The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Inner lights have a backless backing bowl, more of a mounting ring really, outers have a full bowl, which was originally steel, modern substitutes are plastic. New inners are not really available, but you can easily cut the back out of a tin or plastic outer to make an inner.

Steve

Carledo wrote:Inner lights have a backless backing bowl, more of a mounting ring really, outers have a full bowl, which was originally steel, modern substitutes are plastic. New inners are not really available, but you can easily cut the back out of a tin or plastic outer to make an inner.

Steve

Steve

That sounds how my inners are no bowl as such,do you know if a bowl will fit ?

Dave

new to this wrote:

Carledo wrote:Inner lights have a backless backing bowl, more of a mounting ring really, outers have a full bowl, which was originally steel, modern substitutes are plastic. New inners are not really available, but you can easily cut the back out of a tin or plastic outer to make an inner.

Steve

Steve

That sounds how my inners are no bowl as such,do you know if a bowl will fit ?

Dave

TBH i've never tried, why would you? But I can think of 2 reasons why not, 1) it may not fit and 2) the absence of a bowl, at least on the offside, lets more cold air into the carbs behind it. On my 2 headlight car I have actually got the cone air filter where the back of the inner lamp would be.

Steve

a bowl will not fit due to a inner steel panel behind the front valance.

As the shortcut not showing the topic - here is the picture.



Paul

I trimmed my down to fit and using polymorph and sealant to bond it to the panel to stop crap getting in.

Carledo wrote:

new to this wrote:

Carledo wrote:Inner lights have a backless backing bowl, more of a mounting ring really, outers have a full bowl, which was originally steel, modern substitutes are plastic. New inners are not really available, but you can easily cut the back out of a tin or plastic outer to make an inner.

Steve

Steve

That sounds how my inners are no bowl as such,do you know if a bowl will fit ?

Dave

TBH i've never tried, why would you? But I can think of 2 reasons why not, 1) it may not fit and 2) the absence of a bowl, at least on the offside, lets more cold air into the carbs behind it. On my 2 headlight car I have actually got the cone air filter where the back of the inner lamp would be.

Steve

Steve

Glad i asked the question,and didnt jump in like bull in china shop,like i usually do,hadnt thought about air flow mind you at the moment i have lots of air flow with rusted light mounting

Dave

Flyfisherman wrote:a bowl will not fit due to a inner steel panel behind the front valance.



Paul

Paul

Thanks ,i see what you mean,your car looks in good condition

Dave

new to this wrote:

Flyfisherman wrote:a bowl will not fit due to a inner steel panel behind the front valance.



Paul

Paul

Thanks ,i see what you mean,your car looks in good condition

Dave

Dave

thanks for your comment regarding the condition of my car - the headlight retension panels / spacer brackets are held in position via set screws and rivnuts, makes it easy to remove if required, all parts were powder coated prior to fitment.

Paul

Flyfisherman wrote:

new to this wrote:

Flyfisherman wrote:a bowl will not fit due to a inner steel panel behind the front valance.



Paul

Paul

Thanks ,i see what you mean,your car looks in good condition

Dave

Dave

thanks for your comment regarding the condition of my car - the headlight retension panels / spacer brackets are held in position via set screws and rivnuts, makes it easy to remove if required, all parts were powder coated prior to fitment.

Paul

Paul

that's a good idea making it re-moveable, may do some thing like that my self

Dave

When I fit my new club headlamp support panels, I will be screwing rather than welding too! It will make it a few minutes work to remove the entire pair of lights to clean behind them, an area which is almost totally inaccessible under normal "standard" conditions. This will also make it a doddle to clean and lubricate the headlamp adjusters. I will also be using self tappers and spire nuts to secure the headlamp bowls to the mounting plates, rather than the pop rivets that were originally used.

It is in our own interest to make these small design alterations, the way the factory did it was not necessarily the BEST way, just the CHEAPEST.
With more time on our hands, a bit of lateral thinking and free labour, we can do BETTER than new!

Steve

Carledo wrote:When I fit my new club headlamp support panels, I will be screwing rather than welding too! It will make it a few minutes work to remove the entire pair of lights to clean behind them, an area which is almost totally inaccessible under normal "standard" conditions. This will also make it a doddle to clean and lubricate the headlamp adjusters. I will also be using self tappers and spire nuts to secure the headlamp bowls to the mounting plates, rather than the pop rivets that were originally used.

It is in our own interest to make these small design alterations, the way the factory did it was not necessarily the BEST way, just the CHEAPEST.
With more time on our hands, a bit of lateral thinking and free labour, we can do BETTER than new!

Steve

Steve

when you say spire nuts,are they small plastic clips that you then put a screw in the middle,the stag headlights are put together using that method

Dave

A Spire nut is a narrow U shaped spring steel clip with a hole in one side and a matching thread bit to take a self tapper in the other side, the U bit fits either side of the panel you wish to screw to (near edges only, obviously) A cheaper alternative to rivnuts and perfect for this job.

Steve