I finally got my 79 more-or-less running, so now I'm onto less serious problems:

Whenever I raise the headlights, the left side (generally) stays up, but the right side will cycle up and down constantly.

It does this whether I use the switch on the dash or on the steering column. The actual lights work fine (although they're very dim, probably original bulbs).

If I flip the switch to raise the headlights, then get out and hold them both up, they'll stay in place for a while, until I hit a tiny bump in the road, at which point one or both will start cycling again (usually just the right side, though). Flipping the switch to lower the headlights has always worked fine, and they never pop up on their own.

So, searching this forum tells me that there's some sort of sensor in the motors that tells them where 'Up' and 'Down' are, maybe that's what's going bad? Is there any way to test that short of replacing it? Can it be fixed? Or am I on the wrong track entirely? Since this only seems to happen when the car is moving, maybe it's just a bad connection somewhere that is easily shaken loose?

 

I've had this happen before. Clamped alongside the headlight motor is a small rectangular relay (about 1 1/4 X 2") under a rubber cover with a connector going to it. You can remove the cover by prying up a few bent tabs that keep the cap attached to the base. Inside you will find some contacts (like a set of Ignition points) I've had luck by lightly sanding the faces of the contacts with a emery board for fingernails and hitting them with some WD-40.

 

That did the trick, thanks a lot. I was not expecting this to be such a simple fix.

 

The electronic technology used on these cars is a bit clunky compared to today, but that is not entirely bad. I've wondered how todays hi-tech super machines will be kept running in 50 yrs to be collectable. A backyard mechanic may need to hoard black boxes and computers just to keep his 2025 Camaro on the road.

 

dunno, but things are getting obsolete with time and even if they're hi-tech now, after 50 years they would be just as we see '80s cars nowadays

 

but... if you change some details in there, you can easily use this car, I love old cars, they're better than new ones, they have an old chic

 

Spot on. I love being able to refurb this stuff with simple tools. I've fixed numerous contacts this way. Real amps and volts!

 

Old things are much better than new ones. They have this very special chich of the past
I've always had problems with the flashlights on my old bike. As you have probably understood, I'm in love with old stuff, so I'm always trying to upgrade or even reconstruct the old stuff before just throwing it away. Every adequate man would throw my old bike away without any repairing processes, however, I'm not that adequate, lol. I decided to renovate it and even ordered some flashlights on . I'm so happy that I managed to upgrade it, I have so many happy memories connected to it