Accessing vacuum actuators

[Tri-Poised]

Hello all, and thanks for all of the great information I've acquired from lurking on this forum, as well as the many questions you all have been kind enough to answer for me.  On to business, I have acquired a new front lighting wiring harness along with correct vacuum lines.  My original vacuum operated head lights have been giving me various problems since I've owned my Superbird (last 3-4 months), and upon closer inspection, it seems that many of my vacuum lines are brittle and/or split near the ends.  I have a new headlight switch as well, but for now I'd like to work from the lights back to the dash.

My first question is:  Is there an easy way to simply swap vacuum lines off and on to each headlight bucket?  One of them (the lowest) looks easy to get to and is visible when looking down into the nose.  The trickier top one goes down through the top of the bucket and attaches to the actuator.  Can I access this area by removing the lights themselves?  Do I have to take the headlight buckets or nose apart to get to these?

Also, my vacuum harness has the correct color coded stripes.  I know the green striped hose goes down to the canister, and the yellow striped hose goes down to the lowest point of the actuator (according to the page in the manual many of you have posted).  The solid black one goes to the top of the actuator, down through the top of the bucket.  Please correct me if any of this is wrong.

[Hemi_tyme]

Yes you can access and change the upper hose by removing the headlights Released the headlights using the springs instead of the adjusters That way you don't have to re-aim the headlights I always like to use a long pair of 45° Needle nose pliers they worked best for me

[70Sbird]

As Hemi_Tyme said, yes it can be done. I took a slightly different approach and left the headlight buckets in. I simply used a nylon Tie strap to hold the headlight doors open (the override springs had been removed previously) and used a couple of needle nose pliers - one with a bend on them to carefully work through the holes. A tiny bit of silicone lube on the vacuum hose also helped it slide all the way on as well. It takes a little time to get everything disconnected (don't forget the ground wires) and removed, but the whole process was fairly straightforward and took less than an hour.
Pics below, the strapped open headlights, the new harness , then the old one!
Just take your time and you shouldn't have any issues!
Scott

[Tri-Poised]

Scott,

Thanks very much.  Great suggestions.  Our cars look identical from your photo. What motor do you have?

Steve

[70Sbird]

Steve,
The Limelight one is not my car, just one that I did a powertrain swap on last year. I swapped out a 440 and replaced it with a 472 Hemi. I really need to get off my arse and put up a thread on the swap project here. Troy is about to do the same thing with this Daytona.
Anyway, my car is a blue 440 4-speed 'Bird
Here is a pic of my car and the Limelight one together.

[Tri-Poised]

Scott,

That's an impressive looking driveway.  My car is 440 4speed as well.

Steve