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Indepth How-To on Headlight Baking, improved Hightower mod

BAD SVT said:
since no one has said anything about it in this famous thread, i figured i'd ask. But wot have ppl been doing with the long rubber strip across the top of the headlight after the hightower process? the tabs got broken at the beginning. Am thinking about just shaving off the little extensions and just glueing it. I'll post my pix of my completed hightowers tomorrow.
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I put them back in place and heated up a screwdriver with a lighter, and just melted the rest of the tabs down to the strip until they held it down again. Only 1 of them didn't stick again, so i just threw some epoxy on it.
 
i have DEPOT LIGHTS and it was easier than the oem set i tried this on two years ago.:shrug: it was a yellowish/grayish type of glue that kind of stretched when it was heated. yes there is ALOT of extra sealant in the housing,most of which was so hard to remove i just left it.
 
im going to attempt something of these sorts with my pre-98 TEST LIGHTS i have an extra set....dont fret, a plethera of pics will be provided......stay tuned, if it works out and looks good, i'll post a how-to along with the pics


what do you guys think of baking open a set of pre98 and sanding the inside smooth(no little square thingies) and buffing and blah blah blah so they are clear like the post98 lenses
 
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68fordman said:
im going to attempt something of these sorts with my pre-98 TEST LIGHTS i have an extra set....dont fret, a plethera of pics will be provided......stay tuned, if it works out and looks good, i'll post a how-to along with the pics


what do you guys think of baking open a set of pre98 and sanding the inside smooth(no little square thingies) and buffing and blah blah blah so they are clear like the post98 lenses
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wont work. ive opend up a set of pre98 lights before and there is nothing you can really do to them. besides they are too small for anything to even be noticed.

also, IIRC, the lense is designed like that to help focus the light into a better, brighter, pattern. if you try to sand them down you will never get them clear again.
 
DEPO

DEPO

How do i know if i have DEPO lights? (noob) I just ordered some brand new headlights from ebay, my stock headlights are hazed over. I want to do the hightower mod but i dont want to start baking the new headlights if it is going to have the bad glue.
 
contourSVT99 said:
How do i know if i have DEPO lights? (noob) I just ordered some brand new headlights from ebay, my stock headlights are hazed over. I want to do the hightower mod but i dont want to start baking the new headlights if it is going to have the bad glue.
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they'll say depo on them. they're the biggest manufacturer of our aftermarket headlights. if u got urs on ebay, then yep!, its a depo. trust us. many of us have tried the process with depos. doesnt work bro. too much crap they call sealant.
 
depo lights

depo lights

Well if I have Depo lights or not. I am currently baking the second light, the first light took me 3 mins to bake and 5 min to have all the way apart. I have a friend helping me. I have pics to show. The glue is grey and it took the second one 2 bakes to get open. We are using a 90degree pick to go through the glue. The glue comes off with scraping. WAYY TO EASY. I am only 20+ min into this.
 
contourSVT99 said:
Well if I have Depo lights or not. I am currently baking the second light, the first light took me 3 mins to bake and 5 min to have all the way apart. I have a friend helping me. I have pics to show. The glue is grey and it took the second one 2 bakes to get open. We are using a 90degree pick to go through the glue. The glue comes off with scraping. WAYY TO EASY. I am only 20+ min into this.
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u r one in a million my friend. then again, it could be the pick u're using. good job regardless. like i said b4, if they're depos, it'd say it on them. :rolleyes:
 
contourSVT99 said:
How do i know if i have DEPO lights? (noob) I just ordered some brand new headlights from ebay, my stock headlights are hazed over. I want to do the hightower mod but i dont want to start baking the new headlights if it is going to have the bad glue.
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BAD SVT said:
they'll say depo on them. they're the biggest manufacturer of our aftermarket headlights. if u got urs on ebay, then yep!, its a depo. trust us. many of us have tried the process with depos. doesnt work bro. too much crap they call sealant.
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I got mine on ebay last summer, and they aren't Depot. They are TYC? with gray sealant. Am I screwed?
 
TX00SVT said:
I got mine on ebay last summer, and they aren't Depot. They are TYC? with gray sealant. Am I screwed?
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Thats what I have as well. It took one cooking to break them open. they arent DEPO, I saw where they say DEPO and mine didnt say it. I have the gray sealant as well.

The only problem I am having is getting off the sealant. It does come off if you pick, i just havent had time to put the units back in the oven and bake them so it gets a little hotter to peel off. I did go to advanced auto to pick up some tar and wax remover. I have taken a razor and scraped all the excess off now I will just use the remover to get the rest off.

I will say it would be very difficult to get all the sealant out of the housing. Thats why I am just using the headlight cover and sealing that onto my OEM headlights
 
Please,somebody help me!

After u guys put projectors,how is your light pattern?

Mine is awesome without lenses,but with them ... :nonono: awful :(

I might need new lenses , because these are really f**** up!
 
im thinking about hightowering my lights black on my black csvt. i noticed you guys were discussing which type of sealer works best, so is there a best? or does silicone work alright? also, is there a certain kind of paint used, or is it simply ford touch-up paint. anybody had any problems with the paint cracking or peeling off of the silvering due to heat from the bulbs? thanks.
 
SVTkid said:
im thinking about hightowering my lights black on my black csvt. i noticed you guys were discussing which type of sealer works best, so is there a best? or does silicone work alright? also, is there a certain kind of paint used, or is it simply ford touch-up paint. anybody had any problems with the paint cracking or peeling off of the silvering due to heat from the bulbs? thanks.
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any tough waterproof sealant works. there are a few examples in this thread i believe. i used silicone. the paint inside won't crack. duplicolor or some sorta spray paint works. they're all high temp.
 
thanks for the info :)

im in the process of doing this to one of my original headlights, i got one open and the chrome part painted, now the first coat is drying (in my bedroom so im feeling high)....now to just scrape the old sealant off of the rest and shine up the lens and the first one should be finished. then one more to go!
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CRGkart44 said:
if i wanted to pull the lead light apart to do the hightower mod could i use a heat gun... or would it be a better idea to bake them?
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Baking is the better option. You'll definitely get a more even heating, not to mention with a heat gun there's more of a chance of warping or melting the plastic (I'm pretty sure someone else said this earlier in the thread also). I followed the directions at the beginning of this thread to a tee and had great results. It took me about 2 hours to get them apart since i took a little extra time and care so I wouldn't break anything.
I hope that helps you
 
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