[DeTomaso] Headlight bucket problem

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/6/09 18 40 24, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:


> I removed my headlight buckets to do a 'Cats eye " conversion. Now I 
> can't
> get them to fit right. They don't seem to want to line up. They are 
> hanging
> up on the back edge when I try to close them. Is there a trick to aligning
> them?Boyd
> 

Nope.   It's just trial and error; they also may need to be shimmed with 
one or more washers between the back side of the headlight bucket, and the 
platform (which is attached to the bar).

There is a very real danger of damaging the car if you're not careful.   If 
the upper limit switch isn't adjusted properly, the electric motor has 
enough torque to drive the back of the headlight bucket skin into the top of the 
fenders, putting big-time six-inch-long dents on the top of both fenders.   
Proceed with great caution!

I've recently gone through the headlight bucket aligning process on another 
Pantera.   This car had some accident history and the body shop failed to 
align the replacement fender properly, so the side of the headlight bucket 
had been rubbing the inside of the fender opening badly for 30 years.   I had 
to slot the mounting holes on the pad to get enough movement to slide the 
bucket over so that it wouldn't touch.

The tolorences are very tight.   You can barely fit a business card between 
the outer edges of the bucket (left and right) and the edges of the fender 
opening.

It's generally easiest to align the buckets with the headlights down.   Pos
ition the buckets so they are perfectly centered in the fender opening, then 
tighten the four nuts on the studs so they are just snug, and carefully 
raise and lower the lights (don't use the headlight switch--either use a 
trigger switch with jumper wires to the motor, or raise them manually).   Don't be 
surprised if you have to fiddle around with shims and/or file or slot the 
mounting holes to get the bucket to sit properly in the opening.

Good luck!

Mike


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