Cleared Headlights - FREE. Opinions???

[23109VC]

I had this stuff lying around from another project, so for ME it was free, but if you were to do it, you'd have to pay about $20 to get a sheet of this stuff.

I still plan on doing the REAL upgrade, either with litronics, or 03+ halogens....but until I can find a good deal on a set - this will have to do.

you know those giant signs you see on buses, or on large windows...I believe that is what this stuff is. It has very small holes in it - so once an image is printed on it, and it's applied to a large window, the people inside can see out, but the people on tehoutside can't see in, and see the printed image instead. it appears as if it's a solid piece of adhesive from a distance as your eyes don't see the holes that well. b/c there are holes in it, the orange blinker blinks right through, but form even a very short distance, it blends in with the headlight housing and covers up the amber.

it's a sticker, but unless you get real close, it's hard to tell that it's stuck on. it's sure as heck not goign to win any car shows for being "clean". I've seen people do the same thing with paint - and it comes out much more professional looking. i didn't want to do that. this is 100% removable. it peels right off, almost like a vinyl static cling sticker. so i can peel it off whenver i want with no nasty residue left. for now, it's nice.

if i get anough "take the crap off" comments, i can take it right off.

before



1/2 way done



upclose



From a distance





Part of why I did this was just b/c I wanted to see how it would look it I had de-ambered the car with a light swap - and I like it. I am for sure goin to do the real thing - but until I buy real cleared lights, I can't bring myself to take these off b/c even though it's a sticker, and nowhere near as nice as the REAL thing, it looks BETTER than it did before!

[RandallNeighbour]

Not bad!

Another route you could go would be to get your car to a body shop and have them tape off and spray the orange to the same color as your car.

[23109VC]

that is an idea..i've seen people on ebay selling covers that you can paint that kind of accomplish the same thing..although I'm not sure i like that look.

i've seen tint films that tint the entire headlight housing...giving it a smoked look and somewhat covering up the orange that way..but then the lights are all blacked out. i wasn't really looking for the blacked out look either.

unfortunatley, i like the look of the 03+ lights or litronics. i'll probably look for a used set online and wait until I find a good deal. I figure if I can get 03+ halogens that would give me the look I want for not as much $$. those are in the 400-500 range I think....

my bro in law has a 996 with litronics..maybe I can talk him into seling his to me. he isn't really "into" the car. he is more of a vette guy, bought the 996 on impulse and doesn't drive it a lot... maybe I can swap them out when he is out of town on business. HA!

seriously, this is okay, but not permanent. my wife saw it and said it looks "tacky" because it's a sticker. she is right..but at least I have a good idea how it will look when I do it right!

[Kirk]

I tried painting a test piece silver to match my paint... didn't work, not enough light transmission.

I tried painting my lights with the spray on tint... didn't work, didn't look good and again marginal light transmission.

Finally found someone who sold me litronics in perfect condition for $750. I had to trade him my crappy tinted lights. I've never looked back!

What you've done is brilliant. I think it looks really good. Take some pictures at night to show how well the lights work. I'd be very interested to see that. I think if you want to take it the next step try to paint the stickers your body color before applying them. But from your pictures I think it looks pretty good now, looks better than the crap I tried, and DEFINITELY looks tons better than the old yellow signals!!!

Kirk

[944boy]

It's perforated vinyl. I used some for rear stripes on my 944. If you had access to the printer the vinyl was designed for I would have tinted it to match the headlights, a light gray or so. I think the white sticks out too much, but the idea is great.

[23109VC]

yes - it is perforated vinyl. I got it a while back to do the same thing on another car, years ago..and it was still in my garage in a bin with other "junk".

i agree if I could either find it already tinted in a light gray, or, if I could get it custom matched to the exact color, it would look better. I agree, being white, it sticks out too much.

I'll have to see if I could find the stuff in gray, or find someone to print the right color onto white.

as I said - this is a temporary "fix" until I can get it done right. Even if the stickers were painted the exact color, it wouldn't look perfect. Up close you would see that they are stickers.

I do think, however, for a lot of guys on this board, or int eh near future who pick up old high mileage 986s and want to fix them up, but NOT dump a ton of money into them - this woudl be a cheap easy way to deamber the car. if you are on a budget, this is a great way to do it.

at the very least, if you want to see what your own car would look like deambered, and see it on your own car - this is a good way to recreate the look and it only takes a few minutes to trace out the shape of the amber, cut it, and stick it on. nice thing is this stuff is very durable, and stays on a long time w/out fading, cracking, or anyting - but when you want to remove it, it peels off very easily.

[fatmike]

Your on the right track. I prefer this to the amber. Would be ideal if you can match the "smoked" color of your sidelights --

[jmatta]

It's really quite easy to de-amber, but you do need to purchase the clear triangles (which are very inexpensive). I removed my headlights and had it done in no time; think it took longer to clean the burnt plastic off my solder iron.

I guess the covers would be a good option for those who fear melting their lights, though.

[Burg Boxster]

Two different light set ups though.

Yours just had the orange reflector behind the lens which you nicely melted out and removed. The older lights have the orange coloring in the lens/cover itself which cannot be removed.

Good thought though - yours look nice

[TimAustinW]

I didn't think it was possible to de-amber your headlights without buying new lights. Can you explain how you did it? Or a DIY post link?

Originally Posted by jmatta

It's really quite easy to de-amber, but you do need to purchase the clear triangles (which are very inexpensive). I removed my headlights and had it done in no time; think it took longer to clean the burnt plastic off my solder iron.

I guess the covers would be a good option for those who fear melting their lights, though.

[jmatta]

Thanks for the correction...I forgot some had the amber color on the outer lens (old age kicking in). For the rest of you, here is a link which explains how to melt it out.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=178&hl=amberectomy

[23109VC]

I WISH I had your lights!! yes, I have the amber IN the lens...you can't get that out. "out damn spot!"

too bad there isn't some magical chemical "dye" to change the color of tinted plastic.... to somehow "bleach" the orange into clear??? wishful thinking...

maybe I can just convince my wife that we should upgrade to a 987S....

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by jmatta

Thanks for the correction...I forgot some had the amber color on the outer lens (old age kicking in).

WHAT?!?!?! There are actually Porsche headlights with amber color in the outer lens? Ughhh... that's got to look horrible. Why would Porsche ever do something like that???

Anyone in the San Francisco area see the post on Babblers about the guy who wants to trade his litronics and red tails for stock and $800? That's a great deal! That's kind of what I did - traded a guy in San Jose who was trading in his Boxster for my stock lights and $750 and got his perfect litronics. Now I'm not one of those lowly peons with the old, nasty, yellow lights. hehehehe just kidding guys

Kirk