After completely rebuilding my headlights, I am trying to make the final adjustments and have a couple of questions:

1. There seems to be two ways to limit the upward travel of the headlight doors. The J-bar has a screw that contacts the aluminum frame in the "up" position and the M-shaped steel piece that attaches the entire mechanism to the aluminum frame has slots that allow the height of the door to be increased or decreased when in the "up" position.

Which of these two "up" limits should be set first? Since the mechanism "locks" into place in the up position, I don't understand the reason for including the J-bar screw. At the moment, I've used the adjustment slots on the M-shaped steel piece to get the bottom of the bezel level with the body in the locked position, then set the J-bar screw to contact the frame at this point. Is this correct?

2. How do I set the distance that the actuator clevis is screwed onto the actuator shaft? Also, when the headlights are locked in the "up" position, where should the pin that goes through the actuator clevis be located within the "D" channel - in the middle, all the way toward the front of the car?

I've searched the archives and haven't been able to find answers to these questions. I apologize if I've missed something.

 

You are right, there is little information about the adjustment. This is probably because there are many ways to adjust the position (as you have noted). The jack screw at the bottom of the middle link (between the M bracket and the J bracket) will be your fine adjustment for the down position. Make sure the M bracket is adjusted in its slots so that the linkage goes "over center" in the up position. This keeps force from being transferred into the actuator. The actuator clevis should be adjusted so that it will push the link completely up (over center).

I would adjust the jack screw first so that the head of the screw is "flat" with the cutout in the J bracket first and then do the other adjustments.

 

The assembly manual for my 69 has a fairly detailed adjustment procedure. You might check it out for your year.

 

What section is the detailed adj procedure in ?
I know I saw it while leafing through last night ... but cannot find it now.
There is a couple little blurbs in the electrical section (sec 12).

TIA

 

Thanks for this pointer and to everyone else for their input. I will check my assembly manual when I get back from a quick business trip this week.

I was talking with Vette buddy last night, wondering why the J-bar is even there since the mechanism locks in the "up" position and the M-bar sets this height. He pointed out that there would be a lot of wind resistance on the headlights when they are raised and that if the J-bar screw were adjusted to just contact the frame under these conditions, this would transfer the torque pulling the headlights up even further to the frame, rather than stressing the mechanism. This makes a lot of sense to me, although I can't say definitely that it's true. Assuming he's right, though, I know how to make the final adjustments.

 

VetteGator I hope you won't mind me butting in on your thread but I'm trying to get my headlight bezels back on after a new paint job. The headlights do not open far enough to get the bezels on. I need about
1/8" yet to get them in without scratching the paint.

Can someone tell me the adjustment that allows them to open a bit more?
As stated above when opened the linkage is locked like an extended elbow.
Thanks
JZ

 

The headlight adjustment procedure is on page 262 of my 69 assembly manual. In the headlight section if you have an index.

 

Loosen the three bolts that hold the "M"-shaped piece that attaches the linkage mechanism to the aluminum frame and slide the mechanism toward the nose of the car. This will raise the height of the headlights in the "up" position. Also, check to be sure that the screw at the end of the J-bar isn't making contact and preventing further upward movement (if it is, just screw it in a bit more). If you don't have enough adjustment in the slots of the "M"-shaped piece, you can use a Dremel tool to increase the size a bit. Also, you can loosen these bolts a lot, which will give play in the height of the mechanism, then slide the bezels on and tighten down the bolts, leaving the headlights at their highest height. This will mean that the bottom of your bezel will be 1/8" too low (relative to the body), but if you're OK with this, it's probably the simplest solution.

VG