robocog
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| posted on 7/10/17 at 11:56 AM |
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wipac 5 3/4 headlight removal after many years
Car has been sat un used and unloved for about 6 years
Little chap that interrupted play is about wide enough that the harness would restrain him - so making a start on getting the car back on the road
So far - new front shocks and springs have arrived (the old Gaz units had turned into a rusty mess and I guess the seals would be ripped apart first
use)
Front suspension is all apart - ready for powder coating
Turned my attention to the headlamp brackets as they can be taken to the powder caters at the same time
The headlamps are (I think) Wipac 5 3/4 items (stainless versions I think based on the fact they are in relatively good nick)
I just for the life of me cannot get the nuts off the threads to release the brackets
I have tried heat and soaked them in penetrating fluid, but the bolts just spin freely making the task of removing the nuts a nightmare
Inside the shell there is an anaemic little "finger" that I guess is supposed to keep the bolt from spinning, but the finger just puckered
up with very little force
Have tried wedging a bar in the gap the finger /used/ to sit in, but I'm risking buggering up the slot or bending the shell
I have tried clamping the exposed thread - but just succeeded in wrecking the tube
(I can afford to loose the thread poking out of the bottom so its not a deal breaker just yet)
I would try and make a special tool to hold the thread still from inside the headlamp shell, but the welder is deeply buried in the garage and I have
a feeling I am out of gas
I am also considering cutting the nut off (and the thread) - but not sure if replacement bolt and nut parts are available separately (and I doubt I
could fabricobble a replacement should they /not/ be available)
Would be a shame to ruin the lights as they are quite pricey so have put it all away (as I have missed the powder coaters opening times anyway) to
have a bit of a re think / regroup
Pics of the headlamp shells and the issue attached hopefully..
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Open to suggestions - or to hear if anyone knows the bolts and nuts are available and going full angle grinder removal method will be fine (have
messaged a couple of places that retail them, but will take time for a definate answer)
Regards
Rob
[Edited on 7/10/17 by robocog]
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mackei23b
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| posted on 7/10/17 at 04:43 PM |
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If its is really stuck, which it appears to be, I'd go for some heat.
Have you a blowtorch, a good bit of heat will make most stubborn nuts come off.
Cheers
Ian
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nero1701
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| posted on 7/10/17 at 04:59 PM |
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Can't you make yourself a little stud clamp ?
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robocog
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| posted on 7/10/17 at 07:54 PM |
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Yea already hit it with heat and penetrating fluid and tapped the flats of the nuts to try and break the seal
Threads a quite fine - so I guess plenty of surface area to be galled with rust/corrosion
Googling stud clamp is not helping me picture what you mean
Link or MS paint diagram?
I tried calling round to see if I could get hold of another pair of the hollow bolts and nuts - but everywhere had closed - left a few messages on
answerphones and quite a few "contact us" forms have been filled out
Knowing if the parts are available will greatly influence the methods and how hard I'm willing to hit them 
My idea /was/ to make a headed thingy to jam inside the tube - just a good fitting bolt with a keyway to fit into the slot
(see ms paint diagram)
At least I could put a spanner or a socket onto it and clamped in a vice and get to the nut end with a windy gun
I have a worry the threaded tube may shear, break or split as it is quite thin walled and seemingly quite brittle rather than chewy (based on trying
to clamp the exposed thread for holding it still)
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theconrodkid
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| posted on 7/10/17 at 08:30 PM |
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Sweet pea soon to ride again  , could you cut the nuts off 
who cares who wins
pass the pork pies
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russbost
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| posted on 8/10/17 at 09:25 AM |
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Angle grinder or dremel with thin disc on it, just cut the nut in half, you must be able to get a nut in the right thread, it's the tube part
that would be difficult to fabricate
I no longer run Furore Products or Furore Cars Ltd, but would still highly recommend them for Acewell dashes, projector headlights, dominator
headlights, indicators, mirrors etc, best prices in the UK! Take a look at http://www.furoreproducts.co.uk/ or find more parts on Ebay, user names
furoreltd & furoreproducts, discounts available for LCB users.
Don't forget Stainless Steel Braided brake hoses, made to your exact requirements in any of around 16 colours.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/furoreproducts/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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steve m
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| posted on 8/10/17 at 11:11 AM |
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cut the whole lot off and get something like this, not that its going to be the exact size !!
2x M13 40mm x 13mm Allthread Hollow Threaded Rod Tube For Electrical Lamp Socket
Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at
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robocog
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| posted on 8/10/17 at 06:35 PM |
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Dug out the welder from the back of the garage...bottle has a little gas in it (more than enough to build "the tool"
But unfortunately the welder itself is playing dead 
Power light came on, but nothing from the trigger
tested the trigger (was OK) and manually shorted the trigger wires (it has a euro connector and also spades inside - so testing was easy)
Traced the power, it comes out of the power switch OK
Tested the diodes bolted to the heatsink- all OK
I lost interest in it at this point - as I remembered buying a cheap buzz box stick welder from a car boot sale years and years ago - seems it has
survived storage just fine
(the tool I need to make doesn't have to look pretty to work and will likely get "adapted for something further down the road or recycled
as something else or simply vanish under the workbench" )
The tool I made indeed does NOT look pretty, but it did the job brilliantly!!
Both headlights are separated from the brackets
The threads were nasty under the nuts - but I am confident they will work again 
(so no destruction required...this time!)
So it looks like I'm in the market for a working MIG welder as well....
Will give it another go at diagnosing what has gone wrong - it was very old and was put away 'working' and the garage is not that damp -
I'd have thought if a transformer that size lets go it would make a bit more of a fuss
I vaguely recall you could hear the transformer "energise" when turned on - it was just perfectly silent when turned on and off (though
maybe I'm thinking about the TIG welder I have - also an old fashioned transformer jobbie from a similar era)
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