Electric /vacuum query.

[Mad4slalom]

Hi, Anyone done one, or know anything about the electric headlamp and wiper door conversion kits available for the C3? Read a little bit about one that is pretty quick and easy to fit and does away with the vacuum system that as we all know can be troublesome and hard to get working correctly. It would be good to know that both lights would open and close properly in sync and the the door isnt going to open at random.

 

[Roscobbc]

Have a word with Essex rep Andy Maskery - he's done this!

 

[CaptainK]

I'd be interested to see the kits too.

 

[Forrest Gump]

Have a word with Essex rep Andy Maskery - he's done this!

My conversion wasn’t an off-the-shelf kit but my own creation, so can’t recommend a particular kit I’m afraid.
A kit is undoubtedly a much easier way but I fancied a project. Kits are pretty expensive too. I made up some brackets and used a pair of 12volt actuator rams. These rams had a fixed travel, so the tricky part was figuring out the geometry and pivot points to get correct open and closed positions of the headlamp door. They do work well though, opening quickly and together, and a bit of a novelty modification on a C3.

 

[Nassau65]

Been looking online to see what these kits cost ( to black my nose so to speak) and there seems to be a high variation in price. No idea as to why, in their descriptions they all say they do the same thing.

 

[Mad4slalom]

Been looking online to see what these kits cost ( to black my nose so to speak) and there seems to be a high variation in price. No idea as to why, in their descriptions they all say they do the same thing.

Has anyone seen a complete kit that does lights And wiper door , or do you need to buy 2 separate kits ? TiA

 

[Nassau65]

When I was looking online, some of the kits listed did both the lights and the wiper door.

 

[Roscobbc]

Wiper door and headlamp flaps are one of those things that get the title "If it ain't broke (or even works in a half ass'd way)......don't even think or attempt to fix it"

 

[Mad4slalom]

Wiper door and headlamp flaps are one of those things that get the title "If it ain't broke (or even works in a half ass'd way)......don't even think about attempting to fix it"

 

[Mad4slalom]

Yes, even scott at ck said the new parts available are not very good at holding vacuum , this was reitterated by thePO of my 72 in the states, he had a new h/lamp switch that was duff from new. So maybe go electric or live with the quirks of the system

 

[Nassau65]

I’ve always found the wiper door more troublesome than the headlights on 68-72 cars. It was a “novel” idea/design at the time when introduced in1968 but always proved troublesome. The new for 1973 hood design was a great improvement. That pain in the ass wiper door was no more.

 

[antijam]

When I bought my '71 the wiper door worked but didn't fit well and the headlights went up and down but very sleepily. I sorted out the fit of the door and in a fit of enthusiasm replaced all the vacuum lines and most of the valves. The lights now snap up and down with alacrity and the wiper door works fine except that a few minutes after turning off the engine it seems to think it should be open and slowly rises up. I've obviously induced a vacuum leak somewhere that I didn't have before but exhaustive testing has so far failed to locate the source and at the moment it's a caprice I can live with.
To me the complex vacuum system like the quirky fibre-optics are part of the charm and character of an early C3 and I'm happy to live with their foibles. More modern technology can solve a lot of problems on old cars - but then what would we have to do?