Headlight burn question

[Fuzzuki]

I have a 2000 Base.
I bought two used headlight units.
I was looking at the old units, the burn is bad, but it looks like you can take out the old unit that is inside the entire housing and replace the actual light itself without having to replace the entire unite.

Is there a video for this?

[jbryshun]

Search HID projector retrofit.

The lens that you see with the burns can be removed but there are no replacement parts. The best way is to completely remove the lens and replace with an HID projector. There are videos on youtube to show how to open the headlight. The DIY threads are also very helpful.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Hey jbryshun,

I've attached a link to one of our tech articles on replacing the headlight. I hope you find this helpful! If you have any further questions, feel free to post a Comment just below the article and someone will get back to you with more technical help.

Replacing Lenses and Blubs / Adding Clear Corners - Porsche Boxster Lenses and Blub Replacement / Adding Boxster Clear Corners - 986 / 987 (1997-08) - Pelican Parts Technical Article


-Dmitry

[Fuzzuki]

I don't think you understand what I am asking.
I wish to take out the inner parts of the headlight assembly and change to my original outer housing.

My outer housing and clear plastic outer shell is in better shape than the replacement assembly I bought. I wish to put the new non burnt lens from inside into my new units.

Is it possible to remove the inner light set up?

[PaulE]

Fuzzuki, if I understand correctly, you can remove the outer lenses from your original headlight assemblies, then remove the outer lenses from the replacement assemblies you bought and install the original lenses on the replacement assemblies. You'll need to remove the outer lenses on all of the headlights to do what you want to do. I'm not sure you can get the inner lenses and other inner parts out without breaking something. So just swap the outer lenses on the units. How bad are the housings that you can't use them again? If it's just the gaskets you can change those, you need to remove them to get the outer lenses off anyway.

[Fuzzuki]

The clear plastic is very pitted on the replacement units. I used some headlight polish on them, but they are still pretty bad.

My originals are very clear and almost stone chip free.

[BirdDog]

There was a thread on here about 2 years ago (use search) that detailed a process for taking the headlights apart. It involved heating them in an oven to 250 F and (wearing gloves) carefully prying up around the edges of the outer lenses. The outer lenses have a ridge that snaps into a recess in the headlight shell and you have to pry them out of that recess. They are also sealed with a bead of black silicone adhesive (like bathtub caulking) which will have to be replaced when you reassembled them. I think the reason you have to heat the headlights up is to get that silicone bead to let go of the outer lens.

I was going to replace the inner lenses on my original headlights and picked up a set of new inner lenses, but in the end I felt it was too much work and I was pretty sure I would burn myself or break the outer lenses trying to take them off. So I replaced them with a set of good used headlights instead.

Bird Dog

[78F350]

If you search enough in 2014-2015 threads you can find all the info you need, mostly in this thread:

Porsche Headlight Retrofit [from CAD, prototyping to finish)

Particlewave has been very helpful and instructive on this. I think he made these videos:
Taking the headlight apart:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjOnfMHED0

Putting it back together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz515L_QDFg

The part that you want to do is somewhere in between those videos and does not involve adapting a HID. Easy.
The tabs that hold the innner lens in palce are probably VERY brittle and likely to break. I'd recommend just swapping the "clear plastic outer shell".

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by Fuzzuki

I have a 2000 Base.
I bought two used headlight units.
I was looking at the old units, the burn is bad, but it looks like you can take out the old unit that is inside the entire housing and replace the actual light itself without having to replace the entire unite.

Is there a video for this?

The answer to your question(s) is yes
The entire reflector assembly can be swapped, or just the lens.

Watch my videos for a few pointers on disassembly (linked by 78F350 in the last post) and if you have any questions along the way, feel free to PM me. I've worked on more sets of these headlights than I care to remember