Mesh Headlight Stone Guard Installation

[khansmith]

Good Afternoon
Has anyone installed the mesh headlight Stone protectors on their car from Finish Line? And if so, did you find an elegant way to do it?

thank you

PS: She is almost done and ready for her reveal

[elmariachi]

Screw those stone guards and quit teasing us. Post some pics!

[khansmith]

I need to put them on otherwise all the porsche owners in my neighbor will throw locks at my lights!

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by khansmith

I need to put them on otherwise all the porsche owners in my neighbor will throw locks at my lights!

They won't even be able to catch you.

[Caustic_Cobra]

I am having a ***** of a time with them as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for posting the question khansmith!

[COBRA36]

You migth give ENZO at Finishline a call and ask him how to install them.

[DSM351]

I was going to order those, but if you read the fine print:

"No instructions included - no tech support"

No other product he sells says that.

Please let us know if you figure it out!!

[Gunner]

Aren't there clips that go under the headlight beauty ring? That's what I've seen on other mountings of stone guards.

EDIT: Looking at the L-clips that come with the guards, I think they go around the headlight retaining ring and the beauty ring holds them in place. The mesh circle clips into three or four of them per headlight.

[PatBuckley]

I had some of those.

Still have them, I think.

Every few months I would try to install them hoping that my grey cell count had somehow increased in the intervening months.....but no. Still too stupid to figure out how they go on.

Short of drilling holes and riveting the arms, I can't see how they work.

[John McMahon]

Once installed, you may also want to safety wire the screens to the clips....they are not real secure, just held in place by pressure from the clips. Hit a pothole and you may lose one, I lost a couple of them that way.

[cdnus]

What Gunner said---that's the way the guards fastened for my Austin Healys back in 1959/62. Assuming the finishline are copies of the originals.

When you had to clean the headlights the guards just snapped out of the clips & back in after cleaning.

Craig

[Gunner]

AFAIK, the clips are supposed to remain somewhat loose and can be slid around between the retaining ring and beauty ring. I guess you could drill and rivet them to the retaining ring.

They're a nice look on some cars, odd-looking on others. To me, they look best on Cobras with racing trim (meatballs, stripes, decals, etc.)

I'm going to replace my sealed beam headlights with H4 units after all the inspections (last major one is tomorrow). I might go with the tripode repops - they look good on any era car, IMHO.

[767Jockey]

Check with Jeff Gagnon ("1985 CCX" here on Club Cobra). He installed these on his Contemporary and did a really nice job. He can fill you in on the proper way to do it.

[bmwdb10]

Agree with Doug... Jeff did a real nice job on his using the correct style "Frankenstein" screws. I have them on mine but used only Safety wire screwed under the HL retaining ring mounts. Then just put them in place and twisted the wire around the three spots. Clipped them short and bent the end under the mesh. I like this look because the are tight against the bulb and dont stick way out like the store bought brkts do. Also aren't going to pop off and looks a little racy.

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by bmwdb10

I have them on mine but used only Safety wire screwed under the HL retaining ring mounts. Then just put them in place and twisted the wire around the three spots.

Nice solution.

What's a Frankenstein screw? Do I want to know? Does it mean she has white stripes in her hair?

[maxum_101]

this is one way....

[1985 CCX]

Here is the way that depicts 60's way. hardware can be made easy enough. These are actual 60's screens......
CCX3682

CSX3018


Dave, post a picture of yours.......

[elmariachi]

Okay, I just looked at my stone guard kit from Finishline. On MGs and Minis I have seen, the little clips in these kits are designed to clip onto the removable chrome ring, but the kit is probably sized for a Lucas ring, which is probably wider than the one I have on my car. After removing my ring, the back of my plastic bucket mounts through a rubber gasket into the body using screws. I can slide the 90* ends of the supplied clips in between the back of the plastic bucket and the gasket. I just test mounted 4 clips in this manner and the re-installed my ring, with the 4 clips sticking out between the edge of the lamp and the inside of the ring. With a little work bending/shaping the guard to match the convex face of the lamp, and some massaging of the clips it appears that they would stay clipped in. If you have Lucas PL700s my guess is they would fit fine.

[elmariachi]

I just found this and it appears this how the kit is meant to be mounted:

http://www.ocoop.com/mini-stoneguards.htm

You can either do as I describe above, or flatten and then rebend the clips to fit your rings like the Mini.

[khansmith]

This is all great! I have some ideas now that I need to noodle through. Thank you all very very much!