Dull looking Micra headlights

[CMF_Yom]

Now I know you all whinge about your micra headlights looking dull and ugly.

But thats because they are.

Today I did something interesting. I pulled my driving lights out and stuck them in the oven for a few minutes. The glass came off quite easily once they were hot (i had to use rags to hold the lights but the plastic wasnt at the stage of melting/deforming).

First thing I did was take a lint free cloth to the inside of the glass. *wipe* OMG! There was an evil layer of fog like substance on the inside of the glass. Pleased with my discovery I quickly cleaned the glass up with some streak free glass cleaner and observed my handiwork through the sunlight.

Quick wipe down of the lense and I put a little bit of marine silastic on the grove the glass slides into (the original glue was still quite hard and undamaged when I removed the glass).

Squeezed the glass back into position, wiped it up and chucked it back in the oven (to soften up the original glue).

Pulled it out and massaged the glass even deeper into its little notch. Let it sit out to cool down. Looks brand spanking new. I couldn't believe it.

I also tweaked the asthetic value of the lights with a lick of paint and I'm sure some pictures at the brisbane meet tomorrow will show exactly what I did.

All I can say is Whoopdey do. My driving lights look brand spanking new.

I guess the main headlights would be the same deal. I tried them before but I don't beleieve I had the oven hot enough.

 

[CMF_Yom]

Oh yeh, there is a slight chance that doing this could cause the glass to crack... So be careful.

Less chance of the glass cracking using an oven though - the heat is spread out evenly. If you were to use a heatgun to soften the original sealent you would create a very hot section glass and this could mean a nasty crack if you've got severe sand blasting/small stone chips.

 

[CMF_Toma]

Thats freakin' awesome Yom

Thanks for this invaluable peice of info. Will do it within the next couple weeks. Couldnt you use a scalpel to cut the bond between plastic and glass instead of using an oven? Coz thats just scarey

 

[CMF_Yom]

Nup that won't get you anywhere mate.

The glass is glued in FIRM.

Just pull the bulb and associated wiring out and preheat oven to 200deg C.

I suggest investing in some leather gardening gloves. They're good for working with hot stuff. (your mother's oven mits just won't do - oh yeh make sure she doesnt see you using her oven to cook your lights lol)

Stick light in the oven for a minute, pull it out and poke a small flathead screwdriver between the glass and the plastic and start levering. If the plastic just flexes away and the glass doesnt move, stick it in the oven and put a bit more heat into it.

Unfortunately if you have too much heat you'll warp the headlight encasing and if you don't have enough head you can risk cracking the plastic encasing.

So yeh, 2 min at the oven at most... If it needs more, just put in for another 30 seconds at a time. Keep doing that until you can start levering the glass from the encasing. Once you're at the stage where the original glue is soft, grab your levering flatheads and go for gold before the glue cools down! Try not to ruin the standard glue channeling as well - otherwise you have to pick it all out and put a heap of your own silicone sticky type stuff on it.

 

[cisco]

Wow that's awesome!

Great thread Yom.

Mine look like absolute crap. Please take a picture and post it up here ASAP!

I am keen to do this next week DEFINATELY. I'll have a go and see how it goes.

 

[CMF_White Knight]

Great post Yom.Good stuff. Now we are all out looking at our headlights and baking them in the oven!!
Maybe 200 degrees to hot if oven fan forced?? Maybe more like 180 ??

 

[CMF_Yom]

I used fan forced oven. Turn the fan off (if possible) once the oven hits 200deg C.

 

[CMF_kristian...]

this is what I did with mine.. very effective i think...

 

[CMF_kristian...]

Although I used a heat gun... my mother would kill me if i used the oven..

 

[cisco]

Those look tops!

I will do this to my driving/fog lights today.

 

[CMF_Yom]

cisco I've placed a patent on my black-outline examples so you'll have to get a different colour. I suggest silver

 

[cisco]

Yeah that's fine mate. I'll just be cleaning them out and leaving them plain a la factory.

 

[cisco]

Allright here we go.

Oven heating up 200deg fan forced, and will turn the fan force once she reaches operating temperature

Here are the BEFORE shots of my driving lights.

I really hope that the after shots aren't a molten pile of plastic. I hope this works!

clogged up with filthy crap:

 

[cisco]

Close up:

 

[CMF_Yom]

Yummy yummy sand blasting.

Mine look the same. heh.

Nothing you can do about it.

But yeh, just be careful and watch them constantly!

My oven's 200deg C might be different to yours.

 

[cisco]

Bah I want a refund!

Nah I didn't cook the lights, but all that crap on mine, are pure external "sand blast" scratches as you say.

There was no crap inside to clean out. They look the same.

Doh!!!

Now I'm just heating this one back up and putting the car back together Damnit. I just need some new glass covers then. Mine are absolutely scratched to the death.

 

[cisco]

I also had to pump about 2 and a bit minutes worth of heat into it to get it to come off.

 

[CMF_White Knight]

Leaving my headlights where they are!!
Looked closely and reckon its more from foloowing trucks and glass being sand blasted. Only problem with cars low to the ground you get more than your share of ****e.

 

[CMF_Alex_B]

im unaware how hard it it to sand glass, but maybe you could sand them down then follow these instructions?

http://www.303products.com/tech/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=315

Alex