Monday 27 February 2023

Front Lights

With the panels now all fitted I now needed to start reattaching all the parts to the bodywork, starting with the lights.

Decided to start with the side and indicator lights.


I had to buy new back plates as the old one were totally rusted, but I did keep the original glass lens and chrome.


The new back plate included a new lens but it was much darker and I thought the originals would be better as they should be brighter. 


Fitting the rubber onto the back plate is very easy, but getting the rubber to fit correctly when on the car is a little more tricky.


This is the original chrome surround which cleaned up nicely with very fine wire wool and chrome polish. The mounting screws have a rubber washer to provide support against the glass lens.


The screws also provide as guides that slot into the outer holes in the wing during fixing.



All ready to attach to the car.


As I mentioned before you'll find you need to adjust the rubber surround a bit so that the seal is constant all the way around the glass and chrome to ensure a water tight fit. If possible!


A couple of nuts and washers hold it into place.


You need to thread the wiring through behind the front valance to connect up to the main wiring loom.



Next up is the main lamps.

First you need to line up the bucket and the rubber seal. The adjusting screws are long and so need to line up with the rubber protruding parts on the seal.




You can then start to but all the nuts and bolts in place. However as you tighten them you need to make sure that the rubber seal is even all the way around and doesn't stick out as it is in this photo below. The reason for this is if the rubber seal sticks out too much the chrome surround won't sit flush or evenly against the bodywork. 

I didn't realise this until I'd fitted it and had to take everything off and try again.


Once the bucket is secure you can fit the mounting ring and tightening the adjuster screws to get the correct angle of the lamps.


Both sides now done so time to fit the lamps.


You need to fit the retaining spring which stops the inner mounting ring from moving.



Then you can connect the lamp to the wiring.


Then you need to fit the outer mounting ring.


Which is just a screw and washer.


All looking good, but for some reason which I couldn't work out why the lamp wasn't tight and I could move it a little which I though would make a noise when driving around.


So I cut little bits of insulation foam left over from the heater matrix seal to set behind the lamp at the mounting points.



Once the outer mounting ring was tightened up the extra padding stopped the movement completely.


Fitting the chrome rim would have been straight forward if I had fitted the bucket seal properly. It just needs to be pressed on which can get a bit tight. You just have to keep knocking it with your palm around until it is in place.


Oh and at the same time make sure the screw lines up with the mount. It does get fiddley. 


Looking really nice!

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