1. remove headlights from car.
2. remove the headlight from the frame. I sent my frame off for powder coat cost £25 for the pair.
3. strip the light (before stripping take notes of which lens goes which side and how all the components are orientated and fitted). to do this first remove the bulb from the bulb holder and also the rubber cover. bend the 3 tangs upright which hold the cast alluminum bulb holder in place, the bulb holder part should just slide off, use a screwdiver to pry it off if needed.
4. pre heat your oven to 200'c. place headlights in the oven for 10-15 mins. wear gloves as they get very hot. remove from oven and use a screwdriver to carefully pry the glass lense from the bowl. if its a bit tough put the light back in the oven to soften up the sealent a tad more.
should now have this-
5. remove the small metal black cage looking things from the bowl. they are just clipped in.
6. degrease the bowl as much as possible with a bit of white spirit.
7. rub the rear of the bowl down, I used 240 grit sand paper and then some 400 grit to make it nice and smooth.
8. remove the remaining sealant from the front of the bowl using a screw driver and then some 80 grit sand paper. ( be careful not to scratch the inner mirrored surface, I masked mine to prevent scratches.
9. sand the FLAT front face of the bowl with some 400 grit paper, sand until the surface is smooth and all the scratches are removed from the sealant removal process.
10. give the whole bowl a good clean with some white spirit/lotox/panel wipe.
11. mask the domed part of the bowl. I used some edge mask tape to get a nice edge (pic of tape below) its a slightly stretchy plastic tape which gives a nice clean masked edge. I used 2" normal white masking tape for the rest of the bowl. make sure that it is masked well especially around the corners and where the holes for the bulbs are.
12. hang the bowls on a piece of wire somewhere dry and well ventilated. give the bowls one last clean to remove all dust and grease.
13. prime the bowls, I used a couple of coats of u-pol etch primer ( use as per instructions on can) if your bowls were corroded and still have small pits and scratches u might want to use a high build primer (as instructions on can) this will fill all the imperfections. once fully dry u can rub it down with 800 wet n dry (use wet) to remove all the imperfections (will prob need to re-mask the bowls and clean again)
14. paint the bowls and bulb cages black, I used a gloss black can from halford. use as stated on can.
should now have this
16. re fit the painted bulb cage which you removed in step 5.
17. allow it all to completely dry and then re attach the lens to the correct bulb in the correct orientation. give the bowl and glass a very good clean whilst you still can. I bonded my lenses on using u-pol tiger seal (black) any polyurethane sealant should work fine just make sure that it is black. dry fit the lens to make sure it still fits. run a small bead of the sealant along the edge of the bowl. offer the glass to the bowl ensuring it is the correct way up. remove any excess sealant with some white spirit and a cloth (do not use excessive spirit and don't use thinners as it will damage your fresh paint you could now put the headlight glass down with a weight on the back but mine seemed ok without doing this. leave the lights 24hr to fully dry.
this is the sealant I used
hopefully your headlights now look like this.
18. refit all the remaining parts and re fit to your car.
19. might need to get the headlight alignment checked and adjusted.
