• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

Wedge TR8 Headlamp lift motor repair

GBRandy

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
Now that daylight savings time has come, I drive the car home from work in the dark. Both my Ferrari & TR8 were making some pretty grunty sounds when the headlamps were raised & lowered.

I dis-assembled and fixed the Ferrari ones after the used replacements I bought were worse than my original ones.

I turned my attention to the TR8 this Saturday. For the record, the TR8 headlamp lift motors are WAY better in build quality than the Ferrari ones.

To fix the right hand unit I decided I needed to remove it from the car. The noise was somewhere in the motor and not in the linkage.

In case someone else heads down this path....here is what I did:

With the headlights raised, I disconnected the battery.

I removed the 4 attache screws for the rubber shroud and pulled that away.

Next I removed the four screws holding the light assembly and went to remove that. Pigtail is there and the disconnect is...um...inside the engine bay underneath the airbox! darn.

Removed the airbox and disconnected the wires and pulled the headlamp assy out.

Next I marked the four nuts/washers holding the empty headlight pod and removed them & the headlight pod from the car.

With the airbox removed I could see the four attachment bolts on the inside of the engine bay that held the lift mechanism in place as well as all the electrical connections.

With the electricals disconnected and pushed through the grommet I removed the four retaining nuts & two plates and removed the whole assembly out through the top of headlight hole.

The motor comes apart in two areas:

1. The drive gear side with was held in by three 7mm bolts
2. The motor house held on by two 1/4 bolts.

Once apart, some WD-40 to clean things up and some new grease on the drive gear and it all went back together without any issues.

Should have taken some pictures but I did this kinda quick.

Time: 3 hours

Silent now as they go up and down nice and smoothly.... :smile:

The internal electrical contacts and connections were far better than the Ferrari ones. I was simply amazed at the difference in weight, quality & design....

Lucas isn't all bad!
 

Mickey Richaud

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Online
After sorting out the ones on the TR8 I had, I was impressed with the engineering that went into their design. The key, as with all electrical bits, is keeping contacts clean and the linkages lubricated. Kept up with, they are great.
 

tr8todd

Jedi Knight
Offline
I liked the ones that were on my Saab Sonnet the best. There was an aluminum rod similar to a cheap broom handle with a couple of offset bends in it and a T handle on the passenger compartment side similar to a hood release. The headlight mechanism was a hinged thingy that lifted up and locked when you pulled the handle and went back down an locked when you pushed the handle back in. Light, simple, effective. No chance the prince could leave you in darkness with this design.
 

DNK

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
GBRandy said:
...
Should have taken some pictures but I did this kinda quick.

Time: 3 hours

...

3 hours? Quick?
Need to revise your clock there sport!
 

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
Offline
One of the rubber trim pads on mine decided that it didn't like being attached to the frame one day and decided to come loose and drop down AFTER the light was up. I was thankful for that. I simply wiggled it out until the next time that I had a chance to work on it.

Luckily Todd had some spare parts and when I went to pick them up I saw that the washers had fallen out of mine, so I got a couple of spare rubbers and went back home. On the way I stopped at Lowes and bought some fender washers of the same size and some of the new Super Glue made for rubber to metal. After taking the best of the rubber units and removing ALL of the washers, as several were loose, I cleaned the rubbers well and used the new SG to glue them together, with clamps on each one for an hour. Those things are on as tight as can be now and are not coming off for a long time.

While I was in there and I looked at everything and it seems pretty quiet and works well, so I left it alone.

Randy, thanks for posting this and I will bookmark it in the event that I ever have an issue with mine.
 

DNK

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
Paul, I think Clay has a good right up on that fix
 

Mickey Richaud

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Online
DNK said:
Paul, I think Clay has a good right up on that fix

Or he can fix it up right good. :devilgrin:
 

mrv8q

Luke Skywalker
Country flag
Offline
GBRandy said:
I was also running back and forth to my neighbors house helping him swap out his brake calipers on his Vette while doing this in my garage :smile:

Vettes, Ferraris and a winning football team: Good neighborhood!
 
OP
GBRandy

GBRandy

Jedi Knight
Country flag
Offline
Ha! Sounds way sexier than this neighborhood looks! We are the stupid people that live within our means... I think the cars are worth more than houses!

..as for the Packers....time will tell......

From a drive up north last weekend:
picture-33.jpg
 

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
Offline
That is one lovely picture Randy. I am partial to the Ferrari though......
 

DNK

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
I'd be afraid of Ferrari cooties.
Those will never rub off that Vette.
 

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
Offline
If you're Italian, you have nothing to fear.............and I am....
 

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
Offline
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha..............I can laugh, I'm a former Vette owner, albeit with a warped sense of humor that most of them do NOT have............
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
mctriumph SOLD!! Tr7/ Tr8 transmission Triumph Classifieds 0
tr6nitjulius General TR 6/24/23 TRIUMPH TR6 (5) TR8 (2) Spitfire (1 RHD of 2) TR3A (1) Triumph 0
S For Sale 1980 TR8 Group 44 Tribute Triumph Classifieds 0
P Wedge Starting problems TR8 Triumph 3
tr6nitjulius Wedge Rare TR8 Triumph 0
Got_All_4 Wedge Looking at a Local TR8 For Sale Little Ruff Triumph 1
Hamish Racing TR8 IMSA GTO around Spa Racing 0
MadMarx Wedge Dijon 2019 - Triumph TR8 IMSA GTO Triumph 0
MadMarx General TR Spa Summer Classic 2019 - TR8 IMSA GTO Triumph 1
MadMarx Brands Hatch - Triumph TR8 IMSA GTO Racing 0
MadMarx General TR Brands Hatch - Triumph TR8 IMSA GTO Triumph 0
MadMarx Wedge The IMSA TR8 is ready to go again Triumph 7
MadMarx Wedge IMSA TR8 video with some roar Triumph 0
MadMarx Triumph TR8 at Spa Racing 0
MadMarx Le Mans - YTCC - Triumph TR8 IMSA Racing 1
B Gold TR8 Waxhaw N.C. Spotted 2
MadMarx Wedge Canadian Group 44 TR8 at Hockenheim Triumph 2
MadMarx Wedge TR8 IMSA at Le Castellet Triumph 1
J Wedge TR8 research before purchase Triumph 16
MadMarx Wedge Custom Header IMSA TR8 Triumph 14
S Wanted TR8 with blown motor or no motor Triumph Classifieds 0
T Wedge Triumph TR8 for Sale - 1,020 miles Triumph 3
S Wedge tr8 front end Triumph 0
S Wedge TR8 starter solenoid details? Triumph 3
S Wedge Tr8 manual Triumph 2
S Wedge Need help with TR8 no spark Triumph 7
MadMarx Wedge IMSA TR8 goes on Salzburgring Triumph 6
S Wedge TR8 Starter wiring help needed Triumph 18
Rut Wedge TR8 for sale Triumph 1
MadMarx Spa Summer Classic - IMSA TR8 Racing 0
MadMarx Wedge Spa Summer Classic - IMSA TR8 Triumph 7
B Wedge tr8 oil pressure switch number needed Triumph 3
G Wedge TR8 Classified? Triumph 0
G Wedge New to me TR8 Barn find Triumph 8
MadMarx Wedge IMSA TR8 - a recent photo Triumph 3
MadMarx Wedge IMSA TR8 - Spax on the rear axle Triumph 3
W TR8 brake aclipers on a Spridget Spridgets 38
MadMarx IMSA TR8 on the NĂĽrburgring Racing 3
MadMarx Wedge IMSA TR8 is racing Triumph 7
tr7andtvr Wedge TR8 Rotor Specs? Triumph 0
T Wedge Riddle me this guys | TR8 SMOG test issue Triumph 13
tr7andtvr Wedge TR8 calipers? Triumph 3
tr7andtvr Wedge Tr7, Tr8 or SD1 3.08 rear needed.... Triumph 25
Mickey Richaud General TR TR8 Folks Triumph 0
T Wedge TR8 parts car Triumph 3
philman Wedge Tr8 on local craigs list Triumph 11
Airfix Wedge TR8 Zenith Stromberg carbs slow deceleration Triumph 1
Darrell_Walker Wedge Rimmer's front rally spoiler installed on my TR8 Triumph 22
JFS Wedge TR8 Hazard Flasher Triumph 15
aeronca65t TR7 / TR8 on Garden State Parkway - NJ Spotted 0

Similar threads

Top