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1931 -33 headlight help needed

  • Brad Hoskins
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30 Mar 2021 03:04 #42759 by Brad Hoskins
Replied by Brad Hoskins on topic 1931 -33 headlight help needed
Jim

An excellent suggestion !
I've been meaning to get some of those and keep putting it off which , as we know, inevitably leads to trouble!

Brad

31 8-98 cabriolet

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  • JIM.OBRIEN
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30 Mar 2021 01:57 #42755 by JIM.OBRIEN
Replied by JIM.OBRIEN on topic 1931 -33 headlight help needed
Brad, Don't use modern taps and dies to chase threads on these old cars. The spec's and manufacturing has changed just enough to cause problems. Get a set of rethreading taps and dies. These have greater clearances and are made for chasing threads, not cutting new threads. They work very wekk and won't damage the old threads but will clean them out and correct any problems with the threads.
Jim
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  • Brad Hoskins
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28 Mar 2021 18:30 #42746 by Brad Hoskins
Replied by Brad Hoskins on topic 1931 -33 headlight help needed
Thanks John and Gary
Finally found one of the misplaced screws in the labelled baggie I put it in!
Thread is #10-32 by all accounts so I held my breath and ran the tap through , with only some rust and paint particles coming through. Whew!
I have tried to chase threads on some of these older fasteners and find the fine threads really don't like being chased. they are just 'off' enough and the steel seems to be different enough that it makes a hot mess of the threads and an unusable fastener.
Any thoughts on the steel v brass plating question?

Brad

31 8-98 cabriolet

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  • johnmereness
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28 Mar 2021 15:19 - 28 Mar 2021 15:21 #42742 by johnmereness
Replied by johnmereness on topic 1931 -33 head help needed
Go to www.restorationstuff.com and they have a nice selection of round head non-slotted screws that basically imitate/faux rivets - excellent for headlight bases.

JMM
Last edit: 28 Mar 2021 15:21 by johnmereness.

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28 Mar 2021 15:16 - 28 Mar 2021 15:20 #42741 by johnmereness
Replied by johnmereness on topic 1931 -33 head help needed
The door screw is probably a slightly odd duck screw in being like a round head slotted screw with the threaded tip having perhaps a 1/8 inch of the threads removed and the tip rounded - for helping the unskilled guide it in. It may have also had a flat on the shaft to prevent people from over-tightening as well. You may have to retap. I doubt they used a special thread as the American Car World was pretty much SAE, but perhaps they did OR someone beat you to the punch and put in a sheet metal screw and botched up the threads already. I doubt the World would fault you if you put something in there that had a touch of thought to it.

JMM
Last edit: 28 Mar 2021 15:20 by johnmereness.

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  • 1748 S
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22 Mar 2021 09:16 #42681 by 1748 S
Replied by 1748 S on topic 1931 -33 head help needed
Help is on the way.... My thoughts are you need to run a tap thru the hole to clean the threads... But wait, there's more. These threads "MIGHT" be an interference thread to keep from loosening up during travels. I know my Ford diesel has an interference thread exhaust bolt but the heads are normal 3/8 course threads. If the threads are dirty use a thread cutting oil with the tap. Or some Aerokroil so it eases the friction. Its after 2 AM here on the West Coast so hopefully in a few hours others with first hand knowledge will chime in. Its not likely in my understanding of the Auburn financial condition that they would actually create a thread that was not standard to the industry because of the cost .


Gary Parsons

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  • Brad Hoskins
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22 Mar 2021 02:52 - 22 Mar 2021 14:37 #42680 by Brad Hoskins
1931 -33 headlight help needed was created by Brad Hoskins
Couple of issues that have arisen as I try to get them ready for plating.
Just a reminder that I am working from a parts car project that I inherited from Dad..

1) One of my buckets is missing the headlight door retaining tab . Easy enough to fabricate until I come to drilling and tapping the hole. No sign of the special screw N1-872 In my parts pile ( looks like it is a special fastener since it doesn't fit the fastener decode chart format ). Looks like about a #10 but I can't get either a 10-32 or 10-24 to go in. 10-24 is close but gets really sticky just about when the screw end starts to come out the other end. Can anyone tell me what the diameter and the pitch is for the fastener? Maybe post an photo showing what the head looks like?

2) The buckets themselves.
Two part numbers listed in the part book for each of left and right headlights, one for painted and one for chrome.
As I was trying to figure out the retaining tab hole and comparing the the buckets my other 31 ( nope, no retaining screws here either, another project car!_)
, it dawns on me that the one I'm working on , which is currently painted, is steel and the buckets for the other car which are plated, are brass .
The mounting brackets for both sets of buckets are riveted on and are steel

Is there any reason why I can 't plate the painted steel buckets? The steel buckets are a lot heavier than the brass which is likely why they are in such good condition . The one downside I can see is that the mounting bracket is riveted on and what is underneath on the painted bucket is pretty rusty
I'm trying to figure out why the factory went with two different materials and if I should have any other concerns with plating the steel ones.
Should I disassemble the steel buckets and rivet the mounting brackets back on after plating?

Thx
Brad

31 8-98 cabriolet
Last edit: 22 Mar 2021 14:37 by Brad Hoskins. Reason: Whoops! Headlight is more appropriate

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