The Yankee Express restomod build thread.

[Ghostrider 67]

Back to the 67 Charger headlights...lol. When I decided to install these I also decided to NOT use the huge, ugly, clunky drive motors. I had to find a more 'elegant' solution to turn those heavy buckets open and closed. After much searching around I found two small electric motors, 12v, that had three point mounting bosses. This would be needed to give them enough stability to remain solid while turning the heavy buckets. To use them I had to figure out, and fabricate, a mounting plate and install it at the correct distance from the buckets in order to be able to connect the drive shafts. I also had to drill the three mounting holes in the right configuration to have the motor body miss the grill mounting lower bar and the radiator. The OEM motors connected directly to the buckets via a loose 'hole and pin' deal. This would work for me too but it would need to be modified because the neck of the drive motor was also the center axle alignment provider. I no longer had that. I had to devise another way of keeping the buckets rotating mass center line stabile, AND, keeping the bucket correctly positioned left to right along that axle center line so they would align with the grill ends and the turn signal housings to get that seamless look across the front grill end to end. After thinking up, and discarding for various reasons, several ways of doing this I decided that hard nylon bushings were the way to go.
First I needed to ascertain the correct spacing to make that seamless face across the front so I mounted all the pieces up and adjusted to achieve it. Once I had that I then knew what thickness of bushings I needed and what the center hole ID needed to be to slide over the bucket end axle. We have a very nice hardware store family here in Vermont that has wicked good stores with everything under the sun in them. Including an aisle with every known fastener and type of nut and bolt and bushings and spacers. I bought a handful and began sanding down the outside of two of them in order to get the best diameter to fit snugly inside of the drive alignment 'donuts', I wanted to have to hammer them into those holes to ensure they stayed put. Then, I need to slice thin layers off of a couple more to make the correct thickness of spacers to hold /stand off the buckets from the those 'donut' holes that the axles pass through. Then I needed a way to connect the axle nub, with the lynch pin hole, to the smaller D shaft of the new drive motors. This meant that I needed a sleeve to slide over the drive nub with a hole for the lynch pin to pass through both pieces, and, another sleeve, or a step down to the D shaft diameter all in the same sleeve. I don't have the technology to fabricate such a one piece sleeve so it was going to be a two piece deal. I needed a second sleeve that had the correct ID to slide over the D shaft AND the correct OD to slide INTO the other sleeve and all ends needed to be threaded holes to insert set screw bolts or smooth holes for pins.
What to use for this?
I always like to use what I have, rather than buying new stuff. So, I poked around in the garage looking for something metal that would allow me to accomplish all of the above.
Times two. two motors....lol.
I found, in the bottom of a drawer, several steel pipes with threads on each end, all 6" long. Perfect!
That got one side of the thing but I still needed bits to slide inside those with the right ID diameter. After another search of my space I found a steel pipe leaning in a corner that just happened to be perfectly sized for this. Go figure....

I began measuring and figuring out exactly how long each bit had to be for the whole thing to hook together, and end up the correct length over all, to connect the motors to the buckets.
Once I had that, I cut them up. Then clamped them up and drilled for set screw holes or pin passthrough holes. Then tapped the ones for the screws and did a little finish grinding to get them to go together smoothly. Before I assemble them for the final install I will sand them all down and polish them up nicely. I used whatever clunky bolts I had laying around for the mock up but will use nice black steel set screws when I install it. Worked like it was designed to. Done.
Pics..