Disassemble AU headlights


This tech guide will assist you in disassembling the standard AU headlights. Why would you want to do this? Most people do it so that they can paint the bezel, but it may be because you get moisture in yours and you want to fix it.

AU headlight lenses are stuck in with a heat affected Silastic so you can put them in an oven to heat the Silastic to enable the lens section to be pulled from the casing.

It is assumed that you have already removed the headlight from the vehicle, and removed all globes and wiring from the headlight, except for the parker globe and wiring which is integrated into the headlight unit and is not easy (and also is not necessary) to remove.

Disassembly of AU Headlights

1. Preheat oven to 100 degrees Celsius.

2. Place one headlight on greaseproof paper on an oven tray and place in oven for 5 minutes

3. Remove headlight from oven and try prising the lens away from the casing. Dont try to pull the lens and the insert together - the insert is screwed in by 1 screw behind the indicator

Note: If the lens will not pull away easily from the casing, put the light back in the oven for an additional 2 minutes and Repeat step 3. Continue to do this until the lens pulls away easily from the casing. I do not recommend having the lights in the oven for any more than 15 minutes, as this may lead to melting of the casing.

4. Remove the indicator lens by releasing the 3 little tags that hold it in place. You get to these from behind - use a small flat screwdriver to lift each tab while pulling slightly on the indicator lens. If you break a tab, just superglue it back on

5. Undo the screw holding the chrome/silver insert (the screw is located behind the indicator lens that you just removed).

Preparing & Painting the Insert/Bezel

1. Clean the chrome from the bezel using a scourer, sandpaper, or use Wax & Grease Remover and a rag & rub hard

2. Wash the insert with warm soapy water. Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry.

3. Prime the insert well using a quality acrylic primer (MotorPro, Holts, Power Plus and Series 500 are all reasonably good brands)

Note 1: Plastic Primer is not required.

Note 2: If you use engine enamel or brake/calliper paint, there is no need to prime at all.

4. Once the primer has dried, use whatever colour topcoat you want. Matt or gloss colours are fine, though Matt finish tends to look better. There is no need to spray a clear-coat on top of the colour-coat.

Cleaning/drying water from the lens

1. Let the lens cool after you get them apart

2. Use a mist type spray bottle (something like the armour-all bottles filled with clean water) and spray the reflector and the inside of the lens.

3. Using some really soft tissues, gently wipe the lens and/or reflector in straight lines. Do NOT rub or you will scratch the lens.

(Kleenex is a suitable brand - make sure to get the plain ones as the Aloe Vera ones leave an oily smear on the lens).

4. Before you re-assemble the light put the lens and the body/reflector in the oven again for about 5 minutes to make sure to completely dry them out.

Re-assembly of AU Headlights

1. Refit the (painted) insert and secure it in position with the screw.

2. Refit the indicator lens by pushing it slowly and carefully into position (you don?t want to scratch your new paint)

3. Squirt a little black Silastic in the channel so the light doesn?t leak and carefully fit the lens on

Note: If you use too much Silastic you will end up with a black mess. If you don?t use enough, the light will not seal properly.

4. Put the light in the oven on the same temp and wait bout 5 minutes (ish) for the Silastic to heat

5. Press the lens on fully and get some cloth or masking tape and tape the lens on "tightly" from front to back. This will ensure the lens doesn?t pop out while setting

6. Wait around 30 minutes for the Silastic to set, then remove the tape holding the lens to the casing.

7. Re-install the light globes etc and install the headlight assembly back in the car.



Thanks to MADNC_8 for the original method as posted on http://www.fordforums.com/



id like to add ... this is a pretty messy job, takes a fair bit of effort and when seperating the headlight pull from the inside (opposite the indicator) as it seemed easier there...


Cheers Cam..

Old thread/tech doc... But I'm curious. How big is your oven??? I tried to get started on this and new it would be a tight sqeuze but when I went to put the headlight in it was WAY to big.

Would a heat gun be sufficient to loosen and then re-glue the silastic?

Thanks

No, its got to be an even distribution on heat. you can actually use a BBQ as well, but you need 2 hot plates no grill, very low heat, sit the head light on a piece of timber so you dont melt the unit.

Does that help?