Headlight Assembly Replacement 2008 Contessa

[Peter Whiting]

My headlight lenses were very discolored and someone had put a protective film over them that had partially worn away and was impossible to remove.  I researched the replacement units and found OEM replacements at autolightsbulbs.com at a discounted price. (the pair at under $100).  They are an exact match.

I went to swap them out and was surprised (shocked?) at the poor engineering of the headlight assembly mounts.  They are sheet metal brackets with self tapping screws to attach to FRP bosses above and below the headlight opening.  Sheet metal screws go from the brackets to the headlight assemblies and are randomly attached.  They just screwed into the plastic of the headlight assembly.  I find it hard to believe that Beaver (Monaco) did this.

I got the new headlight assemblies installed but there are gaps around them between the FRP of the coach and the assemblies.  There were gaps with the original assemblies also.

So......questions:

Has anyone caulked around the headlight assemblies to make them look more professionally engineered/installed?

How can they be aimed?  There is no aiming mechanism as they are just screwed in.

[Bill Lampkin]

Maybe Mike Shumak can shed some light on your issue. Do a search here on the forum for "headlight replacement", nov 18, 2018 and see what Mike went through when he replaced his lights.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Peter,
Assuming they are like my 07 units, there should be aiming screws on the back of the assembly. After I aimed mine about 27K miles ago I've had no alignment issues. If you caulk or otherwise seal them in, consider someone may have to remove them again at some point. If similar to my unit, the gaps are only noticeable when up close.
Steve

[Peter Whiting]

I will look for aiming screws.  What was a mystery was why such a quality coach had a poorly designed mounting bracket and the cutout is not exactly the same shape as the headlight assembly.

[Frank Wright]

I checked out autolightbuilbs.com and did not find the headlights for the Beaver Contessa, any suggestion's?
Thanks