Date:         Thu, 14 May 2009 18:59:54 -0500
Reply-To:     Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Subject:      Re: Headlight Adjuster Fix - Upper Outboard Corner
In-Reply-To:  <4A0C2BD0.9070604@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

As I said in my response to the original fix for the NLA part, using
a quality epoxy is the key to making this repair last
forever.  Depending on the "putty" you used, it might last forever,
but especially in cold vibration-prone climates, I can see that stuff
cracking away due to it not having any fiber content in it for strength.

What to do?  Ifl you don't have some regular fiberglass matt or cloth
in your shop, so find some or use some kevlar scraps or Dynel or
whatever will bond with your resin.  Cut it up into 1/4" to 1/2"
chards and mix all that in with your resin. If it doesn't thicken up
enough in the pot, add a thickening agent such as Colloidal Silica,
or do it on the cheap by adding baby powder or corn starch.  Tempra
paint powder will work too if you want to color it for UV
protection.  The important thing is to get the mixture to a "cold
peanut butter" viscosity and then  shape it alike you want it.  It is
possible to get the mixture over-saturated with cloth and thickener
to where nothing will bond, so take it easy and add a little at a
time.  As far as the threads go, if you were really anal about it,
you could just make the plug and then shape it once it's set up and
then drill a smaller hole and then run a metric tap (of the proper
thread pitch and size)down in there instead of gooing up the existing
bolt.  a really brittle epoxy might not tolerate that, but the more
flexible resin systems would.


I'm also wondering if a larger rubber well nut arrangement wouldn't
work with some modification.  Have to think about that one a while.

DM&FS

At 09:33 AM 5/14/2009, John Rodgers wrote:
>Yarrrrgh!! Another broken adjuster. Now I have a broken one on each side
>of the van. I was working and just bumped that sucker and it fell to
>pieces. Rotten, brittle plastic. Now these parts are NLA - What to do,
>what to do?
>
>Well, I considered it, and came up with two ways to go about this. These
>methods assume the front portion of the adjuster where the screw head is
>is still functional. In my experience it is the bases that fail most often.
>
>Solution  #1:
>1) Removed all shards of the old adjuster base, leaving the functioning
>upper part where the screw head is in place. Nothing was wrong with it.
>2) Cleaned and lightly sanded the surface on both sides of the metal
>where the old base snapped in place.
>3) Greased the existing screw with vaseline.
>4) Mixed epoxy putty, and squished it around the screw and through the
>holes in the sheet metal, so the epoxy putty had physical connection on
>both sides of the sheet metal.
>5) As the epoxy hardened, I turned the screw gently, to prevent it from
>being grabbed by the epoxy. The vaseline was the release agent.
>6) Epoxy hardened - now I have a solid base for the screw, the light is
>now securely fastened and doesn't move around, and the light alignment
>can be adjusted.
>Comment: A certain amount of eyeballing must be done to be sure things
>are in place as this goes together.
>
>Not an elegant solution, but it works. And, it will prol'ly last as long
>as those stupid plastic adjusters.
>
>Solution #1 is a quick fix, but you Volks living in very cold climates
>may want to consider Solution #2 since we( me being an old Alaskan) know
>what cold does to plastic things.
>
>Solution #2:
>1) Remove all shards of the old adjuster base, leaving the functioning
>upper part where the screw head is in place. Nothing  wrong with it.
>2) Clean and lightly sand the surface on both sides of the metal where
>the old base snapped in place
>3) From 3/16 in. or 1/4 in, sheet steel or aluminum (  Aluminum is
>easier) cut a piece big enough to cover the adjuster-base hole, and have
>a bit of lip beyond the edge of the hole.
>4) Identify the size and thread of the screw and drill a hole dead
>center of the metal, then tap it with a threading tap for the adjuster
>screw.
>5) Epoxy this metal plate into position over the existing adjuster base
>hole, centering the drilled hole over the adjuster base hole.
>6) Run the adjuster crew into the new threaded hole.
>7) On the opposite side away from the light, a steel nut with a friction
>locking ring can be epoxied to the metal plate. BE SURE to lubricate the
>screw so the epoxy doesn't get into where it doesn't belong and lock
>things up.
>
>OK - there it is. A fairly elegant way to get around the NLA adjuster
>problem, and it should last a long time. If you want to REALLY make
>certain, fasten the metal plate with the new threaded hole to the sheet
>metal with a couple of pop rivets..And if you have access to aircraft
>hardware - be it a store or a catalog - you can find fiber lock nuts
>with a tab on one side that can also be riveted or screwed down to
>anchor them. In aircraft applications they are most often riveted in place.
>
>I opted for the first solution due to time constraints, but I plan to
>come back to it and apply solution #2, which - with the pop rivets, is a
>bit more secure, less likely to be affected by temperature.
>
>Regards,
>
>John Rodgers
>88 GL Driver,
>Chelsea, AL