Headlight door too low
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: Prairieville LA
Headlight door too low
The passenger side headlight door on my '82 is too low in the rear. The front seems to be closer, although one side is higher than the other. When I push down on the body around the headlight door there is some flex, but not much, and I don't see definite separation between the body and the support brace. I tried adjusting the rod on the vacuum actuator as well as the capscrew on the linkage (between the springs) but nothing will raise the rear of the door. My headlight is now binding when I raise it. Is there any way to adjust the height of the headlight assembly to make it flush with the body when closed?
Last edited by kensblue82; Sep 22, 2007 at 11:16 AM. Reason: changed vacuum canister to vacuum actuator
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
Likes: 439
From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
The headlight assemblies are adjustable. Perhaps someone will chime in as to how to do this as, frankly, it's been a while since I've done it. A good body manual will also show you how.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,164
Likes: 7
From: Beringen
There are three adjustments you can make :
- the bolt that pushes against the bracket that is attached to the housing itself : it make the front go up or down
- then you have a side adjustment with the round things on the side of the housing, where it pivots
- the bracket with wich the mechanisme is attached to the bracket which is mounted to the car itself (with three bolts).
There are a lott of adjusments you can make with these, but mine also turned out to be a little lower on the outside of the headlights than on the lower inside. It turned out that I couldn't get it adjusted out, so after I adjusted it the best I could. I used filler to get it perfect.
- the bolt that pushes against the bracket that is attached to the housing itself : it make the front go up or down
- then you have a side adjustment with the round things on the side of the housing, where it pivots
- the bracket with wich the mechanisme is attached to the bracket which is mounted to the car itself (with three bolts).
There are a lott of adjusments you can make with these, but mine also turned out to be a little lower on the outside of the headlights than on the lower inside. It turned out that I couldn't get it adjusted out, so after I adjusted it the best I could. I used filler to get it perfect.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 48
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From: Prairieville LA
Thanks. I'm still not getting how to raise the back of the headlight door up without raising the front. Does anyone know if there is a good manual out there that shows exactly which bolts adjust what? I have a Chilton and a Haynes repair manual. The Haynes shows the up and down adjustment being the rod on the vacuum actuator. I tried it but didn't see much change, if any. It also shows an opening rod adjustment bolt (between the springs). That raised the front more than the rear, and the front is already nearly flush, other than one side being higher than the other. If there is a good shop or repair manual with this kind of detail, or if someone has done this before I'd love to hear about it.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
From: Roselle IL
Thanks. I'm still not getting how to raise the back of the headlight door up without raising the front. Does anyone know if there is a good manual out there that shows exactly which bolts adjust what? I have a Chilton and a Haynes repair manual. The Haynes shows the up and down adjustment being the rod on the vacuum actuator. I tried it but didn't see much change, if any. It also shows an opening rod adjustment bolt (between the springs). That raised the front more than the rear, and the front is already nearly flush, other than one side being higher than the other. If there is a good shop or repair manual with this kind of detail, or if someone has done this before I'd love to hear about it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 7
From: Ohio
Their are three bolts on each end that hold the bushing retainers. The holes are oversize to allow adjustment of the rear of the headlight door. You can not see all the bolts and they are hard to get a wrench on but with the grills out I have made the adjustment. A 1/4 ratchet is the only tool I use and when they are loose you should have some adjusment. Take your time as this is not easy.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,364
Likes: 103
From: Centerville Louisiana
Their are three bolts on each end that hold the bushing retainers. The holes are oversize to allow adjustment of the rear of the headlight door. You can not see all the bolts and they are hard to get a wrench on but with the grills out I have made the adjustment. A 1/4 ratchet is the only tool I use and when they are loose you should have some adjusment. Take your time as this is not easy.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: Prairieville LA
Thanks. I'll try to adjust it this weekend. As far as manuals go, I keep hearing about AIM, but am not sure what that stands for. Is this a shop manual of some sort? If so, who sells them, GM?
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Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 10,560
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From: Wellington, FL
St. Jude Donor '11 thru '25
AIM is an "Assembly Manual" used by GM to build their cars, in this case the Vette. There is one for each year. I guess the AIM stands for Assembly Instruction Manual.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,577
Likes: 2
From: Long Island New York
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
From: Prairieville LA
I adjusted the headlight cover by loosening the 3 bolts on each side of the bearings but there was not enough slack to get the housing back flush with the rest of the car. Upon closer inspection it looks like the fiberglass has disbonded from the metal support under the skin more than I suspected. If I push down on the fiberglass it goes down about a 1/4", more than enough to provide the clearance I need to get the headlight to open without binding. Has anyone had success rebonding the skin back to the metal support? I'm wondering if you used a good adhesive like liquid nails and pressed the skin down with something like a bag of concrete, if that would work. Just a thought. If anyone has experience or any suggestions, let me know.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 7
From: Ohio
With the headlights out you can clean the crack with 60 grit sandpaper. I would use Lord Fusor adhesive in the crack and c-clamps to hold it down for 24 hours. If the bar is rusted out it will need replaced.
Racer
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
From: Roselle IL
This happened to me. Turned out the header bar was rotted pretty bad and I couldn't get it clean enough to repair. I bought a new header bar for $75 and replaced it. Not too bad of a job. Be sure to use a professional adhesive. I used and SEM two part bonding adhesive. $30, but high quality.
Be sure to line it up properly, side to side, or you will have a hard time lining up the headlights. I didn't think of this and got lucky that it was pretty close.
Good luck.
Be sure to line it up properly, side to side, or you will have a hard time lining up the headlights. I didn't think of this and got lucky that it was pretty close.
Good luck.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,268
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota in the summer, Las Vegas in the winter
Their are three bolts on each end that hold the bushing retainers. The holes are oversize to allow adjustment of the rear of the headlight door. You can not see all the bolts and they are hard to get a wrench on but with the grills out I have made the adjustment. A 1/4 ratchet is the only tool I use and when they are loose you should have some adjusment. Take your time as this is not easy.
The screws are 1/2 inch. The tool for this job is a flex head gearwrench wrench. The outside ones are the toughest to get to... loosen them and, with the headlight cover up, manually lift up on the mechanism. There is some play built into the retainers. Should be enough to get you matched up with the car surface.
