Hi guys,

I am in the process of clearing my headlights. I found the directions here
https://acurazine.com/forums/audio-video-electronics-navigation-22/remote-start-111317/. Thanks for the info.

The big question is: Do I need to remove the ballast before putting the light in the oven or not? If I do, how do I do that? It says, do not remove the cover in the back of the light? What do I do?

Please help, as I hope to finish it and put my car together so I can enjoy it again. I decided I will take my chance on the headlight, but I do not want to damage the expensive ballast.

Thanks, Mark.

 

i have no idea man.......i just used a hair dryer to crack mine open!!

 

I did not remove the ballast or any bulbs for that matter. I just put the WHOLE thing in the oven. The temperature is so low that I doubt it could damage anything.

 

REMOVE THEM!

 

What happens when you don't remove them? Everything worked out fine for me.

 

That is kind of what I was thinking. The heat from the lights/ fogs is sometimes probably even higher then 200F.

I guess the jury is still out.

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

The question is how? I am afraid to open it. It says high voltage, do not open, etc.

 

I didn't remove mine either and it's fine.

 

Did you guys leave the metal box under the headlight on too?

 

Yup, I left everything. As you mentioned, it definitely gets hotter in there when the HIDs are on. 200F really isn't very hot. And it's only for 20 minutes. When I took it out of the oven, I was almost able to handle it with my bare hands. Almost...

I'm so happy I did this mod though. Painting the chrome pieces definitely makes a huge difference. I don't know if you're doing that, but if you still have the headlights taken apart, I'd do it. It's worth it. I used some black gloss spray paint and then I put on 8 coats of this reflective shiny stuff with sparkles (hard to explain). The result is awesome! I wish I had pics but since it's winter here in Montreal, there's almost no point in taking pics. That and my Ron Jon bumper is in storage for winter so you don't get the full effect...

Good luck with your mod!

 

can you elaborate? any pics? what does it look like.

thanks, mark

 

did you guys change the bulb? if so, what did you use?

 

I unfortunately don't have pics of the headlights installed on the car yet, but here are a few teaser pics in the meantime. I just haven't had the time to get organized...

Here are a couple pics:

Here's a before pic of my car:


What needed to be painted:


Turn signal piece painted and installed:


Day-time running light bracket painted:


Day-time running light bracket installed with HID ring:


Headlight re-assembled side shot:


Headlight re-assembled front shot:


Enjoy!

Rob

 

WOW! Look awasome. What kind of paint did you use?

My project is complete. Sort off. It will be still about 30 days before my car will be completed, but the headlights are cleared. Maybe it is a traditional clearing way, but I still think it looks great.

How about the bulbs? Any input on that? The original looks king of yellowish. I saw some info on a bright white one, but tried to search left and right and cannot find it.

Thanks,

Mark.

 

Hey Mark,

I used high gloss black spray paint, and then I found this spray paint which just sprays "sparkly stuff". Hard to describe, but it just makes the finish shiny. You can tell in the pics the way light reflects off the painted surfaces. I did 8 coats of the sparkly stuff and about 4 coats of regular paint. The result is awesome.

I found bulbs which are silver when off, but orange when on. They are cool, but they aren't bright enough, so I'm still on the lookout for bulbs that will be bright orange when on but clear or silver when off...

 

Thanks for the info.

What kind of bulbs did you get? Is it the one they were talking about on this forum a while back if it will fit or not?

Regards,

Mark.

 

I got bulbs from http://superlumination.com but they really aren't bright enough I'm hoping to maybe find some 15 LED bulbs or something. That are clear when off but orange when on. Maybe they'll be brighter?

 

i guess its different from the 99-03 headlights.

you dont open the box, you unclip it and take it off.

we'll i guess it worked! and it looks pretty nice

 

Hey zax123, nice work on the headlights. Any tips for spray painting the reflective trim? Whats the best way to get a smooth and even paint on them? Also check out these 24 LED 7443 bulbs link

 

T,

Thanks! The only tip I can give is paint very little paint but paint many coats and allow about 5-10 minutes between coats. If you paint too much too fast, you'll get pools of paint and it'll look terrible when you try to fix it. Just be patient and paint many coats of paint but a little bit at a time. If you plan on doing the "sparkly stuff" be ready to do 8-10 coats of it. It takes a lot of coats before you get an effect. But the effect when it's finished is awesome.

Thanks a TON for the link. I ordered them right away. Hopefully they will be brighter than the ones I have now. I don't see how they can't be. I just hope the turn signals don't start flashing a mile a minute now because of the reduced resistance on the LED bulbs.

 

zax123.........

Persephone'e eyes look great...Super idea with the sparkles, what did you use to /smoke the headlights??? can't wait for the spring time....might add this to my list of mods....GREAT JOB!

L8R

demellie..aka Jim

 

Hey Jim!

I guess saying they're smoked is kinda lying... the transparent lens isn't tinted. They are "smoked" because the chrome parts are painted black. Any darker and I don't think it would look good... as they are now, I think they look great. I sometimes think I should have painted the DRL section, but I really don't know how safe that would be. So I'm sticking to it this way. I've ordered some LED flashers which should be brighter than what I have now. But now I'm worried they are going to flash too fast... GRR. We'll see.

 

zax123........have you noticed the lights being any dimmer? I've read a couple of posts where some have suggested that painting the chrome parts may be the root cause......
L8R

 

Well, the headlights definitely aren't any dimmer. That wouldn't make sense since they are projectors. And the daytime running lights still have the main reflector behind them, so they are still bright.

The only lights that got dimmer are the turn signals, but I swapped them out for silver when off/amber when on lights, and they suck. Hopefully the LED lights I've ordered will be brighter.

 

Do you think its not as bright because the housing is black now?

 

The turn signals? No, they aren't bright because they have a higher wattage rating than the stock bulbs. I thought 7443 would have a standard wattage rating, but I guess it only specifies the socket. Sucks!

 

I thought the same.

 

glad to hear they are still as bright........its on my list of mods.

 

Dude, spend some money and get some real bulbs.

StealthAuto or PIAA Mirror Orange .

I got the PIAA ones, and they are just as bright as the stock bulbs. Even in direct sunlight, they illuminate pretty bright.

 

What are you afraid of? There is only high voltage when it's ON....just disconnect the battery and remove the houseing, then remove the bulb and ballast before you place into oven.

 

I don't know the answer, but are you sure there isn't a capacitor or something in there that retains electricity until it is discharged?

 

I doubt it. I thought a ballast was just a step-up transformer. But regardless, I've installed/uninstalled ballasts on two different cars, and didn't have any problems.

 

I just took my chances and baked it. Everything turned out fine.