'70 Charger park light housings: Why is everything such a pain?

[Coelacanth]

I tried to install my restored park light housings with new repro lenses to my front valance. You'd think this should be idiot-simple, 3 bloody screws per side, but do you think I could get them all lined up with the mounting tab on top and bolted in?! Nope!

The valance is off the car and freshly painted, everything looks straight. I have the metal housings correctly located on right and left sides. But even if I just screw in the 2 machine screws on the bottom posts of the housings, the lenses aren't centered evenly in the park light holes in the valance. With the 2 machine screws installed, it seems like there's no way for the third sheetmetal tapping screw to reach the hole & retaining clip in the upper mounting tabs.

I can take pics tonight but the valance looks perfect, no bends, no damage anywhere, and these were my original park light assemblies. Are these infamous for fitting so poorly? No matter what I tried, it looked like the lenses were touching or obstructing with the park light holes in the valance, not even close to being evenly centered.

 

[70 sublime]

Is the valance a 1970 part or reproduction ?

 

[Coelacanth]

Is the valance a 1970 part or reproduction ?

My original valance. It was removed, prepped and painted. Some pics of it from last summer, but I'll get some pics of how the park lights look with just the 2 screws on bottom of each housing holding them into supposedly the correct position. I have another spare valance that's beat up but the park light holes look good, I might have to compare them closely. But I had a quick look last night and the mounting tabs look positioned the same way.

With the park light housings each mounted with just the 2 bottom screws, both lenses are obstructing with the right sides of the park light holes and not centered nicely, and not even close to letting me screw in the single top screws in the mounting tab retainer clips. Infuriating...

 

[davek]

If its all original it should work. Sometimes we need to walk away and go back later. Could your single screw tab be bent?

 

[Coelacanth]

If its all original it should work. Sometimes we need to walk away and go back later. Could your single screw tab be bent?

Those single-screw tabs are literally the only thing that is moveable. I've tried bending them up/down within reason but in order for the retainer clip holes to line up with the housing holes, they would need to move left/right quite a bit, and that's not really possible. Those tabs will bend up/down but they don't bend sideways hardly a bit.

I know people are thinking I got the L & R side housings mistaken, but they're correct; "L" on the driver side of the valance.

 

[Coelacanth]

This guy is describing the exact same issue I'm seeing. However, his solution seems rather vague.

Front Valance - Parking Lights

Looking at the housing and mounting tab on the valance and retainer clip, the only logical way to install the housing is with the mounting tab and clip on the valance inserted between the housing mounting "arm" and plastic lens. I can't see it installing any other way?

 

[davek]

Did you try for kicks to see if you reverse them if they would work? left to right

 

[Coelacanth]

Did you try for kicks to see if you reverse them if they would work? left to right

Yes, and ridiculously, the light marked "R" actually fit the oval hole better when I mounted it on the wrong (driver) side. The one marked "L", however, didn't fit worth a damn when I tried installing it on the passenger side. It would seem the valance is messed up but it looks perfect, and the 2 machine screw holes attaching the bottom of the housings to the valance are perfect, and those should center the housings properly. I'll get some pics later tonight and grab the beat-up valance out of the garage to compare between the freshly-painted original and the beat-up one, that's also an original, not a repro...just not original to my car.

 

[davek]

Going out to look at mine,I have an original and repop valance.

 

[Coelacanth]

Going out to look at mine,I have an original and repop valance.

Thanks, I'd be interested to see pics showing how well (or badly) your park light lenses are centered in the valance holes.

 

[davek]

Pass side is right light ,I put the screw on top just to hold it. 1970 charger

 

[Coelacanth]

Well, during that "step away from it and think" stage, I realized I made a major brain-fart. The housings are marked "L" and "R", and they were clearly installed on the correct sides of the valance. The repro lenses, however, are not marked "L" or "R". I mistakenly assumed they were the same, but obviously they're not symmetrical. I had installed the lenses on the wrong side housings. D'oh! This also explained why the housing I installed on the wrong side kind of fit better.
Sharing this idiot moment because I'm sure I won't be the last person to do this...

 

[Richard Cranium]

Well, during that "step away from it and think" stage, I realized I made a major brain-fart. The housings are marked "L" and "R", and they were clearly installed on the correct sides of the valance. The repro lenses, however, are not marked "L" or "R". I mistakenly assumed they were the same, but obviously they're not symmetrical. I had installed the lenses on the wrong side housings. D'oh! This also explained why the housing I installed on the wrong side kind of fit better.