Best Way to Align Headlights

[lazabby]

Tomorrow night i plan to adjust my headlights as they aren't pointed properly. I'm planing on using the "shine the lights on the garage door" trick. Any helpful hints on aligning the lights properly?

[DrJeff]

I just did the alignment last night. The prior night I took note of how far up the garage door the Honda shined. I adjusted the D's light to get to the same height. For the beams I just made sure they shone higher.

Only bit I wasn't sure about was the left-right setting on the lights. On the back roads around Houston I noticed that the drivers side light may have been a little to close to the oncoming traffic. Not really sure how to set that without trial and error.

[David T]

Be very careful with the plastic cover between the headlights. It breaks easily. Best to aim with headlight aimers but not required. If you search the Internet you will find procedures that you can measure up the wall to set the correct height. Usually with the car 20 feet from the wall (or door). On the older headlights such as we have the left light is pointed slightly lower and to the right than the right light.
David Teitelbaum

[Shep]

Just because I've been curious about this myself, are there any exact measurements for DeLorean headlights? In shop manuals for my other cars, it gives you measurements about how far away from a wall the car should be, how far up the wall the center of each headlight should reside, where the center should be left-to-right, the width/height of the beam, etc. Surely there must be those same types of measurements for DeLorean headlights?

The problem with comparing against the measurements for any other kind of car is not only could they be misaligned as well, but the width/height/shape/etc. of the headlights is different for every car, meaning the measurements that work for one car will make another car horribly misaligned. Driving a narrow '01 Civic, aligning my DeLorean headlights with those measurements would make them cross-eyed and pointed upwards into oncoming drivers' eyes. Having the exact measurements for DeLorean headlights would prevent that problem.

[Farrar]

I found these instructions on the Internet a while ago and they seem to work fine for me.

Farrar

[Shep]

I found these instructions on the Internet a while ago and they seem to work fine for me.

Farrar

Thanks!

I tend to be as accurate as possible when it comes to adjustable specifications such as this, and I didn't see any measurements other than space way from the vertical wall and how much gas should be in the tank (half-full at the top, full in the diagram caption, oddly enough). When they say "slightly" (for example, driver's side slightly to the right), how does that translate to actual units of measurement? Is "slightly" a quarter inch, three inches, half a foot, a whole foot, or even outside that range? To me, "slightly" is a quarter inch, but considering the border of the headlight's output area isn't an explicit line, I doubt this is accurate.

What about high beams? That article seems to address cars where the low beams and high beams are in the same unit (99% of cars made nowadays), but DeLoreans have one unit for low beams and one for high beams. How are high beams adjusted relative to the low beams? Do they point in the exact same place, or are they off a bit? And if they're off, how far off and in what direction? I apologize for the perhaps stupid questions, but as this is the first car I've ever owned more than 15 years old (and double that to boot), this is the first time I've ever needed to be concerned with headlight alignment.

[HollywoodF1]

Which screws are the adjustment screws? Do I need to remove anything to get to them?

[Gregadeth]

Which screws are the adjustment screws? Do I need to remove anything to get to them?

Each headlight has two adjustment screws. One on top, one on the side. The lights on the driver side have them on the right (when facing them from the front of the car), and the pass. side have them on the left. No need to remove anything but try not to bend the fascia too much when you have the screwdriver in there.

[Jonathan]

Each headlight has two adjustment screws. One on top, one on the side. The lights on the driver side have them on the right (when facing them from the front of the car), and the pass. side have them on the left. No need to remove anything but try not to bend the fascia too much when you have the screwdriver in there.

Also mentioning there is a spring on each headlight which is supposed to help pull the bucket back in the opposite direction to what you’re doing with those screws. Those springs can definitely be shot after 38 years and same for grit or rust on either the housing (one per side) or those buckets (two per side). There’s a few things that can inhibit any smooth adjustments so you might have to push and pull a little in addition to adjusting the screws to get them where you want. Keep in mind the bezel (outer ring) around each headlight is what holds the bulb itself in its bucket. 4 tiny screws per bezel. And then that whole thing adjusts together, up down left right. There is also a headlamp finisher little piece that covers the screws between the two headlights (one per side).

You can thankfully buy new everything again now if you need to. The replacement headlight housing assemblies are quite nice. Major pain in the ass job though as the fascia has to come off. Which means rockscreen, skirting, grill, etc. It’s a nice project once you’re finished because that area takes a lot of abuse over time and you’ll probably find more than a few of your fasteners are no longer there.

[WHO1DMC]

This spring I took out my headlight assembly's and had them powder coated and did not have to take the fascia off. So it can be done without all that work just a little finagling. Oddly enough the buckets on one side had little rust with the bracket having lots of rust the other side totally opposite.

David B.