66 Headlight motor rebuild problem

[John B.]

Hello all, So i am in the process of rebuilding my headlight motors. I downloaded the instructions from this site which are great!. I ran into a problem on one. The rear bearing came out even after i sanded the shaft and put some lube on it.

Question is, has anyone replaced this bearing before? And if so, i am looking for some good advice on how it was completed.

Thanks.

Mike

[Ed S.]

Re: 66 Headlight motor rebuild problem

Are you talking about the bronze bushing that is deep inside the motor housing - that is held in place by a sprung steel disk that is tack welded into the motor housing?

[John B.]

Re: 66 Headlight motor rebuild problem

Ed, Yes that is the correct part.

[Ed S.]

Re: 66 Headlight motor rebuild problem

When that bushing is pulled out still on the shaft it is impossible to get it or a replacement back in behind the "spring" where it is supposed to reside. With the spring in place it just can't be done. The "traditional" method to correct this is to cut the welds of the spring, remove the spring, position a serviceable bushing in place, position a spring in place over it and then have it tack welded in place. Not difficult to do if you have the equipment. HL motor restorers do it all the time. As an alternative - I have seen the following suggested in this forum - you can position the spring and then secure it with JB Weld - several liberal "drops" of it 90 degrees apart will hold the new spring in place - there is not a lot of pressure or tension on that spring - so there is little concern about stressing the JB Weld blobs. I personally have not tried this - I stumbled on this suggestion after I had one of my motors repaired the correct way. My guess is that JB Weld would work file - Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do - especially if you go the JB W route.