3R headlight lens removal advice?
Discussion
My 3R headlight lens look a bit old and tatty, one is cracked and has had a hole drilled in it. So I've got my hands on a new pair and I've started removing the old sealant (that was all cracked and letting water in) but I think I need to remove all the fg moulding from the underside of the clam to get to the lens? I've tried cutting off the sealant from the rear of the clam but the fg is stuck tight, what's the trick to remove it? Any tips (apart from take it to jetstream 
) are greatly appreciated.
) are greatly appreciated.to replace them 'as is' you need to remove the entire light assembly.
However some people have carefully removed the black rubber then dremeled the plastic out in the shape of the hole, then cut the new ones down and bonded them in.
Have no idea why they did it as stock and see no drawbacks of doing it this way.... Im intending to design mine so they can be removed and replaced this way.
You have nothing to loose by trying as long as you dont cut the new ones till you know its going to work lol
However some people have carefully removed the black rubber then dremeled the plastic out in the shape of the hole, then cut the new ones down and bonded them in.
Have no idea why they did it as stock and see no drawbacks of doing it this way.... Im intending to design mine so they can be removed and replaced this way.
You have nothing to loose by trying as long as you dont cut the new ones till you know its going to work lol
Thanks Sean, I've tried this a bit but the light unit seems to be really stuck on and I can't get the scalpel between them but I'll have another go in the morning.
Andy I'll also look into doing as you suggest as getting them out is proving to be difficult. I have to replace them as the amount of water that came out when I removed the rear covers was just stupid, no wonder I had misting problems!!!
Andy I'll also look into doing as you suggest as getting them out is proving to be difficult. I have to replace them as the amount of water that came out when I removed the rear covers was just stupid, no wonder I had misting problems!!!
andygtt said:
to replace them 'as is' you need to remove the entire light assembly.
However some people have carefully removed the black rubber then dremeled the plastic out in the shape of the hole, then cut the new ones down and bonded them in.
Have no idea why they did it as stock and see no drawbacks of doing it this way.... Im intending to design mine so they can be removed and replaced this way.
You have nothing to loose by trying as long as you dont cut the new ones till you know its going to work lol
Sounds like good advice to me..However some people have carefully removed the black rubber then dremeled the plastic out in the shape of the hole, then cut the new ones down and bonded them in.
Have no idea why they did it as stock and see no drawbacks of doing it this way.... Im intending to design mine so they can be removed and replaced this way.
You have nothing to loose by trying as long as you dont cut the new ones till you know its going to work lol
This is for removal of front headlights. Unless I've read the thread incorrect?
It's a horrible job, one of the worst. There are 3 sections to remove. First break the seal around the screws if sillicone is on there, then put a filler knife gently in the edge after you have removed the screws, ease with a standley knife/blade. The next step would be to remove any excess sillicone so it comes of and you should be left with the exposed lights once the top is removed.
at this stage I would disconnect the light socket clip from the assembley. Sometimes the light housing tube is silliconed very thick so be careful when removing it, take your time.
remove the lights at this stage and just remember where everything goes. It's pretty much the easist process as it's often 4 screws for each light.
After that you will need lots of patience to remove the main light housing, easing into it with both a blade and prying it gently with a filler knife, do not put the filler knife all the way in though so you don't damage anything. Sometimes the unit is fibreglassed in sections, you can use a dremal but be careful, personally I would use a blade and keep going at it but 95% of the time once all other areas are ready to be pried off the fibreglass often cracks and eventually it comes off.
After that the whole thing should remove and just when you think that's it you will see the colour coded light assembley that holds the lights. Repeat the process with a blade and filler knife until you eventually get it off. After that, you will be then just left with the plexi glass which is held in place and it can stay there unless you need to remove it for any reason.
Putting it back I used the standard method of thin double sided tape to go around the edge of the colour coded light assembley and you will need to put this in place accurately but after all traces of dust etc are removed and I would advice to clean both that unit and the plexi glass before you put things back. Do not put any lights in as it can't take the weight. I would advice to then either hot glue a couple of sections so you have the help of the thin double sided tape and some areas of hot glue while you use Isopon P40 to secure a couple of sections, no more and then once you give it 30mins or so to then sillicone this section back, all the time making sure nothing has moved and constantly holding in place. As the sillicone needs to be thick the gun is actually a little useless and I advice to just put large sections and do it by hand, naturally wearing gloves. Wait for it to become strong, usually I leave the sillicone 24hrs and then open up the lights themselves as often dust has often gone in them. It's a bit fiddly but it's worth doing. Once the sillicone is dry and you have replaced the lights test them first by putting them on and I would start your engine up as my battery went flat after a while. Once everything works you can then start replacing everything. Some may do it quicker than me but I've done this a few times and it's about 5hrs labour in total and a good couple of days or so to dry in sections etc.
Rewarding once it's done but a major pain.
It's a horrible job, one of the worst. There are 3 sections to remove. First break the seal around the screws if sillicone is on there, then put a filler knife gently in the edge after you have removed the screws, ease with a standley knife/blade. The next step would be to remove any excess sillicone so it comes of and you should be left with the exposed lights once the top is removed.
at this stage I would disconnect the light socket clip from the assembley. Sometimes the light housing tube is silliconed very thick so be careful when removing it, take your time.
remove the lights at this stage and just remember where everything goes. It's pretty much the easist process as it's often 4 screws for each light.
After that you will need lots of patience to remove the main light housing, easing into it with both a blade and prying it gently with a filler knife, do not put the filler knife all the way in though so you don't damage anything. Sometimes the unit is fibreglassed in sections, you can use a dremal but be careful, personally I would use a blade and keep going at it but 95% of the time once all other areas are ready to be pried off the fibreglass often cracks and eventually it comes off.
After that the whole thing should remove and just when you think that's it you will see the colour coded light assembley that holds the lights. Repeat the process with a blade and filler knife until you eventually get it off. After that, you will be then just left with the plexi glass which is held in place and it can stay there unless you need to remove it for any reason.
Putting it back I used the standard method of thin double sided tape to go around the edge of the colour coded light assembley and you will need to put this in place accurately but after all traces of dust etc are removed and I would advice to clean both that unit and the plexi glass before you put things back. Do not put any lights in as it can't take the weight. I would advice to then either hot glue a couple of sections so you have the help of the thin double sided tape and some areas of hot glue while you use Isopon P40 to secure a couple of sections, no more and then once you give it 30mins or so to then sillicone this section back, all the time making sure nothing has moved and constantly holding in place. As the sillicone needs to be thick the gun is actually a little useless and I advice to just put large sections and do it by hand, naturally wearing gloves. Wait for it to become strong, usually I leave the sillicone 24hrs and then open up the lights themselves as often dust has often gone in them. It's a bit fiddly but it's worth doing. Once the sillicone is dry and you have replaced the lights test them first by putting them on and I would start your engine up as my battery went flat after a while. Once everything works you can then start replacing everything. Some may do it quicker than me but I've done this a few times and it's about 5hrs labour in total and a good couple of days or so to dry in sections etc.
Rewarding once it's done but a major pain.
Thanks Paul that's a great write up, although reading that doesn't help with motivating me to get out in the garage and do it. Getting the first part of the cover off was easy its just the 2nd part that's bonded to the clam that's giving me the trouble, there's no room to get a blade in to cut the sealant. I'll have another go as it needs doing, the units are full of crap where water has got in and started corroding the light units.
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