elkayem

Ok...
Here's what happened, everything went fine with taking shit off.

Shit started happening when we put it back together..


1. the clips of the housing and lens won't stick/aline back together

2. There is a huge gap between the left hand headlight lens and the housing.

3. HARDCORE MOISTURE on the right headlight

4. huge gap between the signal part of the headlights vs. the front fender.

5. the headlights seems to be sticking out abit

6. I just realized there was alot of screws left over after I did everything.

Fuckin shittt I feel like a freakin noob. And I am one probably.
Can someone gimme some guidence of what I should do now?
Or should I take it to some body shop and get to fix it for me?

WDPTLS

i just did mine again today, i had some minor issues again, try reheating them so the glue is very gooey, and try to squeeze it together, the glue dried very fast, so u gotta be quick and pretty strong from what ive learned. if theres anything else, lemme know.

ayethetiense

when you put it back together, you have to make sure it is hot so its pliable. if you look at the headlight clearing instructions on this site in the 3G garage, you'll see that people always say to put it back in the oven before putting it back together. then once you have it together, put it back in the oven again and squeeze it closed again. some even rec. to use clamps.

oh, and when you reseal it, use a lot of glue/sealant. put more theny ou think you'll need.

KN_TL

iTrader: (3)

When I did my headlights, I initially heated them in the oven and then used a heat gun very carefully to help finish the job both taking it apart and putting them back together.

Also, following the lead from another thread, I used several small spring clamps to hold everything together while the buytl rubber cooled down. Worked like a champ.

Using the additional butyl rubber eliminated the need to goop up the outside with silicone. No moisture problems whatsoever.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

OK I can totally relate to your problem there.....

I also tried to close my headlights and there was a 2mm gap on the upper/inner edge. I rebaked 2 times, pulled and pushed, nothing could close that gap! I thought maybe it would be OK and ended up just closing it off and using liberal amounts of silicone over the area and reinstalled the headlights.....Guess what? HARDCORE moisture. I mean instant moisture after a 30 minute drive at night. I knew I had to redo it! It was painful because I had to pull everything off the car again!

I opened the headlights again and looked carefully......If found the culprit!! There is this little stupid tab of plastic about 1"X2" in that area. It has to be straight for both pieces of the headlight to come together. Many times this tab bends slightly, ends up going in the wrong direction and gets in the way of closing up the headlight. I remember the first time I cleared my headlights, on the other headlight it actually accidently broke off with no disadvantage. I realized this tab serves no real purpose so I just broke it off to prevent further headache. I rebaked and resealed with butyl rubber, pushed the headlights together and guess what? The headlight closed up with perfection.

The tip you have to learn here is when you close your headlight, the edges have to be approximated to the point at which all those outer tabs are able to meet together and get clipped on. To do that you have to also ensure proper alignment of the 2 pieces, it shouldn't be off by even a mm.

Also, make sure you reinstall the 2 pieces of the headlights the same way you took them apart. What I mean is that you know you need to seperate them from the inner edge first, pull them apart and outer edge last. Well when reinstalling it is very important that the rear facing tab on the outer edge(more like a plastic peg) fits right into the hole of the other housing. It is advisable to put a bit of presurre to this part to make sure it seats properly. Then making sure all outer tabs align. Then only do you use additional pressure to finally seal the headlight all around. I used butyl rubber too, which I feel is the only way to do this. I think it is a good last step to finish off with a this layer of silicone just for protection. Lastly make sure all gaskets for all bulbs are properly sealed off too. There should be no leaks if you did all of this properly.

When reintalling the headlights on the car, It is important to make sure alignment is proper. I also had a problem aligning the headlights properly so I learned you have to have attention to detail here. Put all your screws in but don't tighten all the way at first. There are certain screw mounts that have small tabs if you look closely that help you with aligning the lights properly. It needs to sit in the right position before you tighten the screws. Remember there are screws that go under the inner part of the headlight and also 2 screws that attatch to the silver bracket for the the ballast support.

Remember that rear facing peg on the headlight I mentioned? There is an actual hole in the fender for that peg to fit into. Make sure it fits in.

There is a place for all the screws and tabs if you look at the service manuals they will remind you where they belong. You might think a screw missing here or there won't matter but it does. Anything missing will cause misalignment and rattling. It's worth it to put it all back the way it belongs.

KB1Spec

iTrader: (4)

What I did was once I took everything apart and when putting it back together, I would preheat the pieces again but put the 2 pieces seperately in the oven. pre heat it for like 10-15 minutes. Then take it out and seal everything back together. The glue will be soften for about 5 minutes. Hope this help.

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

<---ive cleared over a dozen sets, never once had this issue

when it comes time to seal em up, i put it in the oven for the regular time (225 no pre-heat, 20 minutes) WITH a c-clamp (very, very light pressure) holding the lense to the housing....once it came out, you must use ALOT of muscle to get it back into place... i then put a rag inbetween the c-clamp (to avoid scratches) and tighten with pressure, allowing them to seal up tightly

sometimes the clips, dont all line up perfectly with the clip on the housing, but thats OK. as long as its close enough

when you are first breaking the headlights open, and you pry from the inner corner, DO NOT BEND THE HOUSING OR LENSE. while these materials are hot, they are pliable, and you can alter the shape of the lense or the housing. just be careful when you initially split them open. patience is a virtue


ive never had a mis-alignment or leak. just be patient and follow the instructions CAREFULLY

elkayem

I think the bending was the problem. My friend put ALOT of pressure pulling it part, and it probably bent the left housing.

I'm gonna take all your advises and mostly rocky's since he has had the problem before and some what knows how to fix it. I know what pegs you're talking about, maybe that's why they didn't fit back into the car properly, I didn't realize there is a slot in the fender too.

Gonna fix this on thursday, thanks for all your advises!

OmeGa101

damn elkayem, you should of just went n-motion and got it done for 200 =[