Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

[James C.]

I have a 67' convertible that although only has 36,000 original miles, I just lost operation on the left side headlamp assembly "flipper"! It is now in the "closed" position and does nothing while the right side retracts properly upon each inside switch command, etc...Even though my background is automotive, I have no real knowledge of this particular headlamp system, etc., although I do recall that many in this era were vacuum powered/operated, etc....Any ideas as to what may be the issue and subsequent repair to get this retractor to "flip correctly" again?

[Don H.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

You probably have a motor froze up with old hard grease. Look for an email.
Don H

[Edward J.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Jim, Put your hand on the electric motor and have someone push the switch in the up and down positions and see if you feel the electric motor move slightly. if so it like as Dan says. grease that's almost 50 yrs old and is hard as a rock. Also a note if you remove motor to clean and lube the gears, just rotate the driven gear 180 degrees from were is now and use syth. grease to lube the gears up. Very easy job to dissemble of the motor drive gears.

[James C.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Many thanks Don, I got it. After reading all of the threads, it appears that my best logical course would be to carefully remove the hood and service both motors simultaneously. This car was an early serial number, built in 1966....So, as you infer (i.e., bearing this car's age in mind), the motor(s) have old, hard grease in them, etc.!

[James C.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Thanks Ed! Between Don's shared prior info. and your tips I really appreciate being put on the right track! I actually also have a (restored) 68' Camaro RS/SS, having the retractable headlamp doors, etc., which have worked like a charm (i.e., but this is a completely recently restored vehicle, etc.)!Trivial Note: I was working (as a young kid) in the New Car Prep Dept. of a large Pontiac Dealership back in the late '60's and remember that some headlamp doors on the GTOs' would stay open YET they were brand new at the time (lol)!!!!!!

[Richard M.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

James, it could also be a electrical issue. There is a thermal circuit breaker inside the motor case that may be bad, or a stuck armature or motor brush. Most times it's waxy grease and a jammed up gearbox. Either way you'll likely need to remove the motor to investigate and bench test. It may be time to remove both motors and open them up for cleaning and rebuilding.

One other thing..........If you're going to work in the space between the hood and front surround, put a 1/4 bolt in the hood support alignment hole to keep the hood from falling down while you're in there. Just a safety thing.

Rich

[Joe R.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Many thanks Don, I got it. After reading all of the threads, it appears that my best logical course would be to carefully remove the hood and service both motors simultaneously. This car was an early serial number, built in 1966....So, as you infer (i.e., bearing this car's age in mind), the motor(s) have old, hard grease in them, etc.!

James,

You do not have to go to all the trouble to remove the hood to service the motors. Just tilting the hood forward will give you just enough room to remove the motors. Leave the strap in the car and only remove the screw at the ground strap end. It give you a great guide when you replace the motors into the Corvette.
All the advise given above when followed will make the rebuild easier!

1. Remove the plug on the end of the motor.
2. Remove the screw holding the ground.
3. Remove the retaining clip.
4. Turn the wheel to remove the stress on the gears.
5. Slide the motor toward the center and out.

JR

[Duke W.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Since the motors don't have much "run time", they are usually okay, but you should check for motor continuity and power and ground at the harness when the switch is activated.

The problem is almost always the gearbox, especially distorted worm gear teeth, The pot metal worm gear is driven by a steel worm that is machined into the armature shaft, and the steel worm always wins the battle against the pot metal worm gear. You can rotate the worm gear 180 degrees or buy a new one. IIRC back in the seventies they were about three bucks from GMPD.

Once everything is cleaned up, assemble the gearbox with a full synthetic NGLI #2 grease, and they should be good for at least 20 years.

All the documentation you need to R&I the motor/gearbox assembly and disassemble/assemble the gearbox is in the 1963 Corvette Shop Manual. For a '67 you will probably need both the 1967 CSM and COM.

Duke

[Ray K.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

James,

Although you may also have an electrical issue as well, I agree with Duke that the most likely problem is that the teeth on the pot metal worm gear have worn to the point that the motor drive gear is not making contact. Rotating the gear will get you a new life span if it has not been previously rotated.

Ray

[James C.]

Re: Inoperative 67' Corvette Headlamp retractor

Thanks Ray, I did just that (i.e., rotating the outside gear "wheel" and it not only got the retractor actually operating again electrically, but it also was a great learning experience for me in that I now know how to manually get it into the "light displaying" position in the event of an emergency, etc.... Granted, the door/retractor may very well fail again, however, thanks to you and all of the other member's posts, I have enough technical information to indeed eventually service both motors, etc.Many thanks Ray and to all other members involved in my tech. question.