Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches North Central Headlights

I know I have seen this subject has been brought up before. But I will ask anyway.

As far as the headlights on my 1995 Contour, they aren't that great. I want something new, or used to either modify or replace my stock headlights. I was looking at a nice driver side headlight on ebay. I emailed the guy who has it up for auction to see if he had a set of them, that I could buy, he only had 1 on ebay. Well, he said he could sell me a set for $140, plus shipping. Is this the best route to go? What have all of the rest of you done, if you have done anything at all?

Is there somewhere that you know of to buy the aftermarket headlights? If so how much?

Check this out on ebay and let me know what you think. Item # 1821810111, this is the one I am talking about. :rolleyes:

I had the same problem about a month ago, and I am assuming that when you say "they arent the best" you are referring to the road and and shtuff that kinda makes them look dirty all the time, right?

Well here is what I did last month and it seriously, seriously looks good. Go to a Pep Boys near you and get some 800 + 1500 grit dry/wet sandpaper, some rubbing compound, and some clear plastic polish (+/- $20 for everything).
~Wet sand the lenses with the 800, then the 1500. You want to do this for a while and use some elbow grease, so you get all of the little knicks out and whatnot .
~Then apply the rubbing compound, and it it pretty easy to do .
~Then polish them and voila! as good as new!
If dirty headlights arent your problem, maybe I can still help, just clarify what it is that you think needs improvement.

Thanks Chuck!
I will definately try that out tonite. My headlights look dim, the plastic has stuff on it from salt, dirt, etc... If you look at the headlight I am referring to on ebay, that's what I really want. It has a clear headlight lens. The lens I have is the older style (1995) lens, a plastic lens, not totally clear.
I wonder if I do what you did, it would look any different.
I am curious if BAT or any other company just sells the lens alone, I would assume I would have to replace the lens part, or even the whole assembly. I am pretty open to suggestions, within my budget. I just paid my car off last November, so it's nice to have the extra money. But am afraid to dump very much money into it, considering it has 167,000 miles on it.

Chuck, just a couple of questions.
Did you use a certain name brand of rubbing compound? I have some at home already, will any rubbing compound work? And what kind/name brand clear plastic polish did you use? Anything in particular?
Thanks so much for the info!

you could always put high beam lights in you lows socket and that brightens them up

I used everything by 3M and got most of it from a Checker Auto Parts here in St. Cloud. I figured it would be worth it to get the best.

Mother's makes a good plastic polish, but you can only get it if you mail in an order form and wait... and wait... But there should be a comparable clear plastic polish at Pep Boys or Checker.

Oh, and I took the lights out of the car and brought them inside (easier on the 98), because I didn't want to mess up the surrounding paint and chrome with the sanding .

Ridin' Dirty is right, you can also put the high beam lights in the low beam socket, you just have to shave off the restrictor tab on the plug. I didn't do this because I think it would be annoying to oncoming traffic, but then again, so are HID's .

I guess you just need to ask yourself if you really want the headlamps off Ebay, you can fix the cloudiness/dirt DIY, but if the Ebay ones are something you REALLY want, you won't be satisfied with anything else. Just my 2c.

Hey Ridin' Dirty

I am always driving through Elk River, because I live in St. Cloud, but I work in Coon Rapids (and my girl lives in E.R. ). I saw a 4 door dark Blue Focus with 17" garphite wheels last summer. Looked pretty nice , I was just wondering if you know who it is?

I bought the supplies last night after work at Checker Auto Parts. I bought the 3M products. Then, I wanted to buy the R134 ac stuff, but they don't sell it in Wisconsin! How stupid! They said it was illegal to sell it in WI. Funny, they can sell fireworks here but not freon. I guess I will have to stop by Checker out here by my work to buy the stuff for the ac.
Thanks again for the helpful info. I didn't have time to do it last night. How long should I expect to spend on it? A couple of hours I could see at least. Maybe I will get a before and after picture as well. Just to see how much of a difference I can make at it.

ive never seen that focus but i wouldve noticed it by now if it was from elk river

Well, last night I spent some time on the headlights. They look so much better, I think they look new. The best they have looked since I have owned the car! Thanks Chuck so much for the info, it helped me out alot. As far as driving at night, I did a little last night but it was hard to tell, since it wasn't that dark out. If it still seems dim I will try the other bulbs.
Again, THANKS!