Home made headlight tool
There isn’t much to say really about this tool. I have read articles about this that say the springs that hold the headlight bucket in place is a real pain to fit. I saw an article on the Mustang Monthly website where they were talking specialist tools. One of which was the tool for this spring. I have been unable to track one down I must admit so it’s not the case of the money to be fair. So hot of the back of previous tool I made for the wiper motor bezel I thought I would make a more simple tool.
The basic design is a small hook to grab one end of the spring and pull it up to the bucket and hook it in place. This spring does have a fair bit of tension to it.
I was going to buy a piece of steel bend it and file it etc. I went to our local DIY chain to buy it and walked past some tools. The tools were small thin flat head screw drivers, these were only a couple of pound each and then the idea hit me. Buy one of these tools and it would have a handle, look nice, feel nice in the hand and look better than anything I could knock up; So I bought it. Once I got home it was straight out to the man cave, I put the tool in the vice and got my blow lamp out and fired it up. I heated the tip till it glowed red-hot and got my fine needle nosed pliers to gently bend it over at forty-five degrees. I repeated the process until the flat was now in a hook position. I then cooled the tip and gently filed it to be a nice smooth finish and take of any rough edges from the bend.
The result is really nice, it fits the spring perfectly and almost looks as it has been bought. The effort took about half an hour, and cost me the price of a Black & Decker seventy-five by four millimetre screwdriver. Of course the other way of doing it is to put a wire loop around the spring and pull it into place or use long-nosed pliers if your brave enough.
