Headlight Door Binding, Out of Position.. How to Realign??

[Speedfreak]

Have no clue how it happened, but just saw my headlight door on one side is not positioned properly, it is very close to one side, where it actually scraps when opening and closing.  The opening part I have to help out with, but closes on its own.  I have never taken apart any part of the nose, so have no clue how to adjust.  Nothing has been hit that would cause it to shift, just happened.  Peeked front the inside next to the latch tray, but does not seem like you can get to anything, just see the vacuum canister that opens and closes the lights.  Do I have to remove the headlights and stuff from the front?  How do I recenter the door?

[DAY CLONA]

Have no clue how it happened, but just saw my headlight door on one side is not positioned properly, it is very close to one side, where it actually scraps when opening and closing.  The opening part I have to help out with, but closes on its own.  I have never taken apart any part of the nose, so have no clue how to adjust.  Nothing has been hit that would cause it to shift, just happened.  Peeked front the inside next to the latch tray, but does not seem like you can get to anything, just see the vacuum canister that opens and closes the lights.  Do I have to remove the headlights and stuff from the front?  How do I recenter the door?

If you've never worked on a Wingcar light system after it's installed, your in for a picnic, could be a multitude of problems, depends on what you got in there?, original stuff ?, repro fiberglass junk?....someone elses homebrewed repair?...if its towards the inboard side of the light you can access the headlite adjuster cam thru the grille opening, if it's outboard side of the headlight door, you'll probably have to drop the valance panel to access the outer cam, ....you'll have to see what exactly is loose, broken, rusted out first, to see what the exact problems is as there are quite a few components that can fail.....the list of possibilities can become rather large as to what happened, even a "C" clip failure on the pivot shaft on the opposite side of a headlight door can cause it to slide over to the opposite side, the studs holding a cam adjuster in place may have failed/rusted/loosened/etc....you need a factory pic of the headlight assy to guide you in it's assy's construction/parts/function

Mike

[Speedfreak]

It is rubbing on the outside portion, scrapping the headlight buckets.   The gap on the inner portion is way too much, needs to shift over a bit, it is kind of throwing off the top/bottom gap off a bit too.  By the way, this is a original nose, I would imagine with stock innards too.  Worked well for the last year I had it, was positioned correctly, then all of a sudden this.  

I know how the stock charger hideaway lighting is set up, done that many times, but this is new ground to me. Where do you suggest I start and look for?  

[DAY CLONA]

It is rubbing on the outside portion, scrapping the headlight buckets.   The gap on the inner portion is way too much, needs to shift over a bit, it is kind of throwing off the top/bottom gap off a bit too.  By the way, this is a original nose, I would imagine with stock innards too.  Worked well for the last year I had it, was positioned correctly, then all of a sudden this.  

I know how the stock charger hideaway lighting is set up, done that many times, but this is new ground to me. Where do you suggest I start and look for?  

I'd start with items 32 and 33 in the pic I posted, Cams and C clips on each side of the light bucket, see if they are bolted tight, they may have loosened, rusted out, or the 3 studs holding the cam in place may have sheared off?, or the C clip may have come off one pivot end allowing the assy to slide over......the cams can index 3 positions to alter the height/pitch/yaw of the light pivot frame to align it in the nose opening,...I hope you have long arms!

Mike

[nascarxx29]

These are the parts you will see the pivot end circle caps part.Also theres a split white bushing.What about where the headlight door is riveted to pivot bracket any missing rivets or enlarged out holes

[CornDogsCharger]

Proper steps to adjust the headlights:

1. Adjust a little one way
2. Test alignment
3. Adjust it the other way
4. Test alignment
5. Kick it
6. Cuss it
7. Repeat steps 1-6

haha
Justin
"CornDog"

[Speedfreak]

Proper steps to adjust the headlights:

1. Adjust a little one way
2. Test alignment
3. Adjust it the other way
4. Test alignment
5. Kick it
6. Cuss it
7. Repeat steps 1-6

haha


Justin
"CornDog"

Simplified method


1 Obtain large sledge hammer
2 Proceed to beat nose beyond recognition
3 Call insurance company and report a vandalism

[Speedfreak]

Have no clue how it happened, but just saw my headlight door on one side is not positioned properly, it is very close to one side, where it actually scraps when opening and closing.  The opening part I have to help out with, but closes on its own.  I have never taken apart any part of the nose, so have no clue how to adjust.  Nothing has been hit that would cause it to shift, just happened.  Peeked front the inside next to the latch tray, but does not seem like you can get to anything, just see the vacuum canister that opens and closes the lights.  Do I have to remove the headlights and stuff from the front?  How do I recenter the door?

If you've never worked on a Wingcar light system after it's installed, your in for a picnic, could be a multitude of problems, depends on what you got in there?, original stuff ?, repro fiberglass junk?....someone elses homebrewed repair?...if its towards the inboard side of the light you can access the headlite adjuster cam thru the grille opening, if it's outboard side of the headlight door, you'll probably have to drop the valance panel to access the outer cam, ....you'll have to see what exactly is loose, broken, rusted out first, to see what the exact problems is as there are quite a few components that can fail.....the list of possibilities can become rather large as to what happened, even a "C" clip failure on the pivot shaft on the opposite side of a headlight door can cause it to slide over to the opposite side, the studs holding a cam adjuster in place may have failed/rusted/loosened/etc....you need a factory pic of the headlight assy to guide you in it's assy's construction/parts/function

Mike

Thank you for the diagram.  I was doing some research on the Winged Warrior site and came across an article on the headlight system by David Patik, so I called him and he sent me some more pics so I could get a feel of the setup.  Will try to give it a shot this weekend, especially  if it rains.  Will take a look from the opening underneath if possible, otherwise will pull off latch tray.  If I can get to the issue, great, otherwise will have to pull it 

[nascarxx29]

Corndogs post shows the nose internals

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,43102.275.html