Pre-98 Hightower Headlight Mod How-To
Supplies:
Set of headlamps/corner lamps.
Cut-off wheel for a Dremil and Dremil.
Black silicone.
Black paint.
Sandpaper. I used 400 grit.
Blue tape.
To do just the corner lamps, you can pop the hood and remove the bolt holding them to the car. To do the headlamps, you need to remove the bumper cover and the header panel. There are two bolts on each side of the car where the bumper cover meets the fender. There are two bolts on each side of the car behind the corner lamps. There are two bolts on the front of the header panel, not far from the innermost part of the headlamps. There are two press fittings (don't know the real name) that need to be removed where the bumper cover meets the hood. There are a few bolts holding on the bottom of the bumper cover. I can't remember how many though, mine are missing.
Headlamps:
First off, draw some reference marks on the side, top and bottom of the lamp. The one on the top will be the only visible one when you are done with the mod. These marks will be used to help you line the lens back up with the lamp housing after you are finished. After the lens is off, you can polish them without any fear of getting water in your lamps. I used 1200 grit sandpaper and then buffed it with 3M polishing compound on a 3000 RPM buffer. When the lens and the housing seperated, you can now start sanding the inside of the lamp. I sanded the bottom of the high and low lamps, this is ribbed and unused. The low beam has some more ribbed sections on the side of the lamp that can be sanded as well. If you want to get really creative, you can also sand the top of the low housing. I decided against this because of the tight confines of the lamp housing. I sanded the top of the high beam and the side farthest away from the low beam. Now line all of the surfaces that you want to stay chrome with the blue tape. Paint your color of choice on the sanded surfaces. I painted part of the exterior of the lenses to block out some of the body color of the car that could get through it. The reflector surface is fragile, but not really bad. Be careful removing your tape though. After everything is done, put the silicone on the cut surface on the reflector and place the lens back onto the car, making sure you line up your reference marks. The bottom side of the lamp/housing should be flat. After the lens is where you want it, use some more blue tape and secure the lens to the housing so it can't move around while it is drying.
Corner lamps:
I cut directly behind the lens along the fatter section of the lamp. When I got onto the side of the lamp, angle the cut-off wheel a little more and go around the backside of the lamp, staying right where the lens is bonded to the housing. Be very careful here. If you go too deep, you will cut through the lens and it will be trashed. After these are separated, you can now choose to polish these lenses as well. I sanded off everything except the two forward facing reflector surfaces. Tape these off and then paint. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN REMOVING THE TAPE! The reflective surface of these lamps are very fragile. The blue tape can remove the chrome if you are not careful. After you are done, secure together with silicone. If I had to do this again, I would use clear silicone around the curved section (reflector section) of the lamp. A couple of spots on mine the black silicone touched the reflector and you can see it if you are looking for it. Secure this lens with tape as well.
I installed all of my lamps back onto the car with the tape still on them. The next morning before work I removed the tape, the silicone was not long since set. After the silicone is completely dry you can now reinstall the bumper cover without having to worry about messing up the alignment of the lenses/housings. When you are done, make sure to post pics. I want to see some of the ideas others are going to have with this.
If you have any questions, email me at exdelayed@hotmail.com
