R66

Disassembled the buckets, gear housing, and motors for a lube job and general check. The right (passenger side was barely moving).
Reassembled every thing with new grease and alignment. Buckets moved freely before installing the motors.
Both now work quicker, but the left (drivers side) closes faster than the right. I am worried that when the left closes, it is still drawing current as the bucket is closed against the stop and could deteriorate the motor.
Is this normal for C2s???
Also, I was told there is an indicator lamp in the dash that indicates the buckets closed??? Is this correct??? I couldn't find a light.

1snake

I've rebuilt dozens of C-2 headlight assemblies and if everything is correct, the lights should open and close within 1 or 2 seconds of each other. When one is slow, the faster one will still have the torque of the motor applied to the pot metal gear and it will eventually strip the gear so it no longer works. Since you have the buckets working fine, the motors may need the gears cleaned and re-greased (with Lubriplate), commutators cleaned and possibly new brushes. Then they should be in perfect time.

USMC 0802

R66,
My '66 does the same thing - pass side is about 2 seconds slower, but aside from that, everything works fine.

I'm not sweating it.

Good luck!

buns

15 to 20 seconds??? Where did you come up with those numbers? And the light is above the high beam light.



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Nowhere Man

Buns deleted my post. Not sure where I came up with my info. Sorry for the confusion

R66

Thanks everyone, I have about a 2 second delay so normal it is. Everything is lubed and cleaned for another 50 years. The old lithium grease was almost rock hard. Bubba had greased the left gearbox, bud didn't clean the old grease out first.
Thanks again.

Frankie the Fink

I rebuilt my 63 motors and was meticulous with everything; including the motor preload adjustment....my doors operate approx 1-2 seconds apart. I think that's just life with these funky motors. If you want synchronicity the Detroit Speed conversion will do it, sexy but not cheap...

Now, you can mod the factory 'limit' switches (which really only light the dash warning light) to act as TRUE limit switches, cutting electrical power when the motors reach fully opened or closed position (there is a youtube video describing how to do this). It will save the main motor gear; I didn't bother with this....I can have the headlight motor out and a new gear installed and everything buttoned up in about an hour - withOUT removing the hood...

Avispa

Yes, it's the AIM specified lube for a lot of things, but lithium grease put on anything exposed to the air isn't much different than putting epoxy on the same parts. After 18 years I'm still emptying whole cans of WD40 inside my doors to keep the window regulators, latch and lock mechanisms free (yes I know I should just take the door apart and clean the dried gunk off....). The fellow who did my restoration work even put the stuff in the distributor! The dang thing locked the timing before I figured out what was going on.

Use a synthetic grease like brake caliper grease instead.

R66

Thanks for pic and advice. I found the lights indicator lit when I turn the lights on with the buckets closed and while I open the buckets. It stays on with the buckets open. When I close the buckets with the lights still on, it flashes on and off until I turn the lights off. Is this the normal operation?

Nowhere Man

it should only come on and flash with the buckets down and lights turned on

R66

Thanks, Looks like I have some more adjusting to do on the buckets vs limit switches.
I had a paw cut on, so it may be a while before I can wrench it.

Thanks again

tbarb

The flashing bulb will flash with the headlights turned on and the headlight buckets in ANY position that does not trigger the limit switch. That means closed, partially open etc. When the buckets are full open the contact button on the limit switch is depressed which opens the circuit and puts out the light.

R66

Gottya. will do the troubleshooting next week. I checked the limits when I had them out and they checked good, so probably just an adjustment.

buns

R66, I'm wondering if your brackets that the switches mount to are original or reproductions. I found that the hole where the plunger of the switch passes through to be quite a ways off. Even my originals were off, but not quite as bad. So, what happens is, the switch can get cocked in the bracket and break, or as shown in picture #2, can actually cause the plunger to bind. This might be obvious if you were assembling the pieces on the bench, but difficult when assembling on the car. A simple shim will fix the problem.




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jprop

Correct. If the switch is adjusted correctly, the warning light will flash whenever the lights are on and either bucket is not up. Closed and in transit will trigger the light. And to get really picky, it has nothing to do with the lights. It is the light switch (not the actual lights) that triggers the warning light.

DUB

YEP...when I install bad switches..I use a very thin stainless steel washer and get it set and correct before I tighten it down. Works perfect every time.

I have installed the Detroit Speed set-ups and they work great...but I just do not like the speed and aggressiveness of them when they rotate...being so used to the factory design for so long. And no customer as of yet had allowed me to wire in more stuff to slow them down. Something about them rotating at the correct designed speed just adds that unique touch to the car. Just my thoughts on that.

DUB