Tweet
Could I get some suggestions on removing the headlight motors to get them worked on .And are the motors unique or would taking them to a reputable local repair shop that I trust be o.k.?I could have sent them around the world this winter but now that spring is here they deciede to act up!
-
-
Re: 67/removing headlight motors
I highly recommend Steve Hack at Eastern Corvettes for the motor rebuild, he does great work, I took an advanced repair from him at Bloomington a couple years ago. He is very helpful and will be willing to describe how to remove the motors if you give him a call. His number is 513-553-2080 and his address is 2110 Beech Cove Road, New Richmond,Ohio 45157-8661. Good luck!...Craig -
Re: 67/removing headlight motors
Before sending the headlite motors out(Corvette Specialities of Marlyand, Eldersberg, Md a good rebuilder if needed), disassemble the transmission from the electric motor , clean gears and inspect for gear teeth being bent from previous encounters, lubricate the gears then reinstall and hope it was just dirt and lack of lubrication that caused the failure. If they still fail to tilt the buckets, send them out. i wouldn't trust the job to a local auto electrical repair facility., The motors themselves are common to other GM autos of the era but the Buick Rivera, Olds and Caddys with power windows lack the thumb screw that your vet headlites art equipped with, otherwise the motors are identical. good luck mikeComment
-
Re: 67/removing headlight motors
I studied the problem of getting at them and taking them out for a long time. What worked best for me was to remove the grill and work from underneath. There was too much of a chance for me to scratch the hood if I worked from the top.
Good LuckComment
-
Re: 67/removing headlight motors
------While going thru the grille area is OK,you can get to the motors fairly easily from the area between the hood and front surround with the hood up of course.
------Of paramount importance is a mirror of some sort,especially for first timers.Ive yanked hundreds of headlight motors over the years and still find the mirror VERY useful.You will see the harness that needs to be unplugged.Then you will see the bracket from the header bar to the body of the motor(with the ground wire).Then looking closer towards the headlight bucket you will spot a pin about the diameter of a pencil less than an inch long with a spring steel clip on the end.Pull that clip off and then pull the motor towards the center of the car and it should pop right off with maybe a little bit of wiggling.Same on both sides.A little bit of thought should give you the correct method of reversing this process.
------There isnt much room to get the motor out thru that gap until you think to have someone hold the hood all the way open.this gives you an inch or so of extra room.Protect the exposed areas with towels,and you shouldnt have any problems.
------Above post was correct about the motor itself.You can often fix them your self.The electric motors themselves are very hearty little buggers and will put up with lots of abuse.The soft gear you will find inside the end housing and rock hard grease are the usual culprits.Notice when looking at the gear that app. only half the gear gets used.It is possible to turn the gear to the unused part and get good operation back,but it is better to put in a new gear.Your choice.
------Hope this helps as the grille removal method also necessitates removing the bumpers and all of that removal is just plain too much work!..........Bill SComment
-
Re: 67/removing headlight motors
Bill - excellent description of the process, one thing I would add on the motors is frequently the outboard end bronze oilite bearing will seize to the shaft and when you pull the shaft, the bearing will pop through the spring finger clip that lets this bearing act like a heim joint. When these do seize, the round "ball" of bronze will rotate inside the housing/retainer asm. The retainer spring steel finger asm is held in place by a small spot welded retainer asm inside the case. With care, the bearing can be foreced to contact the housing for thermal conduction, and with careful application of heaf from a small propane torch, warmed enough to tap the bearing free of the shaft without driving the bronse ball out of the retainer. Once out, you can't get it back in without spreading the spring fingers enough to permanently spread them so they don't hold the bronse bearing ball tightly. Never fear, it still can be repaired by drilling 3 small 6-32 threaded holes into the ball through the housing from the outside (after assembled) and letting these 3 radial screws capture the ball loosely to allow alignment. Then, with careful silver solder of the threaded screw protrusions and carefully cutting/filing of the ends, the repair is near invisible. This is the way Steve fixes this problem should it occur. All tips from the class in Bloomington...CraigComment
-
Re: armature bushing
Craig:
Are you saying to drill through the outer sheet metal housing and into the bronze bushing to lock the bushing in place? Or, are you saying to bring the screws in on the opposite side of the bushing seat and "trap" the bushing behind the screws?
As far as the DIY rebuild, I had one three days ago that was frozen tight. Couldn't turn it with the thumb screw. I got it apart, cleaned and regreased the gears (flipped the soft gear over), cleaned the armature and brushes. It ran like a new one when I put it back together. It worked so good, that's why I started on the second one. Everything was fine until I popped the bushing out of the spring cage and couldn't get it back in. You made a timely post.
MikeComment
-
Re: armature bushing
Mike - sorry for my delay getting back to you on this post, it's been a hectic week at work. What Steve does is repair the popped out ball by bending the fingers back inside carefully enough to replace the bronze bearing in the original caged heim support inside. It will be too loose however to use without the 3 screws I mention. So, you install the motor on the gearcase, set the lash to remove the endplay to force the bearing against the sheet metal housing to allow the bearing to center correctly. Then, coming at the bearing from the outside, carefully drill with a tap drill size hole for a 6-32 drill at a 45 degree angle to the armature shaft through the sheet metal housing into the actual oilite bearing, ONLY deep enough to capture the bearing to prevent rotation. Do this radially in 3 locations one at 12 oclock as viewed from the back with the electrical connector down, one at 8 and one at 4 oclock. At this point, remove the motor from the gearcase, extract the armature and the bearing itself, and now tap the metal housing with a 6-32 tap. Also, drill the 3 holes in the bronze bushing with a clearance hole for a 6-32 screw, so you create pockets for the screw shanks to settle into. Now, you can install the bronze bushing into the housing, and thread your screws into each of the holes you drilled into the bearing. Make sure you don't drill too deep in the bearing so you reach the actual bearing hole, just enough to act as anchoring pockets. You want to leave the screws out far enough to let the bearing float slightly in the housing, if you remove all play you will induce binding since the bearing will no longer self align, you want to leave it with a little slop to self center, similar to the original design that could pivot with the spring anchor. When done you will feel a small amount of play sideways, but the bearing will not be able to spin in the housing due to the 3 pocketed studs. Then, after careful silver soldering the threads into the sheet metal housing, and flush grinding the heads off with the case, the case can be painted with Seymour stainless steel paint, which looks very close to ray steel. Steve uses this method for NCRS judging and has had excellent luck. I am restoring a 63 motor right now in this way that came with my 66, the bearing was frozen and popped out on me. Best of luck!....CraigComment
-
Sounds like it ought to work. Thanks Craig *NM*
Comment
Comment