Ragtop Man

So both of my bird eyes are droopy... like the "I'm home, take me drunk" look we used to know and love in our single days

Got the kits from TDS to do them, but before I slash up my hands again, and lose some more sockets in the netherworld of all the panels, does anyone have good links to youtube.com vids that show how to extract these devils without making a weekend of it?

There was one series cut into five or six sections, the guy was doing a lot of talking and not a lot of wrenching. Is there anything better out there? Do any of the manuals (factory / Chilton / etc) have a good clean procedure?

Many thanks!

Mark RWC

The kits are great and rebuild instructions are execellent just pay attention to which side you are rebuilding since the are different. I have removed the lights two different ways. The first time the **** was used to manually raise the light so I could get to nut on the pivot arm. The nut will try and hide as it coming loose so pay close attention. This was done a small open end wrench or ratching box end.
The second time the plastic under body that covers the air dam was removed and the bolts removed so the whole assembly could be removed. There are 3 or 4 bolts if my memory is correct Ofcousre the wiring should be disconnect first and that was easier for me from underneath the car.

mikesz1984

this is the video i used last weekend. it took me a little over an hour to do both motors.

TheExaminer

Is there a part two or something? He kind of leaves you hanging. I'd like to see the actual motor/gear repair work being done.

mikesz1984

i never found the part 2, but when i got the motors out it was quite simple to see how things needed to come apart.. the biggest problem was with the the drivers side motor. i had to put the nut back on the one shaft and use a set of vise grips to get the plastic gear to pull out of the housing. i can not stress enough though that do not over tighten the small bolts when reassembling the motor, they are tiny and will break very easily. I also used anti-seize on these parts in case i ever want to take them apart again. i would also recommend a good grease on the replacement bushing and splines of the gears when putting it back together.

I kept putting this job off because i was so intimidated by the thought of doing it. when i finally did it, i was kicking myself for waiting so long, lol.

TheExaminer

Yeah, I had a similar thing with my 4th gen Camaro. Window motor was failing for a year or more. I kept putting it off because I thought it would be such a pain to replace. WhenI finally got to it, it took about 40 min in my yard, couldn't have been any easier. I need to do this too, because my motors spin after the tub is closed, and they open even when I select the parking lights only.

mikesz1984

Thats exactly what mine was doing. All works well now. I did find it easier to remove the nut for the shaft to raise the light while it was on the bench. So do not worry if you cant get access to it in the car

knight72

part 2

knight72

part 3:

TheExaminer

Excellent! Thx.....

RJMcEachern

thanks! Right in time, received my headlight fix pack from TDS and front steering brace, this will help me make short work and finally get my headlights fixxed!



RJMcEachern

WTR388

I used vinyl fuel tubing to fix mine, and made a video that I've never posted up... Guess I should put it up so people have a cheap way that works. Been in for a year, no problems

Bad_monkey

Is there another way of popping up the headlights coz mine won't pop up pls help

TheExaminer

Yes, just turn the ***** on the motor manually. It's made so you can still open the lights when the motor goes out. Hopefully the ***** aren't stripped out. This is why you see thirdgens driving around with the lights up in the day time. But if you're going to leave it like that, disconnect the motors. They have a habit of not opening the headlight doors, but still closing them when you turn the headlights off!

Drew

iTrader: (58)

That video makes my head hurt. Why do things the hard way?

So yeah, if you go under the car and look up at the headlight, there are two 10mm bolts. Take them out. Go back on top under the hood, there are two brackets on each light assembly that bolt to the radiator support (10mm bolts). Take those bolts out and the entire headlight assembly lifts right out.

TheExaminer

I never do go under, I do everything from the topside and have no trouble. If it's the video I'm thinking of he made it look harder than it is.