Removal of chrome inside headlight

[boxster7614]

removed chrome inside headlight

[nola911]

Man, I would love to know more... I took apart my old car's headlights to paint the chrome black and would like to do it for the porsche too.

I tried baking mine last week for 20 minutes at 250 and still couldn't get them apart. I didn't want to force it because the lights had such a long ledge I feared I would crack a lense. What holds the lense on other than just glue? I only found one screw to take off, I did it and still couldn't free them up.

I have litronics, so my light output will not be diminished by painting everything black.

[boxster7614]

On a side note I just finished replacing all the LED's in the dash, ac unit, and switches to the super white LED's......looks a ton better but thats for another thread

[986speedster]

Where did you order the super white LED's for the dash? I'd like to do the same.

[boxster7614]

I got them from porscheleds.com I started out with the blue...they looked a little cheesy and wern't very bright ....hard to see in the daylight. so I switched them out for the superwhite. If your handy with a sodering iron this is a cool mod. makes the interior look 10 times better....never was a fan of the amber.

[Tool Pants]

There are 996 clear halogen lights, and 986 clear halogen lights. The 986 clears were used 2003-2004. The 996 clears used 1999-2001. The 996 lights have a 996 part number, and the 986 lights have a 986 part number. The part number is on the yellow sticker.

Did you end up with a 996 and a 986 lights?

[boxster7614]

I checked my part numbers and the headlight without the chrome peace is a 986 part number and the one with the chrome was a 996 part number......in my opinon I think the light looks alot better without the chrome insert.....other than the chrome inserts the lights seem to be identical. From the pics I have seen on the litronics they all have the insert....or are they different also?

[Tool Pants]

I have never seen a 996 headlight taken apart and did not realize you could remove the "chrome part." It has a diamond pattern to it. That is how I can tell the difference between 996 clears versus 986 clears just by looking at them, and why I asked you to verify by comparing the part numbers

For some strange reason when the 986 got clears in 2003 Porsche did not use the 996 clears, but came up with a specific 986 clear headlight without the chrome part.

The chrome part is also used in litronic headlights. But in the case of litronics they are the same for 996 and 986, both come with the chrome part.

In cases like this I do not understand Porsche and why they did not take the 996 clears from the parts bin and use it on the Boxster in 2003. It is like how they have the same muffler and the only difference is cosmetic, a single or dual tip, to distinguish the base model from the S model.