Help Clearing Corners

[violentrapture]

Hi, I started ripping apart my baby today - bone stock '99 sedan - changed the brake pads (y'all are probably going to laugh at me, but I've never done more than put gas in, so I'm proud of myself). I took out the headlights to start the clearing process per the instructions on here. They came out fine, but now I'm at the point of separating the inside chrome from the clear plastic to get to the orange part. There are 5 little "clips" of the chrome plastic part that are siliconed (I guess) to the clear plastic. On both headlights the two at one end came right off. Now there are three left on both. I've had a hair dryer sitting on one of the little clips for almost an hour now, and I still can't wiggle the clippy thing loose from the clear outside. Is there some sort of solvent I can use to get rid of that silicon that's holding it there? I use acetone for getting the price stickers off my DVDs and thought that might work, but am sorta scared to try.

Any ideas or suggestions at all?
Thanks so much,
Collin

[Oldsmopimp]

u need to get it hotter. An actual heat gun would work good. Just get it really hot (basically to hot to touch) and wiggle/push/pull on them. It helps to use a screwdriver or something from underneath the tab and pull up on it. They will give. It's a biatch, but they will go.

[violentrapture]

Got another of the little buggers free - kinda snapped though... nothing a bunch of the silicon i got won't fix i guess though huh? This better be worth it :P Been working on this stuff since 1 this afternoon.
Cheers for the reply!
Collin

[Oldsmopimp]

ya, a lil breakage wont harm anything. They will glue back.

[turtles_ride]

acetone will eat the chrome paint off the inside of the light if it leaks there. I'd just keep heating and wiggling and prying with that screwdriver. when you get the hang of it, it will go faster for you

[violentrapture]

Ok, heat isn't working - I left the hair dryer on one of them for over 2 hours - I could barely walk in my bathrooom it heated it so much - and I couldn't hold the headlight, even with a cloth. Still didn't work. I called my brother, he said he'd bring his dremel over and we could just cut off the little clippy things and silicon it back up. Any problems y'all can think of with doing that? I was just going to stick the headlights back up in there, but dangit - I want them cleared now. Nearing frustration.
Thanks

[alero_ecotec]

you just really have to pry with a screwdriver between the clear plastic and the clips, it'll make a nice snapping sound and it will come off

[violentrapture]

SUCCESS!
8 hours with a hair dryer vs. 5 minutes with a dremel... wish I would've done this sooner. Picture below - it's 10:30 here, so the picture is just on my desk, but I'll put up some more tomorrow with them on the car. As an aside... where can I get the turn signal bulbs (all 4 - big and small) that are clear but burn colored... I'm rather illegal right now I think.
Too happy to care all that much though.

[attachmentid=6239]

[violentrapture]

Ok, I've been hunting around about the turn signal bulbs, and found the link on pfyc.com for the Sylvania Silverstar bulbs. I have a question though - the ones listed are the 3357A/3457AST. These replace the larger turn signal bulbs, but what about the small ones in the outermost corners of the assembly? Those are the ones I'm really worried about, because they're the ones exposed after clearing out the orange part of the headlight. Any help with this would be appreciated.
Thanks

[cutelilcntrygrl]

Those are the 194 bulbs. :)

[violentrapture]

So, would these be what I need? I saw a few others around the web for like $20, so I'm wondering about these for $5. Thanks for the help!

http://www.cardomain.com/item/PILXC1156A

[cutelilcntrygrl]

No, those are brake lights, I believe. This is what it looks like, if I'm understanding what you're talking about.

194 Bulb (http://search.cardomain.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=160&EXTRA_ARG=&CFGNAME=MssFind%2Ecfg&host_id=42&page_id=11015680&query=%2A194%2A+bulbs&hiword=%2A194%2A+BULB+bulbs+)

They come in plain chrome looking bulbs too. But when they light up, it's amber.

[violentrapture]

Dangit, I linked to the wrong thing. This is what I meant to link to:

http://www.cardomain.com/item/PILXC194A

Pilot 194 Amber Chrome
Part # PILXC194A

[cutelilcntrygrl]

Yep. Those are exactly the same ones that I have. You'll like em. They are pretty bright.

[Alero04]

good stuff man! glad u finally got it done! :)
i know im gonna have problems like that when i do mine... :wacko:

[violentrapture]

Well, I took a picture as I headed into work. It's rather dreary out, so I'll try to get some better pictures later on and also when I get the new bulbs in. Much thanks to
cutelilcntrygrl for all your help! Now off I go to 9 hours full of figuring out proper semantics and usability for our websites. Yay.

[attachmentid=6243]

[Alero04]

looks good!! :)

[Str8tFKNuUP]

all that work for getting rid of the orange poop in the head light? is it really worth it? and is that legal? or do you need some sort of coloured bulbs? If anyone had a couple pics of night and day I'd like to see them.

[violentrapture]

As someone that just did it, I have to say it's 100% worth it. It cleans up the flow of the car incredibly - I had two people notice when I pulled into work this morning that commented on how different it looked and asked what I'd done. The sites I've read say that having the colored bulbs is legal, but to check your local laws. I went ahead and did it, but I did shoot off an email to the TXDOT, asking about the legality of it - haven't heard back yet from them. I ordered my replacement bulbs today - they were only $5 for a pair, so I got two pairs, in case either goes out. For less than $20, I can't think of a better way to make a dramatic difference to the look of your car than doing this.
Three cheers for cleared corners!
(I'll take some pictures tonight of how it looks, but I haven't gotten my new bulbs in yet.)
Collin

[Str8tFKNuUP]

maybe I'll give it a shot then, I was also wonder if there was anything for aleros that takes the red out of the back light covers, like new ones or something.

[violentrapture]

Got a response from the TXDOT:
Thank you for visiting TxDOT's Web site. Your request involves an
issue outside TxDOT's jurisdiction. In an effort to assist you, we
have forwarded your inquiry to the Texas Department of Public Safety
(DPS) for a response. DPS is responsible for all traffic law
enforcement issues, accident statistics, vehicle inspections, drivers'
records and driver's license matters.

So... I went to the DPS website, and found this for the inspection rules:

20.29 Turn Signal Lamps.
3. Turn signal lamp mounting. The lamps showing to the front shall be mounted on the same level and as widely spaced laterally as practicable and, when signalling, shall emit a white or amber light or any shade of light between white and amber.
5. Inspect for and reject if:
d. Lamp lens is discolored or missing.

So, I guess I'm still left with a dilemma. It seems that the lights can be white, which is great, because at first glance I seem to be perfectly legal even without the replacement bulbs. However, I'm still a bit concerned with item 5, section d there - where it says "missing", I wonder if it means the entire outer clear plastic, or the orange insert. Guess I'll await final word from the DPS if I ever get a response. In the meantime - I'll be blinking the white until the replacements come in.

Cheers,
Collin

[cutelilcntrygrl]

I think you would be ok. Maybe send a pm to Grouch, as he's in law enforcement in Texas so perhaps he could explain that a little more. I'm in Kentucky so the laws are probably different but I haven't had any problems with cops here and I have the same bulbs.

Looks really good btw. :)

[Str8tFKNuUP]

so what colour blinker lights do you plan to get?

[violentrapture]

I ordered 2 sets of these: http://www.cardomain.com/item/PILXC194A
for the outermost replacement bulbs, and 2 sets of these: http://www.cardomain.com/item/PILXC3057A for the middle turn signal replacement bulbs.

[violentrapture]

Well, something went wrong with the shipping on my credit card or something, so cardomain called, and I cancelled the order. Today after work I stopped by O'Reilly's and got a set of the Silverstar bulbs to put in (3157, they didn't have the 194). I'll have pics first thing in the morning. Not too sure if I'm overly fond of the blue-ish tint of them yet.
Collin