Our amber headlights CAN be de-ambered

[ilikeching]

I finally took the chance when i found a extra set of front headlights in mint condition for a real bargain price, as a backup.
So i did this Project with my old headlights. It went well if u have the right Tools.
The router from Dremel, is a little big and difficult for grinding as the headlight is not plain. I'm happy With the result, so, as for the extra headlight set i have, i will do the same in the future.
Some tips: cover rest of the headlightglas for accidental machine scratches's, don't rush and the result will be fine.
Thanks to Particelwave and other here for the great tip and DIY.

[CraigM]

Nice!

Yours came out very well! I still have some scratches on mine from the sander (Velcro hooks snuck out a couple times) that I have to clean up.

Now you just have to paint the inner reflector!

[ilikeching]

Originally Posted by CraigM

Nice!

Yours came out very well! I still have some scratches on mine from the sander (Velcro hooks snuck out a couple times) that I have to clean up.

Now you just have to paint the inner reflector!

Thanks, inner reflector? how and where?

[CraigM]

It's a bit of a hassle for not a huge impact if it's all you're doing, but I painted mine while I had them apart to install my GT Projectors.

When you take off the headlight lenses (after baking and all), there's a gold-colored shroud in the turn signal area that is held in by a screw. It's gold on our headlights but painted like the rest of the shroud on the true clear headlights. I forgot to take pics of it, but it's very obvious once you have them open.

This is how it looks once it's painted, I went with black BBQ paint like ParticleWave suggested:

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by ilikeching

I finally took the chance when i found a extra set of front headlights in mint condition for a real bargain price, as a backup.
So i did this Project with my old headlights. It went well if u have the right Tools.
The router from Dremel, is a little big and difficult for grinding as the headlight is not plain. I'm happy With the result, so, as for the extra headlight set i have, i will do the same in the future.
Some tips: cover rest of the headlightglas for scratches's, don't rush and the result will be fine.
Thanks to Particelwave and other here for the great tip and DIY.

Nice work!

Turn signal shroud piece, "amber" vs "clear".

[chdavis]

This is awesome, very ingenuitive!!

[steved0x]

Does this look like a de-ambered headlight using this method?

97 98 99 00 01 02 Porsche Boxster Left Driver Head Light 99663106320 | eBay

If so it looks like there might be some money to be made If it sells at this price that is...

[ilikeching]

Originally Posted by CraigM

It's a bit of a hassle for not a huge impact if it's all you're doing, but I painted mine while I had them apart to install my GT Projectors.

When you take off the headlight lenses (after baking and all), there's a gold-colored shroud in the turn signal area that is held in by a screw. It's gold on our headlights but painted like the rest of the shroud on the true clear headlights. I forgot to take pics of it, but it's very obvious once you have them open.

This is how it looks once it's painted, I went with black BBQ paint like ParticleWave suggested:

My owen stove is too small to do the baking
is there another alternative to do? the headlights is about 14-15 yrs.

[mavis.d]

Originally Posted by ilikeching

My owen stove is too small to do the baking
is there another alternative to do? the headlights is about 14-15 yrs.

Mine too but just leave the oven door open and use and apron or towel to stop most of the heat escaping. It will take longer and a higher temp. I normally use 140c and twenty minutes just be careful not rest any of the plastics on metal

[Swhitcomb]

Finally tackled this today. Been on my to do list for almost 2 years.

Before:


After:






Have to order the corners to finish it. Also going to go buy a 3" polisher and work on them some more. For now though, they are deambered and I am happy. Particlewave makes it look very easy. It wasn't. It's quite a bit of work, and the whole time I kept thinking, I'm going to ruin a very expensive set of headlights. Glad it came out ok, and grateful for Particlewave's excellent and clear directions.

[Bobiam]

You did well. Congrats. Now......the silver grills have to go. You could go flat black or a darker gray may be really good (flat if possible).

I chickened out on the deambering and just changed the triangles and side fender lights. I really thought I wouldn't like the result, but actually I'm impressed that it looks pretty good. A Boxster fan may be negative about it, but most folks have no idea what the lights are supposed to look like. It really cut down the amt of amber. Good enough (for me).

[Swhitcomb]

Yes, I fully plan on changing the color of the shield. Might even powder coat it. Not too sure yet. I was really hesitant to attack this project. These headlights aren't cheap, and had I messed them up it would've been costly. I am happy with the result though. Once I paint the shield and polish them out a little more, I'll be even happier.

[CraigM]

Has anybody tackled the triangle corners? Considering sanding them down, cracking them open and painting to match...
[/QUOTE]

[CraigM]

Crap...I was sanding the headlights again to clean up some rough spots...and I dropped it. Itty bitty ding, no big deal there, but the whole housing is loose in the headlight assembly. Sigh. I'll deal with it tomorrow.

[BRAN]

As I am preparing a little "clear trim outline" mod on my amber headlights, what clear/uv coating are you guys using?

[CraigM]

Good things have been said about the Sylvania headlight restoration kit that comes with some kind of clear coat final step, haven't personally done it yet because I wanted to clean the lenses up more first.
(Which I just finished - 320 grit through 3000 then cleaner/polish - came out soooo much better.)

[mikesz]

what kind of a plunge router tool did you use?

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by mikesz

what kind of a plunge router tool did you use?

I just used a power sander with 60 grit to start (this was the lowest I could go and actually remove material).

It took a long time...doable, but I would recommend making something like earlier in this thread. Took me a solid day (at least 12 hours) per headlight to sand them down.

[geraintthomas]

I'm hoping that this is possible by sanding by hand with some very high grit sandpaper.

I'm looking to do the projector retrofit but I'm too scared to do it on my current facelift clear headlights. So the plan is to buy some pre-facelift orange lights, install the projectors in them, then sand away the yellow so that they're the same as the facelifts. Then use my current clear corner pieces.

Anyone done this purely by hand yet?

[Nine8Six]

Originally Posted by geraintthomas

I'm hoping that this is possible by sanding by hand with some very high grit sandpaper.

I'm looking to do the projector retrofit but I'm too scared to do it on my current facelift clear headlights. So the plan is to buy some pre-facelift orange lights, install the projectors in them, then sand away the yellow so that they're the same as the facelifts. Then use my current clear corner pieces.

Anyone done this purely by hand yet?

Absolutely feasible. Ten different ways to do it I'm sure, by hand/sand paper taking the longest but safest.

If you want look really really cool, look up chemical resistance of lexan 9030 polycarbonate. Recalc to correct dissolving formula and go for it, "dip it". The fastest method