Cheapskate Headlight Vacuum Motor Repair

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Maintenance Restoration and Repair
1

Last fall when I was diagnosing vacuum issues with my tilt-away system, I discovered that my driver’s side headlight vacuum motor was leaking (as they usually do) at the seal on the top where the pushrod enters the motor housing. My $6 cheapskate solution:

I cut one end of the clear rubber tube that comes with the bottle at angle to make it easier to insert between the pushrod and the dust boot and squeezed in a small shot (about a tablespoon) of the bright green goop. Replaced the zip tie at the top of the boot and fired 'er up. Presto! The leak was gone. It’s now been several months and many miles since the repair and still no sign of the leak. :smiley: A permanent repair? Probably not. But who knows?

2

LOL, that’s not cheapskatery, that’s INGENUITY!

:thumbup:

3

McGiver would be jealous.

4

I thought about doing this last week, the actuator on my 69 is starting to leak quite a bit more than it used too.
I am going to give it a try when I get back to the house this weekend.
I will let you know how it works on mine.
A guy can buy a lot of tire slime for the cost of a rebuilt actuator.

5

I am going to give it a try on my 69 as well. I will buy a bottle this weekend. this could be a cheap fix and I can really save up for the electric conversion.

6

The slime is a good investment, it can be used for other things as well. For instance, I understand that it can also be used as a lubricant to keep such people from squeaking when they walk… :wink:

7

At least until it dries…then I’d imagine some serious butthurt…LMAO

8

I need the boot for mine. Know where I can find one?

9

I doubt it would work as a financial laxative. It’s really more of a sealant. It might just make things tighter!

10

That’s great! Make sure and report back in a few months!

11

Hmm… I wonder if you could squirt some of that down into the vacuum canister, past the upper shaft seal, to help seal up the internals.

Had my canister boot off earlier this winter to replace the upper seal, but I’m still getting just a bit of leakage ~ internally, I think.

Might be worthwhile to pull it apart again and give the goop a shot!

*I did not replace the accordian boot. I was able to VERY CAREFULLY stretch it over the end of the shaft, sweating bullets the entire time, LOL!

12

Mike: Give it a try. Worse case scenario, some of it eventually gets sucked all the way into the engine and you find out what slime injection does to a Ford V8. BTW, where did you get the replacement top seal?

13

LOL! That is a long ways to suck slime through a tube :laughing:

I got the details on the correct size grommets in the above link, which is part of a longer “DIY” thread. Mr. Mullen was nice enough to send me a few of his extra grommets for the price of postage ~ I figured correctly that he probably had some extras left out of the “pack of 50”, LOL!

14

I buy these on eBay. The Corvette actuator boots are a bit bigger in diameter, so I have to enlarge the hole around the shaft with a rotary file to match the metal ring. Then vacuum out the metal shavings, and install the boot. Be sure to lube the boot with a lot of Go Jo hand cleaner before pulling it over the end of the rod.

Cheap and effective.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/corvette-headlight-actuator-rebuild-kit-1-seal-1-dust-boot-and-1-retaining-ring-/151998635720?fits=Year%3A1969|Model%3ACorvette&hash=item2363d31ec8:g:b-AAAOSwd0BV7QTN&vxp=mtr





15

I was looking at those a few months back and wondering if they could be made to work on an extra set of motors I’ve got laying here. Thanks, Royce for the info. It looks like the longer snoot would create a better than the original Cougar version.

16

Thanks Royce for the link. I just ordered 2 and will give them a try. I’m not sure what you mean by enlarging the hole but I figured when I receive them it will become more obvious. If not I’ll ask you for a more detailed explanation.

Thanks!

17

If I understand your post, Royce, you need to enlarge the hole at the top of the cannister to match the inside circle on that gold colored ring, right?

18

If all you need is an upper seal / grommet, here is a link and specs:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#push-in-grommets/=ya40p4
Grommets:
9/16" Panel Hole Dia. (A)
1/16" Panel Thick. (B) (metal thickness)
5/16" ID (C) (shaft size)
13/16" OD (D)
5/16" O’all Thick. (E)
9 MS Dash
5-9 Number AN Dash

9307K16 (Standard)
x50 = $6.76

1061T15 (High Temp)
x10 = $8.18

Standard grommets are Buna-N rubber. They are for indoor use only; temperature range is 0° to 250° F. Color is black.
High-temperature grommets are silicone with a temperature range of ?60° to 500° F. They can be used outdoors. Color is red-orange.


Also in my file…
WCCC link to restored part: http://www2.cougarpartscatalog.com/d0wy-13a167-a.html
John’s Classic Cougars restores these as well: http://www.johnsclassiccougars.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HVM-1

19

Tried it this morning, didn’t work, when I get a little more time I will go through the vacuum system a piece at time and find the leaks.
For the cost of a bottle of tire slime it was worth a try.

20

I just tried the red-orange grommet. Worked great with the door off. Reassembled the grill and tried it again. The grommet sucked into the pod. Took some work to get it back out. Right now I’m back where I started. I think I need to either glue it or reinforce it to keep it from sucking in again. Maybe I can print some kind of ring that could hold half of the grommet in place.