higherlife
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Watching an auction today so I thought I would put together a 'Retrofit DIY Headlight' thread since the parts are coming in today.
I already have a little of a head start but I will do my best to explain the entire process. I painted my first set but left it at that but there are some learning curves that help out a lot that I will include.
First Ones:
Baking the Headlights,
I have found the perfect temperature to be around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. There is one screw that needs to be removed in order to pull the headlight apart. Do not forget to take it out because it is very small. I have found that you can put them directly on the rack without them melting or having any adverse affects. I like to put them in for 10 minutes at a time and it took 4 times a piece to get them fully prepared. This included getting all the glue off the headlight which is very crucial when it comes to resealing them.
It is easiest to get the top right corner, on the drivers side, and the top left corner, on the passengers side, apart first and work your way around. I used a small flat head to accomplish this.
Once you have them separated, as i stated, it is very crucial to remove all the glue off the headlight lens and back side valley in order to get the best seal. Trust me i had to redo the baking process because of this. I used a flat head again and picks to get all the glue off.
All the glue off.
With the glue off, its now time to disassemble the inners of the headlight. The main part has three screws that hold it to the lens. Remove these and put on the side.
To get the side makers off, I found it was easiest to snip a little part off the tab in order to not break off the tabs. Once you snip off one side, they will come off very easy and go on great without having to worry about them moving around.
To get the lower part of the headlight off you need to first slide off the top clip that is connected to the mechanism that allows you to control the angle of the light. It will slide right off with the help of a flat head.
Now in order to get the two 'ball and hinge' plastic peices that are on both sides, i used two flat heads in a 'chop stick' configuration to pry the two tabs apart.
They come off very easily once the tabs are disengaged but they are not the easiest to get to. Once off, you will want to remove the two screws that hold the two 'ball and joint' pieces and the one that holds the metal ford light piece.
In order to prep for paint, I have found that using an adhesive promoter works best.
This leaves a very nice surface for your paint. I purchased that paint from scratchwizard.com which does an excellent job matching vehicle colors and also offers the paint in various applications. I like the spray paint to get an even coat. I ordered 3 cans since all the inners will be getting painted.
Lights after prep,
This is were i am at as of right now and will continue tomorrow as the projectors are coming in today. I went with 4x Morimoto Mini H1s and will have switchback halos on all in order to retain blinkers.
I already have a little of a head start but I will do my best to explain the entire process. I painted my first set but left it at that but there are some learning curves that help out a lot that I will include.
First Ones:
Baking the Headlights,
I have found the perfect temperature to be around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. There is one screw that needs to be removed in order to pull the headlight apart. Do not forget to take it out because it is very small. I have found that you can put them directly on the rack without them melting or having any adverse affects. I like to put them in for 10 minutes at a time and it took 4 times a piece to get them fully prepared. This included getting all the glue off the headlight which is very crucial when it comes to resealing them.
It is easiest to get the top right corner, on the drivers side, and the top left corner, on the passengers side, apart first and work your way around. I used a small flat head to accomplish this.
Once you have them separated, as i stated, it is very crucial to remove all the glue off the headlight lens and back side valley in order to get the best seal. Trust me i had to redo the baking process because of this. I used a flat head again and picks to get all the glue off.
All the glue off.
With the glue off, its now time to disassemble the inners of the headlight. The main part has three screws that hold it to the lens. Remove these and put on the side.
To get the side makers off, I found it was easiest to snip a little part off the tab in order to not break off the tabs. Once you snip off one side, they will come off very easy and go on great without having to worry about them moving around.
To get the lower part of the headlight off you need to first slide off the top clip that is connected to the mechanism that allows you to control the angle of the light. It will slide right off with the help of a flat head.
Now in order to get the two 'ball and hinge' plastic peices that are on both sides, i used two flat heads in a 'chop stick' configuration to pry the two tabs apart.
They come off very easily once the tabs are disengaged but they are not the easiest to get to. Once off, you will want to remove the two screws that hold the two 'ball and joint' pieces and the one that holds the metal ford light piece.
In order to prep for paint, I have found that using an adhesive promoter works best.
This leaves a very nice surface for your paint. I purchased that paint from scratchwizard.com which does an excellent job matching vehicle colors and also offers the paint in various applications. I like the spray paint to get an even coat. I ordered 3 cans since all the inners will be getting painted.
Lights after prep,
This is were i am at as of right now and will continue tomorrow as the projectors are coming in today. I went with 4x Morimoto Mini H1s and will have switchback halos on all in order to retain blinkers.
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