">Im ready to throw this in the oven, i took out all screws n bulbs but it looks like more should come out. theres a wire that goes in the housing and the part that hold the hid bulb. am i safe to throw this thing in

 

Should be safe to go in.

 

Its all safe to go in, just make sure it either gets tucked away into the housing, or zip tie it to something. There is no way to take out the Ignitor and corresponding wires stuck to it until you bake it open. Like I said though make sure none of the wires are able to fall out and touch the wire racks in the oven.

 

Take that high beam rubber cap too along with little U shape rubber hose air circulation.

 

At 200degrees F nothing would melt. You could spread foil paper on the shelf to prevent the wires from coming in contact with the heat rods, other than that you should be good.

 

I was gonna attempt this at one point, I'm thinking about trying this sometime soon so I can make them all clear.

Just curious about how long this process takes?

 

you could put a damp rag down on top of the tray that you put in the oven to assure nothing gets burnt......

 

ive always put a wet towel inside the oven and then put the headlight on top of the towel so the headlight doesnt touch anything. this was on previous cars

 

Ya'll panicing too much. 200 degrees F won't melt anything. It's just enough to melt the selicone to open it. The only how things will melt is if loose connections touch the actual heat coil or the walls of the oven. Resting it on the tray is fine, just tuck away any loose wires and connector

 

x2 for wet towel on the base.

I'll never put a headlight in the oven again though. Heat gun FTW.

 

People told me heat gun was more PITA because you dont get even heat all around the headlight like the oven does.

 

i was scared too at first, but decided to smoke some weed. nothing will happen if you pay attention to what people are saying on this forum. everyone was in your shoes before.

 

Yess! ^

 

Does anyone know the Exact lights to get from Home Depot to clear the headlight. I know its the Malibu lens but does it matter what kind?

Also if I were to just call Tap Plastics to get the frosted lens, how do I get the lens that fits almost perfect with the orange lens? What do I ask them for?

 

as far as home depot . landscape 17 watt bulbs. i used a dremel with a tile cutting grinder wheel to cut it

 

Everyone has their preferance. The 5.5 lights seem prone to burning one edge in the oven for whatever reason, it's happened to a bunch of people, myself included. There's been MORE guys that have had no issue whatsoever though.... dunno.
My thing is, You have no idea how warm it is, etc, and baking times/temps are super guesses, especially with almost all ovens temps being way off the mark.

Even heat doesn't matter, all you're doing is getting the glue (only the glue, nothing else) to a temp where it will flow enough to come apart. It does take longer with a heatgun, but it's safer, you're only heating up the backside of the housing and the glue inside, not the entire housing, lens, etc.

All just personal preferance of course, I just don't feel safe with ovens anymore, and a heatgun works great.

 

I use a heat gun too. $22 at Home Depot. I got tired of my oven deciding when it wants to work a long time ago

 

I think I will probably call Tap Plastics instead of going thru the haste of borrowing a Dremel and searching for the right lens. Hopfully their not too pricey.

 

Luvlexus101 (greg) has cut a few of these for members that aren't comfortable doing it themselves. He basically charges little to nothing to do it. PM him.

http://forums.maxima.org/member.php?u=115394

 

Interesting to see some of the avid headlight bakers doing the heat gun thing.

I never had problems though with any burning, just warm up oven 200 F and stand by for 15-18 mins. I like the shorter time just to be safe of burning etc.

I have done it 3 times now.

Also to people who haven't done this. IMO Its a nice precaution once you clamp it all back together to add additional rtv sealant around the original "resealed" sealant edges. just to be safe for fog and moisture that might happen if a %100 seal isn't completed.

 

ok thanks for the info.

 

I personally prefer the oven method but the oven in my house is old and sometimes doesn't work so I said fugg it and bought the heat gun.

 

Oven only go so far. Almost all new cars now have huge headlights that don't fit my oven anymore. I have CRV headligth that is sticking out half the length when I try to put them in the oven. I used combination of Heat Gun and tiny hot knife, get heat gun with at least 2 variables setting with bigger nozzle to distribute the heat better. Invest in alot of clamps. Once you clamp it, give another zap with the high setting follow with low setting and let it sit for at least 4 hours.

That's just my method, everyone is different.

 

^That I think is why the 5.5 lens melted just a bit in the corner (more of a discolour than anything).

The thing was too close to the walls/door of the oven maybe. Dunno, but I was staring right at it the whole time and it wasn't stoppable, happens waaaaaay to fast to stop it.

If I had a big enough oven with a secondary temp gauge in there I'd be more comfy.

 

I just ordered some lens today from Tap Plastics and they were shipped same day.. not bad.. Payed $20 w/ shipping

 

Link?

 

ditto^^ any links in old threads are probably really dated

and is it frosted ?, IIRC the ones ordered online were frosted.

I got mine at Home Depot, Non Frosted (way more oem looking)

 

+1 for link

 

here a link, just tell them you have an 02-03 nissan maxima and you want to replace the lens. I spoke with owner, his name is Russ and he'll know exactly what your talking about.

http://www.tapplastics.com/

 

You bought headlight lenses or clear lenses to replace the amber?

 

i just called and talked to one of the sales associate and the dude was completely clueless on what i was talking about, are you sure that they do automotive lenses?

 

These are the lens to replace to amber lens.

Call back Tap Plastics and ask to speak with Russ, he took care of me and knew exactly what I was talking about. He already knew the exact measurements of the lens to replace the existing one. He said a Maxima owner came in Tap Plastics years back to see about getting a custom lens made, the company began to replicate these for people who wanted the same headlight mod. That was the story.

 

Ok I will give them a call when they are open again and ask for Russ. Thanks man!
In the mean time I found the Malibu lenses that everyone was talking about on ebay, here's the link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intermatic-M...06%26rk%3D1%26

here it is on amazon

Oh and another quick question, does ANYONE know where to get a replacement parking light lense?

 

The side corner lens?

 

yea the one right above the turn signal, it's the not so full circle small one

nvm, i think i know the answer now.. and it involves a dremel tool and some patience, in other words DYI! hehe

 

I just got my Lens delivered from Tap Plastics, they look nice and smooth.. Can't wait to install these over the weekend.

 

ive baked over 10 sets of headlights for various modifications over the years. at 200 degrees nothing melts...your car holds that temperature under the hood easily while idling in hot weather.

I do recommend using a baking pan to place the light on for ease of placement in/out of the oven. Also I recommend keeping the hid back cover in place to hold the HID connection/wires in the headlamp assembly. 10-12min is about what you need to get the sealant gooey. i set my lights on their backsides while in the oven.

 

ok I see

 

you think your car runs 200*F under the hood? No bromine, it doesn't.

The coolant in the engine might run at 200*F. The oil will get there too, but the overall underhood temps will never be that hot, let alone anywhere near the lens on your headlight.