Headlight door options for a 2nd gen.

[keith88]

Hi everyone When i bought my charger the headlight doors did not work most of the parts are missing from the lights back. My questions what is out there to either convert to electric or is there a vacuum motor that you can buy to rig something up. I already have an issue with not enough vacuum for the brakes so i dont think it would be a good idea to bring it back to stock. I know charger specialties sells a kit to convert to electric motors but that is costly and dont want to spend that type of money if i dont have to. Looking for options.

[TexasStroker]

I believe a member on here had made something with electric motors, but I honestly can't remember who or how long ago?!  I'm sure someone else can spec it out.

Seems like several have used the Charger Specialties kit with good results.

Do you have the canister under the battery tray?  A lot of people chuck it and then subsequent owners are unaware of it etc.

[keith88]

No i am missing the canister as well.

[TexasStroker]

Might be worth trying the canister before you shell out any more money than that...The doors don't always open lightning fast, but they are good enough.

[keith88]

I have nothing from the lights back. And im running a can on the brakes and its just enough ...almost to make the brakes work.
Thinking heavily on electric set up but did not know  what is out there and if there is some sort of vacuum pump set up that might work.

[A383Wing]

the aftermarket electric set up will set you back just under $500

[JamieZ]

I converted mine to electric using some linear actuators off ebay, some relays and some metal to make the brackets.

Around page 3 on my For B Bodies Only restoration thread has some details:
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?60200-JamieZ-s-68-Charger

It helps if you have some experience with wiring.

[Mike DC]

                       
                             

[Ghoste]

If there is nothing in there now couldn't you adapt almost anything in there, like door motors from a later model Firebird or something even?

[keith88]

I have the actuators and some of the hose but that is it. Just trying to see what is available to make them work with out a big bill. just looking to see what people have done to fix theirs.  Im open to any thing that would work.

[A383Wing]

do you have the headlight switch assembly and does it work?? (The vacuum part)

[keith88]

I have the assembly but the vacuum lines are there but not attached.

[Dino]

Sounds like all you need is the vacuum attachment at the switch and a vacuum can.  These parts are readily available so it should be easy to restore back to stock specs.  New vacuum hoses are costly if you want the factory correct ones but it works just as well with the cheaper autoparts store hoses.

[keith88]

I'm looking to get away from the vacuum operation unless i can run some sort of pump to run it off. I don't believe that the vacuum is good enough to run them seeing that i already have brake issues with the vacuum.

[Dino]

Sorry, I missed the part on the brakes.  A pump would do it but you're probably better off doing what Jamie did.

[keith88]

Yea that's what im thinking been searching actuators all morning just to see whats out there. Going to need to know the travel of the headlight door arm to go much farther.

[JamieZ]

If i remember correctly you only need about 2" of travel.  the actuators i got are internally limited too so i did not need to wire in limit switches

[keith88]

Really looking hard at what you did found a couple of possibles on eBay. How did your end up fitting?  and do you have any finished pics of it and maybe the bracket that attached it to the door rod.

[A383Wing]

that's why there is a can there to store the vacuum ......it has a check valve in it

[keith88]

I have a can on the brakes that is why i have the brake that i have dont want to push it.

[JamieZ]

If you can make the bracket well enough you can just use the stock brackets to attach them to the bar. 

Here are some other photos during the assembly.







The only real fitment issue I had was the actuators were a bit wider and would hit the bumper brackets if not positioned right.  Since the arm is off center you can flip them left to right to get them aligned.  As you can see from this picture the actuators are both mounted the same way (arm on right)

I had to flip one of them so the arm was on the left to clear the bracket.  It was just a matter of unbolting it, flipping it and bolting it back on.

[keith88]

Thanks for them pics would you happen to still know the size of the actuators ,like how tall, wide, length open/closed?

[keith88]

Would this work:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-2-Linear-Actuators-2-Stroke-225-Pound-Max-Lift-12-24-Volt-DC-Heavy-Duty-/330766925725?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d033ebf9d

[JamieZ]

They look the same let me take some measurements this weekend

[c00nhunterjoe]

Why do you feel you dont have enough vaccum to run them? You said you dont want a big bill so it sounds cheapest to hook yours up via the factory style. How much vaccum does your engine produce? I highly doubt its less then mine and my doors function fine. I also am not running a reserve canister so you are a step ahead of me. Worth a shot to just hook them up and try before sinking alot of time and money into an electric conversion.