Replacement headlight *UPDATED*

[NebraskaSHO]

So sometime in my car's life it was hit on the drivers side. Anyways that headlight has always been much clearer as it was a new Ford replacement.

Picked up another headlight off of eBay from a 99 so I'll take some before and after shots of the entire front and of the passenger side of the car. I can't wait! I just hope it is as clear as it looked in the ad

Good side:


Bad side:


Other things I've been doing include:

Rear window re tinted
Added a strip of tint to the front window
SCT Tune (Thanks Paul)

Still need to:

Get tips rewelded to straighten them out
Mount battery in trunk
Find unbroken grille
Flush radiator

AND

Repaint trunk and bumper covers (Not pry going to happen)


EDIT: Dang, my camera makes my car look like a SHOw winner!

 

[crixtopher]

looks good Paul!

send along a pic of your front tint strip

are you saying you need a front grille piece? I have one but w/o the emblem holder. sometime in its life screwing around with the Yamaha one I broke the mounting hardware, as far as I remember , but I bet you could swap yours in no sweat. PM me if you want it and you can just pay shipping?

another idea, Ray Midnight Auto (sorry Ray forgot your Forum name) has a set of purple tinted headlights and signal lenses up on The 'Bay as we speak. I thought about them for my car but w/o seeing them in person I just don't know. might clash with my bronze wheels . but I think on your silver they'd look sweet!

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Yeah I'll take a pic of the front window strip. Naturally, I did it, as I've done all the tint on the car since I bought it, and it looks good. I could have maybe pulled the passenger side down a little more, but it is only off from the drivers side by maybe 1/4". So it is unnoticeable.

I just wanted to make that strip wider as my car has the legal tint on the front windows. Plus I had the stuff left over so why not

 

[medgraphsho]

Hey Chris, send me the link for those purple headlight!!!

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Chris, here are some of the photos of the windshield strip, and of my ugly headlight. You can see Memorial Stadium in the background. GO BIG RED!





Ewwww






You can't really tell there is a strip there unless you notice that it is not a gradual fade from the factory tint, and it's all black. Most noticeable inside the car.

 

[98SHO]

Looking good so far. Mine has a clouded up headlight like that too. No amount of polishing seems to get it cleared up either. So that's on my list along with repaint of front bumper and hood.

 

[SHOZ123]

You can get a set of headlights brand new online for less than one OEM headlight.

But the OEM ones are by far the best.

 

[stephen newberg]

Looking good so far. Mine has a clouded up headlight like that too. No amount of polishing seems to get it cleared up either. So that's on my list along with repaint of front bumper and hood.

I finally laid into my very scratched and dulled over lense covers a couple of months ago with one of those 3 stage scratch removers. Got them almost back to as new clear everywhere except right at the edges, where I could not get in as much pressure without removing the lenses, and I was too lazy for that. I think it was a 3M one, and it was not all that expensive. Maybe $15 for the small bottle set or so.

pax, smn

 

[NebraskaSHO]

You can get a set of headlights brand new online for less than one OEM headlight.

But the OEM ones are by far the best.

Thats what I was thinking, about getting a pair of new ones, but I figured that another clear OEM one should be good enough for a while.

Plus I'm thinking that when this replacement shows up I will polish both headlights. The passenger one as you can see is pretty bad.

 

[SHOZ123]

FWIW the lens comes off very easily with the removal of 4 screws on the back of the headlight.

 

[stephen newberg]

You know, I never even bothered to look. Thanks, Paul. Next loose time car work day I will take them out and get those edges too.

pax, smn

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Stephen what did you use again to polish the lights? A store bought product I assume?

 

[stephen newberg]

Yes. Well, a specialty plastics store. Specifically it is:

Novus Plastics Scratch Remover, #3 and #2. 3 is for the heavy scratch removal, and 2 is for the ligher scratch removal. There is also a #1 that is a pure polisher for very light scratches, but I did not feel after doing 3 & 2 that it was needed. I was pretty impressed by how well it worked.

pax, smn

 

[NebraskaSHO]

I can't believe how perfect my headlight now is. Makes my clear driver side one look like poo. Time to go buy some polish, or buy another one from eBay.

Before


And five minutes later




Completely Satisfied as this headlight was only $36 shipped

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Before and after, this is on the old headlight











Headlight refinishing paste, 2000 grit sand paper, and a towel. Seemed to work pretty good, but it's not as clear as the replacement headlight was.

A sneak peak of other additions...

 

[S-H-O-Man]

Hey guys, i bought a pair of the sylvania silver star bulbs (i think) from wally world i have heard so much about today. Trouble is, I took out the three retaining bolts on the top and sides of the lamp but it will not come out or forward. It is a little loose but i didn't want to pry and break it. Is there a hidden bolt somewhere I am missing? What am I doing wrong. I really want to put these things in while i am off tomorrow!!! thanks
Rob

 

[Funmart6]

Silver SHOs look so nice. I use turtle wax polishing compound and a buffer to keep my lights clear. I took my lights out once, but can't remember, I think there is a bolt that is not readily visible. There is a post on here about removing the front end, that maybe helpful, or use the search function for removing headlights. Might be able to find info at V8SHO.com also. Hope this helps.

 

[SHOZ123]

I just got a set of Silver Star Ultras with the relay set up and they are by far the best.

I also have polished one headlight twice now with in a year. Seems once you polish them and take off whatever UV protection that was there you will need to keep doing it every 4-6 months.

So I have found a glossy clear UV protectant paint that I am going to try.

 

[NebraskaSHO]

Can someone link me for the relay or the wiring harness upgrade. It is laughable how small the wire is for the headlights.

Or maybe I'll do a search and post it in here...

And yes, Silver, while not my favorite when I bought m car, has really grown on me.

 

[SHOZ123]

http://store.summitracing.com/partd...part=AMC-509106&N=700+311187+115&autoview=sku

or

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_63968_-1