Down below are pictures of completed trial 3 (driver side) and trial 4 (passenger side) of turning stock corner lights to black housing and clear lens corner lights. I used aftermarket lights from ebay, didn't want to ruin my OEMs.
Why so many trials? Well, the gen4.5 corner lights has this lip that curves up and all the way around the top to the outer side of the lens, so I had to do some trials to take off the lens with that obstacle.
I didn't try "dremeling" because there was too much of a curve and that lip is in the way for most of the lens.
Trial 1 was an oven trial and it FAILED big time, chrome blurred and the housing even warped so much that the bulb holder wouldn't fit.
Trial 2 was an attempt with using a heat gun to heat the seam and cut the seam, this turned out to be a failure since I was using too high of temperature and had the same blurred chrome as the oven. I folded the lip down so I could cut the seam but it was still hard and I even tried heating it really good to try and pop the lens off but it just stretched and when it got too cool, it cracked.
Trial 3 (driver side) was good but the housing warped from too much heat so it doesn't fit right into the car, it pushes up against the headlight and sits higher. I didn't do as good of a job folding the lip back up either so there's ripples and uneven.
Trial 4 (passenger side) was the best, every mistakes I made before I didn't make this time, but it's still not to the point that I'm satisfied, the seam where I cut isn't as clean looking as I want it.
Now that I've completely gone through everything, I plan on trying this again, maybe this winter or next summer, and really take more time and try to get this near perfect. Cleaner smoother cuts and better handling of the lens and housing so it looks really clean is my goal.
Pictures are taken in the garage and there's 3 cars in the driveway and it's too much of a hassle to move them all so I can get out. So no full front pics, just side pics. Eventually, I can get the car out for full frontal pics.
I took quite a few pics of about every step I did, here's the Photobucket Album with all the pics.
You'll also notice some editing on the photos, I originally planned on doing a DIY write up, but since I'm not satisfied with how it turned out and the high level of difficulty of the project, I thought a DIY wouldn't be such a good idea. There'd be so few people capable of doing this and ending up with good results. But if you all want one anyways, I can write one up.
Comments? Suggestions? Tips?
Why so many trials? Well, the gen4.5 corner lights has this lip that curves up and all the way around the top to the outer side of the lens, so I had to do some trials to take off the lens with that obstacle.
I didn't try "dremeling" because there was too much of a curve and that lip is in the way for most of the lens.
Trial 1 was an oven trial and it FAILED big time, chrome blurred and the housing even warped so much that the bulb holder wouldn't fit.
Trial 2 was an attempt with using a heat gun to heat the seam and cut the seam, this turned out to be a failure since I was using too high of temperature and had the same blurred chrome as the oven. I folded the lip down so I could cut the seam but it was still hard and I even tried heating it really good to try and pop the lens off but it just stretched and when it got too cool, it cracked.
Trial 3 (driver side) was good but the housing warped from too much heat so it doesn't fit right into the car, it pushes up against the headlight and sits higher. I didn't do as good of a job folding the lip back up either so there's ripples and uneven.
Trial 4 (passenger side) was the best, every mistakes I made before I didn't make this time, but it's still not to the point that I'm satisfied, the seam where I cut isn't as clean looking as I want it.
Now that I've completely gone through everything, I plan on trying this again, maybe this winter or next summer, and really take more time and try to get this near perfect. Cleaner smoother cuts and better handling of the lens and housing so it looks really clean is my goal.
Pictures are taken in the garage and there's 3 cars in the driveway and it's too much of a hassle to move them all so I can get out. So no full front pics, just side pics. Eventually, I can get the car out for full frontal pics.
I took quite a few pics of about every step I did, here's the Photobucket Album with all the pics.
You'll also notice some editing on the photos, I originally planned on doing a DIY write up, but since I'm not satisfied with how it turned out and the high level of difficulty of the project, I thought a DIY wouldn't be such a good idea. There'd be so few people capable of doing this and ending up with good results. But if you all want one anyways, I can write one up.
Comments? Suggestions? Tips?