Discovered i have H-1 lights, leave em alone?

indicaM3 · 05-04-2006, 12:32 AM

So i ordered a bunch of stuff for this weekend, new heater hoses, nice new red heater knobs, new hood crest, and some rubber trim rings for the headlights to replace the ones on there that have been painted red when a PO had the car painted red (they didn't take any glass out or even the headlights apparently, sucks but oh well, we got a good deal and the paint looks good). I had no clue the car had the super special H-1 lights untill some late night searching on the board tonite. This afternoon i had tried taking off the screws to get the trim rings off, so now the adjustment is surely wacked out. Anyway, i gave up because the rings wouldn;t come off, even after reading that all that was holding them on is the bottom screw? Is that right? At this point, i'm ready to say F-it because i really dont want to wither mess up the lights somehow, OR cause the cheapo paint to maybe peel (eek) or something off the fender. BAD. SO- are the trim rings for h-1's really only held on by the single screw on the bottom?? So after removing that, the ring will alide off AROUND the four adjustment screws?? Thanks in advance...

Early_S_Man · 05-04-2006, 01:54 AM

The rubber items that fit between headlamp assemblies and the fender bucket are called gaskets, not trim rings! To replace the gasket ... remove the single mounting screw at the bottom and swing out the entire headlamp assembly. The gasket has a cross section in the shape of a capital letter 'L' ... the longer part of the 'L' fits into the groove in the fender.

The parts diagram below may give you some insight as to the H1 assembly regarding various parts' orientation, though it is not entirely complete ... in that not all parts of the assembly are shown. Part #5 is the gasket you are concerned with. Part #7 is the gasket between lens and the assembly metal frame ... only accessible after all of the spring clips are removed.

I strongly advise cleaning and lubricating all four adjusting screws with silicone or moly grease! Straighten any bent adjusting screws, if possible without damaging the threads!!!

jdowty3 · jdowty3's Garage

The H-1's are held in at the bottom with a single screw. There is a small tab at the top that locks the assembly in place. You don't list what year your car is but some H1's do have a metal trim ring to cover the chrome part of the assembly. If you have a trim ring, there is a phillps head screw which hold the trim ring and then another special screw that holds the assembly which requires a large flat head screwdriver to remove. The other 2 screws higher up on the headlight assmbly are adjustment screws. Readjusting the alignment isn't too hard if you follow the directions in the Bentley manual.

Zeke · 05-04-2006, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jdowty3
The H-1's are held in at the bottom with a single screw. There is a small tab at the top that locks the assembly in place. You don't list what year your car is but some H1's do have a metal trim ring to cover the chrome part of the assembly. If you have a trim ring, there is a phillps head screw which hold the trim ring and then another special screw that holds the assembly which requires a large flat head screwdriver to remove. The other 2 screws higher up on the headlight assmbly are adjustment screws. Readjusting the alignment isn't too hard if you follow the directions in the Bentley manual.

Correction, the other four screws on the ring are the adjustment screws. If there are only 2 more, it's not an H1, but an H4.

indicaM3 · 08:22 AM

right, i meant gasket, that post was at like 2 in the morning. and yes, there are 4+1 screws. I see no allen heads or flat heads, so im just gonna try taking the bottom one out again and "swinging" the thing off...which way exactly? like, the bottom comes first or the top? and those 4 adjusters are supposed to just pull right through the trim ring as it pivots off? thanks guys. im stoked on my little discovery, just wanna make sure i dont screw them up!

Oh-and to lubricate the spring loaded adjusters do i need to take them off completely? really don't want to get into dissasembling these iff theres all kinds of little parts that are gonna explode apart on me... HA!

Oh 2- and my car is a 78 SC!

spiff · 05-04-2006, 08:29 AM

The tab at the top of the headlight bucket attached the fender is what the chrome ring hooks onto. It's generally a tight fit, so when it's first installed, it's hooked in place on top, and then "snapped" into place on bottom (you'll feel a definite snap when it goes on). So when you take the screw out in the bottom, you need to pull specifically on the bottom to release the assembly and then it's easy to unhook it from the top. The 4 adjuster screws stay attached to the assembly and chrome ring and all come out as an assembly.

Again pull from the bottom, not the top.

Good luck.

indicaM3 · 08:57 AM

Ok, so when you it all comes out as an assembly, then what do i need to do to get the gaskets off? as in, how does the "chrome ring" (mines red actually) come off from the housing? thanks a lot!

Ill probably figure this out before anyone replies

Early_S_Man · 05-04-2006, 12:31 PM

Gasket #5 is only held in place by friction ... assuming no moron glued it in place with cement!

I doubt very seriously that you need to replace gasket #7, which is clamped between the lens and assembly body. If you do ... I already mentioned that all of the #9 & #30 clips need to be removed.

randywebb · 05-04-2006, 04:12 PM

IIRC, that gasket has a specific oreintation...

- be careful w/ the screw

- be careful to get the assy back in the fender right & tight; also find the thread on putting a safety tie-wrap in there -- these things are worth nearly $1k in good shape! NLA