Headlight clearing (w/pics)

^ It truly looks worse than it is.

 

It's kinda like "going Stage II," for those of us with the UP cat. that needs to be removed - it's more tedious rather than truly technically challenging.

 

Following the Walk-Through and approaching the project in a systematic manner truly makes it all just a total walk in the park.

 

If you have other mods that are close-by (i.e. accessory lighting or other lighting-related aesthetic modifications, aftermarket/supplemental horn, speed-detection countermeasures, you can also take this as a chance to kill multiple birds, with one stone.

its really not that bad.

 

I can change the headlight out in less than 30 minutes now that I know the process.

^ And that's the other thing - once you've done it, even just that first time, you'll be quite proficient at subsequent tear-downs and re-assemblies.

yup. the 1st time I felt like I was ripping my car apart.

 

the 2nd time.. it was far less of a pita than I thought.

 

a word to the wise tho.. if your car is more than a year old BUY MORE POPITS FIRST!

 

you will break some or lose some or find some that just will not come out and you have to destroy them.

 

I am down 2 or 3 in my bumper as it is. if you ever see a SWP LGT bumper on the side of the road.. its probably mine!

 

I'm too cheap to buy new ones.. maybe next time I take the bumper off I'll replace them all.

I went to the dealership to buy pop it pins for the reason....... They are EXPENSIVE! freakin plastic

a word to the wise tho.. if your car is more than a year old BUY MORE POPITS FIRST!

 

you will break some or lose some or find some that just will not come out and you have to destroy them.

 

I am down 2 or 3 in my bumper as it is. if you ever see a SWP LGT bumper on the side of the road.. its probably mine!

 

I'm too cheap to buy new ones.. maybe next time I take the bumper off I'll replace them all.

 

Good tip.

 

And if you see an ABP one, it'll be mine!

I went to the dealership to buy pop it pins for the reason....... They are EXPENSIVE! freakin plastic

 

yup.. my last dealer LOST the ones that held my engine cover on.. cost me a pretty penny to fix their mistake too.

 

iirc the bumper has ~ 12-16 popits that hold it in.. they're around the front on the bottom and then I think 2 of them are inside the wheel wells on each side.

 

You can run it with less.. I'm proof of that.

I think I have 6 or 7 holding her on haha

yeah, it does look pretty gnarly with all that sht torn apart.

 

You can get replacement ones at Lowe's. It's in the hardware bins (next to the nerts and bolts). Two two a bag sets you back $1.19.

 

and the best tool(s) for the job, or any job on the Subie, is a good pick set.

 

http://sellinitall.com/images/new%20snap%20on%20green%20pick%20set%202.JPG

^ You know, I never thought about using a pick set...that's a great idea! Thanks!

 

And I definitely didn't know about the alternative source for those giant Pop-Its. Thank you for that, too!

heres my abriged version of my headlight steps.

 

I bought my GT in July..... shortly followed by needing some body work to say the least. As my car was being refurbished, I bought some aftermarket lights and cleared them. After the cleared lights were installed, the body work was done and i got my car back, i noticed some condensation inside my driver side headlight..... bad seal on my part.

 

Before deciding to crack them open and reseal them, I tried Damprid ( as suggested earlier in this thread) which i picked up from home depot, put inside a paper towel with masking tape. This did the trick- +1 for damprid... if you have dondensation get DampRid.... no need to reopen my lights. Or so i thought. As i tried to remove one of the two packets, i left "teetering" inside my headlamp, it broke and remained inside my high beam compartment of the lamp.

 

So, i was left with no choice but to bake and break open one of the lights to remove the packet of damprid and reseal. Well, i used this opportunity to black out the lights and since i had the bumper off, i also threw some fogs in which i neglected to have the body shop do on the rebuild as they were 300 new...expensive much.

 

Any ways, heres some pics of 05 lights on an OBP GT both cleared and blacked out.... I prefer the blacked out look, but the matter is in you hands for debate....

 

sorry in advance for only having 1 pic of the light cleared... i didnt really plan on recracking them open, then when i had to in order to remove the damprid, i was scrambling to hurry the process up.

I am actually really impressed by this mod. I was thinking of a little plus though. Did anybody think of replacing the LEDs on the side mirros for white ones? Would it be lidgit? I don't really love that orange color on my red gt, it doesnt match at all... but having it blinking white would be nice wouldnt it be? What u guys think of it?

in ny I would imagine some jerk cop would pull you over for it. We seem to get pulled over for everything else.

im pretty sure turn signals have to blink an amber or orange...just as brake lights have to be red. These kinds of lights are looked at as a universal safety code, and must (or at least should) all be same color. The reason there is some variation in headlights (as HIDs can have blue tints, pink tints, purple, etc) is that headlights are for the function of the driver seeing the road and arent signal type lights to relay actions to other drivers. To answer your question, i think it would be cool, just illegal- most likely.

Thats what i though :s... thanks for the quick replies!

Sorry to botther u with that kind of question... I am just wondering what are those 2 red things behind the front grille? What do they do?? I personnally own a red lgc 05... it may look nice on mine too...(See page 23, the blue legacy down there)

dont know what 2 red things behind the grille youre referring to. You must not be referring to my car. I can say that its most likely a set of Hella Supertones....which is an aftermarket horn set. They are super loud and look pretty mean too.

Yeah it wasnt clear.. i was talking about the blue legacy on page 23, but u were right, those are hella supertones... but i just like the look though.. to what ive heard on youtube.. not much better than the original horn...!

Btw bagheera, i am actually planning to black my headlights out, urs are quite nice!!, what did u use to do this? and did u black out the whole assy? or just the corners? cuz the original assembly's kinda black already...but i guess its pretty hard to find the exact same color...

oh i see.. u have an 06 do you?

I am thinking about doing this soon, but I have one question. I have the "eyelids" already attached to the light. Do you think that I could bake them and keep the eyelids on there.?? Or should I remove them and do it?? Not a big deal, just need to know if I need to buy more double sided tape.

the high temps may do something to the adhesive. I would remove them but its just me.

oh i see.. u have an 06 do you?

 

nope, mine are 05 so they are somewhat black already. 06 are full chrome. Mine are factory black on the bottom (floor) of the housing. If you look at your lights, id break them down into 3 compartments: Highbeams (inside, closest to grille), Lowbeams (Projector light) and Blinkers (outermost compartment).

 

Unlike other members, i did not want my projector housings black...i think they stand out more when they are chrome and look really cool (like eyes) when you can notice them from a distance. The highbeam compartment probably isnt a good idea to spray as i think it would significantly dim the strength of your lights.

 

All i did was black out (with Krylon Gloss Black Spraypaint) the blinker compartment. I removed the clear lens (reflector) and sprayed the entire blinker housing behind it. I have Silverstar Blinker bulbs (517 mabye? - can double check part # if you like) and those bulbs still blink really bright with the blacked housing.

 

I also sprayed the thin chrome piece that pops out of the housing once you have broken it open. That piece is all black to, as is the small chrome piece right behind the blinker reflector which holds it in place. Youll know of the pieces im talking about if you crack your housings open. It was super easy. Thanks for the compliments!

Do headlight covers have any type of film on the inside? My headlights have been developing these weird blurry lines on the inside of the headlight cover, they are difficult to see in pics. I'm thinking maybe when I cleaned the inside of the headlight cover with windex, I could have caused some negative reaction? I cleared them about 30k miles ago. It's not too bad, but I'm wondering if it may hinder my ability to see at night if it gets worse. Its not actually covering the beam from the lights.

ughhhh

There are hundreds of photos showing the same mod!

Someones gotta do something new and different...

go for it