Taillight lens mounting screws

[Alfred Pine]

Hey guys and gals,

Just starting to put the car together and I'm noticing that the taillights on my car are were not assembled correctly last time someone worked on it. I have a mishmash of different screws and none of them seem to be correct. Can someone tell me what screw/bolt these take and the desired length.

Thanks in advance

 

[alpine_64]

Al what series alpine?

Do you want screws tgat mount the lens? Or tye brackets that hold the housing on early cars?

 

[volvoguys]

More importantly, what tail lamps do you have? The lamps for Series I-III are common and interchangeable. But the later production (IV & V) differ and cannot be used in I-III. Beginning with Series IV the lenses attached to the lamp body from behind with four screws and are commonly referred to as 'hidden screw' because you can't see them when the lamp is mounted on the car. Later, mostly in SV, the lenses were fixed to the lamp body from outside and are referred to as 'exposed screw' as the heads of the four machine screws can be seen with the lamp mounted on the car.

The hidden & exposed screws types can be be used in either SIV or SV as a complete unit but the lenses alone aren't interchangeable between the bases. BTW, these lamp bodies were also used in a few other Rootes-mobiles such as the Humber Sceptre and Hillman/Sunbeam Minx. They can also be found on the Bristol.

Mark ..... volvoguys

 

[Ken Ellis]

If you go down the rabbit hole of sourcing new screws for "exposed", I believe they are Fillister head screws.

 

[Alfred Pine]

Oops...Sorry I should have figured that that information was needed.

I have a 67 Alpine with the need for "hidden screws" to hold the lenses onto the taillight housing. I just want to be sure that I don't further bung up the pieces that I have to work with (Already having to replace those darn trunk hinges).

Thanks for the help

 

[hartmandm]

You have the Lucas L654 tail lens assemblies and are interested in the screw specs to make sure you use the right screws? Pretty sure I have an L654 assembly and screws in storage and can check the screw specs.

Mike

 

[Alfred Pine]

You have the Lucas L654 tail lens assemblies and are interested in the screw specs to make sure you use the right screws? Pretty sure I have an L654 assembly and screws in storage and can check the screw specs.

Mike

Thanks Mike

 

[hartmandm]

I removed a couple of lens mounting screws from a Lucas L654 assembly to take photos and measurements. I cannot attest to them being original, but all 4 screws look to be the same. Photos attached. Details are:

Phillips head
Head diameter: 0.240" to 0.245" (not quite round)
Screw length (excluding head): 3/8"
Thread OD: 0.140"
Threads Per Inch: 20

Mike

 

[65beam]

Photos of a common self tapping screw for the mounting of the lense. These are available at most hardware stores. Maybe not at Lowes or Home Depot. Doug at Tiger Auto gave me extras when we restored the series 4. I used the Lucas bag as a background only.

 

[Alfred Pine]

Mike and 65beam,

Thanks tons for looking into that for me. I'm trying fairly hard to put her back together with as little "jerry-rigging" as possible (a far cry from where I found her).

 

[Warren]

I have found that West Marine and specialty fastener stores have great oval head slot screws like once common. They should be chromed but stainless steel is usually the closest.