DIY: Blacked/Cleared Headlights 3G Garage #G046
#562
Whoever is thinking of doing this, it's a super easy job. Takes a good chunk of the day, but really easy and straight forward. Butyl is amazing stuff, it rained incredibly hard the very next day and I have zero fog or leaks. Just wanted to bump this because before doing it, I read this whole thread and there are a couple discouraging posts that made me question whether I wanted to try it or not. Just wanna encourage those who are on the fence about it, it's not bad at all!
#568
Land of 10,000 lakes
iTrader: (2)
Yeah it does need to be heated and rolled out. It comes in brick form. What I do is heat in the oven have a bowl of water near by and wet my hands so I don't burn them, roll the strips out. Important thing is keeping your hands wet so the butyl doesn't stick and keeps you from burning your fingers. It is a bit tedious, but it's the best butyl I've used (I've used all these, 3m window weld, Nissan Butyl, OCI TRS butyl, Koito butyl)
#570
According to JnC the koito butyl from TRS is the same as the OEM stuff.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories.html
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories.html
#571
#573
Looks great. I too am scared that i am going to mess them up and end up having to buy new headlights. Taking them apart, not so much. Putting them back together, yes!! Nice job though once again and great write up!!
#575
2007 6SMT Type-S
#576
3.2Seeno
HELP! ((
I have my headlights just sitting downstairs waiting for me to crack them open. Now, main question. Can I leave all the bulbs in their while in the oven? Or do I need to take them out?
Please PM me or reply. I just really need an answer.
I have my headlights just sitting downstairs waiting for me to crack them open. Now, main question. Can I leave all the bulbs in their while in the oven? Or do I need to take them out?
Please PM me or reply. I just really need an answer.
#580
2007 6SMT Type-S
http://klearz.com/tl_headlight_markers
#581
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by gopeman
Is there a specific place where to buy the clear lenses for the headlights?
#582
Burning Brakes
Hey, I just completed this mod last week actually. I used a cookie sheet and set a damp towel underneath my headlights when I placed them in the oven. I left all bulbs attached to keep the headlight "sealed" as much as possible when baking. I didn't want any moisture to make its way inside the headlight. You will be fine if you leave all bulbs attached.
#583
Intermediate
No, the yellow lenses that are inside the headlight where he turn signals are.
#584
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by wusty23jd
Hey, I just completed this mod last week actually. I used a cookie sheet and set a damp towel underneath my headlights when I placed them in the oven. I left all bulbs attached to keep the headlight "sealed" as much as possible when baking. I didn't want any moisture to make its way inside the headlight. You will be fine if you leave all bulbs attached.
What kind of moisture do you have in your oven
#585
Burning Brakes
PPLAPW "I stuck the ENTIRE headlight housing as well as all the HID componets. Make sure you don't pre-heat, 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Once they are out you might need gloves to remove it. Begin in the inner corner and pull till it opens. It should come off fairly easy."
If you don't have a tamper-proof torx bit and don't want to risk breaking your HID components during disassembly, then leaving the HID components attached won't do much damage in my opinion. I haven't noticed any issues thus far, but I'll eat my own words if something happens down the road. (Please feel free to chime in if anyone has experienced issues with this. I haven't read any thus far). Additionally, like many, I replaced my fog light bulbs with new LEDs, and parking/turn signal bulbs with new switchback LEDs, so I guess this wasn't a huge concern for me during the baking process. However, every OEM bulb worked perfectly fine when I wired everything back up for testing, even after baking and re-baking.
A common recommendation is to use a cookie sheet and a damp towel to help eliminate the risk of melting the plastic housing when baking headlights for opening. With that said, the aforementioned "moisture" derived from heating a damp towel in the oven during the baking process. When heated, the damp towel remits a little moisture into the cavity of the oven and the extra steam helps soften the butyl holding the headlight assembly together. It's not required to use a damp towel. However, I baked one headlight with a towel and one without a towel. The headlight without the towel seemed to be more difficult to open. This is just my observation.
#586
Senior Moderator
To each their own! Electrical components biggest enemy is excessive* heat.
*Something like throwing a headlight in a place it's not usually used to (an oven) qualifies as excessive in my opinion. It's one of those "better safe than sorry" concepts
*Something like throwing a headlight in a place it's not usually used to (an oven) qualifies as excessive in my opinion. It's one of those "better safe than sorry" concepts
#587
Burning Brakes
Yup, I won't disagree with you on that lol!. Excessive heat is never good for electronics. I've read that when headlights rung for long periods of time, parts of your headlamp can exceed 180ºF steady-state, so I didn't think that 200ºF would cause that much damage. However, to reiterate what was previously stated, removing all bulbs would be the "safest" approach for sure
#588
Senior Moderator
I try to err on the side of safety when recommending newbies to do something so they don't come back and say something like "my bulbs stopped working!!! "
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wusty23jd (01-09-2017)
#589
Team Owner
There is no point to leave them in. You're opening the headlight right up, to atmosphere... Plugging the back won't change a thing. Headlights are NOT vacuum sealed or anything. There's "normal" air inside them at all times and that air also does have moisture In it. That's why the headlights have those silica gel packs in them, to help, suck up any moisture.
#590
2007 6SMT Type-S
he said he lined a cookie sheet with a wet towel. That would generate humidity inside the oven. Personally, I just used a couple of 2x4's on both my retrofits.
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wusty23jd (01-11-2017)
#591
We Are Venom
Hey, I just completed this mod last week actually. I used a cookie sheet and set a damp towel underneath my headlights when I placed them in the oven. I left all bulbs attached to keep the headlight "sealed" as much as possible when baking. I didn't want any moisture to make its way inside the headlight. You will be fine if you leave all bulbs attached.
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