My Willys 3A and 3B Community

3A, 3B, DJ Technical Knowledge Base => "Original"-- Technical Questions, Answers, Observations => Topic started by: Paddy on November 29, 2010, 10:55:30 PM

Title: Headlight trim
Post by: Paddy on November 29, 2010, 10:55:30 PM

Hope this is an easy one.

I got the passenger side headlight out.  Took me a while to figure it out but got it out with so much as scratching the paint.

However, I can not remove the driver's side head light.  The chrome outer ring will not budge, and I presume it is clogged with dirt like the passenger side.  I've tried blowing air with my compressor to force the dirt out, still no luck.

Any suggestions to help me get that chrome ring off the little stud at 12 oclock?

Thanks.

Title: Re: Headlight trim
Post by: bayo500 on November 29, 2010, 11:42:30 PM

I just put mine back on, to take them off undo the srew at the bottom the push the rim up and it slips off a flat tounge

Title: Re: Headlight trim
Post by: Paddy on November 30, 2010, 12:28:33 PM

Quote

I just put mine back on, to take them off undo the srew at the bottom the push the rim up and it slips off a flat tounge

Yeah that worked for me when I took off the passenger side but for the life of me I can't duplicate it on the driver's side and was wondering if there may be another way.  Thanks,

Title: Re: Headlight trim
Post by: macrisel on November 30, 2010, 12:45:07 PM

My rings has gotten rusted so bad the screw was fused to the rings.  Despite numerous attempts to free it up, I ended up taking a dremel tool and grinding the head of the screw off.  This let me get the trim ring off and let me some threads to grab on to to get the screw out.  PB Blaster, heat and time took care of that.  
I tried to polish the rings back up, but in the end I went ahead and bought new trim rings from Walcks.  Very nice products that fit nicely and look great.

Title: Re: Headlight trim
Post by: Jesse on December 03, 2010, 02:28:13 PM

You could try tapping the bottom of the ring a litte bit with a rubber mallet, I ended up having to do that with my trim rings.

Title: Re: Headlight trim
Post by: Paddy on December 04, 2010, 10:35:19 PM

Here was my final solution, and I tried it all including the tapping with a rubber mallet etc.  I used a paint can opener, a flat head screw driver and a putty knife.  I wedged the putty knife right under the trim piece at the bottom, I then used a thin and narrow screw driver that I slid on top of the putty knife to slightly turn up the trim piece, careful not to damage it, then I took the paint can opener and worked around the underneath of the trim piece until it finally freed up.  The problem was there was so my dirt and debris that the trim piece inner ring was simply wedged too tight to easily free up.  Real pain in the tail.