Headlight door options for a 2nd gen.

[keith88]

Car has 20 at idle 1st brake pedal hit 18 at 2nd hit 15 and hard pedal at 3rd,at that point i have to hit the gas to get the vac up again. I always liked the electric idea anyway and would probably have done it any way at some point.

[A383Wing]

20 at idle is enough...way more than enough...just get a newer small plastic storage can from a Dakota or something from the mid-90's and you are set...maybe less then $30 total in parts including hoses

[keith88]

Those measurements are taken at the vacuum can already shows you how it drops as it hit the brake. Stops fine when i 1st hit it so i try not to many times. 

[A383Wing]

so you must not have a check valve in the line, right? I would look into getting yer brakes fixed correctly before spending that needed money on something else first

we ain't talking about brakes here, all we are talking about is getting a little can to hold the vacuum for the headlight pods. They don't take to much to operate.

[keith88]

The brakes are new including booster master proportional valve and rotors and pads and bearing,Yes there is a check valve. Nothing wrong there. The issue is the engine dose not produce enough vacuum to replace it at idle. I really dont want to do a vacuum system for the lights i want to convert to electric.

[A383Wing]

so all you do is idle around with the car??

if car is driven normally, you will get 20-25hg of vacuum in the tank or vacuum can every time you let off the gas. Check valve is what keeps it in there until needed

[keith88]

Your not understanding what happens the car is fine when you drive it at idle the engine is not producing enough vacuum to replenish what is being used.  The idle in drive is around 700 rpm  in order to produce vacuum it has to be around 1200 than it is fine so if your just crawling under that rpm there isn't any vacuum to replace what is used unless to rev it up. The vacuum will slowly go down the more you hit the brake under that 1200 rpm. I have always been in the habit of pumping the pedal, not good after the 1st few times at a lower rpm.The booster is new so it needs all the vacuum it can get.

[keith88]

The biggest issue i have is at cruises where you are at an idle already and not going that fast to build up vacuum.The stop and go along with the backing up at such low rpms is where most of my problem happens.

[A383Wing]

Why do you feel you don't have enough vacuum to run them? You said you don't want a big bill so it sounds cheapest to hook yours up via the factory style. How much vacuum 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 a lot of time and money into an electric conversion.

I agree, he's not understanding how little vacuum it takes to operate the doors for the headlights....

[keith88]

Well if i dont run a can i dont have brakes. I dont want to spend a LOT of money to do this via the kit that is out there for 500 but if i can do it for a couple hundred that's OK. And i believe that i can do it for less than 150 by the way that Jamiez did his and that's all right with me. I want to convert and what he said it will be a good winter project.

[Dino]

Nothing wrong with going electric, but it seems something is just not right with your vacuum system.  I don't think it's normal to lose vacuum while braking.  Seems to me there's a leak or a busted check valve somewhere.

[JamieZ]

My conversion used 3 relays.  All the 87/87A variety (meaning they have one normally open and one normally closed output).

Here is the wiring diagram I put together.

[Troy]

I'm late to this thread but Charger Specialties makes an electric headlight kit:
http://www.chargerspecialties.com/new_product.htm

I'd assume you could make them cheaper if you had the time and expertise.

Troy

[keith88]

There is nothing wrong with the vacuum it been looked at by a mechanic It is normal,some cams dont produce vacuum at low rpms. And i don know that i wouldn't have enough to make them work but i want to make them electric. I know about the charger specialties kit but i believe i can do it for under $150  with a little work my self.

Jamiez.. I an interested in the dimensions of the brackets that you made to hold the actuators as well especially if they are the same dimensions as the ones you used.

[keith88]

jamieZ have you had the chance to measure what your using yet? I also would like some dimensions on the brackets you made to hold them as well. Thanks 

[JamieZ]

Sorry for the delay, the alignment and a few other things have been frustrating me to the point where I don't want to look at the car.


I took some measurements, but they are very rough as the stuff is all mounted on the car and it's not easy to get to.  When I constructed it, I just took the actuator, and bent a piece of cardboard around it.  I used that to build my brackets from metal.  Unfortunately I no longer have that piece of cardboard, but the measurements really weren't that critical.  All that matter is they fit on the existing brackets and the 2" of travel was enough to open and close all the doors.

[keith88]

Thank you for that info Before i buy the actuator dose the link i gave look like its the ones you got they look the same to me.

[JamieZ]

They look similar.  I checked my eBay history and found the seller and description of the items I bought.  This is his current auction for them (he sells single actuators):


http://www.ebay.com/itm/171089641267

[keith88]

Thanks just searched on eBay what you had, found the same  for $39 ill go with those.  Thanks for your help, ill be putting the car away for the winter tomorrow and will buy these sometime after Xmas and give them a shot.  You know i will be following what you did closely, again thanks.

[TexasGeneral]

I thought about using a solenoid with a spring return. Using the headlamp circuit to power the solenoid so the doors open when powered on and close when off..

[fy469rtse]

Can some one post photos of vacuum check valve and where it's supposed to be ?
I'm going to have vacuum issues as well , problem I've created with big stroker engine