headlamp chrome bezell gap

[geoff]

at a meeting yesterday it was pointed out to me that the large gap between the headlamp and its chrome surround can be eliminated and that it would look much nicer. I never even thought of this before. My car is a 2000 injection USA model to which I have fitted european headlights. A freind showed me his 1.8 european model and he is right - it looks much better. Is this a well known mod that I have missed out on, or just some european initiative?
geoff

[baltobernie]

I'm not familiar with this mod; I thought all Spiders looked alike! This does sound like an interesting modification, and I wish I'd have thought of it during my restoration project. It isn't a trivial job, however. Those headlamp buckets are welded in, so removing and reinstalling would result in body work and paint. I painted my "gap" satin black to minimize the visual effect. This is probably more noticeable on light-colored cars.

Can anyone confirm that the headlamp recess is a USA spec? That doesn't seem logical; the E-code headlamps are the same depth at their circumference as the US sealed beam. Some E-code lamps have less of a dome in the center, but even these are approximately the same thickness at their edges as the PAR-56 sealed beam.

[geoff]

the car I was looking at yesterday was just like yours - same colour too, and I must admit, the lens was flush with the bezel and it looked good. The owner told me that it was simply a matter of packing out the 'rear of the light' and was not difficult. this was all in my poor French though so probably lost something in translation. When I have time I will strip mine down and have a look.

[baltobernie]

I suppose it would be possible to use extra-long adjusting screws and shim the capturing ring away from the bucket by a half-inch or so to reduce the gap, but how rigid would it be? Interesting possibility.

[RRoller123]

Just curious, can anyone confirm that "European" headlights are a larger diameter? That would be odd, I think? Never heard of that before, would think that they were all to a common international standard of some sort.

[AriK]

Another Fiat owner once told me that the original headlamps had more of a bubble face on them thus eliminating the gap. He seemed pretty confident that this was true but i never ran into anyone else who can confirm that fact. Anyone here?

[spiderdan]

My 68 doesn't have a big gap. I guess my lights could be called "bubble face", they aren't flat. I don't think the lens affects the gap.
I have always noticed that later Spiders have a wider gap.
I would post a few pics, but that photobucket thing...(ya I know I got to get an Imgur account)

The vid below show my lights at 1:00min
https://youtu.be/aMsXioaQu7E

Note: due to copyright music in this video it is unavailable on some devices

[geoff]

all the lights have the same diameter, and the 'bulging' of the glass is not a factor. I guess the use of extra long adjusting screws and some suitable packing would be the answer, but I have not looked yet. (too busy trying to solve the overheating problem !)
geoff

[AriK]

[geoff]

certainly seems to show the difference between the earlier car in the foreground and the USA spec blue car.
geoff

[PhillySpider]

maybe unpopular opinion, but I like the recessed light in that pic better than the foreground light. I'm going to have to check mine out...

[geoff]

yes philly, I guess unpopular - but hey who knows - I was only 'alerted' to this at the weekend and there may be some out there like you
I just had a quick look and on my car it would be easy to just move the bucket forward a little using spacers - so no big deal; I think I will do it.
geoff

[geoff]

well for those who are interested, I did it - on one side at least. Bugger of a job. sounds easy but not really and the result is truly wierd!
I used a hard rubber spacer to move the bucket 10cm. away from the body - and what has this achieved - well the gap at the top of the headlight is now gone - but for some reason I cannot figure out, the gap at the bottom has remained the same at around 13mm.
I have no explanation for this and wish I had never started the project.