GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

D

D Day

Registered
Most of us gen 1 owners have those ugly burnt corners on our head lights. Well today I took off the drivers side unit and I went at it. I tried all kinds of things and then it came to me SIMPLE GREEN (all purpose).
I sprayed it in the housing and it instantly came off, I was SHOCKED with the results

honestly about 95% of the yellow is gone!!!!!!!!!
BUT some chrome can come off as well, so if you are going to try this I would recomend you get ahold of some long cotton swabs, maybe some that can bend for those hard to reach places, and slowly go at it. Don't spray it in dip the swabs and wipe.

Also, I noticed that the the inside of the housing was mostly WHITE not CHROME(abviously due to wear and tear). I feel that this is the reason that our lights work so poorly. Think about it, get a flash light with no chrome housing, if you look at it, it is still bright , but if you point it in a direction it is not as effective as it would be with a chrome housing. If you look at a gen 1 straight on, the lights look fine, but once you get behind the wheel the light is not focused in a direction. Thus, if you simply replace the housing with the original ones we will be able to see again.

Have any of you actually replaced the housing with the factory ones?


1994
Mark VIII
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

The chrome getting burnt out of the inside is the primary source of low output. On my earlier '96, I replaced a burnt one with a new one, and personally, felt the output was fine, though still somewhat marginal.

One thing that really cleaned the inside of the housings well was CLR, available at most hardware stores. I poured a bunch inside, let it soak for about 5 minutes, rinsed it out, let it dry, and it made a HUGE improvment by cleaning film off the inside chrome and lenses. On the outside I use a plastic scratch remover and really polished the lens, and you almost couldn't tell the difference between it and the new one when I was finished.

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

Do you open up the housing to clean, and if so, how do you get into it? If you clean it while it is still mounted and closed, how do you get in it?
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

Do you open up the housing to clean, and if so, how do you get into it? If you clean it while it is still mounted and closed, how do you get in it?
Click to expand...

I wanna know this if anyone has done it before. :)
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

You remove the headlight assemblies from the car, remove the bulbs, then pour the CLR through the openings. Swish it around, let it sit for a while, then swish it around some more, and drain. Rinse well with water, then let them dry out thoroughly.

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

Can somebody talk me through the headlight housing assembly removal process please? I live in Phoenix and don't want to spend any more time outdoors than I need to. Also, where do you get the HIDs and ballpark price? I love the car, but hate the lights.
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

On my earlier Gen 1, I had one new assembly and one that was starting to yellow on the outside and hazing on the inside. Plastic polish, (fine rubbing compound), cleared up the outside, and CLR took the haze out of the inside. The chrome hadn't been burnt yet, and the CLR also made that real shiny. If the chrome has started to burn, I'm sure there's no recourse other then replacement. That picture looks like the inside chrome is pretty burnt.

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: GOOD BYE ,yellow, burnt headlights

Where do you get CLR and how much is it?

I'm going to try this.

I'll even take pics. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top