Take Apart Those Headlights

[fxlr8]

Tools:

Oven
Phillips Screw Driver


***BEFORE DOING THIS, TAKE ALL THE BULBS OUT AND HID COMPONENTS***

1.Unscrew the 3 screws from the back of the headlight.



2.Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. When your oven gets up to 400 degrees....turn it off...(TURN IT OFF) << remember this step****.

3.Put your headlight on a cookie sheet or tray and stick it in the oven that is now off. Leave it in the oven for 4-5 minutes and close the door.



4.After the 5 minutes in the oven you can now go ahead and pry the two halves apart.



5.To remove the reflector you are going to unscrew 4 screws that hold the reflector from the clear front of the headlight.



6.This is the time to paint, angel eye, or whatever your plans are.



7.Reassembly is the reverse of the above.

*you can put the two halves together as close as you can....reheat and then bring them together even more, then put the 3 screws back in.

*you can re-use the same adhesive

***ALSO REMEMBER WHEN USING THE OVEN THE HEADLIGHTS WILL GET HOT.. PLEASE USE GLOVES OR WHATEVER YOU CAN TO PREVENT ANY BURNS***

 

[N2FX]

Re: Take Apart Those Headlights (fxlr8)

That looks easier than the heat gun method I used. Next time, I'll do it this way.

 

[fxlr8]

Re: Take Apart Those Headlights (N2FX)

Somewhat, just make sure you turn off the oven when you put the headlights in. I left mine on once and had headlight soup.

 

[N2FX]

Re: Take Apart Those Headlights (fxlr8)

Lol...That must have been tasty, ... the angel eyes will probably be the next mod. so if so I'll do it this way too. Thx Jeff... and send the Recipe for the soup JK

 

[easy_goer]

good tips.

 

[E_FX]

do you have to remove the bumper first?

 

[jbaker1121]

do you have to remove the bumper first?

pretty much...

 

[sir21]

I just removed the top part. Turned the steering left/right and bent the wheel arch "mud guard" plastic back. Now that I look back at it I think it just would have been easier to remove the whole thing

 

[Rubare]

Nice DIY Jeff thanks..

 

[boosted4runner]

No before/after pics?

 

[bleedingsujit]

if this helps....
///9042&page=7&highlight=krylon+fusion+satin+black

just keep scrolling down

 

[sirtrojan]

The oven must be 60 cm wide!

 

[Jmess86]

The oven must be 60 cm wide!

So I guess my plan with the Easy-Bake wont work :frown:

Nice DIY btw. I was going to try doing this to mine but if I screwed up a new headlight is around $1k and I didn't want to risk that mistake. Parents own a body shop so I have plenty of headlights to practice on.

 

[MB2702]

Is it really hard to do or easy to mess up? What type of pain do you suggest to make it blat black? Does it matter?

 

[bleedingsujit]

Is it really hard to do or easy to mess up? What type of pain do you suggest to make it blat black? Does it matter?

the housing is safe from external debris so the paint will stay fresh for forever. krylon fusion flat/satin/gloss black are all good choices depending on your preference. be patient and apply about 3 coats with long breaks in between. that should do it.
taking the headlight apart is not difficult at all. grab some gloves, a philips and a flat head screwdriver and your good to go.

 

[allanmaxt]

very good info there guys

 

[la_fx35]

Taking apart the headlights is VERY straight forward. FXLR8's DYI very detailed. Just make sure you TURN OFF the oven when it gets to the right temperature. Wear some glooves, the headlight is HOT when you take it out of the oven! Have fun.

I heat my oven to 300 degree, turn it off and put the headlight into the oven for about 4-5 minutes. I chose to take all wires off the headlight except the red one that attached to the projector that you cannot get to. Do one headlight at a time. Once it came out of the oven, just use a flat head screw driver and pry on different location enough that you can pull them apart by hand.

 

[whin9000]

If I plan on adding angel eyes/LEDs, what kind of adhesive should I use in order to attach them to the headlight? Would sticking the headlights back into the oven to put it together melt the angel eyes/LEDs adhesive?

 

[fxlr8]

When I did a set of angel eyes for another person I used a very thin strand of copper wire to hold them in place.

 

[la_fx35]

I use J-B Weld brand J-b Kwik eproxy. No problem with sticking LED AE & glue back into the oven to put the headlight back together nor below freeze temperature so far. I just put four drops of the eproxy on the projector shroud and stick the AE to it. Put a couple more drop if you like, but be careful not put too much otherwise you will see the epoxy runs.