Headlight removal and opening

[Talamascan]

To those here who have removed and opened up a J30 headlight assembly on their own, are there any particular issues or difficulties I need to be aware of?

It sure seems to be a fairly simple procedure, but whenever I think that when working on a car, something horrible happens.

Thanks

[EriCCirE]

Dont do it if shes your daily driver.

Throw them in the oven at 150 for 20 mins or so. Then pry em open.

[Talamascan]

Thanks for the warning. It does appear to be advisable to leave the factory sealant glue unmolested.

Before falling into a turkey coma yesterday, I tried a trial run on removing the housings from the car and got stuck trying to find what I thought was the final 10mm bolt located somewhere behind the side marker lights. Couldn't locate the thing and gave up, but after checking out Swimshark's angel eye conversion thread this morning, it turns out there are actually 2 of them in this area (for a total of 4 10mm bolts which need to be removed, 2 of which are easy to locate) and that the only way to get to the final 2 is to remove a small screw near where the headlight housing connects to the side marker, wiggle out the side marker, bull out the bulb, and then apparently you can access the last 2 bolts.

Seems like a s*** of work just to do what I want to do upon request of my son, which is put a blue coating on the thin (maybe 1/4 wide) ring of chromed metal that immediately surrounds each projector bulb (not the chrome of the actual inner housing where the bulbs sit, just the chrome ring closely encircling each bulb).

I've never simply removed one of the bulbs to see if the metal ring also comes out with it because: 1) I'm an expert on breaking old, brittle electrical connections, and 2) I've thus far assumed the rings are stationary. Can anyone confirm whether I'm right or wrong on this and maybe save me a ton of hassle?

[Talamascan]

Just in case anyone is curious, I fiddled some more and confirmed what I already thought, namely that the circular chrome rings which encircle the projector lenses (previously I called the lenses "bulbs," creating possible confusion between them and the actual lightbulbs themselves which -- obviously-- sit behind them) are indeed stationary and can be accessed only by opening up the headlight assembly.

Bummer, but not surprising.

[jdurrty]

I can't remember when or where, but I think back in 2009 I had done a write up in someones post detailing how to disassemble a J30 headlight. You are correct, all the internal components of the headlight can only be accessed by removing the front glass lens. A heat gun and some patience is all you need to get the headlight apart. And have no fear doing this on your (or your son's) daily driver, its been 3 years since I took mine apart to paint the internals and have not had a single problem with it since, even re-using the factory adhesive. Good luck and don't forget to post pictures when you finish it!

[jdurrty]

Here is an old headlight thread that might help

headlight-modification-idea-t507369.html

[Talamascan]

Just looked the thread over. Lots of useful info and pictures. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.