Hidden Gremlins

One of GM's engineering marvels in the 60's were hidden headlights, or more specifically, hide away headlights. Starting in 1963, Chevrolet used them on their newly restyled Corvette and they became more or less a styling fixture for the car. Prior to the hide aways found on '68 Pontiacs, GM offered them on the 1967 Camaro. The main difference between the '67 and '68 systems is that the '67 systems were equipped with electric headlight door motors, versus vacuum operated for '68 on up. A lot of work went into engineering these early systems, as anyone who has ever worked on them can attest. I can now put myself into that latter catagory, as I recently had the pleasure (?) of diagnosing and repairing a hidden headlight system on a '67 Camaro.

They look great all closed up which is the way these wanted to stay - permanently.

The first thing I had to do was track down a wiring diagram for the Camaro's headlight system. This is easier said then done. Wiring diagrams or schematics are essential in helping to diagnose problems and locate components. After some heavy duty searching I managed to locate a really nice schematic drawing of the 67's unique hide away headlight system. Pouring over the diagram I discovered that it contained no less then four relays and two breaker type fuses. These "fuses" are unique because instead of blowing out like a conventional fuse, they act more like a circuit breaker in a house electrical panel. When the load across them becomes too great it heats up a bi-metal spring contact which separates and breaks the connection. After some initial testing for voltage at the headlight motors, I decided I would start with these fuses, as it seemed to be a power problem (or lack of) that was keeping the Camaro's headlights from working.

As it turned out, one of the fuses was bad. These puppies were rated at 30 amps so they can usually handle a load pretty well. I took it apart and it looked like it got really hot on the inside, almost like it was shorted out. Because these are a stud type breaker you can't exactly find replacements at the local parts store, so I had to get creative. I used a heavy duty, weather tight, 30 amp spade type fuse holder and crimped an eyelet on each end to go over the studs on the breaker. The breaker might not be any good anymore but it would serve as a mount for the inline holder. I ruled out a short in the system so what could have drawn over 30 amps to cook the original breaker? The only component capable of doing that was the headlight motor, but the owner told me they were both brand new. Now what?

More testing was needed to determine what caused the breaker to fail. Plus, after installing the new fuse, only one headlight motor started working. Well, at least it was half way fixed! After I applied 12 volts directly to the non-working motor it still wouldn't work, so I had no choice but to remove it. The only problem is that in order to get to the electric motor you have to take out the entire headlight bucket assembly. Now I know why shops charge so much for electrical work! I also realized that I don't charge enough...

Once the motor was out and on my work bench, I took it apart to see if maybe one of the brushes broke or something. Everything looked good inside the motor but I knew it didn't work so something had to be wrong. I decided to test the armature and that's where I found the problem. The motor was either shorted out or got stuck while under power and it burned up the thin wires going from the commutator to the armature windings. With the breaker taking the brunt of this it's no wonder it failed. A new motor was ordered and on it's way, but would that solve all of this Camaro's headlight problems? In a word, no!

Once the new motor was hooked up I quickly discovered what burned up the other motor. You see, on the 67's headlight system there are limit switches, two per side. Their purpose is to kill the voltage to the motor (via the relay and aforementioned fuse) when the headlight door is in either the open or closed position. On this particular side the limit switch for the closed position was out of adjustment causing the motor to run continuously. The original motor probably overheated and the resulting amp draw damaged the breaker and fried the motor's armature. After the limit switch was properly adjusted, the Camaro's headlight system worked perfectly - well, almost. In my experience, electrical systems usually have more then one problem and this one was no exception.

 The last item the car suffered from was a dim headlight, one that I was told had plagued the Camaro for awhile. Changing out the headlight did not work, so I had to go back to the drawing board, literally. After pouring over the schematic and double checking all the connections, I discovered a ground lug that had been cut from the headlight harness. Apparently someone was in a hurry when they removed it at one time or another and never bothered to hook it back up. A word to the wise - grounds exist for a reason! Hook them up and don't feed the Gremlins!

FranktoidTM No. 7 - Ford Had The Better Idea

Did you know that the first child safety seat was made by an auto manufacturer? It looks like Ford was first out of the gate in early 1968, designing a seat equipped with a molded plastic shield fitted with a foam pad to protect young passengers. Ford dubbed it the "Tot-Guard". GM soon followed suit with it's own infant seat, and cleverly called it the "Love Seat for toddlers". GM is also credited with designing the first rear-facing child restraint seat. These early child safety seats are rarer then rare, and next to impossible to find a photograph of.

There are plenty of examples of earlier "child seats" but these are not to be confused with actual safety seats. These non-safety seats usually hung over the back of the front seat facing forward, with no restraints whatsoever. Franks Classic Car Blog has actually obtained a grainy, black and white photograph of the Ford safety seat, which I believe was a press handout back in the day.

Ford's first car seat. Too bad the child can't see forward.

Ode To Jay Leno

What can be said about Jay Leno that hasn't already been said? The man is a great comedian, businessman, philanthropist, and most of all, a great "car guy". I can remember when he took over for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. I always thought he was the perfect choice to fill those shoes. Years ago, I read an article somewhere that said he was a collector of classic cars. It went on to list some of the cars that he owned at the time, complete with pictures. All of a sudden I had a whole new appreciation for the guy. To me he now seemed even cooler, if that was even possible. Heck, it was his now famous garage (who's kidding who here, it's a warehouse) that was the impetus for me to build the Amberlight Garage. Make no mistake, these two garages are light years apart in both size and contents, but both are equal when it comes to appreciating old cars and mechanical things in general.

I have never had the pleasure of meeting him, but when you hang around classic car venues and talk with the folks there you tend to hear stories, and the story I always hear on Jay Leno is that he is really knowledgeable and easy to talk to, basically just like any other car guy. Of course the obvious difference is that he has one of the coolest vehicle collections in the world. So cool that I would gladly give my antique, glass faced Valvoline shop thermometer just to photograph it! Yea, I know he's famous and all that, but it's really his cars that are the stars.

So what can a guy like me do to see this incredible car collection? That's the million dollar question. I suppose I could just go up and ask him, but I would have to almost stalk the guy to get that opportunity and that is just a bit creepy. I'm sure most folks ask for Jay's autograph or a photo with him, and here I am asking to see his cars and photograph them! It probably seems wierd to most people but I know car guys get it. They know how it feels. They know the rush, the excitement, the absolute sheer awe of gazing upon a virtual cornucopia of mechanical marvels. It is basically the automotive equivalent of the The Rockettes; all beautiful bodies, lots of bright colors and lights, and it leaves you wanting to see more!

Do you think a regular Joe like myself even stands a chance of ever seeing Jay Leno's car collection, let alone photograph it? Let's face it, Jay's garage is the Holy Grail of garages, probably the coolest one on the planet. What's a garage junkie to do? And what about my fasination with garages? My garage fetish has been well documented on these very pages, from The Garage Mahal and Of Garages and Men to If You Build It They Will Come. I can think of no one more qualified to peruse this automotive labyrinth then myself, or maybe me and my buddy Duane, who is basically a walking automotive encyclopedia. One things for sure, at least I can add it to my bucket list.

Ghosts of Detroit

I ran across this video of Alan Hill, the man who lives in an abandoned Packard Automobile Plant in Detroit. This place would be a pickers paradise...