Headlamp pod adjustment

[Johnwindwood]

OK guys-looking for some advice on headlamp pod height adjustment. Our car uses the Lucas motors, so ball joint thingy at the bottom, rod with spring and then washers and nuts at the top.
Ours have been the victim of bodgery in the past and the parts book is a little unclear, so I'd love to hear from anyone who has rebuilt them.

At the top, ours have lots of new washers under the nut, then the headlamp bracket, then the spring. The parts book seems to show nylon washers somewhere (But ours has none of these.) Quite why all of these metal washers have been added is beyond me. One lamp is more troublesome than the other and the mechanism clunks and grinds on retraction.

It would be really helpful to see what we SHOULD have as a starting point-there doesnt seem much point in trying to adjust them until I've sorted this out. I can get the joints from SJS but it's the washer arrangement that I really don't understand.

As usual, all help greatly appreciated.

[Pete Boole]

Have you seen the the diagram in the service parts list?

http://espritengineering.co.uk/wp-conte ... _Excel.pdf

Scroll down to ~ page 151

Pete

[Johnwindwood]

Have you seen the the diagram in the service parts list?

http://espritengineering.co.uk/wp-conte ... _Excel.pdf

Scroll down to ~ page 151

Pete

Yes Pete-I have a paper copy. The issue is that I really don't see how it is meant to go together. Ours has been altered so it's difficult to see what movement there is meant to be in the top part of the rod where it joins the pod. Something definitely isn't right because the OS one clanks in use and occasionally sticks. I don't get what the nylon washers (That we don't have at all) actually do?

[Jason.goad]

The adjustment on the early system is a bit hit and miss. The push rod has a rose joint which attaches to to an arm off the motor. Half way along the push rod is a metal spring seat. The spring is sandwiched between the seat and the actuating bar running across the width of the pod. The nylon bush stops the push rod rubbing on the plate on the actuating bar. There's a couple of washers on top of the plate and the whole caboodle is held together with a 10mm nut on the end of the push rod. (there's also a plastic spacer along the push rod to stop the spring rubbing). The adjustment is as follows.
The headlight down adjustment is altered by slackening
or tightening the 10mm nut.
Headlight up adjustment is done by a rubber stopper on the body in front of the pod.
The fun starts when you get the pod perfect without the lamp in, only to find it lower when the lamp is fitted.

[Johnwindwood]

The adjustment on the early system is a bit hit and miss. The push rod has a rose joint which attaches to to an arm off the motor. Half way along the push rod is a metal spring seat. The spring is sandwiched between the seat and the actuating bar running across the width of the pod. The nylon bush stops the push rod rubbing on the plate on the actuating bar. There's a couple of washers on top of the plate and the whole caboodle is held together with a 10mm nut on the end of the push rod. (there's also a plastic spacer along the push rod to stop the spring rubbing). The adjustment is as follows.
The headlight down adjustment is altered by slackening
or tightening the 10mm nut.
Headlight up adjustment is done by a rubber stopper on the body in front of the pod.
The fun starts when you get the pod perfect without the lamp in, only to find it lower when the lamp is fitted.

Thanks Jason. So it seems I need those nylon bushes. I can't find them listed anywhere by part number and they are completely missing from our car-does anyone have a pic/dimensions/supplier?

At the moment, when down the headlamps are equal height. However, when up, the OS one is about 2 inches too low (Nowhere near the rubber stop.)-not really sure how to adjust that out according to your instructions!

[Jason.goad]

Hello John
Lotus part number is A076W6160F

They are under the electrical section on the parts catalogue. (if you've not got the online version, it's certainly worth it).
But I think you are putting too much emphasis on the little fellow. It's purely there to stop 2 bits of metal rubbing. I'd perhaps be looking at the spring seat on the actuating rod or the bar being bent. The actuating rod is fully length adjustable, so maybe start with the rod a bit longer and tighten the 10mm nut to squash the spring.

[Johnwindwood]

Hello John
Lotus part number is A076W6160F

They are under the electrical section on the parts catalogue. (if you've not got the online version, it's certainly worth it).
But I think you are putting too much emphasis on the little fellow. It's purely there to stop 2 bits of metal rubbing. I'd perhaps be looking at the spring seat on the actuating rod or the bar being bent. The actuating rod is fully length adjustable, so maybe start with the rod a bit longer and tighten the 10mm nut to squash the spring.

Thanks. I think I'm going to take the rod off, strip and clean, replace the ball joint and start from scratch. Could still do with knowing the spec of those nylon bushes though because the mechanism definitely rubs badly.

[Jason.goad]

I'm going to do some presuming here. My Excel lives in gargage about a mile away and I don't really want to start dismantling the head lamp mechanism.
I think the actuator rod will be about 6mm diameter.
At a push something like this might fit.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6MM-13MM-19M ... Z5VQYzQwAw
or
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8462-01-FG-P ... Swbb5dmjlm
I'm not into hydroponics or radio controlled cars, although would admit more to liking hydroponics. That's the kind of thing you are looking for.
There's also a long plastic tube that fits on the rod the length of the spring, again to prevent the spring rubbing and to stop the bush falling out.
I'm wondering if someone has adjusted the 10mm nut on top of the spring, the lock nut against the rose joint wasn't tight and the whole rod has been adjusted shorter.
Cheers J

[Johnwindwood]

I'm wondering if someone has adjusted the 10mm nut on top of the spring, the lock nut against the rose joint wasn't tight and the whole rod has been adjusted shorter.
Cheers J

I think this is absolutely the case! There are about 10 washers under the top nut between it and the pod bracket.