[maxim_96]

DESTEC, in one of the first posts you said that you put in a switch to rollover the lights. I'm having the same problem that you had; I run out of real estate when I come to the headlight lever. Can you give me some more information about what you did, and how you did it?

Thanks!!!!

 

[pvcar]

well ive thought of the idea of electricly controlled headlight rollover , but what ive found is every system in say a fiero or other car like a honda or such the headlight motor bearing things wear out and u have to manually roll them over it jus seems more trouble then its worht i like the mechanical system the best.

 

[Nathan Acree]

Two words for electrically operated headlight buckets:

Linear Actuator-

You can put one in the trans tunnel and use it to operate the original cable.

Try www.autoloc.com.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

[houserc]

Nathan,
I tried your link to Autoloc.com and didn't have nay luck. (that was after removing the period at the end.)

Is the the URL another name by chance?

 

[Nathan Acree]

Well thats strange, it was working last night, but I can't get it to work now either.

Perhaps the site is down for maintenance? I try again later and see if it is back up but www.autoloc.com is the correct URL.


Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

[maxim_96]

I agree. I went there last night also after I read Nathan's post and now its not there!!! It looked like the linear actuator's that they had would be an awesome solution. This was exactly what I was looking for (a little pricey though). Do you remember what length you ended up purchasing?

 

[Nathan Acree]

I have not actually implemented a linear actuator yet ( I have more plans than time!).

However, when I was looking into doing this, I measured how much the rod in the headlight cable traveled and if I remember correctly it was very close to 4" so the smaller (and "cheaper" linear actuator should do it.

One thing that will have to be sorted out is how to get the actuator to stop once the headlights are in position. You could use limit switches (ugghh) or some type of current sensing on the actuator.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque New Mexico

 

[pvcar]

well i went to the site last night to check it out worked fine havent tried it this morning though. i wus thinking of getting there flame thrower kit, becasue who wouldnt want to be able to shoot flmaes out of there exhaust with the push of a button....

 

[bear]

Nathan, et al., I remember when I was cleaning up the rotating mechanisms for my headlights last month, the locking and unlocking latches, where the micro-switches are activiated to turn on and off the lights, were not easily operated by hand and required a lot of pressure to actuate. Not wanting to say anything negative, so I just checked them again and it takes a lot of force to get the mechanism locked and unlocked. I am not sure a linear actuator will have enough speed and power to operate the headlights with out some mods to the locking/unlocking latches. The short throw of the manual handle and the gear ratio of the mechanism, plus the weight of the rotating mass, I believe, is what locks and unlocks the headights. I noticed that there are gear teeth cut down to allow the rotating mass to disengage at each end of the travel to allow the mass to continue rotating and go into the locked position. Again I don't want to throw a wet towel on this idea, but I think more research should be undertaken before the bucks are spent on something that may not work. JMTCW.

Ron

 

[Nathan Acree]

Ron,

I agree that some modification to the latches is needed, in fact my idea was to remove the latch completely. Some tuning with the actuator would be needed to get the buckets in the prober position, but after that the actuator should hold them where they are just fine without the latches ( I believe that the actuators can stop anywhere within the range of motion).

However, there are actuators with some serious pull, the small one that I was referring to has a 75lb pull (some go up to 500) and I think it would be able to pull the cable hard enough to latch the lights.

Nathan Acree
Albuquerque Mexico

 

[DESTEC (R.I.P.)]

all you have to do is reduce the spring tension on the latching pincers. all you need to do is to get them to flip into place and they HOLD. You can do it with your pinky; but once it's clamped; it takes a minor jar of the downward lowering of the sector gear and they unlock. I think the reason Opel used such beafy springs there was because they knew people would be slamming the buckets UP; and to keep the lock arm from rick-o-shay-ing out was to Clampet, Jed.

 

[DESTEC (R.I.P.)]

Keep the latches; I move my buckets with a 120 oz-in motor about 1.5" in diameter and 3" long. Mine are diametrically opposing to balance the load and transport system mech sees no lateral force. Held in place by (2) 6mm studs, infact.

JJ

 

[bear]

Well I guess JJ covered that aspect fairly well. It looks as though some mod is needed at the latches. Thanx JJ, as usual your input is right on.

Ron

 

[72opelguy]

well i have an idea to solve this problem just might take some geometry to do it and do it right
i would say to use electric soleniods for their speed and strength
you could use one for a door lock or something if the math come out right 2will be needed
ok use the originall design and have a shorter cable that run just up to the driverside firewall above the wheel well
with the help of some lever(s) you could use a solenoid with an inch or two of travel and i bet at least 15 - 20 lbs of pull and at the flick of a switch
and if door soleniod isnt strong enough maybe some for a diesel starter might

 

[maxim_96]

I went back out to autoloc.com tonight (yes its up again) to do some more reading on their linear actuators. I really think that a good heavy duty actuator would work. Here is what I took off their site and while I think it would work:

Deluxe linear actuators offer a built in potentiometer allowing you to program custom run times and push/pull settings when used with AutolöcÂ’s™ motor control unit.

It is graded at 250 lbs, which might just be powerful enough to get the job done ;-) and if I am reading this right it sounds like the motor control unit will allow you to precisely adjust the movement of the actuator shaft.

I was thinking of maybe mounting one under the hood where the cable for the lights end. Unfortunately I don't have the extra 200-300 bones just to be able to automatically flip open my lights.... but it would be kewl.

Here is the link to the actuator:
http://www.autoloc.com/detail.lasso?itemid=LA8

Here is the link to the motor control unit:
http://www.autoloc.com/detail.lasso?itemid=MOTORCT2

 

[maxim_96]

OK, well after so many posts I think that an update is only fair. I've decided to take off all of the vinyl and foam. I have about 90% of the dash taken down to its skeleton. And guess what I found.... Not only are Opels good at rusting, so are their dashes. I found a large amount of rust on the left and right sides of the dash. I don't think that its going to be a big deal, I just thought it was kind of funny that even the opel dashes are good at rusting.

 

[bear]

power lights

i noticed you guys were talking about a setup to move the headlights. i used a simple linear actuator to move my headlights no problem. i got rid of the cable setup and mounted the LA between the hood hinges them welded a stud onto the rigid linkage for the lights. it pushes and pulls them open and closed no problems. the LA was $50 on ebay. now i'm trying to get them to open/close with the extra button on my remote from the shaved door handles.

jon

 

[maxim_96]

Thanks, Jon!!
Its good to know that someone has gone through this process before and was able to do it. I have a couple of questions for you.

Did you use a programmable actuator, or were you able to find a way to do it with a standard actuator.

How long was the actuator that you used?

Was there any special setup that you needed to do after you had it mounted?

Any other information/pictures that you could give about this would be great. You might want to spin this out into a separate thread because it seems like there are several other people that might be interested in doing this.

Cheers!!
Dave

 

[houserc]

Has anyone in the colder regions installed electric headlight actuators, of any kind?

What I am worried about is the freezing rain or more specifically, the headlights being frozen shut from ice on or in the pivot points. I currently have to move the lever forward to start the open and then get out and knock the lights free to rotate.

Any comments from any body else with this issue?

I like the idea of electric light flipping.

Thanks,

 

[spamseptictank]

FYI
There's a website that has a sale on linear actuators for $78.87. The URL is www.partsexpress.com. I haven't ordered anything from them, but when I lived in Dayton, Ohio. I visited their showroom and theyv'e got some good stuff available.
Dave