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Headlight Rubbing

Old May 12, 2019 | 07:38 PM
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pwsusi
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Default Headlight Rubbing

The driver's side headlight seems to be rubbing a little when raising the headlights on my '70. It doesn't do it every time, but sometimes the driver's side light will pop up a couple seconds after the passenger side (and not because of vaccuum issues because it seems to get gets stuck and then you can hear it pop up like it was hung up and is getting freed up).

I looked at the housing and nothing is rusted out and everything seems to be in good shape. I did some reading on here and some people were saying there is an adjustment that can be made...3 bolts on the inner side. Is this the right way to fix this? If so, what is the best way to get at those bolts? I tried taking off both the center grill as well as the side grill below the headlight and i couldn't get to the bolts. I also tried coming in from the top with the hood open i wasn't even close to being able to reach them

Thanks,
Paul
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Old May 12, 2019 | 08:21 PM
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Before you move anything you'll need to figure out where it's rubbing (if that's what it is doing)

Disconnect the two hoses from the vac actuator and carefully raise the headlight by hand (press up from underneath through the large hole in front of the air-dam) and see if you can tell what's going on, then decide which way the unit must be moved, there's a zillion adjustment points on these rube-goldberg mechanisms
M
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Old May 12, 2019 | 08:23 PM
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BTW, there is a plastic housed switch for the headlights that tells the light on the dash that they are raising, it's super easy to break off and it's right there on the bottom of the headlight unit, be careful
M

here just where those yellow lines are, wires go off to the right

Last edited by Mooser; May 12, 2019 at 08:25 PM.
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Old May 12, 2019 | 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Mooser
Before you move anything you'll need to figure out where it's rubbing (if that's what it is doing)

Disconnect the two hoses from the vac actuator and carefully raise the headlight by hand (press up from underneath through the large hole in front of the air-dam) and see if you can tell what's going on, then decide which way the unit must be moved, there's a zillion adjustment points on these rube-goldberg mechanisms
M
Thanks. I forgot to mention I'm pretty sure i know where it's rubbing. if facing the car (driver's side headlight on my right), it seems to be rubbing on the top .... right of center. i can see the paint isn't damaged but a little scuffed. it doesn't rub every time. i put a peice of painter's tape on it while i troubleshoot so i don't damage the paint. interestingly with the tape on it doesn't get stuck which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Last edited by pwsusi; May 12, 2019 at 08:37 PM.
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Old May 12, 2019 | 08:45 PM
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Then you're right, loose the 3 bolts on the outside corner and you can nudge it ahead a little, should be even gap all around (a little more at the front actually)
Hard to get at those three bolts is a real treat, IIRC it's two of them from underneath with ratchet wrench and the other one from the top, but my hood was off and the rad was out so.....
some pics here might help
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s-forward.html

There is also some adjustment front/rear by loosening off the 5 bolts holding the entire framework and sliding it forward.
M
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