Replacing Headlight Units: Done!

[Trainman]

So, I have to replace the headlight units on my Pathy (02) as the original ones are beyond repair from some sort of discolouration and the light output is significantly impacted, notably on low beams. I have tried lots of things, such as polishing the units, talking with a body shop, etc all to no avail.

 

I have the new ones, any tips/things to watch out for when I get to doing the replacements?

 

Thanks.

 

Tman

Edited November 27, 2007 by Trainman

[daftpup]

Don't drop them and drink copious amts of liquor whilst attempting project.

[Trainman]

Don't drop them and drink copious amts of liquor whilst attempting project.

 

Both are a given

[Trainman]

It is done. What a difference it makes.

 

Here is the old and new side by side (yes, they are both clean):

 

 

Here is the old before removal. Note the glare coming off the light. I was getting people flashing their lights at me, they thought I had my high beams on:

 

 

 

Here is the new, nice and clear:

[Pezzy]

Wow, quite the difference!

[FUELER]

Looks great. Did you try 3M plastic polish/cleaner?

[Trainman]

Looks great. Did you try 3M plastic polish/cleaner?

 

Took it to a body shop and they tried to polish them up. They are very smooth, but the haze/discolouration is deep into the lexan.

 

Funny, they started going like this not long after using Stoner's Invisible Glass cleaner. Not sure there is a link but........

 

 

 

Won't be using that on the new headlights, just on glass.

[Orangetang]

Mine are looking like your old ones. Maybe not as bad, but I agree it seems to be impossible to get them 'clear' looking. Are those the cheap replacements off Ebay or OEM? How much? Any brightness difference on the road at night?

[Orangetang]

They sell clear ones on there too, but these are $135 where as it seems the OEM lights are more than that PER side, and don't include the corner light.

Looks great though. I'd like to replace mine eventually.

Edited November 27, 2007 by Orangetang

[Trainman]

Mine are looking like your old ones. Maybe not as bad, but I agree it seems to be impossible to get them 'clear' looking. Are those the cheap replacements off Ebay or OEM? How much? Any brightness difference on the road at night?

 

OEM, $185 CDN each. And a HUGE difference at night, well worth the money considering how much driving I do in the dark.

[02silverpathy]

Orange, those are the ones that I would be getting...before I even had my path I liked that those still have that little bit of orange in the reflector. There are a couple of paths on cardomain that have those....would look great on your truck, but only ok on my chrome silver

[Orangetang]

Snooped around on car domain, but only found a couple vehicles with the JDM or Altessa style head/tail lights. I see what you mean, since some of the non-black ones looked pretty bad. I often wonder though, how many shades of black one can get away with. I want black wheels, black tail lights, black headlights, but it might look absolutely terrible.

[Orangetang]

On that note, I also never want to own another black vehicle unless it's an STI. Though I prefer the blue or white.