Electrically raised headlamps

[Elanman99]

I was unable to upload this picture a few days ago when it was more relevant to the +2 headlamp topic but it may be of interest in its own right.

The picture shows the RHS headlamp in the down position.

Ian Phillips

[Elanman99]

Bad form to reply to my own post but I should have said 'in rasied position'

Also I tried to put the picture in the photos section of the site several times without success so apologies to GC.

Ian Phillips

[miked]

Ian, looks good. I have just bought some Nissan ones and am waiting for them to arrive. Did you say what they are off.


Look forward to some experiments with them, I do not like the air ones. Plus mine must be nearly ready to die.

Thanks Mike

[Elanman99]

I bought them a couple of years ago off one of the dealer stands at Donnington. I think they are off an Eclat.

[elansprint71]

Toyota Supra via Excel, I think.

[richboyd]

I am creating an electric lift system, also with a Toyota Supra motor. My S4 has a cross-shaft connecting the two pods, so I will use a single motor for both pods.
I don't want the motor to drive the last half-inch of travel; I am afraid of over-stressing the mounts and connectors. Instead, I am creating a spring-loaded device to hold the pods fully up or fully down, but have little resistance for most of the travel. I'll let the electric motor handle 90% of the travel and the spring-device the last 5% at each end.
I'm still in the sketching stages, so I have no photos. The Supra motor is quick, light, quiet and strong.

[bcmc33]

Elanman99,

From where did you buy the linkage for your set-up?

I've fixed motors in place and can use the ball joint at the motor end, but need joints for the headlamp and longer rods for connection.


Brian Clarke

[Elanman99]

From where did you buy the linkage for your set-up?

I adapted them from a complete assembly I bought (motor/linkage/wiper spindles/bracketry etc off a modern car from a scrapyard.

The original links were steel tubes with the plastic ball sockets swaged in to the tube ends. I removed the joints from the tubes and drilled and tapped them to accept the 4mm diameter stainless rod I used.

Ian Phillips

[tdafforn]

These sort of ball joints and rods can also be bought from model shops as they are used in control rods for radiocontrolled model planes.
Cheers
Tim

[RobL7/Elan]

I would sure be interested in the package or parts sources necessary to complete such a mod on my 65 series 2, as my lights up is known to fade a sustained highway cruising speeds. Currently searching for vacume leaks etc., but this fix looks vastly superior.

[cliveyboy]

This is also a project I am working on for my sprint.
I talked to an owner at stoneleigh who used window motors and limit switches very successfully.
My personal choice is the Mazda motors, specifically designed for the job.
I have bought a few pairs of these motors and dismantled one to see how it works. (Very simple and clever design)
The motors mentioned in the postings above are used on a lot of newer cars including mazda MX5 and MX3. Toyota Supra and Excel (lots of toyota parts used). Also Ford Probe and a few other US Fords as well.
There are slight differences with them. The ones I have from the Mazda have internal relays but the Toyota ones do not, but it is simple to add a couple of extra relays.
The other advantage of these motors are that you can eliminate the vacuum headlight switch and just activate them from a feed when the headlights turn on. Also you can have a lights pop up and flash facility.

Clive

[bcmc33]

I?ve done the conversion with Celica motors which look very similar to the Elanman99 motor. I chose the Celica as they came with brackets which meant I could use the existing lower vacuum unit hole and with a simply made bracket use the other hole in the wheel arch. Looking at a few of the different motors in the scrapyard, they all looked very similar and probably came from the same Japanese manufacturer.
Wiring is very simple using a couple of changeover relays.
The hole in the facia when the vacuum switch was removed was conveniently filled with a hazard switch from an old Land Rover ? another simple wiring job.
The motors came with a short actuation rod that had to be adapted to the correct length - the only real problem was to obtain a ball joint for the headlamp pods ? this was eventually solved by using a couple of M6 rose joints.

The system works fine in the static garage environment, but has not been tried-out in anger on the road as I still have to complete a whole bunch of re-wiring jobs before the facia is re-fitted.

[RotoFlexible]

This is also a project I am working on for my sprint.
I talked to an owner at stoneleigh who used window motors and limit switches very successfully.
My personal choice is the Mazda motors, specifically designed for the job.
I have bought a few pairs of these motors and dismantled one to see how it works. (Very simple and clever design)
Clive

Clive,

Do the Mazda motors make full circles in one direction (pausing at the bottom and top) or do they reverse direction, covering an arc? If the latter, is the size of the arc adjustable? I am trying to figure out how one matchs the stroke of the motor to the stroke of the headlight pod when going from one extreme to the other. Miata and RX-7 motors are plentiful on ebay at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

[bcmc33]

Andrew,

I used Celica motors and they appear to be same/similar to Mazda. The Celica motor turns half circle and stops and goes in the same direction each time.
The stroke of mine is 70mm, and the holes in the pods were not suitable.
I set the motors on top and stuck an arc on the headlamp pod, and then on bottom I struck an arc on the pod with it fully open. I drilled holes in the pods where the two arcs crossed.
The most difficult bit was to ensure that the centres between the two positions of the rotor arm and the hole in the pod were exactly in line.
The rotor arms are fixed to the spindle by means of a splined taper, so the arm can be easily repositioned as necessary.

Elanman99 sent me his circuit diagram which was a great help in identifying wire connections.

Brian Clarke

[RotoFlexible]

Thanks, that answers my question. I hadn't considered drilling the pods. By the looks of the diagram at http://www.benchapman.com/locost2/mx5/E1_Headlights.gif (probably the same one you have), the Mazda motors do not reverse because there's no provision for changing the motor's polarity.