headlight door motor repair

[harry yarnell]

Someone on this list does these repairs, but my feable brain can't remember. Barney?.I've got one (two?) that has the gearhouse screws (the 1/4" hex head) so tight that I'm afraid of snapping the heads off. BTDT. I've tried PB blaster, heat; nothing yet. I'm about to ship them to someone who's better than I at this. Need to replace the white plastic dowels.

BTW, is there a way to tell if the three dowels are shot, WITHOUT taking the gearcover off?

[89REATTAJIM]

Recently ordered 2 kits from Barney. Wish I had finished my repair before reading your post. Paranoia strikes.

[Jim]

You should be able to put a little pressure both ways on the output shaft of the gear box with a crescent wrench. It will move a little but if they don't move more than about 20 degrees then the rollers are probably still good. When they go bad the shaft will rotate quite a bit.

[harry yarnell]

Got it apart. A little EXTRA heat and a rocking motion of the spintite, got 'em out. oh, the Delrin rollers were fine.

[Barney Eaton]

Glad that you got it apart without problems.

Those 1/4 hex head screws are a big problem, especially for northern cars. The problem seems to be the screws are of the "thread forming" type. This means the hole was not tapped and the screw forms it own threads. This requires the screw to be case hardened (more about that later) and there is NO clearance between the threads, any moisture that gets in the threads rust them in place.

On the headlight motors I repair for Reatta owners, I often break 2 or more of the five screws. I have tried heating and penetrating oil but it seldom works. I have purchased carbide drills because the screws are hard steel and most drills will dull quickly if you try and drill them out.

Jim is correct in checking on the amount of "play" between the motor shaft and the output shaft. Since the big white gear is engaged into the worm of the motor, you cannot turn the output shaft UNLESS the rollers are BAD. There will be a little "wiggle" but if you can turn the output shaft 10 degrees or more, you can bet the rollers are dust. Some are so bad you can turn the output shaft 360 degrees.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

One of the hex screws broke when I replaced my rollers. I put a little zip tie really tight in place of it and its been fine. Don't know if I'd suggest it but I'm not into drilling/tapping

[BP]

I broke off two of these 1/4" bolts during disassembly of my spare headlight motor ?

I understand from Barney?s post that these are easy to break and difficult to drill out ?but once out, what size tap should be used to clean up the threads?

Thanks!!

[Barney Eaton]

The screws are 8-32 thread.

If you don't care about the original look, you can drill a clearance hole and put a nut on the back (you will need a new screw anyway, so you buy a longer one)

[89REATTAJIM]

Rec'd my 2 kits from Barney. We repaired driver side yesterday. The bellcrank was barely worn, but replaced it anyway. The plastic rollers had completely turned to powder. Had no problems at all as far as disassembly/reassembly. Even the 1/4 inch screws came out easily. Thnx to instructions on reatta.net & Barney's enclosure with parts. Will tackle the passenger side next Mon.

[TheBlackMoon]

Hi guys, long time no holla' at (but I'm always around, LOL).

Okay, I'm confused! Just got her back on the road after almost a year of storage (had to get my surrogate daughter's car straight and had no place to park both cars and a truck), and started finishing up the mods so long ago started. Fixed the headlamp motors with junk yard parts I bought with KennyW, 'cause when I opened up the bushing housing, expecting to see three little dehlrin bushings (bought off ebay a bit ago to fix the motors), there was this HUGE plastic mess of a wheel in there staring back at me.

Now I thought there was supposed to be three little plastic wheels in there. Is there a difference between years, motor styles, etc., or have I just entered the twilight zone?

Thanks.