Damn!
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Advanced
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Glen Rock, NJ
Does anyone make good lens protection, at Advance Auto I've seen some clear plastic type stuff that peels and sticks over the lenses. But they are too small for the fog lights. You need to use two pieces, it looks bad. Any other suggestions?
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 218
Likes: 0
From: houston
meeh either i'm still driven with a broken foglight and just yesterday i notice the driver side is also broken......now i have to broken foglights....any ideas to protect this damn things..i don't want to replace both of them and it cracks again...
Racer
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: Mississauga Ontario
limitedTLS
Welcome to the 2 broken fog club !
Anyone had any experience with x-pel.
http://www.xpel.com/products/default.asp
Headlight Protection Products
H1216
Headlamp and Fog Lamp kit
Our Price: $69.95
I'm wondering if I spend to get new fog housings will the xpel kit really work ?
Welcome to the 2 broken fog club !
Anyone had any experience with x-pel.
http://www.xpel.com/products/default.asp
Headlight Protection Products
H1216
Headlamp and Fog Lamp kit
Our Price: $69.95
I'm wondering if I spend to get new fog housings will the xpel kit really work ?
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 136
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
so does anyone know of a way to cover them and protect them...by friend has a Subaru WRX and he bought these snap on plastic covers for those ugly round rally type fog lights on his car...anyone make them for the TLS
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
3M and x-pel both have film kits you can cut yourself. Pretty cheap. I think under $15.
I got the 3M after I noticed a cone shaped hole in my passenger side fog not soon after I got the car.
I traced the lens shape onto some heavy brown paper and then transferred and cut the pattern out of the film. The 3M kit (a square foot?) required cleaning the fog lenses with a solvent of your own. Then peeling off the backing. Wetting the lenses and then apply and squeegie (supplied) the film. I think you needed a hair drier to finish. Then the film cures and gets totally clear in a few days. It's a tough rubbery/plastic film. Stays put. Doesn't curl... heat doesn't bother it. I leave my fogs on with my lights, which is always. The film is still very clear. It's been over a year and a half. I feel it's great, cheap protection.
I got the 3M after I noticed a cone shaped hole in my passenger side fog not soon after I got the car.
I traced the lens shape onto some heavy brown paper and then transferred and cut the pattern out of the film. The 3M kit (a square foot?) required cleaning the fog lenses with a solvent of your own. Then peeling off the backing. Wetting the lenses and then apply and squeegie (supplied) the film. I think you needed a hair drier to finish. Then the film cures and gets totally clear in a few days. It's a tough rubbery/plastic film. Stays put. Doesn't curl... heat doesn't bother it. I leave my fogs on with my lights, which is always. The film is still very clear. It's been over a year and a half. I feel it's great, cheap protection.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
I looked up my old receipt. I must be tripping
. It was x-pel.
www.x-pel.com
item: H9906
12 inch X 12 inch 40 mil Headlight Protection Film
$15.00
. It was x-pel.www.x-pel.com
item: H9906
12 inch X 12 inch 40 mil Headlight Protection Film
$15.00
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
How to fix your broken fog light for $8
My foglight broke 2 months ago and instead of paying $190 for a replacement I followed randomwalk101's direction and replaced the broken glass with Lexan plexiglass. Total cost for me = $8 + 4 hours total work (not including wait time). The foglight looks good as new, clearer than the honda glass and is less susceptible to breaking again because the plexiglass is stronger.
Here are the steps, sorry but no pictures. If these instructions are good then maybe someone can take pictures and add it to this thread:
1. Buy a Lexan brand plexiglass sheet for $5. Buy a strong CLEAR silicone sealant, I used GE Silicone II, $3. Both are available at Home Depot. Borrow a dremel drill or buy a good one for $70.
2. Detach the foglight from the bumper, there is a hole directly under the bumper that leads to a single screw attached to the foglight. After taking out the screw you might have to wiggle the foglight to get it free, mine was stuck and it took some force. Disconnect the wiring and since the foglight won't be ready for 24 hours, if you are planning on driving you might want to secure the wiring. Unscrew the back of the foglight to take out the bulb.
3. Take the front metal frame off by carefully prying the hooks off the black fog casing. The glass should now be fully exposed.
4. At this point you can trace an outline of the glass portion on a piece of paper. This tracing will be used to shape the plexiglass. Be exact as possible so you will have less shaping to do later on.
5. Now for the messy part: You can try heating the silicon around the glass to loosen it but I didn't have much luck with this. Instead I had to wedge a flat head screw driver between the glass and the black casing (if there is no gap, make your own by scrapping some of the silicone out) and then I used the screw driver like a lever to pull the glass off. Try to keep the glass facing away from you. If this doesn't work take a hammer to the center of the glass and wearing heavy duty work gloves pull the shards off.
6. After all the glass is gone you will see all the left over silicone. There might be an easier way to do this, but I scraped out the remaining silicone using a flat head screw driver.
7. Now for the hard part: with the tracing you made in step 4, draw an outline on the plexiglass. Make sure you draw it so that the green sticker side on the plexiglass will be the part that is externally exposed. Now attach a cutter to the dremel drill and cut away. Place it in the fog casing. If it is doesn't fit, shave the edges of the plexiglass that are getting in the way.
8. Now squeeze the silicone sealant into the edges of the fog casing, you have to be careful not to use too little or too much. Since you got the clear silicone, you should be okay erring on the side of too much. Now place the plexiglass over the silicon and wrap some rubberbands over the ends and middle of the foglight. Now you will notice that the silicone did not fill all of the gaps. Add silicone too these gaps otherwise you will get condensation later. Wait 8 hours. Carefully move aside the rubberbands and fill in the gaps underneath. Wait 12 hours to allow more curing.
9. Place the metal frame back on and you are done.
Hope this helps and sorry for the length.
Here are the steps, sorry but no pictures. If these instructions are good then maybe someone can take pictures and add it to this thread:
1. Buy a Lexan brand plexiglass sheet for $5. Buy a strong CLEAR silicone sealant, I used GE Silicone II, $3. Both are available at Home Depot. Borrow a dremel drill or buy a good one for $70.
2. Detach the foglight from the bumper, there is a hole directly under the bumper that leads to a single screw attached to the foglight. After taking out the screw you might have to wiggle the foglight to get it free, mine was stuck and it took some force. Disconnect the wiring and since the foglight won't be ready for 24 hours, if you are planning on driving you might want to secure the wiring. Unscrew the back of the foglight to take out the bulb.
3. Take the front metal frame off by carefully prying the hooks off the black fog casing. The glass should now be fully exposed.
4. At this point you can trace an outline of the glass portion on a piece of paper. This tracing will be used to shape the plexiglass. Be exact as possible so you will have less shaping to do later on.
5. Now for the messy part: You can try heating the silicon around the glass to loosen it but I didn't have much luck with this. Instead I had to wedge a flat head screw driver between the glass and the black casing (if there is no gap, make your own by scrapping some of the silicone out) and then I used the screw driver like a lever to pull the glass off. Try to keep the glass facing away from you. If this doesn't work take a hammer to the center of the glass and wearing heavy duty work gloves pull the shards off.
6. After all the glass is gone you will see all the left over silicone. There might be an easier way to do this, but I scraped out the remaining silicone using a flat head screw driver.
7. Now for the hard part: with the tracing you made in step 4, draw an outline on the plexiglass. Make sure you draw it so that the green sticker side on the plexiglass will be the part that is externally exposed. Now attach a cutter to the dremel drill and cut away. Place it in the fog casing. If it is doesn't fit, shave the edges of the plexiglass that are getting in the way.
8. Now squeeze the silicone sealant into the edges of the fog casing, you have to be careful not to use too little or too much. Since you got the clear silicone, you should be okay erring on the side of too much. Now place the plexiglass over the silicon and wrap some rubberbands over the ends and middle of the foglight. Now you will notice that the silicone did not fill all of the gaps. Add silicone too these gaps otherwise you will get condensation later. Wait 8 hours. Carefully move aside the rubberbands and fill in the gaps underneath. Wait 12 hours to allow more curing.
9. Place the metal frame back on and you are done.
Hope this helps and sorry for the length.
mushroom mushroom
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,638
Likes: 0
From: az
Re: How to fix your broken fog light for $8
Originally posted by mangoboy
My foglight broke 2 months ago and instead of paying $190 for a replacement I followed randomwalk101's direction and replaced the broken glass with Lexan plexiglass. Total cost for me = $8 + 4 hours total work (not including wait time). The foglight looks good as new, clearer than the honda glass and is less susceptible to breaking again because the plexiglass is stronger.
Here are the steps, sorry but no pictures. If these instructions are good then maybe someone can take pictures and add it to this thread:
1. Buy a Lexan brand plexiglass sheet for $5. Buy a strong CLEAR silicone sealant, I used GE Silicone II, $3. Both are available at Home Depot. Borrow a dremel drill or buy a good one for $70.
2. Detach the foglight from the bumper, there is a hole directly under the bumper that leads to a single screw attached to the foglight. After taking out the screw you might have to wiggle the foglight to get it free, mine was stuck and it took some force. Disconnect the wiring and since the foglight won't be ready for 24 hours, if you are planning on driving you might want to secure the wiring. Unscrew the back of the foglight to take out the bulb.
3. Take the front metal frame off by carefully prying the hooks off the black fog casing. The glass should now be fully exposed.
4. At this point you can trace an outline of the glass portion on a piece of paper. This tracing will be used to shape the plexiglass. Be exact as possible so you will have less shaping to do later on.
5. Now for the messy part: You can try heating the silicon around the glass to loosen it but I didn't have much luck with this. Instead I had to wedge a flat head screw driver between the glass and the black casing (if there is no gap, make your own by scrapping some of the silicone out) and then I used the screw driver like a lever to pull the glass off. Try to keep the glass facing away from you. If this doesn't work take a hammer to the center of the glass and wearing heavy duty work gloves pull the shards off.
6. After all the glass is gone you will see all the left over silicone. There might be an easier way to do this, but I scraped out the remaining silicone using a flat head screw driver.
7. Now for the hard part: with the tracing you made in step 4, draw an outline on the plexiglass. Make sure you draw it so that the green sticker side on the plexiglass will be the part that is externally exposed. Now attach a cutter to the dremel drill and cut away. Place it in the fog casing. If it is doesn't fit, shave the edges of the plexiglass that are getting in the way.
8. Now squeeze the silicone sealant into the edges of the fog casing, you have to be careful not to use too little or too much. Since you got the clear silicone, you should be okay erring on the side of too much. Now place the plexiglass over the silicon and wrap some rubberbands over the ends and middle of the foglight. Now you will notice that the silicone did not fill all of the gaps. Add silicone too these gaps otherwise you will get condensation later. Wait 8 hours. Carefully move aside the rubberbands and fill in the gaps underneath. Wait 12 hours to allow more curing.
9. Place the metal frame back on and you are done.
Hope this helps and sorry for the length.
My foglight broke 2 months ago and instead of paying $190 for a replacement I followed randomwalk101's direction and replaced the broken glass with Lexan plexiglass. Total cost for me = $8 + 4 hours total work (not including wait time). The foglight looks good as new, clearer than the honda glass and is less susceptible to breaking again because the plexiglass is stronger.
Here are the steps, sorry but no pictures. If these instructions are good then maybe someone can take pictures and add it to this thread:
1. Buy a Lexan brand plexiglass sheet for $5. Buy a strong CLEAR silicone sealant, I used GE Silicone II, $3. Both are available at Home Depot. Borrow a dremel drill or buy a good one for $70.
2. Detach the foglight from the bumper, there is a hole directly under the bumper that leads to a single screw attached to the foglight. After taking out the screw you might have to wiggle the foglight to get it free, mine was stuck and it took some force. Disconnect the wiring and since the foglight won't be ready for 24 hours, if you are planning on driving you might want to secure the wiring. Unscrew the back of the foglight to take out the bulb.
3. Take the front metal frame off by carefully prying the hooks off the black fog casing. The glass should now be fully exposed.
4. At this point you can trace an outline of the glass portion on a piece of paper. This tracing will be used to shape the plexiglass. Be exact as possible so you will have less shaping to do later on.
5. Now for the messy part: You can try heating the silicon around the glass to loosen it but I didn't have much luck with this. Instead I had to wedge a flat head screw driver between the glass and the black casing (if there is no gap, make your own by scrapping some of the silicone out) and then I used the screw driver like a lever to pull the glass off. Try to keep the glass facing away from you. If this doesn't work take a hammer to the center of the glass and wearing heavy duty work gloves pull the shards off.
6. After all the glass is gone you will see all the left over silicone. There might be an easier way to do this, but I scraped out the remaining silicone using a flat head screw driver.
7. Now for the hard part: with the tracing you made in step 4, draw an outline on the plexiglass. Make sure you draw it so that the green sticker side on the plexiglass will be the part that is externally exposed. Now attach a cutter to the dremel drill and cut away. Place it in the fog casing. If it is doesn't fit, shave the edges of the plexiglass that are getting in the way.
8. Now squeeze the silicone sealant into the edges of the fog casing, you have to be careful not to use too little or too much. Since you got the clear silicone, you should be okay erring on the side of too much. Now place the plexiglass over the silicon and wrap some rubberbands over the ends and middle of the foglight. Now you will notice that the silicone did not fill all of the gaps. Add silicone too these gaps otherwise you will get condensation later. Wait 8 hours. Carefully move aside the rubberbands and fill in the gaps underneath. Wait 12 hours to allow more curing.
9. Place the metal frame back on and you are done.
Hope this helps and sorry for the length.
I have a question about this...If i used a Dremel to cut the Lexan wouldn't I have problems with melting since it's such a high RPM tool? I don't know it just doesn't make sense. Any other sugestions such...I was thinking of useing a hand plastic cutter (see pic) just break it off and then sand the edges with sand paper.
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