Headlight bucket adjustment?
03-17-2005, 08:57 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Headlight bucket adjustment?
The headlights buckets on my 63 do not fit correctly when closed. They appear canted in the nose. Is there a proceedure to adjust this? As usual, I would appreciate any assistance.
03-18-2005, 09:07 AM
#2
POSSE ZR-1 Driver
Others have mentioned that this adjustment is a PIA job. I just got done reinstalling one of my buckets and it was pretty easy. Of course, my body is currently off the frame, but I was able to do the adjustments from the outside of the car.
First, remove the motors and the headlights (including the headlight mounting cans) from the buckets. This will give you access to all the bolts and stuff.
I highly recommend removing the grill also as it will give you plenty of room, since you need to get your hands back there while standing in front or the car.
Remove the up/down stop bracket from the inboard shaft so the buckets can spin all the way around. The open/close stop bracket is splined to the inboard shaft and is held in place by a 1/4" bolt that clamps it to the shaft (it looks like a "Y" with adjustment bolts on the ends). It may be difficult to remove if there is corrosion and/or dirt.
Put masking tape on the edges of the headlight openings on the body and the edges of the buckets so the paint doesn't get chipped while you are moving things around.
The first adjustment is flush fit adjustment to line up the body lines with the headlight buckets. Each bucket has 3 bolts on either side to hold the pivot housings in place. There are holes inside of the bucket on either side to access these bolts. There may be a plastic cover in the holes that will need to be removed. There is enough slop available in the mounting holes to get eveything lined up.
Make sure you are happy with the fit before moving on to the next step.
Then move on to the side to side adjustment. This is done by moving the stop collar on the outboard shafts and replacing the open/close stop bracket on the inboard shafts. The outboard stop collar has a set screw holding it in place on the shaft and will probably have some corrosion around it. If these items have not been touched in a long time, they will be hard to move. Move them towards or away from the bucket on the shafts to get the proper side to side clearances. You want to remove all the side to side end play once you have the buckets centered in the openings.
Last adjustment is up/down. This one is done by moving the bolts on the open/close stop bracket on the inboard shafts. Again, be careful here. If the bolts are really tight due to corrosion or dirt, you could break the bracket.
When you are all done with the steps above, go back and do it all again until you are satisfied.
After you get the first one done, the second one is easier of course.
I think that is basically it.
The Service manual has a good blowup view of all these parts and a brief description of the adjustment procedure. Just takes a little time and patience.
Last note.... I have a 64 with metal headlight buckets. I believe your 63 buckets are fibreglass. Be careful with those as they are hard to find if you damage one.
First, remove the motors and the headlights (including the headlight mounting cans) from the buckets. This will give you access to all the bolts and stuff.
I highly recommend removing the grill also as it will give you plenty of room, since you need to get your hands back there while standing in front or the car.
Remove the up/down stop bracket from the inboard shaft so the buckets can spin all the way around. The open/close stop bracket is splined to the inboard shaft and is held in place by a 1/4" bolt that clamps it to the shaft (it looks like a "Y" with adjustment bolts on the ends). It may be difficult to remove if there is corrosion and/or dirt.
Put masking tape on the edges of the headlight openings on the body and the edges of the buckets so the paint doesn't get chipped while you are moving things around.
The first adjustment is flush fit adjustment to line up the body lines with the headlight buckets. Each bucket has 3 bolts on either side to hold the pivot housings in place. There are holes inside of the bucket on either side to access these bolts. There may be a plastic cover in the holes that will need to be removed. There is enough slop available in the mounting holes to get eveything lined up.
Make sure you are happy with the fit before moving on to the next step.
Then move on to the side to side adjustment. This is done by moving the stop collar on the outboard shafts and replacing the open/close stop bracket on the inboard shafts. The outboard stop collar has a set screw holding it in place on the shaft and will probably have some corrosion around it. If these items have not been touched in a long time, they will be hard to move. Move them towards or away from the bucket on the shafts to get the proper side to side clearances. You want to remove all the side to side end play once you have the buckets centered in the openings.
Last adjustment is up/down. This one is done by moving the bolts on the open/close stop bracket on the inboard shafts. Again, be careful here. If the bolts are really tight due to corrosion or dirt, you could break the bracket.
When you are all done with the steps above, go back and do it all again until you are satisfied.
After you get the first one done, the second one is easier of course.
I think that is basically it.
The Service manual has a good blowup view of all these parts and a brief description of the adjustment procedure. Just takes a little time and patience.
Last note.... I have a 64 with metal headlight buckets. I believe your 63 buckets are fibreglass. Be careful with those as they are hard to find if you damage one.
Last edited by Subfixer; 03-18-2005 at 09:29 AM.
