TR2 & TR3 Forum

I purchased four chromed headlight rims for my two TR3's (a 1960 "A" and a 1962 "B". Both cars have the two adjuster style headlight buckets. I can not get them to fit well. There is about a 1/4 inch gap at the bottom and they do not feel secure at all. The catalog states they are for later North American spec TR3A's. Has anyone else had this trouble?

Where did you get them from. I got a set from Moss that don't fit well. They sit out further then they should, and that's a new set of buckets that I also got from Moss. I know that others have had a similar problem as I have with the Moss rims.

If you look at the pic below, you will see how the sealed beams look recessed.

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Art


Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

The gap at the bottom sounds like the tab is not going into the metal clip. On my 3A, I had to stick the removal tool in backwards, between the ring & headlight, to push the tab through the clip. Otherwise the tab would just bend.

Art, it looks like your car would look a lot better with the narrow rims. I forget the change point offhand, but they should fit the same buckets.

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Randall
56 TR3 TS13571L Once and future daily driver
71 Stag LE1473L awaiting engine rebuild
7? Stag awaiting gearbox rebuild

Yes, they are the ones Moss is selling. I now see in the Rimmer catalog they have different part numbers for the three adjuster and the two adjuster headlight buckets. The strange thing is that there is an alternate part number that fits both versions and that number is also on the boxes from Moss.(124020)

A friend was over today and managed to get one rim mounted. He hooked the bottom clip first, then lifted the top clip in place. No luck mounting the second side.

Randall, I look into that, but another problem with the bucket and rim combination (which came as a complete unit BTW) is that the rim does not fit well up against the back by the body work. Maybe the narrow rims will correct that also.

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Art


Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin

Hmm. That almost sounds like the rim is not getting hooked over the little flange on the bucket. Maybe do a trial assembly with the bucket not mounted?

But there is no doubt that "new" parts frequently don't fit right. Last time I ordered some TR3A style trim rings from TRF, they showed up with the tabs riveted to the drain hole! TRF confirmed that the entire batch was bad (but shipped me new ones in just a few days).

Then when I went back to the proper TR3 style trim rings, I installed some genuine Wipac replacements, that were much tighter than they should have been. I actually used a block of wood and a hammer to get them in place! Most likely they won't come off without damage, so I'll probably be buying new ones again.

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Randall
56 TR3 TS13571L Once and future daily driver
71 Stag LE1473L awaiting engine rebuild
7? Stag awaiting gearbox rebuild

On my previous TR3A, I used the rock catcher wire mesh covers to hold the rims on. Otherwise they fell off when they wanted to and got dented on the road.

Jerry

I had the same problem... found out i was installing them wrong... you need to put them on loosely and then lift from the bottom of the rim and push them on. pain in the rear but once you get the hang of it the rims fits pretty well.

THANKS! That seem backwards but it does work.

I have the same problem. Mine look like they are about to fall off. Can someone post a diagram, picture, video of how they should be fitted on a late TR3 (?

Also having problems fitting my headlight rims , just don’t fit securely, one with car one bought from RF.

On my 3A, I had to turn the removal tool around backwards, and use it to push the tab into the clip. Otherwise, the tab would just bend.
I don't know if they were original, but they were old when I got the car in 83.

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Randall
56 TR3 TS13571L Once and future daily driver
71 Stag LE1473L awaiting engine rebuild
7? Stag awaiting gearbox rebuild

I recently got the complete headlamp assemblies from Moss Motors, part 544-000, link
https://mossmotors.com/headlamp-assembly-sealed-beam?assoc=41886
for my '61 TR3A.

Note that the link says Sealed Beam, but they are actually H4 units, as can be seen in the picture. Anyway, complete units, yet I had all the troubles described in this thread, and then some. Will add more later, but solved the rim-fitting problem with an oddball solution.

Had to do a bit of flange grinding on the headlamp housings to even get the rims to go over the lamps when mounted. Then, try as I might, no way to get the rims to snap over the buckets as they should, without leaving the captive nut/bolts ridiculously loose. First, I should mention that though the TR is in very good shape in many ways, only two of the captive nut/bolt combos were original from the PO. Others were either left off, or sketchy non-captive hard-to-get-at nuts. And they don't come with the assembly. Didn't know I'd need more, when I ordered the assemblies.

So, ordered nuts from Moss, part 158-046. There was no picture, but "where-used" claimed it was the right part. Meanwhile, Moss takes a long time shipping and I refuse to pay extra for faster. Amazon is pretty quick. So I found "cage nuts" with screws, that are used to assemble server racks. Link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0784RLMZF/

Indeed, they did arrive faster. At first, they looked too big, so I decided to wait for the Moss ones. BUT when they came they were even bigger! Way bigger than the two original ones. Did I mention there was no picture on the Moss listing?

So I tried the cage nuts, and they worked! Barely, but the Moss nuts would never fit. So I put things together, leaving off the nylon washers and the v-shaped thick washers that came with the server nuts. To my disappointment, I still could not get the rings to snap on. I knew about getting them over the retaining ridges on the top, and into the bracket on the bottom (story for another time!) but still no dice.

I found I COULD snap them over the buckets with the buckets off the car. So I finally figured there was just not enough space behind the back of a bucket when it was tightened down against the car. Then a serendipitous thought: What if I put the rather thick server washers between the bucket metal and the (new) rubber gaskets that go against the car? (see picture) This might allow some play behind the bucket metal for the rim to snap into place. And that's exactly what happened. By carefully adjusting the server screws, I could get a pretty solid fit against the car, and when the rings finally snapped into place, the rings made a tight seal against the rubber gasket, and held it very tight against the car. Now I can pop them off (using a tool made from a bent butter knife), and pop them back on, with only minimal force. And they are completely solid.

The thick washers allowed for exact tension adjustment by compressing into the rubber (I put the sides with the V against the gasket). Without the washers, no way was the rim itself going to be able to compress the gasket rubber enough without hammering it on (I tried with a rubber hammer--still no).

Who would guess server cage nuts would do the trick, and even their weird washers would help? And Moss Motors, hey, figure out those captive nuts! I've posted pictures below showing the three kinds of nuts: original, Moss, and server nuts. It's hard to see in the picture, but the flanges on the Moss nuts are way too wide to fit in the square TR3 body holes. And the nuts are so big, even if the flanges were ground down, the nuts would keep the flanges from coming in enough to get through the square holes...I tried it!

Also see the pictures of the server bolts in use. Hope this helps somebody! Maybe some ring/bucket combos are different, but I'd still be gnashing my teeth and probably have bent the rings without these server cage nuts!

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken
--Oscar Wilde