Does anyone know how to clear the amber strip from the headlights? Or is there any shop in LA that can do the job in a weekend?

I know that clearcorners clears the strip as part of their headlight job and they seem to do a great job, but (1) I don't want my headlight housing blackened, (2) it costs $800, and (3) I have to be without my headlights and basically my car for 3-6 weeks.

Just basically looking for the strip to be cleared and nothing else done to the headlights.

Any recommendations or information would be appreciated.

 

I believe ClearConers is located at Burbank in L.A., so you should try to get in contact with them.

If you were looking to do it yourself, I know that there are a lot of information on taking apart your headlights. From what I understand you have to bake it, to soften the glue and take the cover out. Next take out the strip and glue it together. It comes out pretty clean and if done right you should have no problems. Look in the web for more detailed info.

 

Anyone else?

 

you can do it yourself for free. i cleared out my headlights on my eclipse and all i used was a hair dryer to soften the the adhesive. just be prepared for sticky black glue all over you and your clothes. the whole process took about 3 hours. i thought about doing it to my z, but am really hesitant due to the hids and the fact that if i messed up, there are no replacements out there. good luck

 

yeah, I know clearcorners is nearby but I have spoken with them and it still doesn't reduce the 3-6 week wait... not sure about the cost though. either way, I'm looking for a quicker and if possible, cheaper, alternative.

don't get me wrong, I think clearcorners does a great job, but price and time are just not possible. thanks.

 

yeah, I looked into it a long time ago, I figured out what I could replace it with, then thought of ways to actually get to the strip. one was to just cut a slit to pull it out through, but that really is not feasable at all, I wouldnt want it done to my light anyway.

so its gotta be opened up. problem number 2, I dont know if itd fit in my open, the tail light didnt.

and lastly, if I screw up, they are a 300$ replacement, there was a single one on ebay a few days ago for 25$, I bid, but didnt hit the reserve, guy never emailed me about taking it anyway. so I just said never mind. for 25$ it woulda been worth trying it.

but either way, the guy from clear corners is right, not fair to do a light swap with an older light for a new one, so theres gotta be a wait, tho 3-6 weeks seems like a somewhat long time... the job itself doesnt seem like it could take more than 8 hours each? thats being VERY generous, assuming they already have the process down(the first one Im sure took way longer) but even so, if they scheduled to work on that set of headlights on these 2 days, they should be able to knock them out in atleast a week... I donno how their operation is set up tho. might be a part time thing where they cant devote 8 hours 2 days in a row to it...

 

$800 per set of clearcorner lights with leds are NUTS! try to do it yourself, but be very very careful.. once you mess up, there's no turning back.

 

2 words..............FUNK THAT! I have wanted to do this since waaaaaaaay back in September when I got the car. I have come to the conclusion that they will remain "as is" unless someone comes up with a "reasonably priced" entire assembly. And I'm talking $400 a pair MAX!!!

 

Hey everyone. To clear up a few questions:

Regarding turn-around time, we list the 3-6 week time-frame in order to help inform customers as to how detailed this conversion is. We are a small company and enjoy offering rare products which are highly detailed.

Of course, this all depends on our work-load. If things are pretty free, modification should take approx 2 weeks. Besides the obvious aesthetical modifications which are done to the exterior, there are still a fair amount of modifications that must be performed to the internals of the headlamp assemblies. The lenses and high-intensity LED boards are all custom fabricated and are built-to-spec for every light we work on. If you schedule in advance with us, then 2 weeks should be sufficient enough to have a set of lamps modified.

Unfortunately, I would rather tell people it will take 3-6 weeks than raise their hopes up and then have to call them notifying them of delays. We've been through this in the past, its just not worth it. Anyone who has worked with plastics and lighting assemblies should know that this type of work takes time, especially if you are detail oriented and looking for quality.

As for price, you get what you pay for. We charge the prices we charge because we know the amount of liability involved in modifying such expensive headlights. We make sure each headlight assembly looks like glass when it is returned. We make sure everything is sealed so that you dont have condensation issues. We make sure every light we ship is fully insured and properly packed and shipped.

Its too easy to make mistakes in this business. If other companies are willing to jeapordize their customers' components and perform such modifications at a lesser cost, then let that be their prerogative.

Its the same concept as painting a car. Why paint your car at bargain prices when you KNOW a $500 dollar paint job isnt going to be as detailed or involve nearly as much prep work when compared to a $4000 dollar paint job. As the owner of this company, its important people understand that we are very detail oriented.

 

Not trying to step on any toes or burst your bubble, but the chances of a company manufacturing a headlamp that meets OR exceeds that of OEM for "$400 a pair MAX" is a bit dillusional. Either you are completely unaware as to how expensive injection molding costs are, or, you are simply accustomed to owning cars which are highly mass-produced. Are you aware as to how expensive the OEM headlamps are? Do you know how much R&D is involved in manufacturing such a product, let alone testing it to ensure it conforms to government requirements? Do you know there are different standards in the US, and different standards overseas in Europe/Japan? Lighting manufacturers must take this ALL into account when creating their lights.

Unfortunately, some people are accustomed to owning cars like the Honda Civic which is the equivelent of the MacDonald's Big Mac of automobiles. When you sell massive amounts of cars, like the Civic for instance; its easy for companies like APC to mass-produce sub-part lamps overseas at premium prices. PLUS, they know they will ALWAYS have buyers -- how awesome is that! As long as their product is less expensive than OEM, its very much a worth-while investment because they KNOW they will get their return and then some! There will always be body shops who want to save that buck and use those lights. There will always be people who think they are styling and have something different, and claim its better than stock (of course). The icing on the cake is seeing these cars which are all show, no go.. in the magazines.. a very "US" mentality! Oh well, there's always EVO magazine and Option videos.

Its companies like APC who end up getting fined 650,000 dollars for offering defective products or unsafe lights which do not conform to DOT specifications. (see link: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/annou...e=pr21-03.html ) It doesnt stop there, because there are plenty of other companies selling HID retrofits with no concern in educating the buyer, let alone worrying about their safety. "Bleh, lets just label them for offroad use only and deny any form of liabiluty."

So, I guess there will always be companies who will supply for the masses without much interest in detail.. but at what cost?

Lets take a time out and say I am not the owner of my lighting company. Lets just say I am "Mike, the NISSAN enthusiast (which I also am)." Personally, I would rather see NO aftermarket support for our cars, rather than seeing low-grade products being sold for our cars. Why? Because it sickens me when I see a car thats been poorly modified. I hate seeing tacked-on fiberglas body kits that dont fit right. I hate seeing low-grade Altezza-influenced tail lights when they dont perform OR look as good as stock. And the worst thing of all, I hate seeing skinny, wrong-offset, low-profile FWD wheels on RWD cars!!!

Maybe its just me, maybe I am the one thats dillusional! God help me...

 

as a seller, he better put out a good product too.

if your driving down the road, and something screws up and his headlights go out, you hit another car. it wont take too long before someone starts lookin at him...

I didnt realize you had any of the peices injection molded, thats gotta be crazy expensive... I do know the costs actually.

 

ONE MORE THING!

not sure if it's mentioned since I'm too lazy to read all the posts, but, opening the headlight assembly requires breaking a seal, once that seal it broken your warrenty if VOID'ed for the headlights. So if they break/mess up, nissan will not cover it.

 

Does this look like I'm "accustomed to owning cars which are highly mass-produced".......





Uhhhhhhhh! I think........NOT!

I would suggest you comment as to why my pricing guesstimate was too low and support THAT topic, before you ATTEMPT to judge one's taste, accustoms, and or way of living.

 

No, but it shows that you like to put mass-produced products like Moda wheels and disco-ball side-markers on your GS. Its all good, not hating on your style.. I am just saying that a set of WORK, Volk, or HRE's would give your car a lot more presence.

Those side-markers were put into production because they are shared on various other Lexus vehicles. I beleive the IS300 and RX300 both use those same front side-markers. Just curious, have you had any condensation issues with them?

Now these sidemarkers would look so much classier, and of course.. the white LEDs would match your nice 6000k headlights MUCH better than those blue-coated incandescent lamps.

- Mike

 

ya know I was just trying to get some info and this thread turned into something else... either way....

old_s13, since I can't PM you I'm writing this here... I do appreciate your work and the detail you put into your projects. I've spoken to you about this over the phone months ago before you put out the headlight assembly on your website.

I'm not looking for a crappy job just to save $$$. but this is my ONLY car... my daily driver... I CANNOT be without it for weeks at a time which is why I wanted to see if anyone knew a quicker place.

with regards to price, I understand that $800 is for all the headlight work that you list on your site. And I understand that quality workmanship is important... but I don't want all that stuff... I just want the amber strip cleared... that's it... nothing else!!!

NO BLACKENED HOUSING, NO LED SWITCH... and so I don't want to pay for work I don't want...

 

No probs WHATSOEVER with the lenses. And since you are attempting to take 'shots' at my taste, style, or selection(s) being that I have shown TACT on many occassion, I will continue to do so here. Mass-Produced or not...The BOTTOM-LINE is IT LOOKS GOOD! If I chose to spend my money on HRE's or any other high-dollar accessory for my cars, I'd buy them. But if I preffer the look/appearance of a $400 wheel over a $1,400 wheel or a $20 side-marker over a $200 side-marker guess what....
More is not always better my man I've learned that in many endeavors. But if and when you have more, maybe you'll understand.