jordan89

What do you guys think of this headlight actuator kit?
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...ept%5Fid=1381#
It's new from Ecklers, but these kits are always very expensive.

...Roger...

How much does all that crap weigh ?

calwldlife

1000 bucks?

69vettester

Ecklers, Bah...$999.00 wow they kept it below $1000 what a champion of a company. Ecklers misrepresent and or ignorant of good quality Classic vette upgrades anymore. Bet that box of dowidget stuff is marked up 75% or 80%. Ecklers is a use to be, that turned into a ripoff.
My 2centavos..

...Roger...

Wonder how much that $1000 reduces the value of the car ?

calwldlife

I wouldn't want an electric kit.

OP, why do you need it?

jordan89

Just looking for peoples opinions on the kit. I've seen other kits that cost more than that, and thought this is a much better price than $1500+, I saw someone talk about a kit that cost this much right here in this forum. What's a good way to clean the inside of the vac. hoses?

Dantana

i saw this kit at bloomington gold last weekend and talked to the guy who was running the tent. Same price, same stuff but i think he was from Alabama so maybe he's selling to Eckler's at a discount and they are marking it up? I'll see if I can find the guys card.

I'd opt out of that vacuum system the second humanly possible. Mine sucks.

calwldlife

That begs a new question.
What got in them?

New hoses are available.
There is a good pic/schematic available that will help
figure out what is wrong.

I am a purist about my car. I like the vacuum system.
I imagine new hoses and actuators will be less than a grand.
I don't have the link to the diagram, I think DocRebuild has it on line.

...Roger...

What year do you have if its newer than 72 your system is easy to diagnose and repair.

jordan89

I was just thinking about cleaning them. One of my headlights(right side) was working and then last time I tried it, it went up slow and then it didn't want to come back down and my left side stayed open and doesn't move at all. The car had been sitting for about 15+ years. Any ideas what it could be?

calwldlife

Vacuum leak at a minimum.
I hear harbor freight has a sale today.
They have a nice hand held vacuum pump.

A little testing, with a diagram, will locate the leaking part/s.

The system is simple once you look at it.

Could be as simple as a vacuum check valve.

jordan89

I'm going to check them out and look for that pump.

calwldlife

I think bad hoses would be the least thing that would fail.
Actuators on the headlights are more common.

Find the vacuum diagram and test with vacuum pump.

I would start at the check valve and follow lines until a part is leaking.
then keep going till all the leaks were found.
then you can get an idea what you need and fix it all at once.

...Roger...

mrvette

The only vac pump you need for diagnosis is the car engine....

and a idea how the system work, or don't, the witches hats are about 90% of the front system failures/leakage sources.....they are the rubber seals inside the outer dust covers/bellows on the actuator rods....I dunno of anyone making decent witches hats anymore....the last decent replacement pair I bought 15 years ago, and were on the car when I hit a damn deer, inducing a slightly different failure mode....ie..junk them....

so, the only affordable electric system is from 69myway....Chris McDonald, his site is www. mcspeed .com

there he sells some parts you need to use the late firebird actuator motors from, along with a circuit board...then your shark lights will work good as MY wiper door, he gave me a linear actuator similar to the ones above....I used it on my 72 wiper door, so I have one that actually WORKS now....
along with the intermittent wiper action I designed.....

calwldlife

I guess a mechanic only needs an adjustable cresent wrench, pipe wrench, and a hammer.

I will stick with tools that make my job easier and in comfort of a cool motor.

mrvette

PHulst

For the vacuum system, Doc Rebuild sells and excellent troubleshooting manual. With that you should be able to understand and diagnose any issue with your system.

MidAmerica also sells/markets a different one. I own both guides but if I were to only own one, it would be DocRebuild's.

Patrick

7T1vette

Well, since you asked....

It's a total waste of money and time. For somewhere between $0 and $200 max. you can fix your vacuum operated system....which, by the way, is more reliable and works better than the electric set. You remember, of course, that the '63-67 Vettes had electric openers; the C3's had vacuum openers. There's a reason for that. Vacuum is better.

Spend $15 to buy a vacuum operation manual for C3's and read it. Spend $30 for a vacuum gauge. Spend an hour or two diagnosing your system. Then fix it. More than likely, you can fix it for less than $100 in parts cost. Very often, it only requires putting a hose back on or replacing a hose or two.

$1000 for electric actuators is the biggest waste of money I can imagine for a C3.