GM Saturn Pontiac Corvette pop up headlight motor gear

thingiverse

This is the worm gear I designed for my 96 Saturn's pop-up/flip up headlight motor. It's common for these gears to strip their teeth, rendering the headlight motor useless. Replacement gears are available in brass, aluminum and plastic - I've heard that aftermarket plastic gears also strip out quickly. I ordered a replacement brass gear but needed something temporary to get my headlight working while waiting for it to arrive. The same gear was used in some Pontiacs and Corvettes, although I'm not sure what years or models. The gear cover looks sonic welded but can be split open; I used a razor blade knife and tapped the back of it to "cut" the welds loose. I then re-sealed the cover with epoxy. I did my best to match the angle of the teeth, and everything else seemed spot on (O.D., shaft hole, depth of part, etc). I printed this gear out of PLA but would probably use nylon if it were going to stay in the motor. My goal was two-fold: 1) To see if I could design a worm gear that actually works; 2) To get my headlight working temporarily. The gear is a little tight on the shaft, so some twisting and pushing are required (and possibly some lubricant). I was able to fit it dry onto a cleaned motor shaft. The rubber absorber fits great inside the gear as you can see in the pictures. I'd love to hear from anyone who prints this and uses it - hopefully it can help them as it did for me.