griffith headlamps

[mrcosmos]

Hello everyone,new member,and a big hello to all the new friends I met at the GRIFF GROWL.Question is are the headlamps easy to remove through the access cover [wheel arch],I want clean inside the farings?.Thanks.

[antonyj]

First of all welcome and hello.
Where in chesire are you. Cant be to far away from Stoke if you work at bentley.



Its not an easy job, not sure whether you can remove the lamps themselves and them replace them without removing the whole pod.

You can certainly push the lamp into the pod , but get it back clipped in place one handed??

Maybe worth waiting till winter, take the pods out completely and refit them.

Edited by antonyj on Monday 2nd October 14:29

[mrcosmos]

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

[richb]

If you search the Griffith archives there are quite a few threads about removing the pods, mainly where owners have fitted the newer 7" lamps to replace the original 5" units. I believe the only way to get inside the hpod is to either remove the pod or the perspex. I think it's probably easier to remove the perspex but as I've not done either (just read a lot of threads about Griffs) don't take my word for it! Rich...

[antonyj]

mrcosmos said:

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

MrC , the lamps are fitted to the pods, the fairings are then sealed and screwed to the pods, then the whole lot fitted to the car.

[richb]

antonyj said:

mrcosmos said:

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

MrC , the lamps are fitted to the pods, the fairings are then sealed and screwed to the pods, then the whole lot fitted to the car.

Anthony, are you therefore saying that you can't simply remove the perspex from the front of the car by cutting the sealant?

[mrcosmos]

Thanks,might be easier to modify the vacuum cleaner with a thin tapered tube to get past the headlight.Hope the wife doesnt notice.

[richb]

mrcosmos said:

Thanks,might be easier to modify the vacuum cleaner with a thin tapered tube to get past the headlight.Hope the wife doesnt notice.

Humm I have a dedicated garage hoover (Henry actually) perhaps that's an idea!

[antonyj]

richb said:

antonyj said:

mrcosmos said:

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

MrC , the lamps are fitted to the pods, the fairings are then sealed and screwed to the pods, then the whole lot fitted to the car.

Anthony, are you therefore saying that you can't simply remove the perspex from the front of the car by cutting the sealant?

This is true Rich, the whole lot has to come out.

[GarryM]

richb said:

antonyj said:

mrcosmos said:

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

MrC , the lamps are fitted to the pods, the fairings are then sealed and screwed to the pods, then the whole lot fitted to the car.

Anthony, are you therefore saying that you can't simply remove the perspex from the front of the car by cutting the sealant?

Don't mean to butt in but the answer is "yes". The perspex is screwed into the glass fibre pod so the whole lot has to come out. It's not a pleasant job but there are plenty of tips on how to do it here and on the Griffith pages.

[antonyj]

As Garry says it aint pretty. getting them out is the easy bit.........

[Griffter]

As mentioned you can 'pop' the headlight units into the pod from behind, having removed the wheel arch access panel. Then you can get cloths, polish and a hoover nozzle into the pod through the headlamp hole. HOWEVER, you must put the headlamp unit into a beanie hat or something otherwise everytime you knock it with your hand or the hoover attachment you'll scratch the paint on the pod, or the perspex cover. Then, just when you think you're nearly finished, you've got to get the damn thing back in. This is very tricky (less so with practice), as you have to puch the retaining springs out of the way with a screwdriver and pull the headlamp unit back into position at the same time.

Frankly, having done it two or three times - even having written the above - I wouldn't bother. There's too much risk of ending up with clean, scratched pods - or worse, not getting the headlamp unit back and having to strip and rebuild the pod, a pig of a job by all accounts.

[mf68]

Mrcosmos

Here is a couple of links for you
1st one is a recent discusion about changing them to HID
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=9&t=308006&p=1

2nd one is a how to guide for taking them out and putting back in......
Courtesy of griffsmith, the hardest bit of the job i found is probably re-aligning the pods, apart from that not to bad
www.warks-tvr.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=52

martin

Edited to say welcome to griff ownership and enjoy the ear to ear grin

martin

Edited by mf68 on Monday 2nd October 20:27

[richb]

antonyj said:

richb said:

antonyj said:

mrcosmos said:

Hi thanks for the reply,but as an assembly it looks as if the pods[farings]are fitted first and the lamps next,but you are right about it being a winter job.

MrC , the lamps are fitted to the pods, the fairings are then sealed and screwed to the pods, then the whole lot fitted to the car.

Anthony, are you therefore saying that you can't simply remove the perspex from the front of the car by cutting the sealant?

This is true Rich, the whole lot has to come out.

Oh Didn't realise that...

[mrcosmos]

Thanks mf68,I think its going to be a job for the future[when the front needs repainting]and do it all in one go.Cheers.