Enclosed style headlight swap to the not bubbled lights?

[Dietrich]

Bondo is really handy for making molds, by the way.

[ascendedmaster]

In my view a Spider looks incomplete without the headlight fairings & clearly this is what Pininfarina intended. Stock Carello items fit well enough with care and a little tweaking. I'm still looking for some smaller chrome trims to fit though.

My car. Regards, Ed.

[oldschooleuros]

Nice Spider, looks very good with the fairings on it, and my favorite spider color of course.

[brownie93]

I hadn't seen the bubble covers on the S4 before but it looks good. Very nice.

[Zeno]

Hi ascendedmaster,

Your car looks great with those covers. What did you have to do to install them? Did you do any body work to fill in the gaps or did you just leave them open?

Thanks.

[Garry-Graig]

I bought some aftermarket covers just in case my Carrellos got swiped,used it for 3 months and it cracked and perished because of the sun.I am sticking with the Carrellos regardless.

[ascendedmaster]

Dear Zeno,

You can fit the Carello items relatively easily. While the S4 does not have the two slots present in the upper part of the reshaped nacelles, they become unnecessary if you remove the two corresponding tabs on the fairings.

The fairings are located instead with self tapping ss screws into the headlamp brackets directly, and at the front by the stock brackets.

"Sealing " is not an issue. The small gap provides ventilation to prevent condensation as on all Spiders.

Regards, Ed.

[oldschooleuros]

So, are they that simple with S3 Spiders?
Thanks

[John M]

Not easy at all old school. We have went through this discussion several times in the past. Do some searches and you'll find some better pictures of the defects with trying to install the covers on a series 3 or 4 spider. The correct installation has the covers laying flush on the opening all the away around the cover to metal mating surface. What happens with a series 4 or 3 nosed spider is that a quarter inch or more gap will be seen at and leading into the corners. Also, a series 3 or 4 spider has no provision for mounting the headlight behind the fender....hence the Biba kit. The red series 4 above has no trim ring on the headlight bucket. Biba's kit will correct this issue...but not the gap between the cover and the sheet metal. On series 2 spiders, the mounting studs and wheel well access panels are already there to mount the headlights behind the fender. Unfortunately, no one makes a cover to fit a series 3 or 4. So the only correct ways to do it would be 1. fab a cover or 2. reshape the sheet metal to fit current covers. The cover's tabs and their corresponding holes usually have to be cut on all US spiders.

Now with all that said....some people have gone the mile to do the body work and make it look stunning. No doubt it looks great done to the later spiders. And its a modification worth going the extra mile to make it fit and look perfect. I remember a yellow series 3 someone posted before and it looked extremely nice and well done.

Best Regards,
John M

[sprintgtc]

I am in the process of making this mod to my '84 Spider. I have taken many pictures along the way and will do a full write-up as I get closer to the finish line. Be prepared to do the following:

1. It is possible to mount the headlights from behind, but it is labor intensive.
2. You will need to find a set of old-style headlight buckets in order to change headlight bulbs in the future.
3. You will have to repaint the nose of the car, so best to do as a part of a repaint/ resto.

[Nicola]

bumped for das

[Anfanuts]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John M Not easy at all old school. We have went through this discussion several times in the past. Do some searches and you'll find some better pictures of the defects with trying to install the covers on a series 3 or 4 spider. The correct installation has the covers laying flush on the opening all the away around the cover to metal mating surface. What happens with a series 4 or 3 nosed spider is that a quarter inch or more gap will be seen at and leading into the corners. Also, a series 3 or 4 spider has no provision for mounting the headlight behind the fender....hence the Biba kit. The red series 4 above has no trim ring on the headlight bucket. Biba's kit will correct this issue...but not the gap between the cover and the sheet metal. On series 2 spiders, the mounting studs and wheel well access panels are already there to mount the headlights behind the fender. Unfortunately, no one makes a cover to fit a series 3 or 4. So the only correct ways to do it would be 1. fab a cover or 2. reshape the sheet metal to fit current covers. The cover's tabs and their corresponding holes usually have to be cut on all US spiders. Now with all that said....some people have gone the mile to do the body work and make it look stunning. No doubt it looks great done to the later spiders. And its a modification worth going the extra mile to make it fit and look perfect. I remember a yellow series 3 someone posted before and it looked extremely nice and well done. Best Regards, John M