In the middle of blackhousing, have a couple ?s

Well so far so good, the oven is preheating and I'm ready to pop a light in. Its raining so I won't be able to paint right away, wanted to clear some things up right quick.

Should it be this hard to pull the headlight apart? I realize its never meant to be unglued but I'm already on my second heating and the sealent isn't softening much. Should I go buy more sealent for when I reassemble? What kind?

What exactly do I need to mask off on the housing part? I see in the DIY article it says that if you mask off the turn signal area it will look sharper... what all needs to be masked? I'm sure once the light is apart it might make more sense but I wanna do this right.

Also, should I try and clean / polish the inside of the headlight while its apart?

Lemme know what's the deal

if you're going to mask anything use 3m painter's tape so it comes off easy. masking off the corner reflector is purely a cosmetic choice.

cleaning & polishing the inside of the lense ain't a bad idea. just the lense though obviously. be careful not to touch the lense itself on the inside once you clean it because you'll leave fingerprints from the oil in your skin.

the headlights can be a huge pain in the *** to get apart, but if it feels like you're having to pull to hard then just stop and heat them a little longer. you don't want to risk cracking one of your lenses.

Thanks, Wildman. I've got them both apart and ready to be masked for painting. I already picked up the 3M tape when I bought the paint this morning. I'm going to have to wait until morning to paint because it rained this evening and its still damp outside.

Should I go waste money on the little kit at Autozone or can I just use whatever I have laying around to clean?

Definitely post up some pics when ur done, after looking at pics with them on white accords i really want to do it to mine, also when ur finished can u tell me how long it took from start to finish and exactly what u did, from what u masked, what type of paint u used and how u put the light back together, sorry about asking for so many things but i really want to do mine right as well.

10 minutes at 200 degrees and theyll come apart no problem and honestly i think they look best on white cars, its a no brainer just go for it its an easy and fun mod for dirt cheap.

Well the only thing I masked was the entire turn signal housing... I think it definately will look better being left chrome so that it will match the other reflectors.

All I have left to do is paint it tomorrow morning, let it set all day, then reinstall.

So to reassemble... I need to reheat everything to re-goo the sealant, and then work it all back together? Add more goo in thin spots? I do not trust how well that is going to seal at all... I have a feeling I'll be over-gooing the entire assembly just to feel safer down here in 150% humidity Louisiana.

Also... how hard is it going to be to reattach the bumper cover? Pop it back into the fenders and then bolt it down, huh?

To white beauty:

I'll be able to answer the rest of your questions tomorrow evening, and I dont mind the 1000 questions at all, so long as my bumbling self is able to help you.

thanks man appreciate it

reassembling the headlights is tricky. just make sure u have enough sealant left over all around. heat it up and apply lots of pressure. u do that and it should be sealed enough. also if u got a friend, ask him to hold 1 side while u push the other. that helps alot too.

if u still dont feel comfortable just buy some silicone or that nissan butyl(sp?) rubber sealant.

puttin the bumper back on is as easy as takin it off. start at the ends and work it into the middle. also if u got som1 2 help u out. ask him 2 hold the bumper while u put it back on.

Well I have the oven cooking one light right now.

Oh, and don't use windex on the reflector surface of the turn signal

EDIT:

They are back in the car, I'll put pix in my member's ride page and over in eye candy.