Understanding headlight vacuum lines

[myk]

Or you can do away with the vacuum and get the kit from charger specialitys and convert doors to electric , plugs in head light harness for similar operation

That's EXACTLY what I plan to do.  The headlight doors are part of an electrical system-why it's tied in to engine vacuum makes no sense to me.  The fact that they used motors for the headlight doors in the 1st Gen and the '70 just tells me that the vacuum system was just destined to suck, pun intended.  Personally, I would NEVER design an accessory/system that could affect engine performance if it had a problem...

[Dino]

Or you can do away with the vacuum and get the kit from charger specialitys and convert doors to electric , plugs in head light harness for similar operation

That's EXACTLY what I plan to do.  The headlight doors are part of an electrical system-why it's tied in to engine vacuum makes no sense to me.  The fact that they used motors for the headlight doors in the 1st Gen and the '70 just tells me that the vacuum system was just destined to suck, pun intended.  Personally, I would NEVER design an accessory/system that could affect engine performance if it had a problem...

I don't know man, $500 to replace something that never fails as long as you keep it in good shape.  I don't see me doing this mod, my headlight doors work just fine.

Design wise...well, I try not to wonder why they did what they did.  They hit the ball out of the park by making the car look as it does and I'll gladly take the faults with it!   

[fy469rtse]

Wouldn't have to cheat if there were re pops including block to head light switch , always annoyed me one operating before the other, until I found out that's original, yeh I like the vacuum too,
There's no cheating on these cars,

[fy469rtse]

Post photos when you do Myk , be good to see the install and maybe a video of them operating .

[Ghoste]

yeh I like the vacuum too,
There's no cheating on these cars,

Don't you love the little hissing sound when you pop the headlight switch?

[Bob T]

yeh I like the vacuum too,
There's no cheating on these cars,

Don't you love the little hissing sound when you pop the headlight switch?

Yeah, exactly. I took a early 20's couple for a birthday cruise around town and the waterfront the other weekend, when I told them about the vacuum head light operation and showed them the baked beans tin they just looked at me like I was from Mars  .....at least I think thats why 

[myk]

Post photos when you do Myk , be good to see the install and maybe a video of them operating .

I will, assuming I get the kit; like Dino says $500 is a lot to spend on something that I could fix for relatively free, but...the whole vacuum thing just annoys me...

[el dub]

I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been more written about this. I would like to know how many people on here have changed their intake and carb for more performance and still have their headlight doors work. I know when I changed to a single plane intake, street dominator, and a holly 750 my doors quit working. So how many people here have doors that work with intake and carb change. Just curious. I know if your running a stock set up they work fine.

[Dino]

I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been more written about this. I would like to know how many people on here have changed their intake and carb for more performance and still have their headlight doors work. I know when I changed to a single plane intake, street dominator, and a holly 750 my doors quit working. So how many people here have doors that work with intake and carb change. Just curious. I know if your running a stock set up they work fine.

Plenty people have a vacuum issue once upgrading some parts.  Most of those have a bigger concern than grille doors though as their power brakes will no longer work properly. 

Depending on the end goal of the car, it may or may not be worth doing away with vacuum anything and upgrade grille doors to electric and brakes to a hydroboost.  For me, I want to cruise around and roast the occasional tire and I don't need anything more than stock to do so.  Funny enough, my car felt as if it got a boost in performance when I replaced the Edelbrock 'performer' carb with a truck's thermoquad!

[A383Wing]

you may have felt an increase...primaries on a T-quad are smaller than Carter ones...bigger ain't always better in the carb department

[Dino]

you may have felt an increase...primaries on a T-quad are smaller than Carter ones...bigger ain't always better in the carb department

Also the eddy is a pain to tune all the time while the t-quad is a pain only once.   

I noticed the much crisper throttle response as soon as I fired up the car with the t-quad.  When I put it in reverse and backed out of the garage I noticed I had more power because the tires were spinning, something that never happened with the eddy.  On the road I could feel loads more torque which I cannot explain.

I had my floats set too high at that time so to make sure it was the carb and not something else, I put the eddy back on.  Just as before the car got slower again.  I'm sure that the eddy can be made to work just fine, but I don't have the patience for it anymore.  Besides, the T-quad gives me better mileage and cooler fuel to boot!

[myk]

Ugh.  Does anyone WANT my 'Eddy 750?  I'll even pay the shipping, lol. 

Anyway, I remember when I first got my Charger it had a ridiculous 'cam in it and the car wouldn't idle properly, let alone open the headlight doors in less than 3 hours.  At some point I will start heading back in that wild 'cam direction, but I'd like to know that my headlight doors with electrical motors won't be compromised by the 'cam.  Conversely, I want to know that my motor won't be compromised by the headlight system if there's a problem it.

Dino, what intake are you running?

[A383Wing]

I have never had any issues with the Edelbrock Carter series AFB or AVS carbs..very simple design...but on the other hand, I have never been able to get a Thermoquad to run right either...or a Holley....

Bryam

[Dino]

Ugh.  Does anyone WANT my 'Eddy 750?  I'll even pay the shipping, lol. 

Anyway, I remember when I first got my Charger it had a ridiculous 'cam in it and the car wouldn't idle properly, let alone open the headlight doors in less than 3 hours.  At some point I will start heading back in that wild 'cam direction, but I'd like to know that my headlight doors with electrical motors won't be compromised by the 'cam.  Conversely, I want to know that my motor won't be compromised by the headlight system if there's a problem it.

Dino, what intake are you running?

Edelbrock performer (non rpm).  Basically a lighter version of the stock intake.  I have the 71 only intake which is supposedly better but never did the swap because for my day to day driving I will never know the difference anyway.

Bryan, tuning the TQ was a challenge at first.  The sequence of adjustments has to be followed to a T and I'm still surprised I pulled it off!

The eddy always runs rich at idle and gets lean when you put your foot in it.  I've heard from several people that they are great carbs, but not on a 440.  What that means I do not know but I thought it was funny.   

[Lord Warlock]

Sure, i'll take your Edelbrock 750 I'll give you an address to ship it to.  I haven't had any problems tuning mine, then again i don't drive the car, just start it and let it idle a while with an occasional rev to clear out the pipes.  Wish i'd installed the electric choke on it when i bought it, now i can't find all the pieces for it. 

How many here have installed the electric door actuator system available?  thought that was a nice unit but like you said, 500 for headlight doors seems a bit much to me, my doors have never worked since i got the car, the vacuum lines in the grille seem to be fine as I'd switch the lines to open and close the doors, the coffee can cannister seems to work.  Maybe the lines from the switch to the can are bad.  I'll use the breakdown in the first post to check them out one day.