Headlight rim problem

19753C(E)

19753C(E)

Full member
Location
Wisconsin, USA
As I've previously mentioned, my cherished 3C will soon be heading off to a new owner.  I want the bike as "right" as I can make it before it goes...don't want to be one of those "dumb-ass previous owners".  Anyway, I've always fastened the bottom of the headlight rim to the shell with a piece of safety wire because whatever brackets/screws etc that are supposed to be there to do the job were long gone by the time I got the bike.  I can't tell from the parts book but it looks like there was some sort of "L" bracket that snapped off, just leaving a hole in the rim and the shell.  Aside from sourcing a whole new headlight do any of you geniuses out there have any suggestions for something a little more elegant than a piece of wire?  I've tried to attach a picture but my camera sucks so I don't know how much good it will do.
 

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Fashion a small L bracket and rivet in place-use a washer inside of the headlight (with an appropriate sized I.D. hole) for the rivet to grab onto-prob have to visit the local hardware store for a specialty washer-drill a hole for the mount screw & you're done.   
 
Somewhere in a dusty corner of my memory, there's a dim recollection that some rims were retained by a screw and others by an internal spring clip. At least I think that's how it is because my 3CL has a spring clip and I'm reasonably sure my brother's 3C has a screw. Come to think of it, it may have more than one screw, or maybe I'm thinking of another bike ...  Just going from hazy memory here.

Yours looks like the spring clip type because it has a slot in it. The clip is released by poking a screwdriver blade through the slot in the rim and pushing the clip inwards. I presume the little empty hole in your headlight shell is where the springy clip was attached (riveted or bolted?) to the inside of the shell.

The screw type have a countersunk screw in the rim (in place of your slot) which engages in a tang fixed to the inside of the headlight shell in the same position as your missing clip.

The screw fixing seems more secure to me. Mine has the clip and the headlight is always a bit loose and rattly in the shell. It has never fallen out, but it seems to me that it could if it gets enough of a jolt.
 
Thanks Cam - your descriptions of the two options make sense.  I just need to figure out how to fabricate a clip that will work

If anyone out there with an intact headlight rim attachment has the time to post a photo that would be useful.
 
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