Headlight Baking + Clearing

  Remove the ugly amber reflectors from your headlights or swap projectors

Tired of the amber reflectors ruining your car's otherwise sleek look?
Want to swap out the OEM Halogen projectors with a custom mounted HID projector?
Here's how to get the thing open!

The amber reflectors are required by the U.S. DOT to be road legal. Use of the reflectorless housings are for offroad use only.

Satoshi

DANGER

Any information presented or implied is for entertainment purposes only. A car and related parts can be very dangerous to work around. Please exercise extreme caution when performing any kind of repair or modification. Neither I or any affiliated parties can be held responsible for any problems or accidents which may occur.

Before you begin, remove ALL bulbs from the headlight. Then remove all of the torx screws from the back of the housing. Unscrew the wiring harness retaining screw and pull the rest of the harness off and out of the housing

Set a sheet of aluminium foil along the middle rack. Preheat the oven to 290ºF (143ºC). When the oven reaches the set temperature, put the light housing on the sheet of aluminium foil.
Wait at least 10 minutes before removing the housing from the oven.

The housing and sealing glue will be very hot: Avoid burns by wearing a pair of sufficiently padded gloves when working. 		Begin to separate the housing. I recommend starting at the top corner of the turn signal. A knife or a thin, rigid metal of some sort can help you slice through any stubbon bits of glue. Be careful not to distort the plastic by using too much power (this means do NOT pry the housing apart by twisting the knife between the seal).

As you work around the housing, be sure to unclip the front lens from the rear housing (the plastic will be soft, so just pull the retaining tabs up as you separate the lens).

If the glue hardens, or if it did not heat up sufficiently, put the assembly back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. If the glue is still not cooperating, set your oven temperature higher. (As a general rule, I would try to avoid exceeding 300ºF (148ºC) to avoid burns or melted plastic)

To separate the reflector assembly from the front lens, unscrew the three torx screws from the assembly.
It should then be free to separate.
 The reflector assembly separated from the front lens.

To remove the amber reflector, begin by unclipping the two tabs that hold the reflector in place.
The first tab is located next to the opening for the low beam projector. 		The second tab is next to the turn signal bulb opening.

The entire side assembly should come loose. Proceed to remove the metal brace and amber reflectors. To put everything back together, re-heat the assemblies in the oven, and press the lens and rear housing together. The glue should take care of the rest.

Enjoy your car's sleek new look!