How do I level the headlights???

[Racer-X-]

OK.  We installed some new headlights in Elvis.   Cibie/Valeo H4 units.   My personal favorite headlights in the 7" round form factor.

 

So, I get them installed in the buckets.  The right side bucket, I replaced the drywall screws with what appear to be the correct adjusters.  Everything fits together the way I expected. ...

 

... However, the thing is tilted a little more than 10 degrees.  The horizontal cutoff is over 10 degrees down on the left side, and the right side that is supposed to kick up at 15° is kicked up a little over 25 degrees. 

 

So my first though was, I'll just take it apart and rotate the bucket where it mounts to the car. Except that is keyed and won't rotate more than a couple degrees. Actually everything between there and the optics/bulb is keyed.  I had everything installed properly in the keyed openings, and the thing was still off over 10 degrees. 

 

How do I fix this?  Do I have to start carving on the car? or on the bucket? Was it "normal" for the headlights on these vehicles to be off level by more than 10 degrees?

[Plymouthy Adams]

sounds like your springs are missing...care to share some photos....the buckets when assembled are spring loaded...this spring resistance is what aims the headlight in the manner you preset the screws.

[Racer-X-]

The spring is there.  Well, I'm not sure it's the spring, but a  spring is definitely there. And to be clear, the adjusters work.  I can adjust on both axes.  Of course, the up and down adjustment has slight left-right movement because of the tilt, and the left-right adjustment has a little up and down movement for the same reason.

 

I'll try to get some pix later today and post them tonight or tomorrow morning.  Looking at the thing, the riveted pieces in the bucket that are for the adjusters look like they should be straight up (for the top adjuster) and straight to the rights side of the car (for the side adjuster).  On Elvis, on the right headlight, those appear to be twisted slightly from where they should be.  And there are some of the mounting screws  that look like they should be level, but they're off by a little bit (probably rotated a little over 10 degrees from level).

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Racer-X-
Added details about adjusting

[Plymouthy Adams]

good set of lights.....?   bad set of lights...?

[plymouthcranbrook]

Although perhaps I am not exactly understanding your issue I do know that back in the late 60’s we thought it was cool to install 51/4 inch aircraft landing lights in place of the high beams in our four bulb systems. That necessitated cutting a new notch in the bucket to have the beams be in the correct location for road use.

[Andydodge]

On my Oz 1940 D15 Dodge the headlight buckets are what I understand to be the same as that used in the USA and I would think, essentially the same buckets that were used up until the late 40's......the 1940 buckets accepted  a 7" sealed beam Bosch H4 headlamp when I converted the car to V8/12 volts etc in the early 1970's......the original setup uses a stamped brass/stainless steel ring that holds the headlamp against the 3 indents in the stamped steel bucket, the brass/stainless ring once pushed into and against the sealed beam lamp is turned approx 3/8th of an inch to lock itself against 3 small screws equidistant around the out edge of the bucket.......once locked in place the headlamp bucket/assembly is held into the headlight stamping via a screw on the side and bottom of the bucket and a spring on the opposite side of the bucket, ie, on the side and top..............this screw is then turned in or out to move the "aiming" of headlamp bucket.........the screw is such that it has a machined lip along its shank that locates the side of the headlight bucket and allows the bucket assembly to move in/out-up/down..........this setup is the same as that used up till the late 40's, at least thats what I've seen here in Oz on our 1946-1948 Plymouths & Dodges.............andyd  

[Racer-X-]

@Andydodge,

 

That's essentially what I have. There are 3 pieces in the setup, in addition to the bulb.  I've been calling them the bucket (the part screwed to the car), the seat (the part the adjusters and spring hold in), and the trim ring (the piece that goes over the bulb/lens to hold it in).

 

So the adjusters are at the bottom and the side of the bucket and seat?   On mine, the adjusters are on the top and the side.  Perhaps these things are installed upside down, and maybe flipping them over will line things up more properly.   Or maybe that's an Australia thing that's "upside down" for you compared to us Yanks in the northern hemisphere. Thinking about it, mine can't be upside down, because then the optics would be upside down, and the cutoff pattern would be upside down (dark below the cutoff on low beam, instead of dark above the cutoff), and my pattern is almost right side up, just about 10° off level.

 

Also, the trim ring holes aren't evenly spaced.  It only fits one way.  The sealed beam bulb (or the reflector/lens optics assembly if you use H4 lights) has some "tabs" on the back, and there are recesses in the "seat" piece that match those tabs.  Those make it where the bulb/optics assembly only fits in one position.   I can't rotate the lens/reflector in the seat, it won't move. It only fits in one position.

 

The adjusters obviously limit the rotation of the seat within the bucket.  And the bucket itself is keyed to the opening in the car. 

 

I didn't get over to work on Elvis yesterday.  The owner rescheduled me for later this week.  I think he's got the Flu or something (not Covid, he took an at-home test for that, and it was negative).  So I don't have pix yet.

[Racer-X-]

23 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

good set of lights.....?   bad set of lights...?

I forgot to address this in my other post today.    I brought one of the light assemblies home, and exchanged it with one I have here in a Miata.   When installed in the headlight assembly (reflector, lens, bulb) is perfectly aimed and aligned (level), and precisely matches the performance of the older Cibie unit I have in the Miata.  The issue isn't the new lamp assemblies.

[JerseyHarold]

Whoever worked on the car previously may have mixed them up.  Try switching your headlight buckets left-for-right.  I had this issue on a Cordoba many years ago.