RS Headlights Electric or vacuum?

1093 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by bonecrusher67conv, Jan 9, 2002

sixt9d

Discussion Starter · Jan 7, 2002

Hey guys,
For my Headlight, is it possable to use electric motor insted of vacuum on my 69? There's no actuator on my car right now and I'm thinking electric would be alot better then vacuum.
If you have done that, how much did it run you?
THANKS!

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DjD

· #2 · Jan 7, 2002

I know this isn't the 60's any longer but GM replaced the '67 electric with vacuum in an effort to improve the functionality. If you take the time to make all the moving parts fit properly and don't have a vacuum leak or 3 they should work as designed.

If you're good at fabrication I see no reason why you couldn't adapt them to be electric if that's what you want. Cost will depend on materials used.

------------------
...Dennis
"The '69, the '96 & the club"

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Gary Dorion

· #3 · Jan 7, 2002

I personally would stay with vacuum.

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anthony hisle

· #4 · Jan 7, 2002

iam not saying this is away to go but a friend of mine took 2 extra long choke cables & welded small tabs on bell cranks & opened doors by pulling on cables he had spent several hundred dollors trying to get his to work & got tired of spending money so he went this route only cost 25-35 dollars got cables at a farm tractor dealership & they didnt look bad but you wouldnt want to do this if you was going to show car alright for a driver

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yogi

· #5 · Jan 7, 2002

From what I have read on this, they changed to vac. operated because the doors would freeze shut durring cold weather and the motors would burn out trying to open the doors. With the vac. operated system, you can open the doors by hand, and there is also a switch on the relay that keeps the doors open all the time. I am working on a 69 rs-ss and I am having a time getting everything to work, but I think the vac. is the better way.

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sixt9d

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 8, 2002

Hey Anthony....I like the idea about the cables!...But I think I will go with the vacuum set up....Thanks for the response guys!

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Bedanobub

· #7 · Jan 8, 2002

I'd stick with the vac. actuators. GM must have thought they were an improvement over the electric motors or they wouldn't have used them.
To all who say they have had problems getting them to work on the 69 Camaros, go and tackle a 69 corvette system and the Camaro will seem like a walk in the park.

My friend brought over his 69 vette last week for me to try and get his headlights to open and close and let me tell you it's a pretty intricate system! Not so bad if it didn't also have a vacuum actuated door to conceal the wipers on the same system and also vacuum servo's for the heating and air conditioning! One little leak and the whole thing doesn't work like it's supposed to. Not to mention two or three vacuum relay valves, manual vacuum valve/switches (to bypass vacuum manually in the event of a falure) Electrical vac. switches (wiper control) and the list goes on and on!! I quit smoking on New Years day and i'll be damned if he didn't bring that thing over the next day. I'm still not smoking but unfortunately for him I've curved my urges through financial compensation!

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bonecrusher67conv

· #8 · Jan 9, 2002

Stick with the vacuum. If you go with motors, you have to switch to a new front wiring harness that has the connectors for the four limit switches, three RS relays, and one circuit breaker. Also, you will need to add a firewall penetration hole where the blue and brown wires go through and connect to the diode wiring harness ($35 two wire harness) that connects between the ignition switch and the headlight switch on 67s. The older 67 motors do freeze up and you can damage parts if you have to manually push the doors open against the gear reduction encapsulated in the motors.

[This message has been edited by bonecrusher67conv (edited 01-09-2002).]

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