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As I continue the dismantling of my car I found this main vacuum line "leak" behind the cylinder head. And the funny thing was the headlights still went up & down pretty quick! Well at least one did, one was slow. I was just amazed they worked at all!
So that got me thinking:
It just might be a lot more "robust" than the electric headlight conversions give it credit for, if it can still work with that leak..
So my question is:
Is it a lot of trouble to restore this system and get it working as-well-as-new again?
Are the problems due to complexity, troubleshooting or part quality issues?
I would stick with the vacuum system. At first, I got excited about the electrical idea, but changed my mind. Any system, no matter whether electrical or vacuum requires simple attention and will work fine. For me, I might have to raise the lights five times a year given my tendency to not drive in adverse weather, so it does not really take much to keep a system up to my needs.
no its not that hard to restore. you just need to take some time to read the vacuum diagrams and understand anything. I completely redid the vacuum system on my 68 this winter. everything works perfectly now.
All the lines are cut to the correct length and color coded, one of the few repairs I did right the first time. The HVAC lines are more difficult to change.
Unless you like spending good money on a system that won't give you much substantive performance benefit, stick with the vacuum. Think of the hoses like wires to power the actuators.
Air is very reliable (in general). Way fewer parts to fail than electric. Look at all the industrial processes that run on air/vacuum. And compressed air/vacuum is STRONG. Again, look at the industrial processes. Ok electric motors ...I don't have anything against you, LOL.
Coming from someone who had to switch to electric, unless you HAVE to, don't leave the vacuum.
The caviat to that is if you have a built engine without much vacuum at idle. Then it will not work well. I had that problem.
In that case I ended up ripping ALL of the vacuum system out and going with Detroit Speed light and wiper motors. They are well built, but other than variable speed wipers (who really cares) and being able to leave your headlights up with them off for working on them, you don't get anything more from these systems if you can use the vacuum system.
As an engineer, though, I hate the vacuum system. So many hoses and chambers. So much complexity. But that is the way they did it and it does work in the stock fashion.
I would keep the car original .....and the vacuum system is one of the cool aspects of the original design of the car ....
Originally Posted by Mark G
Air is very reliable (in general). .... And compressed air/vacuum is STRONG.....
Originally Posted by scottjamison
..... So many hoses and chambers. So much complexity. ....
Ok I'm sold. Vacuum it is!. Mine sorta worked right, and I'll be disassembling the entire car anyway. So I'll just test all the valves and put new hoses in it, and test the seal of each connection.
I was just surprised how STRONG it is when you try to push a headlamp up or down by hand........ and how well it still worked with a big LEAK. Try getting an electric motor to work with it's main wire cut in half. Hah!
I wonder what it weighs vs a couple electric motors? None of it is really heavy. Just got a few rubber hoses....
The vacuum system is SIMPLE, it is relatively easy to diagnose/investigate, there are clear references for the system layouts for all model years, it is really inexpensive to repair, and once it is repaired it is extremely reliable. One 'downside' is that today's replacement parts are not [nearly] of the same quality as the original factory parts. But, that is true whether it's regarding a vacuum system or an electrical system.
The greatest difficulty with a vehicle vacuum system is the owners' paradigm about them is [generally] disfunctional. Similar stuff happened when carburetors transitioned to electronic fuel injection and engine management systems. Most owners hated the thought!! Once you get over that false paradigm, and you do some easy research on the basics of the vacuum system and its [few] components, you can focus on getting the original system up and running.....with minimal effort and little expense. Just do it!!!
The vacuum system is SIMPLE, it is relatively easy to diagnose/investigate, there are clear references for the system layouts for all model years, it is really inexpensive to repair, and once it is repaired it is extremely reliable. One 'downside' is that today's replacement parts are not [nearly] of the same quality as the original factory parts. But, that is true whether it's regarding a vacuum system or an electrical system.
The greatest difficulty with a vehicle vacuum system is the owners' paradigm about them it generally disfunctional. Similar stuff happened when carburetors transitioned to electronic fuel injection and engine management systems. Most owners hated the thought!! Once you get over that false paradigm, and you do some easy research on the basics of the vacuum system and its [few] components, you can focus on getting the original system up and running.....with minimal effort and little expense. Just do it!!!
I guess my thing is just the sheer number of hoses, etc. You're right the concept is super simple.
I completely redid the vacuum system in my 70. It was actually one of the more enjoyable items to restore. It's simple, you can work on it when time allows, and the results are easy to see. The car should now be good for another 50 years.
My only suggestion is avoid Chinese parts when you can as they caused all my headaches.
i think cutting 1/4 inch off the end of every vacuum line you can find will seal the system up better without major re-running of all hoses. and it will also show the really bad ones that split as you reattach them.
Last edited by derekderek; Apr 9, 2020 at 08:33 AM.
i think cutting 1/4 inch off the end of every vacuum line you can find will seal the system up better without major re-running of all hoses. and it will also show the really bad ones that split as you reattach them.
Thanks Derek Now that is a really good idea!
Originally Posted by derekderek
Leigh, what ou lifting body with?......
That would have been simpler if I had the room. But I built one out of wood so I could squeeze it into my 2 car garage with a 9 foot ceiling. I may even use it to store the body up in the air above the frame. I am still contemplating how much of this bumper, headlight and vacuum stuff I can leave on during the lift.
I'm sticking with vacuum too but after totally replacing everything I still have issues with my lights consistently coming up. They were working fine after I replaced all the hoses and then after setting about a week only one would come up and now neither will. All parts are new from the switch to the relays and actuators. I have a new vacuum canister that i plan to install this weekend, hoping that will help. My body man made one out of PVC pipe and I'm wondering if its too small to hold enough vacuum. Pretty frustrating to say the least.
I'm sticking with vacuum too but after totally replacing everything I still have issues with my lights consistently coming up. They were working fine after I replaced all the hoses and then after setting about a week only one would come up and now neither will. All parts are new from the switch to the relays and actuators. I have a new vacuum canister that i plan to install this weekend, hoping that will help. My body man made one out of PVC pipe and I'm wondering if its too small to hold enough vacuum. Pretty frustrating to say the least.
New parts don't mean you have good working parts. As I mentioned earlier, all my vacuum system headaches were the result of new Chinese parts. Specifically the Chinese relays are a real POS, I went through 6 new Chinese relays, half of them were faulty right out of the box, and the other half failed within 3 months of being installed. Finally a forum member rebuilt my originals for me and zero relay issues since than.
Pro Tip - test all parts, new and used, before installing them
Vacuum system decision time
