovers coming toward. "We may want to rethink this boys, I'm not sure why but they seem happy about this."

That's almost as bad as the SAS pinkies. THe invading force takes one look. "Roight lads, those blokes over there are wearing pink into battle. They must be really confident in themselves."

[autoguy]

I only hope those KC's were standard Belgium military stock.
:p
Can just imagine the invading force being confronted with all those happy little rovers coming toward. "We may want to rethink this boys, I'm not sure why but they seem happy about this."

LOL :D

[JayGoss]

Come on drill the bumper... :D
I know, i know...but it's so pretty!

[adkrover]

If this is a ******** restoration, where would lights mount on an original pedigree? Or would they at all?

[JayGoss]

If this is a ******** restoration, where would lights mount on an original pedigree? Or would they at all?

They wouldn't. I live in elk country. The headlights are original Lucas sealed beams- so not a lot of light. I'm looking for a bolt-on solution so I can mount driving lights and see the elk as far ahead as possible so I can stop in time with the drums. I'm not going to show the truck or anything- I just would rather not drill if possible.

[yorker]

I know, i know...but it's so pretty!

I don't know man- you are too attached to your bumper! ;) The last one I bought cost me $70 new, I didn't think twice about drilling holes in it. Get another set of over-riders and drill holes in them or something. Or buy another bumper for show and one for day to day driving.

[jimsshuman]

http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/Lamp-pages/1100x.html

i had a set of these on an old 83 land cruiser. bright as ****!! if you wanna see an elk these will work great and you could prob fit them in the hole between bumper and overridder with a custom fabbed bracket of some sort. or you could do like me. i took a greenlee (2.5 inch i think) knockout punch and punched two holes in the skin above the bumper, below the grill, and just inside the headlights! turned out great but pain in the but to mount. i was worried about someone stealing the lights, so i made them impossible to remove without taking apart the front end. do something about the chrome bezel tho if you go with these. no place for chrome on a rover! good luck! i don't blame you, if i had a truck that nice i wouldn't wanna drill it either. thats why i could never have a truck that nice!

[Eric W S]

I know, i know...but it's so pretty!

Is that Lanny Clark's barn I see in the back ground?

EwS

[Les Parker]

How about roof mounted Euro Driving lamps, mounted onto a single Thule roof rack bar? You could fit 4 Hella 4000's and see for some distance ahead !!

[adkrover]

I think you could definitely go with Lane's suggestion to fab a bracket or light bar that mounts to the original bumber/frame connection bolts.

Alternatively, Hella makes a light called the Xenon Micro DE http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Micro_DE.asp that has a lense diameter of 2 inches that would mount inconspicuously in the small square grill vents below the headlights. You may want to trim the grill to avoid any shadowing on the lense but they would definitely extend the range of the headlights.

Another possible lamp for that is the Hella Micro FF http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Micro_Xenon.asp It is larger so would be more visible but also has longer range and is square to better fit the shape of the grill cutout.

Of course switching out the headlight for modern Hella Vision Plus or ECE lamps with higher watt bulbs would really scare the hell out of the elk.

A nice old style roof rack with lights is the $2000 option too.

Otherwise, go ahead, drill the bumper. That way you won't feel so bad about that first scratch when it happens.

[JayGoss]

Is that Lanny Clark's barn I see in the back ground?

EwS

Yup- he's been working on this for about a year and a half.

[JayGoss]

I don't know man- you are too attached to your bumper! ;) The last one I bought cost me $70 new, I didn't think twice about drilling holes in it. Get another set of over-riders and drill holes in them or something. Or buy another bumper for show and one for day to day driving.

I agree- I'm leaning that way. Right now the guy restoring it has an idea where he's going to try fabbing a bracket that attaches to a license plate bracket. If it's too complicated or doesn't look right I'll have him drill the bumper- I was just hoping to have the lights set back a little more, inside the radiator panel recess. Thanks for the input- for what I've put into this car it's pretty silly to be whining about an inexpensive bumper!

[TSR53]

Jay,

On my 1994 Defender 90 NAS soft top (I know it's not a Series bumper in question), but I mounted my Hella 500 amber fog lights using a piece of flat thick metal and drilled two holes on either end. I unbolted the top original brush bar where it mounts to the bumper and slipped this flat strip in-between the two, re-bolted this back down. This left two mounting points for the Hella 500 fog lights without drilling any holes in the stock bumper. Just make sure the strip of metal is thick enough to not vibrate with the weight of the lights.
http://c7716.r16.cf2.rackcdn.com/RN-Forum/users/TSR53/sport90i.jpg

[JayGoss]

How about roof mounted Euro Driving lamps, mounted onto a single Thule roof rack bar? You could fit 4 Hella 4000's and see for some distance ahead !!

That's a good idea Les- I'm also thinking about one of those Brownchurch galvanized racks, which would suport the same setup. When folks mount roof-top lights like that how do they route the wiring to the inside of the cab? Is it necesssary to drill holes in the top- or can you somehow route it through the weatherstripping?

[JayGoss]

Jay,

On my 1994 Defender 90 NAS soft top (I know it's not a Series bumper in question), but I mounted my Hella 500 amber fog lights using a piece of flat thick metal and drilled two holes on either end. I unbolted the top original brush bar where it mounts to the bumper and slipped this flat strip in-between the two, re-bolted this back down. This left two mounting points for the Hella 500 fog lights without drilling any holes in the stock bumper. Just make sure the strip of metal is thick enough to not vibrate with the weight of the lights.
http://c7716.r16.cf2.rackcdn.com/RN-Forum/users/TSR53/sport90i.jpg

Thanks Thompson. My friend has a powder coater at work, so I could do something similar with some thick gauge steel, then powder coat it for a clean look.

[JAy]

If you want to go higher, you can also use the windscreen mounts. If you do it just right it doesn't affect your visibility very much. Otherwise, there are plenty of bolts around the front to jump onto. I second (or third or fourth, whetever it's at) fabbing a bracket that bolts on the bumper mounting bolts. It would be easy to make a bar running between the two bumper mounts and that would give you options to mount the lights higher, or closer than just the mounting positions. It could even be galvanized to look closer to factory and match your resto.

[JimCT]

Or on tthe roof rack.

[Daurie]

Heres how I monted mine on my brownchurch rack. I didn't want to drill either.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/Daurie/Land%20Rover/LandRover010.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/Daurie/Land%20Rover/LandRover013.jpg

[JayGoss]

Heres how I monted mine on my brownchurch rack. I didn't want to drill either.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/Daurie/Land%20Rover/LandRover010.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/Daurie/Land%20Rover/LandRover013.jpg

EXCELLENT! Thanks- that's very helpful. Question- where did you find that black wire protection/covering material?

[Daurie]

Radio Shack or any auto parts house should have it in the electrical section. Heres a link to my photobucket with more pictures of the installation. http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g72/Daurie/Land%20Rover/

Daurie