Hello all,

 

Recently had to change both of the rear numberplate bulbs on my MkI VRS - knowing the bulb covers/lenses were just held in with a couple of screws so shouldn't take more then two minutes surely.

 

No, all of the screw heads were rusted to hell and disintegrated upon seeing a screwdriver, managed to get them all out in the end, however two of the four screws needed drilling. Unfortunately in doing so, one of the screw holes has had its internal thread stripped out in the process by the looks of things :(

 

I've refitted the bulbs with some spare screws, but am wary of the same situation arising when I next need to change them in the future. Also, I don't think I'm going to be able to repair the stripped internal thread given the small size of the screw hole and the lack of access room. Fortunately it seems to be holding in place with just the one screw.

 

I was thinking someone else must have come across this also and wondered if anyone could suggest some alternative means of securing the bulb holder/lens without running the risk of finding them rusted solid within a couple of months.

 

Cheers

order some stainless steel self tapping screws from ebay.

Lots of places will sell you a small bag of 10 screws for a couple of quid. 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/No2-No4-No6-No7-No8-Stainless-Steel-Pozi-Pan-Head-Self-Tapping-Screws-/221259189396?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Nails_Fixing_MJ&var=&hash=item3384134c94

 

size wise, I'd guess you would need no4 screws at 1/2" size

A pack of 5 screws this size is £1.45 delivered

Should of removed the plastic boot lid cover inside the car, you can replace the bulbs that way. Would of saved drilling out

As above - technically the bulb holders should be removed from inside after removing the boot liner plastic. If you go from the outside, and push the replacement bulb in with any force, the rubber holder will pop from it's hole and disappear inside the bootlid. Ask me how I know

 

But anyway, yes, I had the same issue as you. Screws rusted to buggery which just disintigrated when I waved a screwdriver at them. I managed to remove two of them by digging the screwdriver in and pushing on it hard whilst turning the screwdriver. The other two - no chance.

 

So all I did was get my drill out, and drill into the dead screws. Once I had drilled them out, I got a slightly larger drill bit and drilled out the dead threads in the plastic. I am lucky to have a garage full of bits and bobs, so I was able to find some new self-tappers that were slightly bigger, which bit nicely into the slightly bigger apertures.

 

I then cleaned up the little lenses, replaced the bulbs with two new ones, and liberally smeared the new screws all over with Copaslip before re-fitting. I then pushed another blob of Copaslip into the screw heads as well. 

 

I would imagine that by the time these screws start to rust again, given that the originals were 14 years old - my car will be sitting in the corner of some scrapyard anyway!

I had a similar issue - needed to remove the lens covers to clean them as they were so dirty it was noticed at the MOT for uneven light output.

 

I removed the boot internal trim, undid the 4 retaining screws for the plastic boot handle.  Once back in the house I use a dremel to cut a new grove, then I applied some gentle heat from a soldering iron to the inner tip of the screw and then undid the screw.  They were well and truly rusted in.  Replaced with some stainless screws of a similar sized thread from my pot of misc screws.

Cheers chaps, yep i soon realised after battling on with the lens covers that it would have just been better to remove the boot lining, maybe do that next time.

 

Ordered some replacement screws from the link grr666 provided, size sevens. Fit very well except for the one where I think I've damaged the plastic housing. Fortunately i managed to find in my toolbox a slightly longer screw of otherwise similar size which seems to have found a bit of something to bite into just at the very top end.

 

Cheers guys, lesson learned!