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MG MGB Technical - Headlamp trims

Having recently purchased some Cibie replacement headlamps I decided to also replace the corroded adjusters and give the bowls etc a general tidy up. It always seemed to me that the outer rims never sat very well and were difficult to get off and on. I searched forums and read Paul Hunts excellent site for advice. One thing that I found was a reference to the retaining spring being at 5 o'clock on the LH side and 7 o'clock on the RH side, but mine are both at 5 o'clock making it very difficult to get to the RH one. Looking in the parts lists shows that the bowls are not handed and the same part number is listed for both sides.

My LH one goes on 'OKish' and sits round the lens with a reasonably equal gap all round. The RH one does not clip on very strongly and there is a large gap at the top and an overlap of the lens at the bottom.

The two rims look very similar, but one is brass and the ill fitting one is stainless. Bearing in mind that I am not looking for 'originality' as it is a Heritage shell and used as a road rally car, should I start again with two new rims and, if so, the more expensive brass originals or the cheaper pattern ones?
Graham Gilmore

Graham,
You make a big assumption about symmetry. Especially with a heritage shell!! Both my wings on the GT are heritage replacements and they couldn't be more different. My roadster is a complete heritage shell, absolutely nothing symmetrical about that. Out of 4 wings there are 2 headlamps which fit properly, unfortunately not on the same car, and that's despite many hours of "tinkering". The after-market rims are far more parallel than the original items and don't fit as well either.
Allan Reeling

The spring should be at 5 o'clock on each side. As you say, the bowls are identical.
Dave O'Neill 2

Thanks for confirming the 5 o'clock rule Dave.

By 'far more parallel' Allan I assume that you mean that they do not have much curve on them. Are the current 'original' ones therefore a better buy than the after market 'Z' ones?

The attached picture shows my current situation with a large gap at the top, around 1/4" and no clearance at the bottom.

Graham Gilmore

"One thing that I found was a reference to the retaining spring being at 5 o'clock on the LH side and 7 o'clock on the RH side"

Do I say that somewhere? Can't remember, and I can't find it. If that is on my pages I'd be grateful for a pointer as to where :o)

The bowls certainly should be the same, although I have replaced my left-hand one in the past.
Paul Hunt

The whole unit seems set very low down. The rim must be resting on the wing recess. It looks like the bowl needs to be fixed higher in the wing.
Allan Reeling

The problem is that the combination of a old headlamp bowls and new rims or vice versa doesn't seem to work. I find that the solution is to reduce the angle of the wedge at the top of the bowl, and this allows the rim to clip on easily and sit a little lower to clear the lower edge of the reflector and leave a uniform gap between the reflector and the finishing rim all round.
dominic clancy

Graham,
Here is a pic of my headlamp and rim. As you can see the rim is only just below the top of the wing.

Allan Reeling

This thread was discussed between 30/12/2014 and 02/01/2015

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