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MG MGB Technical - Headlight chrome rim replacing

There are heaps of threads about removing the chrome rim, but none about replacing the rim. I have purchased new headlight kits, and appear to have come accross the hardest part of restoring the car..getting the chrome finisher rims on! I have followed all manual instructions about placing the top on first and then pressing/pushing the rest on..NO WAY..there is little room for a start, especially where the wing panel protudes. Any suggestion please.
Gary Lock

Frankly, I usually do it starting from the bottom. You may need something like a spatula (or wide-blade screwdriver if you're careful) to lift up on the ring to slip it over the locking tab, but it will go into place okay. You've just gotta "stretch" it a bit.

R.
Rick Stevens

I'm a 'top-down' advocate. The bowls should have a couple of flanges sticking up at the top with a small gap between them and the rubber gasket. Insert the rolled edge of the ring (with the welded seam in the ring if it has one lowermost) into this space, press down, and then push the bottom part of the ring rearwards. There should be a spring-clip on the bowl which latches behind the rolled edge of the ring. Lubricate the spring clip and the whole of the inside part of the ring with Waxoyl beforehand to aid fitting, future removal, and rust prevention. Replacement bowls, even from MGB suppliers, may come with a generic screw fitting at the bottom which may be correct for other models but not the MGB. The spring clips themselves do not appear to be available separately. Fortunatly although my bowls were rotted out the clips themselves werten't too bad and were able to be transferred over to the new bowls after the screw fitting had been removed, fortunately the attachment points are the same.

I think rings for 1980 models have a couple of rivets on the top, implying a different top arrangement at least. These may not fit a pre-1980s bowl or vice-versa.
Paul Hunt 2

Many repro rims & buckets are simply wrong in dimension, so it may not be your fault. It is also common for the bucket mountings to be tightened way too tight, making it sink into the gasket on the wing; this makes it impossible to get the rim behind the little tits on the bucket top. Remove the bucket and check that it is in fact possible to get the rim over the edge in the normal fitted position, and that the bucket edge is not distorted. I have frequently had to do extensive rework on the rim and/or bucket flanges to get them to fit.
Paul is dead on about the clips - annoying!
The 80 rims are notched so you can adjust the light aim without removing any parts - a good idea and required by US law post 80 - so the rivets on the top hold a locater to align the notches with the adjusting screws. Some early rims have the locater without the notches, so that the screw hole at the bottom lines up on cars so equipped. The locater fits into a notch on the bucket flange.
FRM
FR Millmore

Yes, I've noticed that the new replacement rims don't have a spring clip, just the bracket with the screw fitting, which I have on my A. Anyone out there that knows where the correct clips can be sourced? I've also just checked a supply of old rings I have, and none of them are the same diameter!
Gary Lock

Moss Europe list them at £1.75 each
Dave O'Neill

Moss US show "clip, rim securing, 560-325" $2.20 in couple year old list. Note that the clip is not on the rim, but is on the bucket.
FRM
FR Millmore

dave is correct about the clip been avail as i got some for mine
the new bowls are not correctly made so need bending to fit the rim
i drilled a hole in the bottom edge of my chrome rim so i can pull them off with heavy duty wire or circlip pliers
ste
Ste Brown

For some flippin' reason my new trim rings didn't even go over the light bulb, never mind enough clearance to clip over the bowl edges. I sent them back and sourced two originals n decent shape. Originals clipped perfectly on the new bowls.

This was about six-seven years ago. Are the repros still that bad today?

Luigi
Luigi

I don't know...I'm hoarding old headlamp rims!
Dave O'Neill

I bought a new rim from Summit last year, so it's almost certainly a Moss one. This was to replace the original which had been rechromed once but was peeling again. I can't remember how I put it on, but it was not hard to do.
Stan Best

This thread was discussed between 12/01/2007 and 18/01/2007

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