Finished Retrofitting my headlights - '02 QX4

[nickelghandi]

Those look amazing! I'd love to do something like that in my Pathfinder, but I would be so terrified to mess something up.

[spike753]

Those look awesome! Big BIG props to a project well done!

[atraudes]

and what do you mean when you say you had to bake them? Thanks

There's a bead of silicone running along the edge of the lens that keeps the lens attached to the housing and keeps the headlight sealed. In order to get the lens off to get at the parts inside to paint them, you need to put the headlight in an oven to melt the silicone slightly so you can get a screwdriver under the lens and pry it off. If you tried to pry without heating the silicone you'd end up breaking the lens.

You can get headlights on eBay or scrap yards, though they tend to be pricey since the sellers tend to include the ballasts and bulbs. You can buy them new, but they run about a grand each.

You could also live life on the edge and just work on the ones you have

To remove the headlights, you remove the grille and undo one or two screws, and then they pull out. The grill can be removed by inserting a flat-head screwdriver in the plastic screw-things and twisting it clockwise 45°. I think there's 5 of them.

[saveth]

Its been 2 years since I replied to this thread and a lot has changed in 2 years. About a year ago I removed my old projector and swapped it with a TL projector that I was working on. My car was the first retrofit I've ever done and so far I've done about 8 pairs of headlights.
If you're scared of baking your headlights, use a heat gun instead. That's my preferred method of taking the lense off. It usually takes me 5 minutes to open it up.