MTFCA Forum

I know there are people on the forum who know the trick to get the headlight gasket to stay in place long enough to get the lens and outer ring in place. I'm thinking about small dabs of silicone on the gasket to hold it on the reflector. I had also thought of hoisting the front bumper up high enough for the rear end to almost touching the ground. Doing this would get the reflectors much closer to horizontal. I ruled that one out as I'm too short to reach the headlights then.

There has to be an "old timer's" trick. Please share.

Cheers,
Terry

You are correct, a small dab of silicon in a few places hold the rope in place just be sure to leave a small gap at the bottom for water drainage.

or a few drops of super glue works well

I use my hot glue gun - work my way around with a dab top to bottom on both sides.

I used dabs of grease with success.

I'm with Steve, borrows your wife's hot glue gun, it woks great!

Thank you all for the suggestions. I had thought of the grease but did not think about hot glue or super glue. With this help, I'm sure I can get the headlights together now.

Thank You!!

"Rubber Cement" would work well. The stuff I'm thinking of came in a bottle and was often used around offices. It's a thick, amber fluid with an airplane glue odor that dries quicky to a rubber-like consistency. Once dried, it can usually be rubbed or rolled off most surfaces.

Pat,
I know exactly what you're talking about. One problem: My wife puts it in her hand, lets it dry, they rolls it up to make boogers. Nope, No Rubber Cement That is a great idea though. Thank You.

mtntee20 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 05, 2021 11:07 am

Pat,
I know exactly what you're talking about. One problem: My wife puts it in her hand, lets it dry, they rolls it up to make boogers. Nope, No Rubber Cement That is a great idea though. Thank You.

Contact cement or Superglue used sparingly.

you can add Vaseline to the list....only thing I've ever used since back in the day when my first rim fell off on a ride...I had to punt with the closest thing around to stop the 'cussin' Have never thought to use anything else.

When I originally restored my ‘26 coupe in 1970-72, I had an old man helping me. Mr. Moore had worked for the Ford Motor Company in the 1920’s and was also a Model T mechanic. As a 16 year old kid, I relied heavily on his advice and he showed me how they installed the 1/8” cotton cord gaskets in the headlights in the day. The rope gaskets were cut so that the ends did not touch, but left a gap. Applying some gasket sealant to the cord, he positioned the cord in the reflector groove so that the gap between the rope ends was positioned at the bottom. This was in case water got into the head light, it could drain out. The headlight drawings in the resource section of the forum show the gaskets as solid pieces (with no gap), but the original Model T gaskets were 1/8” cotton cord and were sold as such. That is why the groove in the reflector is rounded. Jim Patrick

As Jim pointed out. Original gasket material was cotton and 1/8". NORS, old repro, was the same (not sure of fiber). Current supplier a bit thinner. All have the same weave appearance. Also an important point Jim made is to leave a small gap at the bottom for condesation and possible water leak to escape.

Cotton sash cord.

If you can't find it at the local hardware store, a curtain/blind shop will have it.

An update to the gasket problem.

Thank you all for your suggestions and support. I used hot snot (hot melt glue) on the gaskets and it worked perfectly. I had a bit of trouble with the left headlight not working but I figured it out to be a contact problem with the light bulb. All is working as it should and the delivery truck is coming along very well.

Thanks Again,
Terry