Gary Lewis Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Today I had the "pleasure" to again remove the headlight and wiper knobs. Heretofore I've used whatever tool might be to hand, but today I decided to make something that would do it easily. So I grabbed a piece of heavy wire, about 1/8" thick, and bent it until I found a shape and size that worked. It is sized such that you hold it up against the side of the knob and it'll hit the tip of that inner spring that you have to depress in order to get the knob off. It worked very well and the knobs came off easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 this is the difference between engineers and rednecks. I just use a pocketknife. but then I:nabble_laughing-25-x-25_orig: have red carpet already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essmaker Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 this is the difference between engineers and rednecks. I just use a pocketknife. but then I:nabble_laughing-25-x-25_orig: have red carpet already Love it! I always use a hook pick, but the blunt end on yours would work better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 Love it! I always use a hook pick, but the blunt end on yours would work better. Yes, the other day I used a pointed hook and it worked, sorta. But today it kept slipping off. So I decided to design something that wouldn't slip off and picked the thick wire. But when I cut the wire initially it left a ridge on the end, and that tended to also slip off the spring. So I filed it flat and it worked very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Yes, the other day I used a pointed hook and it worked, sorta. But today it kept slipping off. So I decided to design something that wouldn't slip off and picked the thick wire. But when I cut the wire initially it left a ridge on the end, and that tended to also slip off the spring. So I filed it flat and it worked very well. A few years ago.. The very first bullnose I ever had.. this was day 1... the headlight knob kept falling off (because the retention mechanism had slipped out and was on the headlight "shaft"). I 2-part epoxied the knob back on because I told myself that the knob was broken and who cares how it went back on... right? I didn't know it had to come off to remove the dash bezel/instrument cluster. Needless to say I had to cut the plastic knob out carefully with a grinder to remove it when I had to remove the cluster sometime later. All I can say is I have come a long way since then on bullnose inner workings .. and I'll credit the garage mahal for it! BTW, nice jig!! I bet the Ford factory manual has a "tool" for this and probably looks very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBrother-84 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Today I had the "pleasure" to again remove the headlight and wiper knobs. Heretofore I've used whatever tool might be to hand, but today I decided to make something that would do it easily. I use a thin L shaped Allan key, it works pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 Today I had the "pleasure" to again remove the headlight and wiper knobs. Heretofore I've used whatever tool might be to hand, but today I decided to make something that would do it easily. I use a thin L shaped Allan key, it works pretty well. Thanks, Jeff. Vivek - There is a release on top of the headlight switch. You might have to have a child reach up there as it is hard to get to, but there is a spring-loaded button that will release the whole shaft, not just the knob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viven44 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Thanks, Jeff. Vivek - There is a release on top of the headlight switch. You might have to have a child reach up there as it is hard to get to, but there is a spring-loaded button that will release the whole shaft, not just the knob. Thanks Gary. Yes I have had to find that it does that the couple times I replaced the headlight as the replacement didn't come the shaft. And if I recall correctly, on the 1980 it was a booger to install with the shaft in place so had to remove it and then insert it after the headlight switch was in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 I literally have four of these free sets of picks from Horrid Fate. (Packout box, bench drawer, truck tool box and electronic/wiring kit) The one in the truck has a blunt & bent tip on the question mark one.(Why that weird shape?) I also keep a cheap T-20 on hand for dash screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 I literally have four of these free sets of picks from Horrid Fate. (Packout box, bench drawer, truck tool box and electronic/wiring kit) The one in the truck has a blunt & bent tip on the question mark one.(Why that weird shape?) I also keep a cheap T-20 on hand for dash screws. Jim - I have used that question-mark pick with success to get the knobs off, but it hasn't been as easy as I'd like. The curve on mine is too big and hits the instrument bezel unless I angle the thing. And with the sharp point it frequently goes between the end of the spring and the ID of the knob. So I made this thing so it is just deep enough to go in w/o hitting the bezel, and the right width so when you put it up against the OD of the knob it hits the spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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