Has anyone seen the procedure to rebuilding a headlight assembly? I rebuilt the gears several years ago but can't recall what I removed. I do, though, remember is was a rubik's cube.

This time, I have to replace the innermost structure...the one that the headlight screws into. But, releasing where it pivots looks impossible in the car.

I do NOT remember taking the "horseshoe" loose where the entire assembly bolts to the hood. Maybe that's best for what I need to do?

If I remove that, I assume marking it's exact position would be advisable to have it open/close correctly after reassembly?

I'm sure I'd figure it out but wondered if anyone has seen procedure posted?


PS. I hit a deer early this year. The only damage was the PS headlight assembly. I was lucky! Especially since the outer cover is reusable WITHOUT having to repaint to match the car. I do have a scratch on my hood though. (in front of the wheel well -- caused by another source). Will be looking for a way to conceal that. Hate to repaint the entire hood over that issue!

 

Hi! I found this video to be super helpful when I was doing my headlight. It's based on a gear repair but it may answer what you're working on as well. Hope it helps!

 

When i rebuilt mine, i took the entire assy out onto the work bench. Much easier to get the dowel pin out and disassemble. Use soft cloths to lay the headlight Assy on. Also, the Drivers side is the best one to do first..A little heat on the screws and an impact screw driver will make disassembly easy.. Watch the spacers on either side of the Gear. Reassemble in the same order...

 

Greepenn I remove the whole *** everytime I mess with them. I just find it easier. They line up fairly easy. Im trying to think of what your saying but it is not hitting me right now. If you are talking about removing the dowell pin and then the what I call the bastar? screw where you have to rotate everything to get it out then I think the only way is to remove the whole ***.

 

The dowel pin and motor may not be a necessary part of what I need removed/replaced. I'll see. In general, I need to pull the assembly being rotated BY THE MOTOR.

I'm talking about the headlight, bottom/top cover and internals. The headlight itself screws into a plastic/fiberglass "inner" structure (frame). That is the part I need to replace because it is broken. So is the inner headlight bezel which is the cover you see when the headlight is open.

 

I think that is the starting point. There are a few screws & nuts plus an electrical connector and voila it's out of the car.

Here is a link to the pictoral I recently used to R&R my headlight gear assy.

In your case it may be simpler to see if Vette2Vette has a good HL assy. Then it would be relatively simple to transfer your two painted panels onto the good unit.

 

I pulled the horseshoe. Turns out I did need a bit from the video. So THANKS FOR THAT LINK!

I needed to separate the motor "mount" from the horseshoe. The bit about using a flatblade screwdriver to get the "hidden" torx out was priceless!

Removing the motor is necessary to release the rotating assembly.

Fun times....

 

Leave it to me to figure out what you CAN do wrong! I'm pretty sure I mounted the rotating assembly 180-deg off. I could tell when I held it up to remount in the hood. LOL

I have to pull it apart and rotate. 50-50 chance of getting it wrong...and I did! LOL

Murphy's Law.