Where is the control box on the Fiero?

Sorry, don't know. On the TA it was on the firewall. You can see it in picture 1 on the left. Its about 5-6" square, and slides into a sleeve-type bracket.

BTW, I saw one on ebay, minus connectors, for about $40.

Bob

That's sweet! I'd like to do hidden headlights on my LeMans some day. Good to know there's electric motor options!

All this talk...... no price. How much? Money burning holes in pockets....

I'm not selling anything. I'll be glad to tell you how I did it.

Bob

Bob, glad to see that the conversion can be accomplished with electric. I was thinking of using spare vacume parts from a 1970 mark 3 lincoln, but your design appears to be a pleasure. Thanks for sharing. Nick

The final touches!
 

I finally finished up the headlight conversion.

• Rebuilt the one motor to take the slop out
• Added a wire that senses when the headlights are on or off, to automatically open/shut the doors
• Deleted the dash switch for manual operation
• Cleaned up the wiring at the firewall and harness to the doors

Now the setup snaps open and closed - no slop. Operation is transparent to the driver - pull the headlight switch, doors open.

I am very pleased!

Regards,
Bob Trimpe

Bob, thanks for sharing the info, I'm considering doing this coversion. Is it still working well for you. Any additional suggestions/info you have to offer?

I watched your videos and it seems to work well, but I noticed something in the first video that does not seem to match what is in the text of your post.

The title of the video is "1968 GTO pneumatically-operated headlights are configured to operate using two headlight motors from 1996 Pontiac Trans Am."

The text of the post appears to indicate parts from an 87-92 Firebird.

What year Firebird are your conversion parts from?

They are from a 1991 T/A. Not sure where the title came from - its been a while since I posted it. Probably my typo.

The project has been solid ever since. I had one instance where one side got "over-center" and one was going up when the other went down! I put a bumper in to limit door travel in either direction.

Several people have remarked on the crisp action of my hideaways, and asked how I tweaked the pneumatics to get it that way. I show them the motors and they are impressed.

Thank you for posting this project. I'm going to be facing this situation in the next year and this is great info.

Ames has been talking about a complete electirc hideaway conversion but they can't seem to get it done. I call every once in a while to keep the fire going. The more calls they get requesting this set up, the more motivated I'm sure they'll become.. hint hint.

1 800 421 2637

I,too have done an electric conversion on my hide-aways using motors and brackets from a fiero(I have the prototype work done,have'nt finished it yet as I'm working on other aspects of the car right now)I used the actual housings that the motors mounted to in the Fiero,made some small brackets(arms)to connect the motors to the GTO headlight brackets.At one point,I offered to Ames(twice)diagrams,notes and pictures of the work I completed for perhaps a minimal store credit(since I have and will be spending thousands),but no response.BTW,A big thank you to fyrebird 68 for the help,pictures,idea,etc.

Paint Guy, do the Fiero Motors have advantages over the 87/92 Firebird motors, and if so, what are they?

Do the Fiero Motors have "built in limiters" or do you need to use a seperate module with them?

The boneyard guy told me the fiero and t/a motors are the same(i don't know for sure)The electrics(module,relays,harness)I got out of a bird,have only hooked it up to the extent that I've run the motors off a battery to open and close the headlights,they stop because I removed the voltage,but i'm going to install the module because I've been told that when it senses resistance(the motor stopping)it cut the voltage to the motors.(can you tell I'm not an electrical whiz?)I'm also going to install on the motor brackets themselves a stop along the lines of a hood stop/adjustment,so that I can align the doors perfectly when they are closed.(I never liked the looks of hide-away doors that were not perfectly aligned)Hope this helps.

There are two"generations" of GM headlight door motors in the 82-92 era, including Fiero and Friebird. The later ones (abouty 1989 up) are a more robust design and use a separate controller for current regulation. The big problem I had with my first design using a Le Baron motor was the motor overdrove the doors, causing lots of stress on the mechanics.

If you're scrounging at the boneyard, be sure to get both motors, the controller on the firewall and the bolts that held the motors to the doors.

fyrebird68,the motors I have are out of a fiero,module out of a bird(years unknown on either)how can I tell if they're compatable?thanks in advance for your help.

I went to a local junkyard and bought parts from a 90 Firebird today. Got the module, some wiring and the right side headlight motor (the left side motor was missing) The yard said that 87 to 92 use the same motor.

I got the plugs for the motors and the plugs for the module but had to cut the wiring. A lot of wires on the module. I have to assume(hope) that not all are needed for this application.

Bob, can you please supply info on how to wire the module?

I have not played with the motor yet. It has a 2 wire plug. I assume that it grounds through the mounts and that you apply power to one wire to go up and the other to go down. Is this correct?

Anyone have a left side HL motor they want to sell?

Another question.

You said you rebuilt one of the motors. Where did you get parts for the rebuild and is it difficult to rebuild? Any tip/tricks you would be willing to share?

Gen I and Gen II motors are not compatible or interchangeable. They physically look different. Check the pic at the beginning of this thread for a pic of a gen II motor. (The gen I motors are bigger, I believe.)

The Gen II system is also a hot swap for the Fiero crowd (I have a Fiero as well.)

There are a multitude of rebuild kits an ebay for cheap. They consist of three nylon cylinders a little bigger than an eraser. Take the motor gearbox apart and you'll find they sit in three little niches 120 deg. apart. They're like overload clutches - they self-destruct if there's a jam, rather than strip the gear.

If the gear itself is shot in your motor, I have seen rebuild kits that sell an aluminum replacement gear. Expensive.

While you're in there, clean the rotor with an eraser. I use a track eraser that the model railroaders use to clean track. Looks like an eraser but a LITTLE more abrasive. Blow the dust out from the brushes as well.

Actually, they're polarity-reversed by the controller. I'll dig out the drawings I did and scan them for you.