How To Crack Open Headlights (Moved)

tx_bandit · 05-26-2009, 12:41 AM

After reading so many posts about how difficult opening the 300 headlights could be I decided to try for myself. I will admit that when I started I was not sure how this was going to come out but fortune smiled on me so here is a step by step pictorial of how to do it.

First step to is pulling off the front bumper. There are plenty of posts on this so I won't spent any time on it. If you need directions reference this post here:
http://www.300cforums.com/forums/exterior-modifications/31283-grill-installation-fascia-removal-101-a.html

Once you get the bumper off there are three tork screws holding the lights- two on top and one on the bottom.

Once you remove the three screws unplug all the wiring harnesses

I removed the HID bulbs but did not remove the ballasts.

Ok, here is the secret to opening the housing. Its patience. Yeah, I know that sucks as far as secrets go but it’s a fact. If you try to rush this you will either give up in frustration or ruin your headlights.

I read a lot of posts about people having to all but broil their headlights to get them to open. I never went over 230 degrees Fahrenheit. I did however wind up heating the lights several times each during the process.

First I pre-heated the oven to 230 and baked the first light for 20 minutes. When the timer went off I moved the hot headlight to the counter and put the second headlight in and re-set the timer for 20 minutes

While the second headlight was baking I began working on the hot housing. Start at a corner and slowly work the tip of the screwdriver around that corner. DO NOT USE TOO MUCH FORCE OR YOU WILL BREAK SOMETHING. If you don't have any luck with one corner go to the next.

By the time you have fiddled with the four corners on the first housing the 20 minute timer will go off. Swap the headlight housings in the oven and repeat the above process

Once you get back to the headlight housing you started with drop the timer down to 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes you are going to swap headlights. Around the second or third swap you will finally start seeing some progress, you will get the first gap to appear.

Don't try and pull it apart yet, the glue on the rest of the light is still too tight and you will crack the cover. Look for dark areas around the edge like this:

These dark areas are where the glue in on extra thick and needs to be worked with the edge of the screwdriver. If you can't get this area free then swap out for the light in the oven and work on the other housing...

Once you have worked all the dark glue areas you will start seeing some progress. Again, be patient and take your time. If you get stuck, swap out the lights and work on the hot one! As the lights cool the factory glue hardens so always work on a hot light.

Eventually your hard work and perseverance will pay off and the two sides will split

Before you start installing the halos or painting the housing you need to clean out the left over factory adhesive:

Once you clean out the groove it should look like this:

Now install halos or paint your housing then seal them up with black silicone and then go show off your work.
Here's mine, AAC 6000K CCFL halos.

**LSCto300C** · 05-26-2009, 12:52 AM

Good work! Had to bake mine up to 300 and then some before they'd crack though.
Never again..

saleen8927 · 05-26-2009, 06:45 PM

this is spot on....nice writeup, bandit. Like LSC, I had to go to 285 degrees for a total of about 45 minutes to get anywhere with the glue. I imagine there's variations in how solid the glue is from light to light, so for some it might come right off, for others it's darn near impossible.

My light (I only attempted it on one before breaking a halo) got beat up in the process, too. But the halos look so darn cool that I'm making a third attempt at it as soon as my replacement halo arrives. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Inferno07 · 05-26-2009, 09:09 PM

Steve,

I guess I should remove the AAC Halo's from my signature eh?

They look great in your ride! The next time I do Halo's though, they will be LED.... And at least the next time, it won't be so hard to re-open my lights!

Great write up!

BlkLikeMe · 05-27-2009, 07:58 PM

Nice write up...this is on my "mods to do list"! So, I'm saving this file!

shoeboy23 · 08-13-2009, 01:12 AM

Did this tonight...i heated the oven between 285 and 300 and heated them for half hour first then 15 minutes after. It was a PITA but i got it done. This write up, along with a few of the comments was a huge help.

Aaron...Shoeboy"."

tx_bandit · 08-15-2009, 10:06 PM

shoeboy23, I'm glad you got some use out of this, thanks for the feedback!

KSC · 08-20-2009, 08:39 PM

FYI. if you buy the aftermarket TYC ones from autopartsgiant ($110 each) they are very easy to do. 25 minutes at 250 and then another 25 minutes and they come right apart. after the first 25 they are very easy to split the glue.

smoothy106 · 11-05-2009, 05:41 PM

may i mention 1 tip to this good post, i cracked mine last night but i used a hot gun...may sound dumb but i dont have to put it in the over...and i could do 1 side of the headlight at a time...made it alot easier for me...just my 2 cents

**yamabob** · 11-05-2009, 05:57 PM

Heat guns work great,but there can be some drawbacks. Experience. Those not too familiar with them can cause damage as you no doubt know. The oven is a lot easier to regulate heat over a broader spectrum of temperature ranges. It's a good tip,but I believe the original intent was for people on the fence to achieve this by themselves and not scare the bejesus out of them,or have to get a new tool. Still,you are correct!!

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