FRONT DIRECTIONAL LIGHTS - CANT REMOVE SOCKETS

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

On my 83 MC9, My front directional lights are not working so I am trying to remove the round headlight assembly from the bus skin.  I removed the three cover screws from the lenz, then when trying to remove the 3 brass screws from the inside housing, all three screws broke off.  We tugged and pried with screwrivers to try to remove the lenz housing from the bus so we could access the wiring.  As hard as ws tugged and pried, it would break loose but only come out no more than about 1/8 of an inch.  Someome told me to take a putty knife and pound in on the seal parallel to the boday panel from the top and bottom to break the seal and then it shoud come right out.

Can someone confirm this method or is there another way to remove the lights to access the wiring as we believe we have a broken wire behind the housing. There is no access behind the light from the drivers compatment on  either the drivers or passenger side.

Any help is appreciated.

Gary

[Ncbob]

Ah, there's the rub (as the Bard would say) brass machines screws through aluminum castings into stainless steel. There are 3 dissimilar metals...a great opportunity for electrolysis.

Since they're brass you're ahead of the game. Drill them out after carefully using a prick punch to locate the center (a smaller diameter than the tap drill) and chase the original holes with a tap (with plenty of lube) and you should be in good shape.

Replace the original machine screws with S/S and Nerver-seize.

Whatever you do..don't deform the aluminum castings...like your wife...they're irreplaceable.

NCbob

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

NCbob,

The problem is not the screws at this point, they mostly broke off as you mentioned.  The question I have is, how do I remove the aluminum casting from the bus?  I have removed or cut off the brass screws, but the lamp casting still will not come out with a lot of prying with screwdrivers. 

Someone locally told me I might be able to use a sharpened 1" wide putty knife and slide it in between the back of the casting surface and the front stainless steel skin parallel to the front skin, then pound on the end of the putty knife to break the hardened sealant all around the 360 degree perimeter that was put in when the bus was built.  He said once I break the sealant up, the casting should remove from the bus.  I would like to confirm that this is the next step or is there something other than the 3 brass screws that hold the aluminum casting in the bus body.
Or if the old dried sealant is the problem, is there any solvent that will soften it up if I spray it daily for a few days so I can just pull out the casting?

Gary