3rd Gen BHLM and light mods

It aint fun to remove. I just did mine a couple weeks ago and it took me about 2-3 hours for each light to get that permaseal out. Used a small screwdriver like @MESO suggested and it worked, just took me forever. Makes the baking and pulling apart a piece of cake! No wonder some people say they just reuse the permaseal, but I wanted to do a professional job so I took the time to do it right. Remember to use gloves. If i didnt, i would have had several gouges on my hands.

 

yeah, that's what I've been doing. The gloves definitely help. I'll hit a section that starts coming out smooth and then all of a sudden it's like it's welded into the channel and kills all my motivation...i may need to see if I have a smaller screwdriver, the one that I have fits just barely in the channel.

 

I tried with the bigger one and that was a pain. I went to the smaller one and it was slightly easier.

 

first one is finally clean and the oven is preheating for the next light...hopefully i'll be able to paint and reassemble this weekend...

 

wow...this headlight was much easier to get all the permaseal out...can't wait to paint tomorrow!

 

sorry to necro an old post, but i would like to talk about turn signals... for those of you that have blacked out the turn light reflector bowl, how did it turn out? any problems or regrets?

something else i'm considering is modifying the turn lights to operate same as DRL, after a DD switchback DRL board conversion and changing the turn lights to LED. I'm not doing a halo/demon mod, so i think that amount of light during the day might look great. they both would be white while driving, flashing amber when turning, and dim when the headlights are on. yes, this will take some rewiring but i havent looked into the wiring diagrams enough to get scared yet

 

This was my summer project that I slowly worked on in my spare time. I just need to figure out how to wire the halos, get the lights sealed up and I should be done! I went with a Morimoto DS2 + LED HB combo. (any advice on the halos is appreciated, I honestly haven’t looked into at all yet)

 

painting has begun...just going to go regular bhlm on this set...will probably do a retro, a passive demon eye, leave the chrome ring around the projector, black out the highbeam bucket, smoked turn signal plexi, and a custom side marker on the next set i do...

still need to pick up some vht nightshade for the side markers...

 

how long do you guys let your paint cure before reassembly...i'm getting antsy in the pantsy...

 

I normally wait a full day to completely cure and out-gas but that's just me.

 

Agreed I would say 24 hrs at min.

 

i'm leaving them for tomorrow morning...i filled my oven with braised beef cheeks today...

 

Damn it! Now I have to know how to make that happen! I have the SR, so my headlights would be the same, but what about those fogs? What type of fogs can halos be added to?

 

Im getting ready to do this to mine as well. I have done several sets of Subaru WRX, FXT and STi lights in the past, so I know the drill. One thing I can say is an absolute must, is that you wait at LEAST 24 hours, and preferably 48 before you put everything back together.

Subaru's back in 06/08 had an anti reflective coating on the inside of the lenses, and I would imagine, most manufacturers are the same. That anti reflective coating can be ruined, with spider web like cracking as the paint outgasses, so it is pretty important to wait until the paint is cured in my opinion.

I could be talking out of my ass since I have never done a set of Toyota lights, but I did ruin a set of FXT lenses once because I got anxious and only waited about 8 hours before putting everything back together. That was a $650.00 "mistake" which is what it cost to replace a set of OEM Forester FXT housings. I hear some guys are oven curing their painted parts.... I would be homeless if I tried that in my house... The wife would relegate me to the curb...

 

one more question before i reassemble them: do you make slits in the retrorubber where the screws go, or do you just screw through it after it's all warmed up?

 

I retro rubbered the whole way around and just screwed it all back together warm, no issues

 

Also, be super cognizant of the rubber once it’s warmed up. It’s really easy to get snagged on (gloves, arm hair, whatever) and string out little black strands onto lens surface etc. Take your time and enjoy!

 

thanks for the heads up. also, when warming up the retrorubber, are you only baking the back half and then putting the lens on after it's warm?

 

chipped a corner of the paint while trying to get one of them reassembled...looks like it'll be tomorrow's project...

 

sorry, had to catch some sleep after working a night shift! Yeah I just added the rubber to the channel, heated that half, then took it outta the oven and pressed the lens back on. Added a bunch of clamps then re-screwed it