MRP headlight alteration!?!?! (Page 1/2)
IzMrPickel MAR 14, 06:11 PM
Hello everyone.
As I wait for parts to arrive I can not help but to tinker and get other things working on my new Fiero. I was playing with the headlights and was noticing the passenger side light seems vary weak. So I started to look into rebuilding the motor. That was the entrance to this rabbit hole that has lead me to where I am now. I am not 100% sure about this so I figured id get on here and ask if anyone had done this, attempted this, and they why and why not's? Mind you I am new to the world of fieros and am intrigued by how different this car is. the headlight cover is spring loaded and attached to the (frunk?). looking at the headlight bucket there looks to be 3 good spots I could fix the headlight cover to and delete the spring and mounts completely. Thus reducing the motors wear and easing the transition up and down, increasing the life of the motor but also speed of the transition. My car seems to have (from what I can tell) the 1st gen headlight motors. Although I'm not opposed to going to the gen 2 style, but I like my idea and I think I'm going to follow this through. Thoughts and suggestion's and ideas and concerns are welcome.
theogre MAR 14, 07:07 PM
Do Not mod the door as said above.

For starters, Door Springs allow the Hood to Open w/o causing other issues.
The springs not only stay Close, they keep the door tight to the lift so won't vibrate etc when open.

The doors & lifts have parts/areas to load them correctly & reduce final motor load.

Red are main "bearings." Blue is a "backup" only maybe contact when full open.
If those parts are damage/gone for any reason then whole lift assem &/or doors will have problems not just the motors.

Any "hidden" HL must open ≤ 3 sec per FMVSS 108 rules.
Gen1 Meet that rule often opening in 1-2 sec even when new.
Gen2 Opens in < 1 sec.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 03-14-2024).]

Patrick MAR 14, 08:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by IzMrPickel:

the headlight cover is spring loaded and attached to the (frunk?). looking at the headlight bucket there looks to be 3 good spots I could fix the headlight cover to and delete the spring and mounts completely.



Are you suggesting removing the headlight door springs? Do it... and then go for a quick spin on the freeway with the headlights down. Tell us what happens.

theogre MAR 15, 11:17 AM
I think he's saying remove the spring (1 or both) AND do something like "leashes" for the doors that some add to drive above 90+ MPH. (RD maybe had them?)

The leashes are/were only Backups so airflow doesn't try to rip out the doors at high speeds & Do Not eliminate the springs. The leashes must have enough slack so can open the hood & won't keep the doors full close w/o the springs even @ much slower speed.
1985 Fiero GT MAR 15, 11:26 AM
I think what he is asking is if the door can be removed from the hood altogether, and fastened somewhere directly to the headlight/headlight bucket, similar to other cars where the door stays on the headlight when the hood is raised, having it physically attached to the headlight could make them never pop up at speed, but with the way the lights fold down, I can't see how that would be done, unless one could adapt a totally different motor/mechanism, that folds differently, and somehow fasten the Fiero door onto that.
theogre MAR 15, 12:54 PM
Maybe but the lifts "rolls up" around 2 pivots so yah, very hard to that. Just look @ door "bearing" in above pic to how far the lift rolls opening the door. Is similar to wedge the door up instead of straight lift like any elevator.

Plus the open door w/ hinge and wrap trim hinds the back of the bucket is not only to look better but keep out a huge amount of crap trying to get in.

The leash kit I think attach to front of door & bottom HL trim in front of the bulb. There was always some slack when open.
If someone has time to dig thru archive might find picture but so many are deleted then old PIP server "crashed" loosing more pictures....
IzMrPickel MAR 15, 02:54 PM
Hey everyone so i get the concerns. i plan on getting pictures up here in a few hrs. but basically my idea is to fab a set of brackets to the bottom of the headlight cover. these brackets would secure the headlight to the headlight bucket, and hold it at the correct height so when closed its in the correct place to sit flush with the hood. two in the front and one in the back. this would also allow for clearance when the lights are up or down for the hood to open and close. admittingly there might be some trimming of the hood. I'm not sure just yet. I'm trying to get my hands on a hood from my local scrap yard so i can try this. But i do think this may work.
IzMrPickel MAR 15, 03:24 PM
so here is my general plan. using 3 or 4 brackets if i can get the height correct. attach them to the spots i have in the pictures. the front two would be bolted into place with sleeve and the back two i would be replacing the pivot bolts with longer bolts and and adding sleeves to them also. if that all works then i would be modifying the back cover to fit into place and secure it so it would look oem but without the added drag from the springs. I am not 100% sure that this will work but i am going to try.



[IMG]https://ima ges.fiero.nl/userimages/IzMrPickel/IMG_20240315_130426.jpg[/IMG]

[This message has been edited by IzMrPickel (edited 03-15-2024).]

Patrick MAR 15, 06:09 PM

I don't believe there's any way it would work with the door rigidly attached to the headlight assembly. You'd need to have some sort of guides that would allow the attachment points in the front of the door to move in/along a couple of channels, with the rear of the door hinged at the back (like it is now minus the springs). Difficult to describe, and no doubt even more difficult to accomplish... but give it a go!
David Hambleton MAR 16, 08:51 AM
There are lots of examples of pop-up headlights through the hood that are more aesthetically appealing when up than the Fiero design; for example the C4 Corvette in the video below.
Retrofit would require some ingenuity...

https://www.youtube.com/wat...annel=MyCorvetteLife

I watched the following video (muted to avoid the aural assault) to see if Fieros made the list. Nix-nay. (Captions are available for the narrative.)

https://www.youtube.com/wat...2No&ab_channel=Donut

Anyway, pop-up headlights were about the only detraction when I ordered my first Fiero in Sep '83 as I CORRECTLY anticipated hours of future maintenance work just to have hidden lights when off.

[This message has been edited by David Hambleton (edited 03-16-2024).]