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Buy cheap headlights to source new lenses and second projector?
I like my oem headlights but they are beyond restoration it seems. Tried today and they don’t look much better. So here is what I’m thinking. I buy these cheap lights (below), bake and remove lenses to put on my oem lights. Since I’ve got to do all the baking and removing, may as well treat my housings to some color match paint. But I also figure I could probably frankenstein the main projector from these lights and put it where the high beam is. Maybe add some halos, maybe not I dunno.
Does anyone see a flaw in what I’m suggesting to do here or should it work out okay? I’m going to put the 3M film on the lenses as soon as they are put back together so they hold up.
yea that’s def a concern. I’d think they’d be at least the same size but good point nonetheless.
Even if they are the same size there is no guarantee they are molded the same. The lips of the lenses may have different depths, One might have an angle and the other is straight.
If you want to fix your OEM headlights wet sand, buff and reclear. I've brought some horrible looking lights back from the dead that way. The parts store headlight restore kits are never going to get enough heat or remove enough material to make bad headlights better.
Even if they are the same size there is no guarantee they are molded the same. The lips of the lenses may have different depths, One might have an angle and the other is straight.
If you want to fix your OEM headlights wet sand, buff and reclear. I've brought some horrible looking lights back from the dead that way. The parts store headlight restore kits are never going to get enough heat or remove enough material to make bad headlights better.
I tried it on one of my lights and it totally didn’t work for me. I don’t know if I just did it wrong or what but it’s cloudy AF and I think I went to low of a grit trying to the defects out. I went down to 320, then worked up to 2500 grit. I used mcquires compound and they look milky now (also have some scratches so I probably need to sand better which I can do if I can figure out the finishing steps). I did the compound part by hand so maybe that’s the problem but I just got the drill attachment so I’m gonna try that.
So I am going to try the drill attachment for the compound and then the polish and see if that clears them up, if it does, then I’ll start over and sand more to get out the scratches I left behind using 320 grit. I dunno tho man. It looks pretty hopeless, lmao.
If its milky or cloudy then you didn't do it right. You need to start low and sand until everything is even looking. Then go to the next grit up and sand until its even, and so on and so on.
A drill attachment probably won't be right either to finish it. Harbor Freight actually sells a mini DA buffer. It works wonders. Of course if you don't have an air compressor it won't do you much good but you could still get a DA polisher to do the job
Your best bet is to compile as many pictures as you can from the aftermarket lights and try to find the exact same angles but for the OEM lights. I have done this in the past with other vehicles however the G might be different.
As far as the buffing goes, you'll never get the same result as a highspeed buffer and the reason why is the pad/compound at high speeds become the ultimate/highest grit, probably 20k + grit depending on the pad and compound.
You started great and to continue you dont need to go down to low grits. Possibly start over with 1-1.5k then wipe dry to see where you are at then keep going up until you dont have any more. After I like to take a old 2k+ paper and rub it against itself so it can wear and give an even finer grit. The end result is the buffer for sure.
You'll never be able to remove the internal spidercracks if you have any.
I'm confident the lens swap will work, just needs more research.
With the mild differences in rear-of-light-body shape I've seen with aftermarket taillights, I'd be concerned that any aftermarket headlight's outer lens wouldn't fit right - which is a DARN shame.
I need to do this too, and I'm not relishing wet sanding for a few days straight to get them right. I can tell you from refinishing rifle stocks though, wet sanding and the proper clear coating afterwards makes a HUGE difference in final output.
@BULL - wonder how hard it would be to vacuum-form clear acrylic or plexi to the right shape, or create a mold for some sort of clear pourable resin?
In my opinion:
They have to be a perfect external fit and they have to bolt up to their intended supports. With this being said its also safe to say that most of these aftermarket companies just copy the external shells and work off the internals to obtain customization and a great external fit.
@BULL So I think I’m going to try and get some of the cheap enay lights that are supposedly OEM replacement as those will likely have the best chance of the lenses fitting. Once I get them, I’m going to install them as is and just ride with those for a bit while I start modding my inner housings. Once I finish my housings and get them all how I went them, then I’ll take the replicas off the car, bake, remove the lenses and then put the lenses on my modded oems. I know @stealthee and @rotarymike don’t seem to have faith they won’t fit but I’m with you and think they will. They should be exact replicas with some internals perhaps being cheaper quality but I’d be shocked if the lenses don’t marry to oem just fine. If it’s just quality control isn’t great and they “should” fit but don’t sit flush, a little extra butyl should solve the problem.
The guy with the $415 eBay lights says he’ll have them back in stock in a few days so I’m going to nab them when he gets them back in stock. We’ll see.
@BULL So I think I’m going to try and get some of the cheap enay lights that are supposedly OEM replacement as those will likely have the best chance of the lenses fitting. Once I get them, I’m going to install them as is and just ride with those for a bit while I start modding my inner housings. Once I finish my housings and get them all how I went them, then I’ll take the replicas off the car, bake, remove the lenses and then put the lenses on my modded oems. I know @stealthee and @rotarymike don’t seem to have faith they won’t fit but I’m with you and think they will. They should be exact replicas with some internals perhaps being cheaper quality but I’d be shocked if the lenses don’t marry to oem just fine. If it’s just quality control isn’t great and they “should” fit but don’t sit flush, a little extra butyl should solve the problem.
The guy with the $415 eBay lights says he’ll have them back in stock in a few days so I’m going to nab them when he gets them back in stock. We’ll see.
When you take yours off that will be the time for measuring. Compare as much as you possibly can, this will bring the theory closer to reality.
06-26-2021, 04:53 PM
