MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGB Technical - Headlamp rings How are they fixed?

I have replaced my headlamp bowls with new (metal). One of my headlamp rings doesn't seem to want remain in place. Normally I just push them on and they stick. How should they fix, and what is the function of the wobbly gadget at the bottom of the black inner rim with the retaining lugs at the top, which is part of the bowl?

The archive only seems to cover how to remove them, not my current problem

Any help gratefully recd

Tony
Tony Bridgewater

Tony:

The rims of the headlight bowls have two 'lips' at the top edges that help hold the ring in place. The third side (on the bottom) is held with a springy metal fold. As the rings have a ledge where the top lips can hold the springy fold sustains pressure to hold it in place.

You may be missing the springy fold or it could have bent itself out of position.

Good luck,

Luis
Luis Azan

Tony
The "wobbly bit" at the bottom needs to be replaced with the correct type of spring retainer.
The headlamp bowls you have, have as standard the wrong type of fixing for chrome bumper cars and must be replaced, this means you will have to take the bowls out again to do it. The shop you bought them from should of told you this and sold the correct items and then yes they just locate on the top lugs and push on from below.

Howard
Howard

Ditto Howard, I replaced a bowl recently and had to replace the 'wobbly bit' with what was on the original bowl, which fortunately was reuseable. Mine came from the MGOC. I assumed they were correct for a later B, but having just worked on an 80 I can see that is not so.
Paul Hunt

Tony...all the B's I have owned seem to have headlamp rims fixed by some magic way...when I touch them they fall off and don't want to go back on...still I have never had a pristine B !

Peter
Peter Burgess

So Paul, you've proven what I would've assumed...there is no difference between headlamp rings on CB versus RB Bs. I was starting to be surprised by the notion that there was. When replacing one of my headlamps (I remember doing it in a parking lot), my ring just snapped back into place (I think it was the "magic" Peter described). Sounds like there may be something flaky about the replacement bowls.
Barry Kindig

They are a 'standard' bowl used on other BL cars of the period, which had a chromed screw up through the bottom of the ring to secure them. On the B, of course, that is not feasible. My RB has a spring-clip at the bottom which the back edge of the ring operates in a sort of 'over-centre' way. Can't recall what my CB has as it has been many years since the rings came off. Both types go on well enough, but they are a bit of a pain to get off. A 1980 which is currently in my possession has one ring with two neat notches where the adjuster screws are - not a bodge but designed that way. But Sod's Law dictated that that was the light that had the duff bulb, so the ring had to come off anyway.
Paul Hunt

Well, magic or not, I swapped the rings round, and they both stay put after a fashion

Thanks

Tony
Tony Bridgewater

This thread was discussed between 27/03/2002 and 31/03/2002

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.