Headlight clearing (w/pics)

what about going through inspection? Im going to toss in a set of orange bulbs before I go to increase my chances but I really dont want to fail for that

Will they notice theres no reflector? I mean i know its their job, but if it blinks orange are they going to care? I Really dont want to have to re-bake my lights to put it in, and then again to take it out >:-( Did it perfectly with no silicone on my first attempt!

Before:

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8031/notclearedlk5.jpg

 

After:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1808/clearedbz8.jpg

Aaaaah, so much better without the yellow! Clear with Silverstar bulbs FTW!! I have silver stars and they light up such a bright yellow that I don't really worry about the local boys.

I still like the stockers spray painted silver, much easier, and you always can get replacements! Still shine amber too!

I didn't know you could do that. Mine reflect a lot of different cool colors though, like blue and purple. I guess you must spray a pretty thin coat.

actully I had to take them out and Re-do it because to much of the amber showed through, now its much thicker, and still works great!

ic

Should be sticky, no? Took me like 5 years to find a decent clearing thread.

 

http://www.longislandsubaruclub.com/forums/images/smilies/sissyfight.gif

No condensation?

i just resealed mine last night. i had some bad condensation.

 

but it was because of the crappy sealant i used and doing the heat gun method vs the oven. so i used the oven method this time and it worked great. so far, so good. i hope it stays that way because i plan to do my HID's in the next month or so.

Still no condensation after nearly two years. I never used extra sealant, and I don't remember exactly how many times I've opened my set, but I believe it's gotta be at least three different times. I must be livin' right.

 

The other possible explaination for my not having had any condensation trouble could be that I've got two small-diameter holes (one on each housing) - which may be helping to equalize in/out temperatures across the lens assembly. I honestly don't know.....?

 

I do know, for sure, however, that through driving rainstorms and even spray carwashes (or direct from the end of my garden hose/handle assembly, at full power), there's no water ingress, ever.

 

It seems that this issue is somewhat related to exactly what was done to the housing - procedures that generate dust, which could coat the original sealant material, can "degrade" the original seal. Also, it seems that there's quite a bit of variabilty in how much sealant may be on a particular area in each car's unique headlight housings, which causes this variability in terms of who sees condensation/leak issues, and who doesn't.

my original headlights were great! no issues at all and i opened them 3 times as well. then i got the new 06 headlights and those are the ones i melted due to wrong temp settings. then i got another set of 06 headlights that came back in for warranty due to bad seals. i figured it wouldn't matter since i'd be opening them up anyways. well, we used the heat gun method on that and the uneven temps just jacked the seals. so i finally broke down the other night and took them out of the car to reseal them and clean them up. they aren't perfect, have some water damage, but you gotta look for it. oh well.... as long as they are sealed well now, i don't care. I just want them sealed so i can get my HID done.

Hid Ftw!!

...we used the heat gun method on that and the uneven temps just jacked the seals. ....

 

^ Very good point, sister ABP-er! I hadn't thought about that, but it's quite easy to imagine that "uneven heating" could either "bake" an area of the old sealant (and thus make it vulnerable to not re-sealing properly) or even warp an area slightly to cause a less-than-ideal re-seal.

They should make an HL version of the Easy-Bake Oven.

Think I will do this in a couple week since I will be pulling my bumper off anyways... AKLGT finally a mod you can walk me through!

ya, no kidding! actually, the passenger headlight is still fogging because i ran out of the sealant halfway though! so i need to pick up some more of the stuff, "the right stuff" i think is what it's called. but wow! worked AWESOME! Dale uses it for sealing engines and whatever else, so i know how to fix it and i forgot to put 2 bolts back on the headlights because i was in a hurry Sat morn... so will be tearing it apart the next week or two again to fix my boo boo! otherwise, the one that was leaking really badly is no longer!

I didnt use any sealant, just what was there originally, No fogging! didnt use any on my 02RS either when i blackend those!

Ya'll just gotta have "the touch"

Me neither. I think the trick (what I did) is to push all the sealant back into the cracks right after you pull it apart. In my case the exact same amount of factory sealant was in the exact same places when I put it back together. I started to use some sealant on one part, but it was so messy I gave it up. I also used the bake method. I have tons of pics too if anyone cares to see them.

I didnt use any sealant, just what was there originally, No fogging! didnt use any on my 02RS either when i blackend those!

Ya'll just gotta have "the touch"

my first batch was fine. also no sealant. however, the last time i used some crappy stuff that didn't work well and i had to take all that silicone junk OFF!! so that meant scraping almost all the original sealant off. but i had the other sealant that worked like a champ and practically the same stuff as the factory sealant (given to me by our SOA tech). but i ran out... i was hoping i had enough sealant to finish the job, but obviously i didn't. I'll fix it in the next week or two.

^ Hey sis - Would you happen to have the name/part number of the "Subaru sealant?" I'd bet that would be something that could be really helpful to other memebers here who are either newly contemplating the mod, or need remedial measures.

 

Good to know that you've got a handle on your situation! With winter just around the corner, it'll be good to know that everything is tip-top.

just did my new ride's headlights. installed the silver stars just yesterday......

^ Hey sis - Would you happen to have the name/part number of the "Subaru sealant?" I'd bet that would be something that could be really helpful to other memebers here who are either newly contemplating the mod, or need remedial measures.

 

Good to know that you've got a handle on your situation! With winter just around the corner, it'll be good to know that everything is tip-top.

it's called "the RIGHT STUFF". I have to stop at the hardware store to find it, but when i do, i'll post up some pics of it. works AWESOME!!!

oh oh Oh Oh Oh... oh oh Oh Oh! oh oh Oh Oh Oh... The right stuff!

 

Can anyone name that group? I'll give you a hint; boy band. This question is for the old timers.

Answer: http://www.legacyrecordings.com/New-Kids-on-the-Block/Hangin-Tough.aspx

 

Click on "You got it (the right stuff)".