Rear Fogs G7
When I was fitting some new fogs for Gary190 , I thought it prudent to keep a photographic record for anyone else who may wish to try this mod in the future.
Pictured below are the two pieces of the lights Gary chose
- central red fog light
- chrome effect outer ring section
The red light is offered to the hatch from the inside and the outer ring goes on the outside surface of the hatch.
One of the major problems with this type of fixing(Hella) is the fact that 99% of the chrome ring needs to be sunk/rebated into the hatch apart from the outer 2mm lip.
This is a sideways on shot that hopefully shows the lip clearly
Consequently you only have 2mm tolerance all round for cock ups!
Remove the inner plastic cover from the lower half of the hatch, the handle area has one screw holding it in place, the remainder of the fixings are of the 'snap' type. So basically you need to give it a bit of welly and tug the cover off!
Carefully mask the areas where any cutting or potential scratching/chipping could take place
You can now cut a template out of a piece of card the size of hole you intend to cut, you can offer this up to the light/ring to check that the tolerances have been met but not exceeded
Place the template against the masked surface of the car and draw around the inner edge, you can then cut away the masking tape in the area of the intended hole. If you use a stanley knife or similar this will also 'scribe' the circular shape into the paintwork, thus helping to stop the paint lifting outside of this area when cut.
Now’s the nerve breaking part! time to cut the first hole, this will be through the outer skin. (there is approx a 2 inch gap between the skins)
Next you can easily cut away the inner skin with a jig saw or similar tool
It is best to cut the holes a bit on the small side and sand them back a bit at a time until such time as the light/ring will tightly fit into the hole.
After test fitting you can then smear a layer of black silicone or similar sealant around the inner lip of the light/ring and screw it into place.
Just to clarify, when I say ‘screw’ it into place, the light doesn’t have a thread as such, but the fitment should be tight enough that you should have to 'screw' the light in, to get it to go all the way into the hole.
Obviously the silicone will give the light it's waterproof seal, but as a secondary barrier and also to ensure the light stays in place, you should apply a layer of automotive adhesive or 'no nails' type mastic around the inner edge (inner side of the outer skin)
Now its down to the wiring side of things:-
Each light (red) has two terminals, so join a wire to each via a female 'spade' type connector. you can then offer the light up to the inner side of the hatch, there are 3 screws to hold the red light to the rear of the chrome ring.
You then run these wires along to the next light for fixing and follow the same fitment process. Splice the wires together and run the two (previously four) wires up the black window piping on the hatch and then down the rubber sealing strip for the boot.
You will then have two wires in the boot area, hide these best you can behind the various plastic panels. The original fog lights that were (or maybe still are) in your rear bumper have two wires. You can splice the two new wires to the two existing wires (use a junction connector) I twist them together and cover with loads of insulating tape.
Last but by no means least its time to switch on your fogs
Voila! it all works (hopefully) you can then drive the car out of the garage and admire you handy work!
I hope these pointers have been helpful and either given you the confidence to 'give it a go' or at least shown you that this may be a job better suited to a body shop? The choice is yours, either way, you at least know what’s involved.
Be cool guys, if you dont try these things you'll never know? (but be prepared to pay someone to put it right if you cock it up).
It's sooooooo much better if you do it yourself, believe me
Perry
