Diy Foglight Modding

chokit · July 20, 2009

On Friday morning I successfully managed to mod my fog lights, this is a write up on how to do it your self.

First off the disclaimer:

If you do decide to undertake this modification your self then you do so at your own risk, there is a risk of permanently damaging your lights.

Stage 1: Remove the lights.

This is simple, there are 2 10mm bolts holding it in inside the hole directly next to it, undo them and pop the light out then remove the plug on the back of the bulb. Then remove the bulb, I had to use a hammer (gently) to get the bulb out.

Stage 2: Cooking it.

This is the risky part of the modding, you need to preheat your oven to 95c or 200f. At this temperature the sealant starts to melt. ABS, which makes up the main body of the light unit, starts to melt around 240f – 260f (I believe) depending on the quality. The butyl has the lowest melting point of all the materials in the unit. You need to leave it in for 10mins, when you take it out (careful it will be hot) use a flat screw driver to prise the lens off the front of the unit. You can also now remove the chrome surround from inside the light, be careful not to get any of the butyl on the surround or the lens as it is a SOB to get off again. Now wait for all parts to cool down.

Stage 3: Yellow to clear conversion.

When I took the unit apart I did not expect this part to work, but it did. The yellow colouring on the projector glass is a thin layer of dye on the flat side of it, to remove the glass all you have to do is undo 2 philips screws, one on either side of the glass, these hold down a metal ring which holds the glass in place. When you have the glass out place a piece of wet dry paper on a hard surface. I originally used 600p for the first lens, took over an hour to do, the second I found some 320p and it took 5mins.

After you have the dye removed you will need to polish the glass, to do this I had a mop attachment in my drill that I had clamped to my work bench, put some polishing compound on the glass and remember to use plenty of water to lubricate it.

Stage 4: Spraying.

My main intention was to change the colour of the surround with this mod, I decided to go for black ‘cos cars always look better with black lights up front in my opinion. I also decided to go for a matt finish. This was easy, I first roughed the surface with the 320p paper, gave it a coat of primer and then sprayed the black over the top. I used light coats as the tolerances in the light my be a bit tight and I didn’t want to stop the unit being put back together because of paint build up.

Stage 5: Reassembly

When your paint has dried you can now put the unit back together, screw the glass back into the projector unit, place the surround back into the lens and loosely put the lens back on to the unit. Place the light back into the oven, same temp and time as before. When you take the light out push the lens into the unit until it is together as tight as before. The unit should be sealed again, if your unsure then use some silicon sealant around the join, you can never really have too much, as long as its out of sight. All what is left is putting the bulb back in and putting it on the car. Stand back and admire your work.

I hope that this has been and will be help to many. Your headlights come apart in the same way so you can make them match. Your rear light are not however. Trying to work that one out still.

TommyH · July 20, 2009

Great write-up mate, well done.

chokit · July 20, 2009

always seeing people asking about foglights, always see the same answer of just swapping the unit. seems as i was cracking the lights anyway i thought that i would have a look at the projector glass to see if i could get the dye off.

sparkystav · July 20, 2009

Looks a good do mate, well done

hawk77 · July 20, 2009

I hope that this has been and will be help to many. Your headlights come apart in the same way so you can make them match. Your rear light are not however. Trying to work that one out still.

With those ones mate, you will need to cut them using a dremmel or something. Easy to do but you need to be careful. You can glue it back together with some silicone, no probs. Looks like you're handy so I am sure you will do a good job as you did with your fogs.

chokit · July 21, 2009

With those ones mate, you will need to cut them using a dremmel or something. Easy to do but you need to be careful. You can glue it back together with some silicone, no probs. Looks like you're handy so I am sure you will do a good job as you did with your fogs.

yeah thats what i was thinking, bit of a pain in the arse but will be worth it. going to have a go at my headlights in the next couple of days, if they fit in my oven.

chokit · July 23, 2009

done my head lights thins morning

used some tinted laquor on the indicator lenses. a couple of light coats did the job, and the indicators are still visible. removed the reflector behind the bulb and sprayed it black too.