So I decided to take apart my headlights to clean the foggy inside...

Originally Posted by TUF-FKR

Holy $hit that was a PIA! On a scale of 1-10, that is a 7. They are back together and the adhesive is drying. They will be re-installed in the morning. I have about 6 hours into the whole project. You really hack up your lights, but its in areas that are not going to be seen. I also found Black adhesive RTV at Autozone for $10. I took a couple of pictures that I think will help explain a little more. I blew out my dremel and it took about 4 cutting blades to get through both lights.

Soapy water doesnt get rid of the haze on the inside. I tried clay bar with spray polish, everything I had in my arsenal. What ended up working the easiest and best was an "all purpose adhesive remover". This applies easily and wipes clean. I took a high speed buffer and polished the outside of the lenses too while they were off. I painted the corner lense (was yellow) black and I removed the tint over the outside of the lenses. I will post finished pics later this week. START THIS PROJECT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING! Buy everything first..

Damn bro congrats on tackling that task.. Can't wait to see how they came out.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

(I made a couple of edits after I re-read my post).

Oyeah, whoever said you could get this apart by "baking" them?? I want what your smoking... This $**** is like tire rubber. An angled blade would have helped me, less stuff to dremel around to get my box knife into. Someone mentioned a dentist tool kit, that probably would have been better.

Originally Posted by TUF-FKR

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

Nice!how long did it take to make the actual cuts? I would think that's the part one would have to pay close attention to and be patient with.

The dremel work took about 20 minutes per headlight. The cutting of the rubber under the lens takes about 1 hour each.

***IMPORTANT NOTE*** Your side markers are snapped in, if you remove them to paint them, glue them in place. I have one side marker that is moving around a bit.

Originally Posted by TUF-FKR

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is the headlight with the flange removed with the dremel and now I am cutting the rubber to remove the lens. "Apomerans" drew a good diagram of what it is like and he labels them Cut #1, Cut #2. You cannot complete this task with cutting #2 only. I did not realize this with the first headlight I did and I had to then go back and cut all the way around again with his Cut #1. The second headlight I skipped cut #2, and went right to his cut #1 angle (still follow me?). I had better results cutting #2 first, then going back and cutting #1 (all still referencing Apomerans diagram drawing).

The problem with going right to cut #1 is you are cutting blind and can go too deep into the inner housing (making a hole into the headlight). I made a small error, this but was able to re-seal when I RTVed the lights back together.

The first pic shows the rubber is UNDER the lens that has to be cut out. All in All, it was SO worth it to me. The front end of the car looks so much cleaner and new. If you have angle eyes it makes them ALOT brighter!!! I do NOT regret this mod at all. The good news is, if you have to re-do it again, you only have to cut the RTV, no more dremeling next time...

Good job Glad to see other people successfully doing this to their cars. Hope my pics and description helped out.

There hasnt been much discussion on it, and Im still very intersted in where (if possible) I can order just the headlight lenses for this car. Headlights themselves work fine, and since its a unit that was assembled in pieces Id assume (somewhere, some how) I would be able to purchase the lenses only. Please advise guys

I plan to take on this project on Wednesday or Thursday. Couple quick questions/concerns before I pull the trigger. #1. Do I Dremel around the entire headlamp assembly or just the top lip that covers the lens seal? #2. If I want to paint the orange side marker black (or Anthracite Grey), which kind of paint do I use? #3. How long do I let the sealer bond/cure before putting the headlamps back in? Sorry for the rookie questions but I'm still a little hesitant due to the fact that our headlamps are a couple months rent. I have to do it tho because I hate the inside haze more than I fear f*<%ing up. Thanx, 'Fest!

... more than I fear fouling up ...

Did this today took me all day practically nice sunday project. Drivers side was HORRID. 100x better. Light cutoffs look perfect now. Thanks for the writeup and giving me the courage to dremel my headlamps open

Originally Posted by 745iguy

Did this today took me all day practically nice sunday project. Drivers side was HORRID. 100x better. Light cutoffs look perfect now. Thanks for the writeup and giving me the courage to dremel my headlamps open

Glad to see it worked for you bro. How about some pic so we can see how well you did.

Ill post some up tomorrow of it on the car. Heres a pic of the lens and the housing without it. Didn't take many pics but being an 02 you can imagine how they looked before. Dremel i bought from home depot for 50$ and came with attachments. The light output was well worth the cash and the time
Also would like to add the lens pic was taken after i used some goo gone spray on the inside. It took most of the grime off before more thoroughly cleaning and polishing. Used 3m, and meguiars. Buffed and polished. Didnt sand it as i did not have much but crud on the inside and out.

I think this is generating a new generation of seven's owners.... the one's that have cleaned the interior of their headlights and the one's that are supossed to do so in a short time!!!


Well done!!!!

Daytime

First I was afraid, then scared s#§%less. Once you dremel that case YOU ARE commited.
And no joking, cutting the seal all around is multi-hour PITA.

Just put the glass back in with the 3M window weld urethane. Can't wait to see it back on the car.


Thanks for all the good advice in this thread.

Nice! Thank you for blueprint man.