Finally, headlights that work
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 445
Likes: 2
From: Thomastown Mississippi
Finally, headlights that work
Well, after nearly a year of crawling under my 77 to raise and lower the headlights, I finally decided enough. I opened the hood last week and started snooping around, looking for a vacuum leak. Finally pinpointed a hissing sound coming from one of the vacuum relays at the front of the car. I went ahead and ordered two new ones from Ecklers on Monday, installed them last night, took about twenty minutes, and presto, my lights work like they should. Open and close like a champ. If I would have known the fix was this easy, I would have done it the day I bought the car. Oh well, off to the next area that needs attention. Let's see, what was it?? Oh yea, carpet, door panels, **** that's missing, etc.etc.etc.
I know I'm getting close to having this car finished
KC
I know I'm getting close to having this car finished KC
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 445
Likes: 2
From: Thomastown Mississippi
After listening for quite a while, I finally pinpointed the leak at the relay. It was leaking pretty bad, enough that I could hear it with the motor running. AutoZone has those hand held manual vacuum testers that they'll loan you for free. I got lucky. The relays were fairly easy to remove and install. Those large vacuum canisters look like a little more work. Almost looks like the hood might have to come off. If you take your time, you can narrow it down to one or two areas pretty easily. Good luck.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,666
Likes: 289
From: Spring Park MN
I got under my car and took a good look at what kind of fluid was under it and where it came from. Turns out it is just a loose hose clamp on a return line to the power steering pump. I have the dual return reservoir from a diesel PU with hydroboost. One of the returns is high on the reservoir and the other is low near the bottom, so if the hose leaks, it can leak all the fluid out of the pump reservoir. It was the low one with a loose clamp.
Mike
Mike
Last edited by v2racing; Apr 20, 2019 at 04:05 PM.
3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
The easiest way to get at the headlight actuators is to disconnect the hood support and open the hood so it is open perpendicular to the car. Tie it off to your garage door track to keep it up. It gives you about a foot more room to get at the head light actuators.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Racer
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 252
Likes: 72
From: South of Phoenix Arizona, but North of no-where.
Well, you all are making me feel better about how many things are in the process of being done by other C3 owners. First let me say MY CLOCK actually works, although its on Texas time and I' m in Arizona but WTF?
So today was a big day for me, I finally had the grand raising of the drivers window. Two weeks ago I shuddered at thinking I could remove the window motor and regulator and tracks and cleaning it all up and replacing with a new regulator. But today its all back together and she goes up and down like a five dollar hoe. ok, moving on to the next project which will be headlights. Thanks to the forum here and some great You Tube videos the regulator was not actually a piece of cake, but was a lot easier to do than I thought! Thanks everybody ...
Last edited by Redbirdman; May 19, 2019 at 06:40 PM. Reason: Just messing around
Racer
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 252
Likes: 72
From: South of Phoenix Arizona, but North of no-where.
OMG 11 years old ???
"You guys realize this post is 11 yrs old "
Thats funny, of course I am working on a car thats 38 yo, with tools that are 60 yo, with a young lady helper that 30 yo;
even my shoes are 20 yo!
So, 11 years is just a tiny blip in time.....LOL
Thats funny, of course I am working on a car thats 38 yo, with tools that are 60 yo, with a young lady helper that 30 yo;
even my shoes are 20 yo!
So, 11 years is just a tiny blip in time.....LOL
Last edited by Redbirdman; May 17, 2019 at 06:34 PM. Reason: Grammer
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,179
Likes: 1,668
From: Long Island
I finished the vacuum fix on the 72. Rebuilt the electric wiper by pass switch as the new one will not be here until Tuesday and have a show tomorrow.
Then went to Cars and Coffee with the car. Drove great...
Then went to Cars and Coffee with the car. Drove great...
Intermediate
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 45
Likes: 7
Go to Ecklers and order the actuator and valve that controls them also replace he hoses and while u wait spray the mechanism with a good rust penetrant u ll be glad u did .Its 1/5 of cost to do it this way virus the electrical ones take about 3 hours.