HEADLIGHTS: What worked for me

[turborich]

My headlights are 1 1/2 years old and still like new, My buddies 94 headlight housings were getting pretty bad. The outside was was just fine, it was the dreaded inside. The inside of the lenses were getting the brownish tint as they all do and the chrome was all burnt up. I told him that I could fix them or at least make them better and that's what I did. I took my dremel and with a cut off disc I cut the lense off just in front of where it's bonded on at, Very simple to do, I then cleaned the inside of the lenses with rubbing alcohol untill the brownish film was gone, Yes it does come off, I then took those black metal things that block the light bulb out and put them in the trash can! Now what to do with the chrome reflective stuff??? I very lightly sprayed a chrome type finish paint only where the chrome was burnt off at, I did several very light coats and it turned out pretty good. Not chrome like it was origionally but it did have a shine to it. I then placed the lenses back onto the housings and took my butane soldering torch and melted both sides of the plastic together in about 15 spots and then covered the entire line where I cut with clear RTV sealant.

Yes I know... A bunch of you will tell me that the black diffuser thingy makes no difference, Well if that's what you think then you are wrong! It made a world of difference and it does not blind cars or produce incorrect light patterns. I expected an improvement but I was really surprized at how well this little project turned out! The street is bright now and My buddy can see the road quite well! He is very happy with the outcome. Didn't cost anything but a few hours of tinkering around in the garage. I have included some pics of the results!

 

[Moes8]

good work man !

 

[unity]

Let us know how the hold up. I dont want to be a party killer, but generally any spray paint will melt off unless its high-temp engine pain. Is that what you used?

As for the diffuser. By removing it your basically ending up with 4 high-beams. This may even be a good idea for new housings. Think about it, unless you angles the low beams up they can be pretty bright without annoying other drivers. Good idea. Even my new housing suck with the low beams. I need some HIDs!

 

[turborich]

Let us know how the hold up. I dont want to be a party killer, but generally any spray paint will melt off unless its high-temp engine pain. Is that what you used?

As for the diffuser. By removing it your basically ending up with 4 high-beams. This may even be a good idea for new housings. Think about it, unless you angles the low beams up they can be pretty bright without annoying other drivers. Good idea. Even my new housing suck with the low beams. I need some HIDs!

I know that they may or may not hold up. I figured what the heck though as they were hardly usable before. Either way I figured it was worth a try. If they do burn up again this time it will be very simple to take them apart!


My new headlight housings on my 95 are holding up great after 1 1/2 years of use. Of course I use them as little as possible and keep the auto light feature off! I have HIR bulbs in them. Yes they do produce a brighter whiter light but still not all they are hyped up to be & they do burn just a little hotter than the stock sylvainas.

One thing I did notice when taking the lights apart is that nothing in front of the diffuser was burnt, it was all behind it as if the heat was being reflected off it and burning the chrome material. If I could somehow get them outta my new ones without cutting them I would!

 

[Kevin O'Connell]

light improvements

Great pics. I like the idea of removing the diffuser and recoating the reflector- has anyone read the posts on the MKVII.ORG site referencing some kind of metallic film they applied and used a heat gun to smooth out?
If there's a way to use a metallic film that won't burn off, let me know. How hot do the diffusers get? Can we drill vent holes to allow heat to escape?
They also used an oven to soften the adhesive that holds the lens to the diffuser- anyone else used this method?
Next, I figured out a way to rewire the lights to let both the low and high beams stay on at the same time- I followed the instructions that Painless Wiring uses for GMC trucks with four headlights. It requires the use of a relay to control the low beams while the high beams are on. Anyone else done this?