4440stevesvette

Has anyone on the forum rebuilt their own headlight motors and was it much of a job?? Also, does anyone have a recommendation on who does a good job at rebuilding them and what their pricing and turnaround time was. Thanks in advance for your answers and recommendations!

62Jeff

Howdy,
What is your definition of rebuild? For example, the ones in myh 65 were not working, so I followed the instructions from Alann Boatright found on BarryK's web site:
http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...%20Rebuild.pdf

and removed my motors. I disassembled them, cleaned everything up, replaced the old hard grease with new grease, installed, and they worked fine.

Now if yours are messed up, need new windings, etc. then I can't offer any personal experience.

Jeff

blkc6z51

I also followed those instructions, worked great.

Vet65te

What sort of problems are you having that's making you ask about rebuilding the headlight motors? Are they slow or intermittently working? If so, while it could be the motors, it also could be anything connected to them starting with the dash switch, poor grounding, deteriorated wiring harness, etc. If the motors are the actual cause, it might be the potmetal gear that's given up the ghost or lack of lubrication or maybe the brushes are worn down.
They are pretty easy to take apart and most times if there is something amiss, you'll find it by the time you get down to the brush plate. If not...then it's probably time to send it out.
On my 65 I had one motor making some god-awful sounds as it was trying to raise the pod. Not so bad sounding on the way down, which obviously has less stress on the motor. In my case, someone had been in there before me and I found the lower amature 'bushing' to be moving around, hence the 'growling' sound it made since it allowed the armature to move around. I had to use a Dremel Tool to cut into the welds in order to separate the lower plate and replace the retainer and bushing with donor parts out of a power window motor. If yours are just moving slow, check out everything else first and then tear into the motors. It's not hard to do.


Mike T.

'67 Mann

If your motors are not opening... first disconnect the switch located
under the dash. Take is apart and clean all contacts. Put it back
together and install. That may be your problem...

I too pulled my motors and cleaned, re-greased, and reassembled.
Its an easy job. I also took out the motors with the hood open and
using a mirror and flashlight I could locate the screw that holds the
motor in place and pull them out. Took 10 minutes for the first motor
and 2 for the second. Otherwise I hear you have to pull the front
bumpers, front grille, and then access the motors from the bottom
on your back.

First clean and re-install the switch ! I bet that's the issue...

KC John

Rather than taking all that apart, I just removed my hood and then it was easy to get to the motors. Make sure you mark your hood first with tape around the hinge, so you can put it back exactly like you found it.

1-2-b-67L89

Yep , me 3! Along with a new gear

Larry N. Johnson

On the topic of C2 headlights, the engine and battery were removed.
The wiring un-plugged.

Is there any way to rotate without power?
Like some mechanical release?



The painter may need to turn or remove to paint properly.
Maybe if removed, they need not rotate?

62Jeff

Yes, look up on the inner edge of the motor for a wheel about the diameter of a quarter. Turn it, then turn it, then turn it......and eventually you will have closed the headlights. If you turn it and nothing seems to happen, be patient the gearing is such that you have to turn the wheel a lot to move the buckets. Or, you could just remove the motor it's only 1 bolt, 1 wire connection and 1 clip and it slides off the headlight bucket shaft.

It is the wheel on the left of this motor

Larry N. Johnson

62Jeff to the rescue again!
Thank you.

4440stevesvette

The problem I had was the last time I took my '65 out to a local casino for their Hot August Nights, my left headlight would not come up at all with three of us working on a solution to the problem. Right side came up fine. After 20 minutes we gave up and I drove the 7 miles home with just the right side light. Two weeks previous to that night, the lights were fine with the exception of the RIGHT side being a little lazy and needing a gentile push to get it in the full open position. After the next two Corvette shows it's time to pull them out and get them operating properly. I don't have any plans to run the car at night anymore this year. I printed out the instructions given by Alan and they will be a great help. By the way, I discovered I did NOT have the little star wheel on either of my headlight motors. God only knows who has been working in there before!!! MIKE T.---When are you plan on moving to Prescott, AZ.? We have one heck of a Corvette club here. Send me a PM and we'll talk.

Vet65te

Hi Steve, PM sent. So, was the car show held up at Bucky's Casino?
How was the turnout?
That is odd that the thumbwheel is MIA but not totally surprising that some so-called mechanic figured it was not needed.
Once you get the motor(s) free of the headlight pods, you'll see they come apart fairly easily and it's unlikely you'll encounter a problem like I had with my one motor.
Mike T.

4440stevesvette

Hi MIke--No, the Hot August Nights "Shows" are held at the Yavapai Casino down on the highway by the traffic light. I guess there were probably about 110-115 cars that showed up. Only three Corvettes that night, my 65 coupe, another '65 coupe with FI and a beat up rat of a '64/'65'/'67 Corvette convert. Today I went thru the Zips catalog and ordered everything I could find to rebuild the headlight motors. I won't do anything about them until the end of October when I will put it up on jackstands to replace the rear pinion seal. I will be looking forward to meeting you on Friday the 17th. Your going to have a great time at the banquet and Corvette show.

Vet65te

Hi Steve,

There's a very good chance your headlight pod issues are being caused by something minor and a good clean-out and lube of the motors along with verifying electrical connections, power/ground, will do the trick.

Looking forward to meeting you guys at the banquet too and finally being in town for the Corvete Show on Saturday. Sounds like you're going to reach that 250 Vette ceiling after all.

See you then.

steveskankakee

Wish I had seen this post before, am working on a pair of 67 headlight motors. Removed 1 from the car yesterday, (neither has ever been out before) the thumb wheel would not turn. These motors were running 6 months ago. Took what I would call the motor off the "transmission", and the armature turned very hard with the thumb wheel. Now that I have seen these instructions, will remove the armature, but am wondering if the bearing might be seized? Do these bearing commonly seize up?

daz_au

I used the instructions, they are awesome. The previous owner had bought a repro motor and it failed already. Luckily he still had the original. I rebuilt both originals and used the new gear out of the repro in one of them, they both glide up and down perfectly now !

I really have to credit the author of that article, what a great contribution to the community, the instructions are perfect and can save a lot of time and money for others.

Bill Lacy

Yes they do seize.

I soak the bearing in penetrating lube to loosen the bearing. I then hone the bearing and clean and polish the armature.

Cut the crimp welds and remove the end plate.

Now you are ready to weld the new retainer & spring. Available at Long Island Corvette Supply

Weld the end plate back on and reassemble.
There you have it. Like new motors.

steveskankakee

Just got both motors back on, and they work great. The information here made it so easy, nothing to be intimidated about when you can see it laid out in front of you first.

On both motors, the bearing in the back end of the motor were seized with crud. Cleaned everything up and re-lubed it all. Should be good for another 10-20 years anyway. Thanks for the help.