DIY: Black Headlight Mod with Video Tutorial

[azmatsci]

bake at ~120F and then add some clear silicone seal to the seams.

[semcoll]

Unfortunately, to do it the right way, you'll have to pull them, strip them down like you did the first time, rebake to get the sealant soft and press the lens and housing together to seal any gaps.

An alternative is to pull them and seal the edges with clear 100% silicone instead. [bandaid fix]

[006]

If you got moisture inside the light you really should take it apart again and then put it back together, but make sure to really put a good amount of sealant on it. I can't stress that enough here. The most common problems with this mod that people have are A) melting because they didn't realize their oven wasn't actually at the right temp or because of bad housing placement inside the oven, and B) not sealing up the housing properly when putting it back together and they get moisture.

Both of those issues can be easily avoided by taking a couple of extra minutes and double checking a couple of things.

Like I said, I think you should take it back apart, so bake it again, and then put it back together immediately after pulling it apart but make sure to put more sealant around the housing. We're talking something that should take about half an hour altogether for both lights. And I mean seriously as soon as you pull them out of the oven and get them apart, just put some more sealant around the channel and put it back together immediately, while the original sealant is still gooey enough for you to reassemble.

As far as other headlights being modded: I have modded a pair of Tacos, about 3 new model Tundras, and my old 07 F150. I feel that as long as there is an area to paint and the headlight has the crystal clear lens, then this mod can be performed on it. The only differences will be how you take it out of the vehicle, generally speaking. The time in the oven should be about the same as this grade of sealant is pretty standard in auto manufacturing.

~006

[yodaworrior]

I was hoping I wasn't gunna have to do that I was also told to take out the housing and take the bulbs out and use a hair dryer to dry it out I'm gunna try that and then i guess if it don't work then pull em apart again but thanks for the help

[yodaworrior]

thanks for the help I actually used a hair dryer and took the bulbs out and dryer them out that way

[Heinz5.7]

Would it make more sense to do the HL mod before, during, or after an HID/projector retorfit??? Does it even matter??? Any thoughts...

[mbzchris22]

If you can get the housing from the person that is going to retrofit your lights, that would be the best time since the lights will already be seperated. Then you don't have to deal with splitting apart the lights twice!

[ThirdHorseman]

During, of course...the process is the exact same, with a projector/shroud mounting in between opening and closing the housing

[Heinz5.7]

Thanks, same time, got it... Can you guys suggest a good retrofitter or source to find a good local one? What OEM kit do you use?

BTW, TH how's the new exhaust?

[lbrito]

I had this problem in my Tacoma, I put a soft cloth on a stick and took the headlight off. Went in there and cleaned up the moisture thoroughly. Then added clear silicone to ensure a better seal all around. I wodered if some that I didn't catch wold fog it up on hot days, but it worked out well and never saw it again.

[Curb71]

Im having a problem viewing the video. I tried both links and when I save it to my computer it saves a HTML file. If I click it it redirects me to a page that says, "This site is currently unavailable. If you are the owner of this site, please contact us at 1-480-505-8855 at your earliest convenience"
Is the video hosted anywhere else?

[006]

Ok, what happened was I got a new website and the one I had the video on I let expire so it is down now. I am going to upload it to my new website and the link will be updated by the end of the week.

~006

[smack]

Has anyone tried to separate the seam by using a heat gun instead of baking the whole thing?

[WT]

Originally Posted by smack

Has anyone tried to separate the seam by using a heat gun instead of baking the whole thing?

I have not personaly done it with the Tundra but have on my motorcycle headlight and that has a plastic lens too and it worked well when I was doing my projector retrofit on that...

Edit:
Well for future readers I do not suggest trying it with a heat gunnow that I jave done this myself. So after doing this mod myself I think its much faster to do the oven thing since the head lights have such a large area to keep warm at once so it will release the lense cover off with out problems.

[smack]

Thanks