dave-canada-slr Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 (edited) Hello from Canada! I have 2005 Imperial chassis car (SLR). I recently purchased (from Redline) the newer style headlight brackets used on the current cars. Other owners have done this without any issues (including a fellow 2001 SLR owner). However when I slide mine into the shock tower (with the bent tab in it's proper position under the adjacent metal) the bolt holes are not even close to lining up. Before I enlarge them, has anyone here experienced this? Many thanks, Dave Edited March 8 by dave-canada-slr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative paul richards Posted March 8 Area Representative Share Posted March 8 Can you not put something in the holes and lever it into position. Just needs “tweaking” but you may need to be a bit rough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrightpayne Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Looks like its been bolted up already - it has a circular witness mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 12 hours ago, paul richards said: Can you not put something in the holes and lever it into position. Just needs “tweaking” but you may need to be a bit rough. I'll give that a go. I'm still getting used to how "rough" some of the 7 stuff needs to be done vs my other cars 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 9 Author Share Posted March 9 8 hours ago, Wrightpayne said: Looks like its been bolted up already - it has a circular witness mark. That was from me. I did mount it but with the tab on the upperside of the shock mount just to test it, but then over course it pivots down without the tab holding it in place. So clearly the tab needs to be used! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil G Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 The tab is often a bit tight and needs to be give a tweek to widen the gap. May not be your issue but worth a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 4 hours ago, Phil G said: The tab is often a bit tight and needs to be give a tweek to widen the gap. May not be your issue but worth a go! yes I was thinking about opening up the tab to 45-90 degrees, install the through bolt, and then bend the tab back into place. I always try and avoid to damage parts like that (getting the tab back in place will require some pliers or and banging) to prevent paint chipping etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil G Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 TBH the tab serves little purpose. I wouldn't bother trying to fold back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 17 hours ago, Phil G said: TBH the tab serves little purpose. I wouldn't bother trying to fold back. it stops the bracket and headlight from tipping over. When I did the test fit with the tab on top it was easy to tip it down even with the bolt tightened up so I can imagine in the road and bumps it would tip pretty easily ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil G Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) The tab is on the bottom and will not stop tipping down, only up! Or did you mean that you tried it without hooking the tab under the mounting bracket? It has a marginal function of stopping movement whilst tightening the bolt, however, this is only effective on the N/S. IMHO naturally. Just wind it up to rally tight and it won't budge. Edited March 10 by Phil G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil G Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 9 minutes ago, dave-canada-slr said: Duplicate post - edit Edited March 10 by Phil G duplicate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_V Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Same issue on my 420R build. You only need to open the tab up a few mm to make a big difference in the hole alignment for the bolt. I used a screwdriver and both sides covered in masking tape and then moved to flat faced pliers but it didn't take much to enable a nice fit and feel the bracket won't tip down with vibration. I'd also say the tab isn't that strong so it is possible to hand hold bracket and tools while adjusting. Hope that helps. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 11 Author Share Posted March 11 (edited) Thanks gents! I'll work on wrenching on it more this week and will keep you posted. In some ways in drives me crazy how "crude" some of this stuff is, in other ways it makes me laugh and marvel that it all works out and still produces an amazing car. I guess this is what makes a 7 a 7. Edited March 11 by dave-canada-slr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 So I elected to simply bend the tab back. Rendering it useless in terms of stopping the light assembly from tipping down. If it does tip down then I’ll use a self tapping screw as a second fixing point. Someone somewhere posted a picture of that. I though it was here. Anyways it’s already starting to look a lot better. Much less ‘buggy’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave-canada-slr Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 All done. If they tip down I’ll drill a hole for a self tapping screw as a second fixing point. Now onto installing the Caterham LED rear lights next week 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now