H1 high beam aiming

[greghershner]

I recently tried to upgrade to H4 lamps but through the process of buying bulbs, conversion kits, and relays, have now been told I have a rare European H1 Bosch non-sealed beam headlamps. I decided to go with higher wattage H1s as recommended by a member here and now I think I have created a new problem.

In aiming the left high beam (going for just a fraction more left side coverage) the inner high beam assembly "popped" and now aims high central and the adjustment screws do not move it. Anyone have suggestions on how to repair this? I believe I will need to replace the long Phillips machine screw--did not break but head is stripped.
Thanks!

[john walker's workshop]

maybe the screw just unscrewed all the way. remove the whole unit and have a look. very common.

[Hladun]

I have H1's on my 78SC. Those 4 screws are just so inviting that if some bubba ever had to change a bulb you can be sure that your lights are wrecked. I adjusted mine by just removing the single screw at the bottom so the unit comes out and then adjusting them using pliers (or I may have cut a slot with a dremel tool so I could use a screwdriver). Several iterations of adjusting will get them right.

[ossiblue]

Follow John's advice and remove the light to check it out. H1's are notorious for having the adjusting screws either unthread all the way, or the rubber grommet that holds the adjusting tab to the bucket pops out or rots and breaks. You will know immediately the problem when you remove your light.

[greghershner]

Thanks, I have taken the unit out, using the bottom set screw, and know that all screws are treaded/attached. The Smaller high beam reflector is essentially floating with a bias toward the middle and up. Don't know if a gentle push from behind into the back of the reflector is appropriate or if this could break it. I should have been more clear asking if anyone has successfully reoriented the smaller high beam reflector in the unit.

[john walker's workshop]

try comparing it to the other one. maybe something is tweeked or out of it's pivot.

[Grady Clay]

OK, lets get the H1 adjustment labeling defined:
10 O’clock – “F” up-down arrow is for high beam vertical adjustment.
2 O’clock – “A” up-down arrow is for low beam vertical adjustment.
4 O’clock – “F” side-to-side arrow is for high beam horizontal adjustment.
8 O’clock – “A” side-to-side arrow is for low beam horizontal adjustment.
6 O’clock is the mounting screw.

You must adjust low beam first. The low beam adjustment will move the high beam as the high beam cable pivot is welded to the low beam housing.

Your ‘pop’ is most likely the rubber grommet-to-steel spade pivot at the cable. Check to see that the cable isn’t kinked and the brass retaining strap is in place.

It is also possible that one of the two weld adjuster attachment to the high beam reflector failed. You need to remove the lens to see that. The high beam common pivot is sandwiched between the low beam reflector and the main housing at the low beam “A” adjustment. That common pivot is also welded to the high beam reflector.

Do not clean the reflectors by any wiping. They are 1st-surface aluminized reflectors – like a telescope mirror. Do not touch.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Grady

[greghershner]

Grady, I do believe the weld failed. When you say remove the lens, can you advise me on how to approach it? BTW where do I send the $12.50?
thanks!!

[efhughes3]

There's a scew on the bezel at 6:00 that holds the assembly onto the car.

[Grady Clay]

Greg,

Before you start, see if you can find new rubber gaskets that go around the lens and seal it to the trim ring. This may also be an opportune time to consider lens replacement. There is another rubber gasket on the fender that the trim ring seals to.

There are about eight spring wires that hold the housing to the trim ring. They are the pieces of spring wire about 90 mm long and 1.5 mm diameter around the inside of the trim ring. Simply push down the long end with your finger – no tools required. Watch out that one doesn’t ‘spring out’ and get lost or hit you in the eye.

The old rubber gasket will probably resist letting the lens come out. It wraps around the edge of the lens. I have had mechanics break the lens trying to get it out so be careful.

It is going to be interesting to see what the actual problem is. Please post pictures.

If you have to re-attach the bracket to the reflector, it will damage the reflective coating. You probably should look at all the welds in the assemblies. I think they were electric resistance welded originally.

You can have the reflectors stripped, polished and a new 1st-surface aluminum coating applied (vacuum electro-deposition) by someone who rehabs telescope mirrors. There have been threads on this subject. If you have to go to the effort to do one, do the others also.

Since you are adding relays and using 100W bulbs, I would add a second ground wire and do away with the 3-prong ‘headlight bulb’ connector. Best would be four ‘aircraft quality’ wires from the relays to the fast-on connectors at the bulbs and assembly. This is most important if you wire your relays to have all four bulbs on when using the high beams. You can make a nice black heat-shrink harness separate from the original harness so it appears original. With yellow, white and two brown wires, there is never any question where they go.


Another note on adjusting: The low-beam cut-off is very sharp on H1s. It is also tempting to adjust the low beams ‘up’ so the lights ‘reach’ out farther. Particularly with stiff suspension, the lights appear to ‘flash’ at oncoming traffic from their perspective. A good tweak to the adjustment is to progressively lower the adjusters until you get only a few oncoming cars flashing at you. If no one ever flashes at you, you low beams are set too far down.

Best,
Grady

PS: The $12.50 (or more) can go to your favorite charity. They will need it in this economy.
G.

[carsngolf]

Grady was very helpful to me a couple of years ago regarding H1's. He knows his stuff. He is absolutely correct on the delicate nature of the vapor deposit. Merely touching it will destroy it. My reflective surfaces varied from OK to poor though and I investigated getting them resurfaced with aluminum vapor. My search proved fruitless. There are only a few places I was able to find that actually perform this process and none were interested in replating. Two of these sources also claimed that the heat of even the 50 watt bulb would destroy the newly plated surface. I then considered having them chrome plated but other contributors to the thread made the claim that chrome was only about 60-70% reflective. I searched for more data on this and came up short. I finally gave up and polished the worst surface with chrome polishing material, waxed it, and left the rest as they were. The polished bare metal was an improvement over the damaged aluminum but nowhere as good as the aluminum coating. Since I rarely drive at night, it's not a big issue for me. If I really wanted to get serious about them, I think the only option would be chrome plating. I'll watch this thread to see what others have to say.
Good luck.

[SVKarl]

Our host has all the gaskets; since they are kind of inexpensive, might as well buy several, particularly the gasket around the lens. I replaced the lenses on my H1 last year and had to really work at getting the lens back in without damaging the gasket since they are really thin and the threads of the adjuster screws/cable really want to dig into the gasket. You will understand when you get into this. Pretty do able with patience though.

Had to be very careful reinstalling the 6 o'clock mounting screw, its really easy to strip and a pain to fix.

Excellent advice on not touching the reflectors, I had not known that and did lightly wipe them with alcohol and a very soft cloth, hope I did not scratch them; they seem fine. It took a while to get the aiming right when I was done. Now I need to do one again since I took a rock in the lens.

Karl

[efhughes3]

May I make a suggestion on lens protection?

I bought some clear protectors for my lenses @ www.xpel.com. I also bought a NOS lens I keep handy just in case. It seems those are the only H1 parts that show up pretty regularly on ebay.