Today was a productive day. I managed to get test pipes in, wrap the b pillars in 3M Di Noc, put on my wheel spacers and finally got my headlights off. Unscrewing all those damn bolts were a pain in the *** - especially with bunk *** tools.

So tonight the plan was to take the headlights apart, paint them, dry and seal over night. I did a quick search and although there are plenty black out / headlight mod threads, I am having trouble actually taking apart the headlights. Specifically - as you can see in the image below - first removing the wires before they go in the oven to break the seal.

Anyone can help me out here? I'm having trouble in taking apart those 3 parts highlighted in red.

 

pull the grommet out(youve already done). theres 2 wires that acutally run in side the headlight. one you have to take the bulb out the other one is the lowest red circle to the right. it is a pain in the ***, you need something small like a flat head for computers or something. i had to fight with mine a little bit. the main harness pigtail to the left of that, i cant tell but id assume its a push pin that goes though a hole. get a fork and stick it in between the bottom of the plug and the plastic then pry on it. the very top one twist out but i think i recall it being a pita to twist. i think the way your holding the light youd twist to the left or counter clock wise.

 

Read through this thread:

https://my350z.com/forum/body-interi...eadlights.html

 

I've got to imagine hes looked through that being that's the job he is about to do. It has no information on taking the wiring harness out. Which seems to be the topic at hand

 

you don't even have to take any of those pieces out, just make sure your oven is blasting heat from only the top and NOT the bottom, and theeeeeen put a piece of aluminum foil SHINY SIDE UP TOWARDS THE HEATER right over all those wires and basically almost the whole top of the headlight...

the foil will block the heat coming from the top directly on the wires and prevent the heat from melting the rubber plastic off the wires and whatnot...
because in reality you just need the whole oven to heat up and stay a constant temperature, enough to soften the silicone for separation

i've done this over 20 times on various sets of headlights, and actually just got back from a buddys house where i did the same exact thing on his 370z headlights...

i used to take the wires off myself when i first started baking headlights, but it got tedious so i figured out the aluminum foil method, works like a charm



OH AND ONE OTHER VERY IMPORTANT TIP, WHEN YOU'RE PRYING THE LENS APART DO NOT FORCE IT, do it very slowly and carefully or you will snap one of the plastic bezel pieces on the inside and also a small possibility of scratching your projector, you have to pull the lens off a certain way you cant just rip it off, you'll see what i mean as soon as you start taking it apart

 

For the top red circle, just turn it clockwise or counterclock wise, it will come out. For the middle circle, get a good grip and just pull as hard as you can. You won't break anything, just use all your strength to rip it out. For the bottom circle, get a flat/skinny flat head screw driver, and push down on the white bump that holds the piece together. While the flat head is pushing down on the bump, pull the two pieces apart. Hopefully this makes sense since you have the headlight in front of you. Also, let it dry for at least a day, you don't want to rush the drying process.

 

^ also yes, what he said, let it dry well, actually go ahead and even oven bake the bezel pieces so all the spray can gases evaporate properly, then air dry it over night in a warm room...

last thing you want is all the gases from the spray paint releasing themselves after you've sealed the headlight back up, then you're fcked

 

Never tried it this way before, sounds better than the cardboard method. It smells pretty bad when the cardboard starts burning. So you do place the headlight in the oven face down or face up? And what do you put under the headlight, a cookie sheet? Also, how do you make only the heat come from the top? All my ovens come from top and bottom...

 

yea i use a new clean cookie sheet make sure it's clean otherwise it will scratch the lens on the outside.... then i place the headlight lens down with the backside of the light facing upwards, then put the aluminum foil shiny side up covering all the exposed wires and it will block the heat coming from the top... i did it once without the sheet and it started melting some of the wires, not all just some..

and yea most ovens should have an option of heat from top or bottom, if not then try messing with the configuration there is different settings broil and bake, try them and leave it on for 10 minutes see which one only heats from the top

 

Thanks everyone for the responses, it is greatly appreciated.

And to clarify, yes I was just trying to figure out how to get the wires out before baking. I'm looking at 4 DIY's right now on this forum and one from 350zmotoring here. You know how it is though, don't want to f-up the lights thats all. One of the last things I want to do is mess up something so small like the wiring harnesses and not driving at night.

I will try what bagged00 and stevehl have stated, give it some muscle. In any case, again thank you Adon for your suggestion. I've haven't heard of this method, but I may be willing to try it out.

But I do have Duplicolor Black shadow chrome. Any one try that on headlights yet? Just curious, not sure if this would look completely stupid. Seems like folks stick to flat / semi gloss / gloss black.

 

Wake up this morning to a nice day in San Diego. I managed to pop the suckers in the oven with the wires and it was fine. They started to pull apart carefully and what REALLY helped me here was having a heat gun near. As I slowly and carefully pull apart, I have the heat gun on low slowly along the lines where I was pealing - it helped a lot!

Got everything painted and now I am hitting another speed bump. I am trying to wire the halo -it has already been dremeled down a bit for a tight fit over the lens. I feel so damn close to finishing, I miss driving my car already.

Suggestions or best practices for the wiring? If someone could help out this total noob (me) that'd be awesome. The wires are labeled + and - I just dont know what goes where.

 

the one side with 2 connectors, it doesnt matter which side you hook it up to.. as far as the positive and negative side, most people i do this mod for want the halo to come on with the parking lights, so i recommend taping into the green/black wire coming from the top 4 leds.. if you are wanting to put this on a seperate switch then i recommend running them out the gromet and to your positive/ground and switch from there..

iv done this mod about 50 times now for customers.. good luck!

 

GRACIAS! Now I can finish this damn project and work on some Call of Duty Black Ops on Xbox Live.

 

np.. you will probably want to rotate that ring where the wires are coming out of the top right in the middle so you dont have any dead spot on your ironman halo if thats what you're making.. and id secure the box from the halo in the bottom of the light by using some double sided tape or velcro just so it doesnt flop around..

 

Just to make sure, looking correct? Any suggestions onto how to connect the +/- wires to the black and green? Below is my current state and another picture for reference. It looks like the wires are taped together at the white connector/adaptor.

 

easiest and best way is to use a wire splice in adapter.. the green is positive and black is ground.. cut the ends off your inverter and then use the spice in..

alternatively, you can wedge the smaller ends into that connector from one side and throw some hot glue on them to hold them in.. although i dont recommend it, i have done that in testing before and it worked..

as far as taping in, just do it anywhere on the line, not at the connector if u use wire splices.. you can pick them up at any wal mart or autozone