How To: Black Head Light mod

Edit by mjp2: This tutorial was awesome but the photos disappeared from Photobucket. 478DblSport was kind enough to save and restore the information, so I'm including that post here for reference. Enjoy!

 

Thanks Viet! Those gen 3s look good in there as well! This should be a sticky since it has pics. +1 for you.

 

Good write-up.

 

Viet, How is the 3M Window Weld rubber butyl stuff holding up in the elements? I am trying to decide how to seal up my housings as I am close to finishing my retrofit. I live in the Pacific Northwest so I am concerned about fogging issues as it gets cold and wet here. Thanks!

 

Looks awesome!! Great job!!

 

Looks like the window weld should keep moisture out better than anything I can think of. Definatley better than than trying to salvage the original adhesive as I've seen some guys do.

 

Thanks Johnny, I just went ahead and picked some up today. I figure it will be better than the stock glue. I might put some silicone sealant around the edge of the lights after the window weld is cured for more protection.

 

wow great write up- thanks for putting the time into this!

 

I'm currently in the process of doing mine. So far so good. It's actually pretty easy, but I don't want to jinx myself. Wish me luck.

 

Nice write up man...good details too

+1

 

Sorry guys I haven't seen this thread. The rubber butyl is awesome to work with! The only bitchy part was removing the stock stuff. I added some clear liquid nails on the outside for extra measures. BUT, also make sure you preburn everything before sealing it up.

 

Anybody know what the melting point is for the stock adhesive that holds the housing together?

Think you could get away with using a blow dryer to peel the remaining adhesive off after separating the housing?

 

you can, but expect to be there all day.

 

as long as you put the lense back on the same way you took it off, you'll be fine. i've done over a handfull of these and have nevery used any extra glue, and none have fogged or leaked on me.

but i too am interested in how adding this stuff will affect the lights? i like the OEM stuff because it becomes harder and more sticky than the 3M stuff. the 3m stuff seems really good though, so....what do you say viet?!

 

I used the 3M and its working fine. Make sure you clean that grove out really good so its all new 3M weld in there.

 

what did you use to clean out the OEM stuff? i think that that stuff would be great to reseal IF you can get all the OEM stuff out first...

 

just heat it up in the over and scrape it out with something disposible. Dont use a screw driver because you wont get it off the screw driver later. I heated and Cleaned the groove 3 times i think on each. then you can do a little on the lenses too.

 

^ dont mean to be a pain, but did you do the following...

preheat to 300, turn off
stick gray housing in oven for 5 min, scrape
reheat oven, turn off, insert gray housing, scrap...etc?

or did you keep the oven on when you reheated it?

again, dont mean to nit pick, but you have a great idea and would like to know our process so i can do it too!

 

To take the old stuff off I just set the over to 275-ish and didnt bother turning it off. left the grey half in for 5 or 6 minutes pulled out and cleaned a portion of the groove untill the sealer sterted to harden. Then I just put it back in and repeated the process till it was as clean as it was going to get.

 

^ cool, thanks for all the info!