Headlight clearing how to !

[WRXtranceformed]

where is your contribution? you wrote me a how-to on clearing headlights? awesome!

Wow what a fantastic idea Michael ! Finally something productive.

Maeng requested a writeup but unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the process. I'll try to do a walkthrough as best as possible though, hopefully this helps. If I think of anything later to add I'll do so later ^_^

1) Remove your headlights !
For my car, remove the front grille piece by pressing in the clips. There are like 4 in plain view on the top of the grill, then use a long flat head screwdriver to pop down the ones on the bottom that you can see through gaps on either side. Then pop out the 4 plastic clips that hold the top of the bumper on both sides (just makes it easier to get the headlights out), unscrew the screws that hold the white plastic support on the headlight assembly closest to the grille, then remove all the other screws holding the headlights to the frame. The headlight is held in on the furthest side from the grille by two metal pins that pop into the frame. Pull the headlights out being very careful not to break any of the supporting brackets like we did harhar. Unclip all of the electrical harnesses to remove the headlight assembly totally from your car. Stand back aghast at what your car would look like after it was stolen and pillaged for parts !

2) Prep for baking
Preheat your oven to 225. Remove ALL of the lightbulbs from the headlights. I'd try to explain how to do this, but it's really too complicated and is pretty self explanatory once you take a look at your headlights. Most of them just twist out; the low beam headlight has kind of a weird mouse trap pin that holds it in in my car. Take out anything that looks like it could be sketch in the oven.... miscellanous rubber seals, basically anything aside from the structure of the headlight assembly itself. Remove all screws that hold the seams of the headlight together. This is important, remove the screws.

3) Get baked !
Grab your nuts, say a prayer, and put one of your expensive headlights on a baking sheet into the oven carefully so that you don't scratch the lens. That's another important thing I forgot; always keep the headlights on some kind of soft surface so you don't fuck up the outside of the lenses. Let it bake for 8-10 minutes... I did mine today for 9 minutes. Don't leave them in too long obviously, you just want to heat up the caulk so that you can pull the assembly apart. When the time is up, carefully pull it out of the oven with oven mitts and lay it on a soft surface. Using a flathead screwdriver, pry up underneath the seam of the assembly and VERY SLOWLY begin to pry the two pieces of the assembly apart. You want to do this SLOWLY so that the warm plastic assembly doesn't get permanently warped. Work your way around the assembly, gradually working apart the caulk, popping clips where need be, and scraping away caulk strands that are continuing to hold the assembly together.
4) Time to clear !
Unscrew / unclip / undo anything that is orange in your headlight assembly. This is probably the easiest part!
5) Paint the insides ??
Here's where I decided to go above and beyond and paint the headlight housing inside the assembly a flat black. I removed it from the assembly, used a very fine sandpaper to scuff up the chrome paint on it over ever inch of it, used a moist rag to wipe away dust, then hung both up on a line in the backyard. Paint with a high quality spraypaint in very thin coats. Be patient; you want this to look good and you definitely don't want any runs in the paint. I have a few I think, but fortunately the outer plastic of the headlight sort of distorts the interior, so you can afford yourself some minor mistakes. If there are any clear plastic parts that cover lightbulbs on this housing that you don't want painted, make sure to cover them with electrical tape and use a razor blade to cut around them so they're masked off. AND make sure you don't accidentally get spraypaint on the BACKSIDE of these areas. We had a little issue with that.
6) Put them back together and back into the car !
Once those are dry if you chose to paint them, put the housings back into the headlight assembly and put it all back together to pre-baked condition. Use a clear caulk and fill up the groove that connects the two pieces of the headlight assembly. Don't be stingy, you don't want water getting into your headlights. We also baked the assembly once more before this step just to soften up the old caulk so we could be extra sure we got a good seal. That probably isn't important, but couldn't hurt. Push the two pieces of the assembly back together, wipe off any excess caulk that's oozing out of the cracks, and put the screws back in to give it a good seal. Make sure you didn't get any caulk on the front lens of the headlight... if you did, Goo Gone works fine to get it off. Stand back and admire ! Put all of your bulbs back into the headlight assembly, go back to the car and reinstall the headlights the same way you took them off, and put the grill back on. Test all your bulbs to make sure they still work. Booya ! Cleared sexiness !



I'll post some more stuff later if I can think of it, Pimp My Ride is on now tho so I have to go watch ! 8)

[Maengelito]

bling, i love it

[JohnC]

This also counts as weight reduction, right?

[Feersty]

So friggin hot......Feersty all googlely eyed over here.

[Mike]

bling, i love it

you can't say bling if you like something. didn't you know that caling something bling is negative?

[ScottyB]

This also counts as weight reduction, right?

the black coating also absorbs more sunlight, which heats up the headlights more, which causes the air around the lights to heat up and be less dense, cutting down on drag and increasing top speed to ludicrous speed

[.RJ]

And it goes plaid when you hit the nawzzzz

[Evan]

nice!

almost makes the 04+ front end look as good as the 02s

[Sijray21]

This also counts as weight reduction, right?

the black coating also absorbs more sunlight, which heats up the headlights more, which causes the air around the lights to heat up and be less dense, cutting down on drag and increasing top speed to ludicrous speed

lol

those headlights look good!

[Feersty]

Jay do it for the Civic, you will be impressed.

[Nis01]

Looks really good, you beat me to the punch.. I was going to do this as well but instead of blacking it out.. just leaving the chrome the way it is... and exchange blinker with an orange bulb..

Not really into the blacked out look on a white car.. :? But it looks great on the blue.

[WRXtranceformed]

Thanks for all the compliments 8)

Jason that WOULD look really good on your Si I bet.

Shea, you can get chrome colored bulbs that blink an amber color. That way your headlights stay with the clear and chrome look. There are Silverstars that are that way, but they're silly expensive for turn signals. I know there are other brands like that, just shop around some. I'll probably pick some up if I ever get shit for my turn signals..... but I'm not too worried about it. :wink:

[G.Irish]

Snnnnaaaaappp! That is fresh!

[Nis01]

For any pictures, the instructions I followed: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384488&page=1&pp=25&highlight=Clearing+headlights">http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... headlights</a><!-- m -->

[.RJ]

Snnnnaaaaappp! That is fresh!

Lets kick it old school

[WRXtranceformed]

Here's what my friend's bugeye "grocery getter from hell" looks like after we did the same deal to his:
Before:

After:

[JohnC]

Fix that second pic Lee...

Edit: Works now, don't know why it barfed the first time I loaded the page. Looks good!

[WRXtranceformed]

Woops thanks John. I had an extra [/img] tag on there :oops:

[BLINGMW]

wow, I gotta admit, that's cool. I'm impressed with the results! :thumbup:

[.RJ]

Hey, while your e30 is parked....