teh headlight doors will open but only one will close, unless i pull up a little on teh door, then it closes quickly,, i tested teh actuators with a vaccuum pump, and they both hold, or will open if connected to teh green side,,, now, its possible, if i replace teh witch hats, tehy will operate instantly, but i believe the not closing on one door, is due to a mechanical linkage hang up, rather than a vacuum problem...
remember, its a 68, with only one relay for teh headlights doors,,,i searched thru teh threads on this problem, and found one to be close to my problem,,, it explains how to get teh door down, but i can't figure out why???
any help with this will be appreciated,,, carlisle is coming up, in case i need any parts,,,
thanks in advance..

 

The actuators are designed to "fail open". If there is a problem with the mechanism, they should stay up, so you can use them whether the system is working right or not.
I'm pretty sure you will find a leak in a vacuum hose or the air motor that operates that particular headlight. If you need origionality, the repro houses can sell you a replacement hose kit that will pass inspection at Carlisle. If the actuator holds a vacuum in one direction only, the boot seal on the shaft can be replaced without changing the entire air motor.
See Zip Products HDL- 291.
Ain't old cars fun?

 

thanks for the reply, the actuators both hold vacuum,,, i even tested them with the hoses connected,,, so, i don't think they are leaking,,,however, i can replace the rod seals, (witch hats), but if they aren't leaking, i'm thinking there is a mechanical problem, but it shouldn't be a problem with teh relay, as one door works fine...
originality isn't important to me, i would rather drive teh car, then sit with it at shows..........

 

I always wanted to get them to work individually, so you could wink at people at night!

 

That's doable.

 

What your describing sounds mechanical. If your sure the headlight bucket is not hanging on the body you might take some spray lube and shoot the mechanism to see if that helps.
If its because the mechanism knuckle won't break and then fold you might have a problem in the relay not applying all the vacuum to the actuator.

 

thanks for the reply... its not hitting the body,,, and i used a vacuum pump, to apply power o the actuators, one at a time , and then both at once,,,, they don't move as fast as they did 25 years ago, but both do open and close,,,
i think i've narrowed it down to the relay, leaking some vacuum thru the piston, i just got it apart, and i'm going to try the o ring trick,,, we'll see...
thanks again for your help....
john

 

Make sure the hoses, tees, etc all have good connections at the relay.

 

thanks for your reply... i just rebuilt the relay, and used a 5/16" rod for teh piston, cut grooves on each end for o rings...i threaded teh inside of one end of teh rod, and bored out a nylon/plastic setscrew to "force fit" over teh diaphram rod, replaced teh crimp washer, and flattened the end of teh rod for good measure... it should last for awhile...
there is a thread on here about making a new piston and i just took it to the next step... the "search" is my friend, if i could post pics i would...
thanks to all, for teh replies,
john

 

Wow that sounds Ok , was the 5/16 rod a wood dowel ?

 

i used a 5/16 aluminum rod...i did think about wood, but thought it would either swell up or shrink... aluminum should last a while....the trick is to cut the grooves deep enough to hold the rings, but not so tight that the spring can't reset it.....

 

i just figured out a way to repair a cracked/broken hose fitting on a headlight/wiper relay,, in working on teh wipers, i found a cracked center fitting on the relay,,, so i found a way to repair it,,, i took some pictures of how i did it, along with pics of replacing the piston with an aluminum one, if anyone is interested in posting them for me, i will email them to you,,,
thanks for all the help i've gotten on teh forum,,, hope to pay it forward....
john

 

I'll post em , sending my email by PM.

 

thanks roger...

 

1st pic is relay with piston removed, and center tube hole tapped out 5/16 24,,,

2nd pic is copper pipe, (i used an old brazing tip), cut to length, and threaded 5/16 24,,, it gets thread lock adhesive on it, and is installed after teh piston is in place,,,, if it protrudes in the bore a little, it won't damage the o rings, when teh piston is installed,,,

3rd pic is the piston, made out of a piece of 5/16" aluminum pipe or rod with a hole bored thru teh center,,,the size of teh hole needs to be tap size for threading in a plastic plug or nylon set screw...on the drill press, i turned groves on teh ends of teh rod, where the sealing caps are located on teh original piston,,,i started the grooves with a sharp knife edge file, and finished them with a small round jewelers file, the size of the o ring,, then, i polished teh piston in with very fine (600) paper...

4th pic is a pic of the o rings installed,, test fit in teh relay bore as you cut teh groove, too deep and they won't seal, too shallow, and they won't allow the spring to reseat teh piston... its not real critical, i did it right the first try...

5th pic, tap the end of teh piston bore for a threaded plastic plug or nylon set screw, i used 10-24 threads...

6th pic, shows the threaded plastic plug, which is bored for a force fit for teh diaphram rod, the right side pic is the rod plastic rod teh plug was threaded from... a little locktite will secure teh plug...

7th pic, is the piston installed, lubed with a little vaseline, a new washer over the diaphram rod, and teh rod pinched to retain the washer...

8th pic, is the new copper pipe, sealed (locktite or super glue may work also, and clean the threads thoughly) and threaded into teh relay, make sure the pipe doesn't interfere with teh piston movement, sucking on teh diaphram connector, should allow the piston to move freely,,,

the rebuilt assembly holds vacuum, and i'm letting the locktite set up a little before i install it back in teh car,,,

hope this helps, and thanks to roger for posting the pics, and the op, for the aluminum piston idea...any questions or comments are welcome along with any improvements....
thanks ,
john

 

Your welcome John and it looks like it will stay there.
Not planning to go to Carlisle at this point but a bunch of my parts are.

 

well, if there are any c1 parts, they may come home with me!!!!
thanks again for the picture posting....