headlamp adjuster screws

[ChrisG]

Headlamp adjusters.
Type 81 ( and no doubt numerous others ).

I got two seized up, tried all the usual methods, including a two week application of releasing fluid, and have now managed to round off the crosshead as well !

So are these still available? Part number?
Does anybody have a couple of secondhand spares they don't need?

So far I've canabilised a spare broken lamp and -
rounded off another -
and can't budge the other one !
I've found that popping the screwdriver slot end ball out of the plastic first makes turning the screw easier in order to free them up. This obviously helps to reduce the tension/friction on the screw end ball.
Needless to say the others are all well lubed and are not likely to sieze or go rusty again.

Thanks.

[Daveymaclad]

I've got a few lying around which I can 'release' to you

Have you got more details on the offending items and I'll check to make sure what I've got matches correctly.

[ChrisG]

a couple of pictures.
The screw is obvious - it's a screw !
The second is the frozen screw- and where it is located is such that nothing I have can get into the space with sufficient torque to move it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9127443...n/photostream/

and the siezed screw, with no space to get mole grips on .. and I'm unhappy about cutting the screww head off as
i. there will still be a stud, that is still impossible to get to
ii and I will then have effectively made the lamp, and car, unusable without loads of work!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9127443...n/photostream/

[Roger Galvin]

If you grip the brass adjuster towards the back, i.e behind the threaded hole in the headlamp with a small pair of moles they rarely fail to overcome the stction and get it moving. If the cross head is rounded out use an angle grinder to cut a slot in the front end, bit delicate but then allows the sdjuster to be turned using a flat head.

[ChrisG]

Thanks !
I did your first suggestion with a couple of the others but this particular screw does not stick out the back....
I did mange to use a hacksaw on one of the others and then used a flat screwdriver.
This last one there is no real room to get anything in there, perhaps a Dremel? (not got one !! )
Are Mole Grips made in a small size, with smaller jaws, like the size of typical pliers, about 6" long?

I'm having a break from it all at the moment, raining now as well, lock-up garage, and I've almost finished a really intrigueing book !!

[Roger Galvin]

Yep, baby moles, look like long nosed pliers but with locking clamp jaws.

Roger Galvin
Technical Secretary, qOC
quattro Workshop

[ChrisG]

thought they must have been invented!
I'll have to look for some pdq!
Thanks

[ChrisG]

Originally Posted by Daveymaclad

I've got a few lying around which I can 'release' to you

Have you got more details on the offending items and I'll check to make sure what I've got matches correctly.

Thanks for the offer - I think I'm fixed now.
Thanks also to Roger for his input.
I wanted to get this finished but couldn't buy any mini mole grips locally BUT my son-in-law managed to borrow some from one of his work mates.
I've got them for the whole Christmas period but did the job within an hour of getting my hands on them
I've also run a die along all the screws, cleaning out the dirt/rust/crud, greasing all up with copperslip, including the normally enclosed part of the back of the ball head.
I'd like to refit but it's tipping down with rain and the car is in a lock-up - and I'm not getting it wet !!
Thanks for your help guys.