BHLM suggestions

hi, i've been doing some research in TW trying to find the best (most successful) sealant/adhesive to reseal my head lamps. i bought them off ebay a while ago. the RF started to leak from somewhere so i tried to just lay a bead of silicone around the edge w/o taking them off the vehicle. they still leak!!

i'm not painting the lights, just take them apart and reseal the seam again my self. any suggestion as to which type of silicone/sealant to use?

i plan to seal the outside as well.

also, how would be the best way to clean up all the residual silicone/sealant from original packing? i dont wanna overlay this stuff.

thanks!

 

Window Weld, I belive it's made by 3M. It's a black, strip adhesive that's sold in auto parts stores. When you take apart your Ebay lights, you'll see how much they skimped on the adhesive and why they leaked. Throw some of that stuff in there, heat them up, put them together and you'll be all set. You can still put silicone around the outside if you want as extra security but it's not necessary.

 

ya, 3M, is wat i was thinking would be the best. any of their products actually. so, should i try to clean out all the old stuff or just lay it over it? i just dont want to have a gap somewhere n have'm leak again

to reseal -heating up - wat do u rec? (temp/time)

 

or from lowes, i used the GE silicone. just put a line down and rub it in with your finger

 

preheat the oven to 300 degrees then shut it off and put the lights in for 10 minutes with the oven OFF. do the same process when sealing them up, 300, oven off, 10 minutes. then clamp them together until its all cold and you should be good to go

 

on the outside? or in the seam?

 

ya, thanks. i got that much covered from the other builds. *note to self, buy clamps.*

 

oh haha my bad, but yeah basically just follow that and your good. clamps are nice, vice grips work but they might leave some teeth marks, where as the clamps are all rubbery and wont do that. same shit, i use both lol

 

the the seam and when it overflowes just use your finger

 

i was just gonna get those long clamps like they use for wood/carpentry. but watever is cheaper n works better. will def not use any vice grips.

any idea on how to clean up the original stuff i laid on there?

 

casey, if i use the silicone, how long till its cured/dried to install?

 

here is the type i used. it says dry time 30 minutes. i also used my gf's hairdryer to try and speed it up.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_51220-72643.../pl_1+5_0__s?Ntt=ge+silicone+clear&facetInfo=

 

hairdrier lol -good idea.

 

You do not need to remove the old adhesive, there probably won't be a lot in there to begin with.

The silicone should be applied at the very end, after you've resealed the lights and they've cooled. The silicone is a secondary measure at that stage and not required. If you used silicone around the whole assembly when they were new, they probably wouldn't have leaked.

 

This is what I used. I heated the housings in the oven @ 200* for 8 minutes and scraped out most of the glue with an old flathead screw driver. Then I stretched the window weld so it lays in the groove easily, heat again at 200* for 8 min. and pressed them back together and used aligator clamps ( under $2 each at Home Depot). It worked great and they haven't fogged up.

This is the stuff. Found it at Pep Boys

 

thanks andy, mike.
ok. so, no silicone for main seam. only outside as a secondary measure. -correct?

 

Correct!

 

after all of this you can do the water test before installing them back on

 

Bought some off ebay myself. Now im going to water test before install. Glad i read.

 

right on! thanks guys. about *F*'in time i did this. the fogging is bothering me, just degrades the awesomeness n brotastik look of the whole truck!