DuB

I'm going to put my headlights into the oven to crack them open to do some repairs, but I was wondering if I could just plop the entire thing in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 or so minutes, or should I take the rear black bracket off? I'm not sure how much heat all the components can take so I was wondering if any of you had a better idea. I'm definately going to take off the rubber hoses though. Here's a pic of the bracket I'm talking about.

pfdaxe

Here is a copy of the way to do it. Hope it helps. It's cut from a FAQ:

How do I remove the front plastic glass from headlight?
OEM healights usually have a seal that will soften with heat. The main idea here is to soften the seal, but not heat damaging headlight. This might not work on all headlamps. Do not use an iron, butane torch nor heat gun. It will garuanteed warp plastic. An added downside with warping is that material gets incrased tension inside, and will crack easier when it gets cold. (Herman have tried).
The best is to use an oven. Preheat oven until reaching 400 degrees F. Then TURN OFF oven. Then insert headlight so that it doesnt get in direct contact with anything, by using a few layers of holy tinfoil or cerimc dish, etc. Wait 10 mins. Remove product. Put on hot or welding gloves. Pry carefully with screwdriver or even better, a butter knife, so lense comes off of reflector housing gradually, working your way around seams.

10 minutes and 400F are general numbers, and will need to be adjusted depending on sealant used in headlight.

The oven trick works successfully on:
Hyundai XG
Honda Civics, Prelude, Accord.
Ford 87-93 Mustang.
Lincoln Mark VII (84-92)
APC aftermarked for Honda Accord.

The oven trick has not worked on:
VW Passat (Hella)

DuB

Thanks for the quick response.
I've read that info when you posted it earlier. That's where I got the number 400 degrees
Does anyone have a better idea on how much heat the black plastic bracket can take though?

pfdaxe

Actually....Im going to be doing the same thing pretty soon. I have "real" HID lights in my housings and need to take off the glass to experiment with some different shields. Not sure when Im going to attempt but I'll try the 'ol oven trick. Maybe I'll just take 'em into a fire with me when I go. I figure it runs about 800 degrees inside so I'll only have to be in there for 5 mins instead of 10.....lol


Paul:fireman:

DuB

Yeah, I have Bellof HIDs so I might take off the shield too because the bellofs have one that mounts on the bulb that I'm not using right now.
Well, I probably won't be trying for another couple days so if anyone has any info, please chime in

DuB

TADA!!!
A little preview. I'm not totally done yet. the glass is still a little dirty, I haven't sealed it yet w/ the fishtank sealant, and I haven't found the little cup thing yet for the other light :pat: (I spray painted the arms because they were a little rusty)

Here's the process I used:
-Took everything off the back of the light (spring, snap, screws, rubber hoses)
-warmed up the oven to 400 degrees.
-put in the light and with the oven ON.
-waited 5 minutes, and then turned it down to 200-250 degrees and let it sit for another 5-7 minutes.
-pulled it out and carefully separated the glass and reflector. BE CAREFUL! the glue will drip on the reflector so separate it slowly and make sure you catch all the drips!
-once I had them separated, I scraped all the glue off both pieces. I had to pop it back into the oven for a few minutes at 200 degrees every now and then to soften up the glue.
-after all the glue is gone, I let it cool.
-mask off all you don't want painted
-spray primer
-spray black (I used Rustoleum satin black)
-piece it back together and seal with fishtank sealant (haven't done this yet!)

That's it! Now I just gotta find that other piece so I can put them back on the truck

pfdaxe

Hey Dub:

I haven't done mine yet so I'm curious what repairs you were doing and what you were painting?? Also, did you take the black bracket on the back off as you were thinking earlier?? I may have time this week to do mine.

Paul

DuB

the chrome on the flat bottom part in the picture was damaged so i painted over it.
The other parts that I painted are the upper left and right ripple-ly parts.
I took everything off the back of the lights.

Zeus

Hey Paul and Dub,

Why are you guys taking off the front shield?

Also, do you guys like your HID lights?

Where did you get them?

And could you post pictures of them vs. regular headlights, like a side by side comparison?

Thanks!

-Z

pfdaxe

Z:

I still haven't got around to taking off my front glass. I'm removing mine to clean the inside and adjust my bulb shield for my HIDs. It will be easier to adjust the shield for better beam pattern.

As far as do I like the HIDs. Nothing compares. You can buy all of the so-called xenon, blue, superwhite or whatever the latest buzz word bulbs are called, but nothing compares to "real" HIDs. I have done extensive research and have alot of knowledge on lighting. The overall best set-up for headlight would be to do a retro using E-code projector HIDs. Probably using something like a BMW 5 series projector for example with a 4100k D2S bulb. I'm using the stock halogen free-form reflector housing with a Philips OEM 4100k D2S bulb and Philips ballast. ALL OEM HIDs use 4100k bulbs whether Philips or Osram. The 2 top and trusted places to purchase HID retro kits are www.suvlights.com (based in California) and www.autolamps-online.com (England). Both places are well respected. For the 4 Runner that uses an H4 bulb, I feel the suvlights kit is alittle better because ot the bulb shielding. The bottom of all HID bulbs need to be sheilded to prevent too much stray "yellow" beam being visible. The reason BMWs, Audis etc. look more "blue" than others is purely in the optics of the housing. They ALL use the 4100k bulb. The 4100k are the only legal kelvin temp bulb DOT approved. The so-called 5000k, 6000k, 7000k and beyond are "bluer" but have less "usable" light on the road. Hope this helps.

Paul

DuB

Hey Zeus,

Well, it looks like I'm going to be taking off my front shield because I lost mine. My Bellofs have a snap on one though so it's not too big a deal. Hey Paul, If you're taking yours off, can I buy your driver's side one off of you?

I like my HIDs a lot. The high beams on them don't work very well, but they're adequate, mostly because the HIDs are just brighter. They're definately better than the HID Plus kit I had. I wish the beam pattern was better though.

I got my Bellofs off of ebay a long time ago.

pfdaxe

Dub:

I'm not taking any of the shields off. Just adjusting them better since the beam pattern is alittle different than the halogens. Adjusting the shields with the glass off will be easier to get the beam pattern I'm looking for.

Paul

Zeus

So it sounds like you both bought the conversion kits and not the retrofits. Correct?

Were the conversion kits hard to install?

pfdaxe

Z:

I went with the plug & play kit. If I had a few hundred I would've gone for the projector retro. The kit was easy to install. Kit ran around $500.

Paul

Vato Loco

I was thinking of retrofitting ford cougar's projectors on the 4runner whenever I get the chance to. I might be going to the local junkyard this weekend to look for the cougars. Ive seen the cougar projectors retro-fitted on to the camrys. (95 I think) The cost for this job for the camry is $550cdn, I just emailed them if its possible and for how much. I will let you guys know.

pfdaxe

J-spec:

The problem I see with the Cougar projectors are they are made for halogens not HIDs. If your going to do a retro using OEM projectors, start with an OEM projector made for HIDs like BMW, Audi etc. The other problem I see with the pics you have posted are the projectors behind those factory glass lenses. To use projectors successfully, you need to mount them with a free form "clear" lense. The lense pictured was made for halogen and will alter the beam pattern plus looks funky. My thoughts are, if your going to spend the time and money on projectors may as well do it right. Here is a link to an Ebay auction for some HID projectors and there are more on Ebay for decent prices. Also check with "henrylampa" on Ebay. He usually has good projectors for sale is always updating throughout the week:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33710

Also, check this site as they will provide the projectors and do the install for you at one price:

http://www.illusion-lighting.com/

Paul

DuB

I have a plug-n-play kit made for a H4 bulb base. I would've gone w/ a retrofit if I had a bunch of money and time to spare as well, but I don't, so I didn't

Vato Loco

Here's what the shop told me

"I am sorry to say that retrofitting the projectors inside your headligths
would mean you will lose your highbeams. If I haven't mistaken, the 4Runner
uses a 9004 dual filament bulb? The projector is a 9006 type (single
filament), which means you will lose the highbeams and your car wouldn't
pass safety (I don't recommend driving a car without highbeams).

I haven't had any experience in working with 4Runner headlights. I can't
really guarantee anything, and such work will take weeks for test fitting
and angle adjustment. Right now, I have no time on my hands to do such work
anyway... the only time I can do headlight work for people will be the
upcoming summer holidays"

pfdaxe

J:

What shop was that quote from?

Anyway, with all HIDs, except bi-xenon HIDs, you will lose high beams. That's why I added an extra set of driving lights connected to my high beam wires.

Paul

supascout

Hey guys,

this seems to be the place to learn stuff so here goes!

I just installed H4 convesions (in my 89 P/U) with MTEC blubs that claim 170/160W output at 4350K. Thats all fine and dandy but the first time I was abble to use them (today) it was rainy and they really didnt seem to be much better than my regular old whities! I can tell that they are brighter and use alot more alternator but I just cant see all that differance. Im thinking that its due to the color. There bluer and I think that they provide less contrast than the whities!?! Also on the box there is a lable that reads H.I.D. now is this just propaganda or do they really fall under that catagory?



Q: Are they HID or NOT?
Q: Is there an advantage to blue?

_travis