MakoShark72

Spent better part of the last 2 days putting in my headlight assemblies. THANKS to everyone for the many suggestions and advice. I ended up loosely bolting in the horseshoe frame, and building them "in situ" so to speak. I was terrified to attempt to put them in already assembled. Helped tremendously to remove the front frame extension that holds the front bumper bracket. I could get to the 3 bolts to the outboard pivots with ease. I had taken the assemblies apart many moons ago and repainted and cleaned everything.









After the frames were in, I installed the original vacuum actuators, cleaned up and resealed...





Is that surface rust? must be the lighting!



Restored the linkages...



All taped up for protection..



I then spent the better part of a day carefully installing and uninstalling the headlight housing, tweaking side to side, fore/aft position, and height. Once I pretty much had it, I installed the original (cleaned) headlight retainer hardware...









Here's what I ended up with. I've found that aligning these assemblies is an exercise in compromise. Since I have had a new front end and these are scavenged headlight assemblies, I dont think they came out all too bad. Gaps aren't perfect, and the lids are a wee bit high and low on certain corners, but pretty good. I may do a little more tweaking, but I think they are pretty much as good as they are going to be... I have a couple of very small spots to touch up where the lights opened just a bit too far, but I dont think will show when touched up...











Thanks again for all the help!!


Rob

MN-Brent

Great pictures. Ive never seen these torn down like that. It gives me courage to do mine someday as I have one that is slightly slower and lower in the down position than it should be.

ksbunting

Nice job and good pictures for future reference.
Thank you for sharing
Kurt

hammadown

Great info and good work on putting them back in looks like you will have many trouble free miles with the headlights

Hammadown

xCCTer

Frogday

Looks good! Keep the pictures coming.

eastltd

Nice job Rob,

How many beers did that take?

MakoShark72

None, it was enough work sober!!

jetjockey

Hi Mako,
Question for you. I have one headlamp that rises too far so that the bottom of the assembly protrudes just above the body. Is there an adjustment I can make to correct this that you have found?
Thanks- Dan

929nitro

Thanks for the detailed photos. Will come in handy when I do mine next winter.

82collectersvette

good job with the lights, ive been following the progress the past few days, i cant wait to see the final product

GD70

Your final fit looks very good. Way better than mine fit. This is a great tutorial for us all. I'm printing these pages & sticking them in my AIM.
Looking good & keep the pics coming!
Glenn

MakoShark72

Dan,

PM'd you.

Rob

OURSHARK

The alignment looks very good. Thanks for posting.

RMVette

Great job and fit. Frustrating wasn't it? It's amazing how much engineering when in to the linkage and actuation on these vacuum headlight systems from the early '70's.

Alan 71

Hi Rob,
Nice pictures of a job many people ask about!
Regards,
Alan

Rudy's Stingray

Rob,

Excellent work. The photos and attention to detail will undoubtedly
help many including myself when I get the guts to go there.
By the way, nice exterior color. When you get a chance,
post pics of the whole car.

Rudy

MakoShark72

Rudy,

Heres the best I can do, as of today...












Working on the front grills and bumper tonight!!


Rob

Sully1882

Rob,

super sweet, my headlamps are going through the same process right now! I am gonna send you a PM on your AC stuff though.... I have a few questions!

thanks,

Sully

kaiserbud

Rob.... hopefully I am not stealing your post and adding to it......

I am checking the AIM on my 69 to ensure I install the plastic sleeves, pins, washers and cotter pins on the correct side. It appears that all sleeves (3) are inserted from the outboard side towards the inboard. Then the larger 3/4" shouldered bolt goes from the inboard to the outboard side..... Does it really matter???

I took pics of mine before disassembly and they varied side to side.

Also - the AIM indicates a washer on the end of the actuator rod that nests adjacent to the rod end and inside of the bracket with the 3 bolts...

Last - the arced shaped sleeves that were included in the rebuild kit I got kinda 'warped' when I inserted them into the larger L: shaped Link bracket. I removed them and went with the older arced shaped sleeves which are still in great shape. However - once the pin is inserted, it does not travel smoothly. I think the powder coating is a bit thick in that arced area and is preventing the pin sliding nicely in the arced groove..... Is my resolution to remove some of the powder coating and squirt a bit of paint in there?