67 headlight buckets: trying to get them square
Looking for any tips on squaring the headlight buckets. I understand the side to side play with the collar and Y stop but what about getting them square within the opening?
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Re: 67 headlight buckets: trying to get them square
Dave, I put a paint stick on each side and use that as a starting point. Then check the gap and adjust from there.
Bob -
Re: 67 headlight buckets: trying to get them square
Somewhat the same thing as Bob said , only I used wood shims . If the car is already painted , wrap the shims up in masking tape to prevent scratching ! Just loosen everything up, put a shim on either side until good gap is achieved ,then tighten . Same method can be used for the top gap between bucket and surround . Also good for hood and deck lid alignment !
JimComment
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Re: 67 headlight buckets: trying to get them square
I'm interpreting Dave's query as to actually "what is the mechanical adjustment". If so...
The 3 bolts for the pivots accessed on each side of buckets are the adjustment to square them in the openings. The hole diameters in the nose reinforcements are slightly larger than the bolt size to secure the pivots. This allows adjustment to square them. Note that it may sometimes be necessary to open the holes a bit more if prior bodywork was done in the nose/bucket areas.
These bolts are only accessible with bulbs and dishes removed. Headlight motors must be removed to allow manual rotation.
Slightly snug the 3 bolts to prepare the bucket to be squared in the opening. Roll the buckets open and closed and squared while slowly tightening the 3 bolts on each side of the bucket. To get at all 6 bolts requires rolling the bucket to gain access to each bolt through the holes in the bucket sides.
However, when you tighten each bolt you must try to hold the position square as the rotation of each bolt when tightening them will try to rotate the pivot housing in the torque direction of the bolt(CW).
Example, when tightening the Inner bolts(left side) of the Driver side bucket, tightening the bolts will try to drive the bucket UP and REARWARD. When tightening the Outer bolts(right side) of the Driver side bucket, tightening the bolts will try to drive the bucket DOWN and FOREWARD. So snug each bolt sequentially, a bit at a time while checking squareness by rolling the bucket open then closed. The integrated star washers on the pivot bolts act somewhat as a hindrance while tightening so alternate between all 3 to tighten.
The side to side is adjusted by the collars and Y-Stops as mentioned. I always do this as a last step after the pivots are tightened. After the motors are installed and operational, it is sometimes necessary to readjust the Y-Stops as the motor torque can overdrive the bucket a bit more than manually when closed.
This is a tedious task and can take a substantial amount of time to get a satisfactory result.
RichComment
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