The guy was pretty confident at first, claiming he could have them done in 5 hours. Though, when it came time for him to pry the headlights open he couldn't do it. After a few more attempts he finally gave up because he didn't want to risk damaging the lens.

I understand his concern, but it does bother me that a professional couldn't do it, despite so many forum members doing it themselves in their own kitchens. I would do it myself and will probably end up having to, but I would rather have someone with deeper pockets than mine do the work.

But my main question is; does anybody know of a body shop in the San Francisco bay area that can do this? Or is it best to do it myself?

 

You might want to post this in the regional forum also.

 

It takes a decent amount of heat to pry the glue apart. Also, don't forget to remove all the screws.

Honestly, its something thats not hard to do, but it is slightly time consuming.

 

yeah i have done mine and its not that hard put the oven on 350 and but it in the oven for 7-10 minutes and pry open. If he can't even do your lights i would be worried about his body work for sure.

 

Take it to Mike at Import Image Inc., I hear he does great work...

 

If you are willing to take apart the cover from the base then, you are past the hard part. Take the pieces to the body shop to get them painted if you want that type of paint job. I just used some rattle can paint from home depot and it came out pretty good.

 

you need to soften the silicone glue with a heat gun or oven... i havent done this on a Z but I used to do halo installs for BMW guys, it's not hard at all.

 

I wouldn't trust a body shop opening up my headlights. Chances are they had no idea what it took to open the light and how to put it back together correctly. Ive done mine, just open them up and have them painted if you want. Just make sure they use a paint that will withstand the heat. I used Krylon for plastic and it looks the same way it did the day I painted them.