Is it possible to clean the inside of your headlights out? Mine are very yellowed.

I'd assume that you would pull them apart after heating them up and then use some sort of acetone based cleaner on them?

 

Easier to buy nice used ones. Around here they are only like 30 a pop for OEM Stanleys.

 

Easier, yes, but not free... I have no money

 

It's really not that hard at all to pull them apart. I've taken both mine off and apart to clean and re-seal mine. You can get it done in about an hour. the oven is awesome at heating them up.

 

Cool, thanks for the info

When re-sealing them, what did you use? Silicone of some sort I'd assume? And what did you use to clean them? Thank you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ZERO COOL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It's really not that hard at all to pull them apart. I've taken both mine off and apart to clean and re-seal mine. You can get it done in about an hour. the oven is awesome at heating them up. </TD></TR></TABLE>
how did you clean them? what did you use to clean them? what did you use to seal them back up? i had a light bulb pop on me the last time it rained, whater got into the headlight housing!

 

Sorry to jack the post, but do you think the glass part of the headlight would be worth anything? I have a whole headlight (glass and plastic casing), but the plastic mounting pieces are broken off, so they're basically useless. But the glass is in excellent shape. And I hate to throw it away. Can the glass be reused??

 

Well first yes the glass can be reused finding a buyer for them is another story though.
As for cleaning them you can use whatever cleaner you want since it is glass I have used "Lime Away" and that stuff worked great but it can burn your hands though. Other things like Super Clean would probably work great as well.

 

Do you have pics and perhaps a writeup on how you took your headlights apart? I really want to do this and paint part of the inside black.

I too have no money.

 

it's pretty simple to do but i do agree on getting nice used ones if you have the money.

-pull the headlights from the car
-take off the mounting bracket and the metal clips that hold the lens on (they slide off)
-heat the oven (i now forget what temp i used... maybe 200 for 5 minutes? just heat until gummy)
-put the headlights on a pan/rack covered with foil and head them up ( i did this one at a time)
-use a screw driver or something similar and GENTLY pry the lens away from the housing
-clean the lens, etc
-get some clear silicone and use a good amount to ensure a good seal *NOTE -(some people RE-use the old seal)*
-let them sit for a little while and then re-install

that's how i did my own headlights anyway

 

can the insides of the housing be painted silver, to make them shine better at night?

 

Good info and good writeup! Thank you muchly!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by smokey2.0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">can the insides of the housing be painted silver, to make them shine better at night?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I believe they're already coated reflective silver on the parts that matter.

 

I've herd that if you bake them @ the wrong temp. it will crack the glass....

but I dont speak from exprience.
Good luck,


Blaze

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I believe they're already coated reflective silver on the parts that matter.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, but with time and water gatting in there, that paint dulls out. i remember super street doing a write up, on how to make prelude lights brighter. what they did was, they used sand paper on the housing and recoted the housing with some reflective silver paint! that's what i'm thinking of doing!

 

If you are thinking of painting the inner housing black anywhere, forget it. There isn't any space that isn't used as reflective material. If you were to paint the inside housing you wouldn't be able to see very well at all. Another thing, don't reuse the original silicone. It's old, brittle and worn out; hence some of them with condensation on the insides. I used RTV black silicone. That stuff is great. As far as the reflective paint, where can that be bought at? Oh yeah, heat the over to 200 degrees, and leave in for about 10 minutes, no longer though. I tried to get as much of the old silicone of once I had mine apart.