Headlamp & Fog light Lens Re-furbishment
 

For some time now I have been wanting to restore the passenger Headlamp Lens to match the newer Drivers side one.

As this was a DIY I have made an " Idiots Guide " to how to and decided to include the Fog Lenses as they are really looking shabby....

Besides the usual tools I only had to purchase various grades of water paper (abrasives) and a bottle of Meguairs PlastX.

Started with this ..... after in-situ sanding of the outer face of the lens.
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps83b4255d.jpg

And ended up with this..... Final mechanical polish to follow....
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psccae4cac.jpg

The grades of water paper/abrasive pad used are as follows ....

Pad 280, Paper 400/800/1000/1200/1500
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps89611605.jpg

Step 1 ....... masking around the Headlamp to protect the paint work and open bonnet to save additional masking .... :)

Step 2 ........ Dry sand with the 280 Pad ..... to remove the worst of the stone chips etc ....
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8c90e57d.jpg

Step 3 & 4 ...... Wet Sand with 400 & 800 ....
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7d5ee6e4.jpg

Step 5 & 6 ....... Wet Sand with 1000 & 1200 .....
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb02b4a20.jpg

Final Step before removing Headlamp was Wet Sand with 1500 and polish with Meguiars PlastX ...
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaa485785.jpg

Now for the removal of the Headlamp .....

Step 1 .....
Remove the lower trim below the headlamp by removing the screw as indicated.....
Gently pry/pull the trim out from under the Headlamp ...
Take care with the rubber moulding around the trim.
This moulding has securing points as indicated, located below the lower corner of the indicator lens.
My rubber moulding has perished and needs to be replaced.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps215d99b4.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscd174183.jpg

Step 2 .....
Remove the 4 mounting screws/bolts as indicated.... 2 below the Headlamp/2 on top ....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf48d7d2d.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa99649c2.jpg

Step 3 .....
The entire Headlamp unit can now be removed from it's housing .....
TIP: .... Loosen off the Hex Bolt as indicated (alongside the Hydraulic Fluid reservoir) .....
Once loosened the upper Headlamp mounting bracket can be lifted slightly to make the removal
of the Headlamp unit easier ....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdaff66e8.jpg

Once the Headlamp unit is removed from the body disconnect the main wiring harness and
remove the Indicator bulb socket by turning anti-clockwise.
The entire Headlamp unit can now be removed from the body......

Nice job! +++ Another task now to be added to my 'to do' list! One of my rear lenses is a bit iffy too, so the order for 'PlasticX' is on the way.

Just one point I'm not clear about - was it just the PlasticX polish that was done with the light unit removed from the car? And why did you need to remove it when all the previous work was done in situ?

Thanks for the write up.:)

Yes only the PlastX was done once the unit was removed. Reason for removal
was to enable cleaning of the inner face of the outer lens and the inner lens
was yellowed due to heat (not to clear on the images).

I also found that all the reflectors had a Fog on them which required cleaning.

Will be clarified as I get time to add to the thread.

Thanks for the compliment.

Removal of Outer Lens.....

Step 1 ...... Remove the Rubber Moulding surrounding the lens taking care with the rubber pin that is inserted in the slot at the bottom left corner.
I also need to replace this rubber moulding due to perishing.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc13b99bc.jpg

Step 2 ..... There are 8 clips that need to be removed .... they pry off relatively easily.
None of the guides on the Net nor Elsa mention the clip on the rear.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps11eb60d3.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps898d50ac.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps058c0c0e.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps203767d3.jpg

Step 3 .... Carefully pry the outer lens off the main housing ....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...pse359df1b.jpg

great write up and very helpful. +++ All I need now is a dry day.... :( or a garage.

Did this recently with my mates Saab. I never bought any fancy products but used what I had on the shelf instead. Grade 400, 800, 1200 and 2000 wet & dry, Farecla G3 and G10, then polish that has a slight cut and finish with a coat of wax. It took around 30 minutes per light leaving them in situ and the results were amazing.


Nice write up here for the A8 owners

Ordered the 'PlastX'! I have the rear light unit that I've modified to take the reversing camera in a second 'boot lock' fitting awaiting installation, so I'm going to do that one first as soon as the stuff arrives. Great write up and pics - thanks! :)

Just be careful Jim, aren't the rear lenses plastic versus glass on the front lenses? plastic will need considerably more careful treatment to polish than glass I guess? :tuttut:

Fronts are all Plastic .... Inner and Outer lens including the Fogs... +++

Thats the question I was just going to raise. Both the main light lenses and the fogs look like glass, sound like glass and feel like glass sio i was wondering how the PlastX would work so well :Confused:

I'm pretty sure the PF ones (like wot eye ave) are glass. ;)
(indicators are definitely plastic though)

Having just done a thorough check - scratch check using different grades of stuff - the main lenses are, indeed, plastic. Hard plastic, but plastic all the same.

Can't comment on the PF but the FL is Plastic as stated and the fogs are
a VERY Hard thick plastic. Have tried to sand and polish by hand but not achieving the desired result.....
Even after raiding the SO's Make-up bag (undercover I might add) and findig
a rather coarse emery file ..... still made very little effect to the stone chips ...
So mechanical Sander will be used when I am back home ... +++

I hesitate to think what "undercover" disguise you might have used :p You think she may have let you off if were dressed in her clothes??

OK so plastic front and back but very different types of plastic surely? I just don't want his Lairdship to attack the rear lenses in the same way if they cant take it, just have a feeling its very different plastic thats all

I am sure you are right. The rear lenses are easy to scratch/chip and do seem to be a softer plastic. I seem to remember that 47p2 showed some excellent before/after shots of his Range Rover rear lenses after treatment to remove really bad scratching (cant find the thread though).

Removal of Inner Lens ...

There are four clips that are part of the Lens .... two top and two at the bottom ....
Take care when lifting the clips .... very brittle ....
Take note of the gap between the lens and the housing .... obviously for heat dissapation ....
I was concerned when re-fitting to see the gap only to realize that it is there for a reason....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps50a419e2.jpg

Note the discolouration (brown) of the Inner Lens. A good polish with the PlastX cleaned up about 90% of this.
http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps160f8219.jpg

I read many comments regarding the reflectors and the feeling that these are no go zones.
As can be seen below there is a fog mark on the reflector.
I proceeded to wipe this with a micro-fibre cloth without any dire effects and then proceeded to clean
all the reflectors gently with the micro-fibre cloth.

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9fbbbdff.jpg

I then started cleaning the Inner face of the Outer Lens with the PlastX .... with amazing results ....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps00618063.jpg

The cloths below indicate the extent of dust/soot etc that builds up on the Inner surface of the lenses
and on the reflectors .... blue cloth (lenses) ... orange cloth (reflectors)

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc4210269.jpg

This leads me to the question of wether Xenons emit a Gas etc which creates the almost carbon-like
build up inside the Headlamp .....

What's the rationale for using PlastX and ScratchX in different places? Looks like I may need to order another product!

I have a couple of spare rear lenses that I'll experiment on first.

Apology .... Typo ... only PlastX used .... ScratchX is for paintwork.

With the outer Lens the indicator housing is part of the Lens and getting access
to the inner face of this portion of the Lens posed a challenge.
I was not keen to go the heat- gun route to remove the housing from the lens
due to previous experience with not being able to get a 100% seal on re-fitting
and constant water ingress problems.

So once again I raided the SO's Kitchen and sourced a flexible Spatula .... worked perfectly
with a Micro-fibre cloth wrapped around it and secured with Duct-Tape ...

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps45014e1e.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbcb665ae.jpg

All squeeky clean and ready for assembly...

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps70ed91bf.jpg

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf0a6699e.jpg

Assembled and back in-situ ...... stoked with the result....
Had visions of going for sobriety courses if I was forced to purchase a replacement at R 21 K
as the Frostie Fund would have had to liquidated....

http://i878.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfa66bc00.jpg

+++ PF is glass because they weren't built cheap like the later cars :p Indicator is a separate part and slots onto the main headlight.

Was just thinking has anyone rang Audi or TPS to ask how much a plastic lens is? Only reason i ask is i bought glass lenses for my PF and they were just over £25 each. Just wondering if they'll be cheaper being plastic.

I would hope that the move to Plastic was due to weight saving and not cost saving :)

I doubt that a plastic lens would be available for the PF nor a Glass lens for the
FL ..... Due to the Indicator lens variation ....

:ROFL: You reckon it was weight saving decision? The glass ones are not that heavy, it might have been done for safety over cost as i have been through 2 lenses on the front through smashing so i suppose if i drove into someone with a broken lens i could have cut them.

I wasn't suggesting a glass lens is available for a FL car just that manufacturing a glass lens must be more expensive than a plastic one.

Was just thinking if this manufacturing cost saving was passed onto the customer then it might be worth just buying 2 replacement lenses.

Just thinking 25 for real glass lenses and what 15 for plastic? Yeah right Dez

I think it's probably for ease/cost of manufacturing.
Plastics technology has evolved a lot in recent years with (in my opinion) some quite bizarre and complex lights as a result.
Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.....:tuttut:

A Google search revealed ....

The use of plastic in headlamp applications enables automakers to reduce weight without sacrificing optical performance while increasing resistance to breakage.

Plastic offers the advantage of being an inherently light material that can be easily made in thin sections and stepped shapes, reducing weight and the possibility of breakage “without sacrificing optical performance.

Plastic’s versatility allows auto headlights to incorporate designs that can increase highway safety, such as high-tech focusing designs in the lenses.

Polycarbonate, sometimes used as a bullet-resistant glazing on other applications, has about 200 times the impact strength of glass. This strong, stiff, transparent thermoplastic can maintain rigidity up to 140° C (284° F) and toughness at -20° C (-4° F).

A look at Elsaweb showed that there is a kit for repairing the headlight unit clips if they break during removal to save replacing the whole unit. Obviously a known problem.

See http://elsaweb.spaghetticoder.org/do...-EA/20839180/2

Can we add this thread to the repair sticky? Came across it looking for previous experience of stripping headlights and thought it's really useful :)

Added to a couple of relevant stickies Adrian +++

Cheers Neil - I didn't spot it in the detailing section as was only searching under D2 lighting so useful to have in both for future searchers :)

Just got to persuade myself that attempting to remove the headlights with the car nosed into the garage is worth messing about with a head torch so I can do the necessary!