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I am getting down to the final things in restoring my 1962 B1. I have new rubber bushings that go into the headlight bracket. I have used grease, vice grips and a vice with a lot of effort without success. Does anyone have a technique for getting these bushing into the headlight bracket?

Search the word "boiling" on the home page. Guys used boiling water to soften up draft pads. That might work for your grommets too.
Gary

I remove the metal bushing, squirt a little tire mounting rubber lube on them and install them with a plier. Reinsert the metal bushing.

@Tankjeepman

Did you do this?

just me wrote: ↑Wed Jun 19, 2024 1:50 am remove the metal bushing

There is no metal bushing. There is a bolt that goes through the rubber part that mounts the headlight to the bracket. Yes, I am trying to push the rubber bushing through the bracket without the bolt in place. I can try boiling them, but they are new supple rubber. Thanks for the help.

The rubber isolation mounts I used had a bush that I removed. I didn't replace it as the shoulder bolt served its purpose of not crushing the mount. They were something I got from McMaster or Motion that were the same dimensions as the original rubber.

OK, I got my rubber bushings from Vintage Power Wagon. They had no metal bushing inside the hole. I am going to try and use a press with some sleeves and get them in. Thanks for the reply.

So the secret to install them is it is really a two-man job. I took them to a friend who makes a living as an expert mechanic. He put a small hose clamp about 1/2" from the end of the bushing. As I pressed the bushing into the hole, he used a flat tip screwdriver to get the edges into the hole. You have to apply a lot of pressure to get it started in the hole. I then took a metal sleeve over the bushing and used a socket inside the sleeve to drive the bushing in the rest of the way.

I just started restoring the headlights on my 1954 M37. I blasted, etch primed, and painted the brackets that mount the headlights on the fenders, as well as the zinc/pot metal brackets that go under the headlight bodies.

I just received a set of replacement rubber headlight mounting bushings/grommets today from MIdwest Military and installed them in the headlight brackets. I would NOT say that they were fun to install, although once started in the holes, they slid in fairly easily until the bracket snapped into the groove in the bushing. I managed to insert them with no tools other than my fingers and a little grease, but my fingers are a bit sore. I'm sure it helped that the rubber was reasonably pliable. I also left the whitish waxy storage coating on them when I installed them, as I figured it added a bit of lubrication for installation. I'll clean it off later.

If the rubber of your bushings/grommets has hardened up over the years, they would be much more difficult to install.

DOT-3 and rubber are good friends, helping get things in tight places.

PoW

Hello all,
Just joined this morning and my first question is how to install the rubber bushings into the headlight bracket. The originals are not cracked but are almost rock hard. Before I cut them out I wanted to try installing a new one using the wire hole in the centre of the bracket as a test, assuming it was the same sized hole. I tried a hose clamp but the new rubber just mushroomed and I was no further ahead. I’ll need to leave it for a day to let the bruising in my fingers calm down! As some of you suggested, my wife also thought boiling the rubber might help. That, with a smear of grease or brake fluid will be my next attempt. Curious how they installed them originally.

Cheers,
Morgan

I've heard that KY Jelly or a similar water-based lubricant works well.