Headlight Alignment
 

Ref 1935:

Can anyone provide or point me to a proceedure/specs for aiming my headlights. I could not find anything searching old posts.

Jim

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

All of the headlights of any of my cars, antique or modern, I've aimed on a dark straight untraveled stretch of road outside of town. I adjust the high beams to maximize visibility as far down the road as possible. The low beams should pretty much take care of themselves after that but I check them to make sure they're low enough not to shine in the eyes of oncoming drivers and a little to the right of center just to be sure. Of course, you need to cover one light while aiming the other so that you know what you looking at.

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

Old Henery, I live in the city, we have no counrty roads...LOL

But I get the idea. I don't have the car registered/on the road yet, so I was trying to figure something out in the yard/garage...it can wait for now..

Thanks again,Jim

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

I've Always used the garage door. Worked for me.

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

I use garage door to do mine.Went to a frt end shop here intown when I finished mine and asked if they had the alignment machine I used to use when I did state insp years ago at the local Plymouth dealer and he had never seen one did not know how it even worked.Boy how times have changed

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

I will go with the garage door method.... found a detailed 'aiming your headlights' artical on google providing both vertical and horizontal aiming guidance. I guess the real test will be driving down the road as Old Henery suggests.

Thanks, Jim

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

Use the garage door method. Pull the car within 18" of the door. Get a mark at the center of the the light puddle for each light on the door. Back the car away from door 25'. Adjust each light to hit the mark. Done.

Sent via iPad from down under.

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

Place your car 25 feet from the barn door or side of the garage. Best to do this when the sun goes down. Use a broom stick upside down and and measure from the ground to the middle of the headlight. Go up to the barn and drive a nail in the barn same height. Drive another nail about about 8-10 feet to the right or left. run a string. With headlites on high beam set the beam just under the string. Nothing to it. Walt

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

I just stumbled onto a very simple and effective way to aim headlights.

At 1:30 A.M. on the day I left for Alaska I finished rebuilding and rewiring my headlights and drove to my usual spot on the dark country road to line them up. After getting them the best I thought I could just aiming them down the dark road I headed home. On the way home I was pushing the dimmer button to see how the light seemed to be lined up. There were some construction barrels way down the road as well as a stop sign. I noticed that on high beam they weren't lit up but were on low beam. That meant my lights were aimed too high. I stopped and re-aligned them so that those reflective surfaces way down the street were brightest on high beam which made them nothing on low beam. Wow! That sure made a difference on my trip. I know now that for years my headlights have not been properly aimed because I have always had to supplement the high beams with the spot light. Now, aligning them with this method, the high beams work better than ever all by themselves.

So, even on a street lit up with street lights, you can get on a stretch that's straight and level for at least a few blocks that has a reflective stop sign or even just parked car reflectors way down there, align the high beams up on any reflective surface and they'll be perfect.

Re: Headlight Alignment
 

I believe that Ford's original instructions for aiming the lights on your '35 are contained in the owners manual. As I recall, those are similar to the "garage door" method cited above.