Posted by: jrs02caddyext

03/22/2006 12:35PM

Remove the housing from the nose as normal, pull the wiring harness off. Just behind the grill you'll see the galvanized booster for the HID lights sitting in the plastic core support vertical, held in by two large clips. Push both at the same time and slide the booster out towards the front of the vehicle. You'll be pulling on the grill pretty well, you may opt to remove the grill if you fear snapping it.

The wiring harness connected to the booster has a red safety clip holding it in - use the small flathead to unclip it - slide it sideways and then you'll be able to unplug the harness from the booster. It will be tagging along for the ride during this project - try not to smash it when you're flipping the housing around prying it apart!

Since there's no putting these in the oven, I used a utility knife and a pair of pliers to pop out a 3/8" section of the black channeling on the inside (towards the grill) side of the enclosure, then forced a thin flathead between the now-exposed bottom of the black channel and the rim of the clear lense, then turned it to pry the pieces apart. Do this in the sunlight to help soften the silicone a bit.

Then just work your way around the casing, saving the fender side for last, as it is in the channel at an awkward angle.

Once you have the clear casing off, you'll need a 5.5mm socket or driver and a small torx driver to remove the outer mirrored frame, as it's actually screwed to the clear lense. It's a little tough to pull out, because it's wedged in there.

Use the small flathead to finegle the clips - nice ingenious clip design - that hold the amber lense to said outer mirrored frame.

Reverse the process to put it all back together. Clean out as much silicone in the black back housing as you can, then line a 1/8" bead in the channel (I went right on top of the leftover that's already in there - you'll never get it all out) and press them suckers back together. Let it sit for at least an hour, or you'll have silicone all over when you try to put them back in, not to mention your clear lenses falling out all over the highway!

I used Permatex's grey 650-degree silicone, as that's apparently what's used by the factory on these lights.

The toughest part is wrestling the clear lense out of the silicone in the channel. My driver's side was easier as there was far more silicone holding my passenger's side together. Opt for a pair of safety glasses or at least sunglasses, because you're bound to pop at least a tiny chunk of clear plastic towards your face when your screwdriver slips out.

Use both screwdrivers at the same time, with the housing in your lap. Turn one sideways to make room for the other an inch further up, and continue hand-over-hand. Don't go too fast, though, or you'll risk snapping the clear lense if it's not 80 degrees out - just twist the driver and hold it, the silicone will eventually pop loose from the tension.

Posted by: GoGoZcarGo

01/21/2006 10:09PM

all you need is some of this yo!

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Like-New-Savv-7-inch-Headrest-2-VAC-IR11-Receivers_W0QQitemZ5856493963QQcategoryZ94848QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Posted by: chicity

05/29/2005 09:22PM

clean whip check out my 66 riviera on 22's

Posted by: herbikeandcars

04/18/2005 03:06PM

Reply: The A8 is very plain, no excitement. The 740s color is what I like. To me its way better than the current? body style A8. The A8 just doesn't look big & hot, like a BMW 7 or the Escalade. It doesn't say flagship model like an S Class for example. It needs some really nice/big alloy wheels. I think the Phaeton gives off a much more luxrious, big top of the line look, but unfortunately it says VW, it should have been the Audi A8. I won a contest from autosense.com and the guy dropped off my prize at my house, he had this new luxo VW, it was amazing. My 1st car was an AUDI 80 in the UK. A factory Audi, while nice and classy needs really nice rims to go to the next level. Yours is a lease so... Thanks for writing.

Posted by: herbikeandcars

04/17/2005 10:48PM

Girl 6 checked out your Audi.