I "bake" the headlight at 250 degrees for 13 minutes and it's still not coming off. I don't know what to do...

you can try turning up the heat a bit, just be careful.

If you are uncomfortable with that, I believe Simota1 has a DIY on how to get the lenses off with a heat gun, so you may want to try that.

Ok, I ****** up, my lens has some burn marks due to the cardboard not being wet enough in the oven. I am so mad right now. It's not truly visible from a few feet away but it is once you are looking at the headlight. What can I do besides buy the whole new thing? Do I have a chance of finding someone that will sell me just the plastic lens or maybe find a totaled Z that has the driver side headlight intact?

This is why you lay the housing upright with the lens not touching anything. Purchasing only the lens will probably not be possible. I remember with my 97 240sx I attempted to purchase just the lens for a fog light and it was actually more expensive than the housing, brackets, lens, and bulb bought as an assembly.

I know but my oven is not of normal size or shape should I say and it did not fit the other way. Well actually it did but the attach towards the top of the light was touching the oven metal. I had no other choice...

I would look for a headlight on a wrecked Z, or eBay or something. They are going to be a lot cheaper than factory new. But as Vipor said, you can't really buy just the lens, they come as assemblies.

Here is a pic of my stupid mistake:

http://www.the370z.com/members/joeba...light-burn.jpg

that doesn't look too bad...you might try and polish it out.

It's really not too bad, you cannot see it if you are 4 or 5 feet away. Polish with what?

try a headlight polishing compound, or even a light glass polishing compound. If you use an orbital with it, just be very careful you don't get it too hot.

Ok, thanks, I will try that.

Yea I'm betting someone w/ orbital experience could buff it out. GL man

Had it buffed, it's better but not gone. I will see if someone else can do a better job.

Awesome writeup, I am a newb to this forum but not to Nissan, sold my G35 desert platinum sand coupe 04 brembo edition with 107k miles and no mods not even tint!!!for a 2010 370z baseline with 27 miles, and besides putting in the pioneer z120bt, this will be my second mod next weekend maybe, still looking for courage juice and not sure if my oven is big enough..... have yet to measure, thanks for the right up I can not stand the dimples

(side note...staying stock made it seem as if I was the only one modded as to everyone elses G35 was souped up modded out big time....I felt like an outcast!! And damn it felt good!) Once again thanks for the awesome write and to all that post their experiences as well:)

Caravanshaka, thanks for the detailed post. I have a 40th anniversary. I am in the process of buying things for my headlight led and blackout.
I see that you did not strip out and add new headlight sealer. How is the seal on your headlight holding? I am wondering if I should buy Nissan OEM sealer from MyNismo.com - NISSAN OEM Sealer ? Just in case.

I'm curious to see how the blackout lights look on a 40th. Wonder if it's too dark. Please post pics when you're done.

I am planning on painting them body color not black. I don't know if that will be light enough. hope it looks good... I shall post pics once i am done. I am planning on working on it during first week of December.

Here are the pics of my 40th after headlight mod...
Headlights painted with color matched paint.
1.
http://www.the370z.com/members/cperu...ched-paint.jpg
2.
http://www.the370z.com/members/cperu...ched-paint.jpg

The LEDs
3.
http://www.the370z.com/members/cperu...-just-leds.jpg

evil look
4.
http://www.the370z.com/members/cperu...-evil-look.jpg

Take some pics during the day too when you get the chance...I'm curious to see what that looks like in the sunlight.

Those look great!! :tup:

Did you wind up using this sealer? Seems like good insurance for only $20.
I am going to be doing mine over the winter.

No, I did not. There is plenty of sealant inplace. Your headlights will seal very well.

Before I opened my headlights, I wrote to Caravanshaka and he told me that there is no need for extra sealant. Its been a year since he did his mod and has not had any issues.

looks great man! I haven't heard of anyone having issues with the seals that I have done. If you are paranoid just re-seal it with the sealant already on there, then add a bead of silicone around the joint for added security, but I don't find it necessary.

Thanks guys.

nice

As the OP stated in his disclaimer, it doesn't hurt to use more resistors. I believe the rule of thumb is one resistor per LED. He's got 3 LEDs to one resistor in this setup and over time I believe that can cause issues. I only mention this because I own his car and I have these exact lights in them and currently I have 3 of the LEDs flickering. I'm fairly sure its the resistor, but can't be 100% yet.

I have been planning to trade these lights out for a stock set since day one, but I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.

Actually, if you go to any LED resistor calculator site, they all have wiring schematics for multiple LED's per resistor, with 3 LED's per resistor being common. My uncle is an electrical engineer that works with LED's on a daily basis, and he is the one that supplied me with the wiring schematic, which I verified to be correct on a couple different resistor calculator sites.

I think the issue with flickering is due to a loose connection somewhere in that string of 3, probably a post that broke off of an LED or resistor that is still held in place by the heat-shrink tubing allowing it to have a bad connection.

Not a bad idea. Are you planning on keeping the aftermarket ones and going a new route with them, or are you going to sell them? Regardless, picking up stock lights is a good idea, especially if you plan on selling the car at some point down the road. :tup:

I had a potential trade for stock (even swap) fall through with another forum member. I'm still semi-interested in trading for stock....but after seeing a stock pair, the chrome is extremely overwhelming to look at. So I don't know for sure what my plan is.

I think you're 100% right. I now stand corrected. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way these were wired. I think I just hit a few too many bumps in the road...

can someone wiegh in on how the led's look in the daylight and if they are visible similar to the audi's lights?

also, @cperusa how did you get the evil look going? drilled holes and put LED's?

in order to prevent this should i use really wet cardboard

They are visible, but not as bright as Audi's. Audi uses high power LED's that require a lot more modification to get to fit for the landing strip.

Wet Cardboard or a wet towel should work.

yes. I drilled holes. If you look at the projector shroud it actually has dips along the rim. I put one LED on each dip.

Starting my headlight mod. Angel eyes, Landing strip and two color Demon eye.

One is in the oven right now.

http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...mod-begins.jpg

Gonna use these switches to have total control.

http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...5-switches.jpg

I'll have to finish next week though.

I just finished these for my girl's Lexus, the process is the same and we recommend always to use an oven to open the headlights.

There are specific types of LED's that do NOT require resistors too - all depends on what you want the look. My philosophy has always been to use less parts, less chance of issues from vibration later on.

here's the lenses taken apart:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...S/IMG_5948.jpg

Back together ready for install with LED's and bulb replacements:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...S/IMG_5965.jpg

we also took the time to sandblast the chrome off and repaint in gloss black inners:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...S/IMG_2775.jpg

We have a new 370Z here in our garage so plan to do the same LED setup but with high output LED's that are spaced differently than OP. If you are in the norcal bay area, drop by if you want to see them in action :)

Thank you for the awesome DIY. Just got mine done last night and I love it! Couldn't have done without my dad's help. We did run into a snag with a blown fuse - almost gave up on the project but found it eventually.

Got them back together. I still have to hook up the LED's


http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...3-finished.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...ches-great.jpg

LOL you grilled your lens.

So if a LED goes out can it be replaced without taking the clear lens back off?

Nope. I am hoping that I never have to replace an LED. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.