is it possible to pop out the ugly orange reflectors in the headlights?

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:17 pm

has anyone done this? Hypothetically, I'd like to open them up and take out that orange panel and replace the orange bulb with a clear one. Does anybody have any advice to offer with this?

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:19 pm

the lens is not orange. change the bulb and the orange goes away.

tcam · Post by **tcam** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:37 pm

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»the lens is not orange. change the bulb and the orange goes away.hmmm? I always thought that was just a reflector.Sagekai, u could always just buy an overlay from http://grafxwerks.com

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:51 pm

raging-yeah i know about that part, but I'm talking about removing the orange triangle on the side in addition to the lens changetcam- i really like the look of those overlays, but the blaring 5 out of 5 difficulty is kinda scaring me away- is it really that hard?

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:53 pm

Quote, originally posted by sagekai Â»yeah i know about that part, but I'm talking about removing the orange triangle on the side in addition to the lens changeYou are aware removing or obstructing that reflector technically makes your car illegal to operate on-road?

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:57 pm

come on am I really going to get pulled over for that?

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:01 pm

Quote, originally posted by sagekai Â»come on am I really going to get pulled over for that?Did I ever say anything like that?I said you're making you car illegal to operate on the road. That's all. I didn't say a thing about getting pulled over.And try searching. All of this stuff has been covered in great detail before.

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:22 pm

go to grafxwerks.com and get covers like my sig

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:52 pm

what is involved in the application of the covers?

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:57 pm

they're vinyl overlays. not bad to install just take your time.http://www.grafxwerks.com/prod...-1199 here's a link

ArcsVibe · Post by **ArcsVibe** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 10:14 pm

How do they stand up in wintertime? They look really nice but was always afraid of wintertime here!

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:22 am

I've had mine on for 2+ years now and they are doing great!

PHXLavaVibe · Post by **PHXLavaVibe** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:26 am

I too would sugest you get the overlays. It would be much easier to cover them up than taking out the orange thingys. You could spend a long time trying to seperate the headlights and risk breaking/melting them and having to come up with a whole lot of money to replace them. I have taken mine apart at least twice and I wouldn't recommend it. On top of that the lights are FUGLY without the reflectors. One of the clips on one of mine broke while I was working on the inner housings and I thought I would just take them off completely but it just looked wrong.So uhh yeah...go with the overlay and save yourself a lot of trouble!

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:29 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»the lens is not orange. change the bulb and the orange goes away. The reflector is orange. I have thought about it in the past as well but decided against it since you would need to bake your lights to open them up and take it out. Not worth it for me. Are your side marker overlays reflective, Sheldon?EDIT: Nevermind, I see they con't come in reflective. Strange.They have an installation difficulty rating of 5 out of 5. Oooooooooh!I don't think they could be that hard?

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:07 am

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush Â» Are your side marker overlays reflective, Sheldon?EDIT: Nevermind, I see they don't come in reflective. Strange.?I would have if they had them back then. I'm surprised they don't offer refective now. bet if you emailed Ryan you could get them.Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush Â» They have an installation difficulty rating of 5 out of 5. Oooooooooh!I don't think they could be that hard?compound curves is most of it. I did my first set on a windy day. didn't even make it on the lens. soapy water in a spray bottle, a hair dryer by your side and lots of patients. start at the rear and work forward.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:30 am

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush Â» The reflector is orange. I have thought about it in the past as well but decided against it since you would need to bake your lights to open them up and take it out. Not worth it for me. First off, are we all on the same page? I'm not talking about the side reflector. I'm talking about the lens in front of the turn signal bulb. THAT is clear. Unless they redesigned it at some point to make the forward lens orange, the lens only shows the color of the bulb installed behind it, as seen here on my 03 when i had silverstar turn signals installed:

Attached files

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:11 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»First off, are we all on the same page? I'm not talking about the side reflector. I'm talking about the lens in front of the turn signal bulb. THAT is clear. Unless they redesigned it at some point to make the forward lens orange, the lens only shows the color of the bulb installed behind it, as seen here on my 03 when i had silverstar turn signals installed:Everyone here is talking about the orange side reflector except you and there was no mention of any lens. lol.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:56 am

Quote, originally posted by sagekai Â»has anyone done this? Hypothetically, I'd like to open them up and take out that orange panel and replace the orange bulb with a clear one. Does anybody have any advice to offer with this?He said he wants to replace an orange bulb with a clear one. To me that indicates he was questioning the color of the lens in front of the bulb.

GrayFox · Post by **GrayFox** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:00 am

I think he was refering to both the bulb and the reflector.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:02 am

Quote, originally posted by ANO_Vibe Â»I think he was refering to both the bulb and the reflector. I'll accept being partially right.

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:09 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»I'll accept being partially right. LOL. mike you kill me. He started out thinking the bulb made the lens orange. when its only a reflector. but maybe he wants to also change the color of the blinker. maybe he can elaborate.....

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:56 am

ok i just got home from school... sorry i wasn't back earlier-I'm driving an '03 vibe and I'm pretty sure that the lens is clear and the bulb is orange. I'd like to change the orange bulb to a clear one. Then I'd like to either pop out or cover up the orange reflector on the side of the light. Sorry for the misunderstanding

Psychobroker · Post by **Psychobroker** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:01 am

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish Â»Did I ever say anything like that?I said you're making you car illegal to operate on the road. That's all. I didn't say a thing about getting pulled over.And try searching. All of this stuff has been covered in great detail before.Why don't you just answer his question? I'm sure he's old enough to make his own decisions.Answer: Yes, you can pop out the orange reflector. No, it's not an orange bulb. You'd need to crack open the headlight casing.I heated the housing in the owen at about 250-300 degrees F for a few minutes, just enough to soften up the epoxy seals. After I was done, I put the halves back together and reheated in the oven since the expoy hardened a bit. Alternatively, I could have used a heat gun.DISCLAIMER: I am not making any recommendations, nor will I be held responsible for and property damage and/or bodiliy injury caused by anyone making any such modification. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.Overlays are MUCH easier!

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:36 pm

Thanks for helping me get a straight answer there Psychobroker lol. I'm starting to lean more towards going with the overlays, but the orange bulb part i was referring to was inside the circular turn signal. I just checked it out and I'm 99% sure that its a clear lens with an orange bulb... but I could always be wrong. I'd be stoked if I could get around the opening of the light by just changing the bulb and going with the overlays

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:37 pm

Must be talking to myself...

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:21 pm

ok, i just cleared out my headlights on my LGT. it's pretty simple. there is the orange reflector/lens whatever you want to call it that's inside your headlight. you have to break the seal to the headlights in order to get to that lens piece to remove it. i recommend using a heat gun for this... getting extra silcone goop to reseal and do it in reverse. these are my third set of headlights now. as for turn signal, silverstar makes an irridescent turn bulb that kinda has a wierd blueish tint to it, but when they turn on they are orange, therefore LEGAL. this is what i have on my car now.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:52 pm

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT Â»therefore LEGAL. No, not LEGAL. While kudos to you for using a bulb with amber output instead of using a white one which should never be used for a turn signal, you're still not legal 'cause you ain't got no reflector! If there is no longer an orange reflector on the front side of your vehicle, your vehicle is not in compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards. If the reflectors weren't required here, the car wouldn't have them as you see in other countries or even as they were here back in the day, 40+ years ago or so you didn't see reflectors up front, but that changed eventually.Don't come complaining to us when you have the car parked somewhere and somebody slams into the front fender because they couldn't see your car sitting there. I guess safety just isn't cool or attractive. This public service announcement brought to you by squares r us, where our lame a**** never want to do anything that looks "cool" while defeating safety features in the process!

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:13 pm

actually it is not required here to have the orange reflector as long as the blinking bulb is orange and can be seen from the side of the vehicle. I checked and verified with the local law enforcement here.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:17 pm

I didn't think state law could override the feds for this stuff... Learn somethin' new every day.I'd say you probably couldn't get away with that down in the lower 48 in a place like Jersey where they have those hardcore inspections though.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:30 pm

i wouldn't live there, so therefore it wouldn't matter. and yes, i check w/ my local law enforcement on most things so that i won't get harassed later down the road:tint: legal for me because i have an eye condition as well as the document from the doctorexhaust: legal due to documentation stating it fits all state and federal noise requirementsmy lenses, etc: i checked to verify that they would be within legal specifications. as I said, the orange lens is just a lens, it is NOT the reflector itself. that is still in the headlight. the bulb blinks and lights up orange, can be visible from all sides, etc so therefore fits under the legal stipulations. now, if they change that, then oh well, guess i will deal with that when it comes. otherwise, from checking with my friendly police officer friend a few months ago, i am legal.

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:13 pm

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT Â»actually it is not required here to have the orange reflector as long as the blinking bulb is orange and can be seen from the side of the vehicle. I checked and verified with the local law enforcement here. I checked with local enforcment here when I put my overlays on and got the same response.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:14 pm

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT Â»i wouldn't live there, so therefore it wouldn't matter. i wouldn't live in that crazy state either!

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:11 am

Ok, I did a bit of research on the laws and taking out or covering the reflectors is illegal, so lets PRETEND I'm just hypothetically talking about doing that. But it seems like its perfectly fine to replace the orange turn signal bulb with a white one... heres what the Cali DMV says24953. (a) Any turn signal system used to give a signal of intention to turn right or left shall project a flashing white or amber light visible to the front and a flashing red or amber light visible to the rear.

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:42 am

Quote, originally posted by sagekai Â»24953. (a) Any turn signal system used to give a signal of intention to turn right or left shall project a flashing white or amber light visible to the front and a flashing red or amber light visible to the rear.Interesting. I thought orange was a federal DOT standard. Might just be a state-by-state thing...in any case, the silverstar signals look dichromatic when unlit, but are very much orange when lit.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:15 am

That's effed up, I figured the white ones would be illegal. They make it hard as hell to see what the intentions are of the other vehicle. Anyway, Philips does have some bulbs that have a silver coating on them that shine amber. When I bought the new car, I didn't care for the shade of yeller the turn signal bulbs were when they were lit, so I was looking for something of a darker amber color. I found those bulbs and thought I'd see what they looked like. Being sliver the blended in perfectly with the rest of the shiny silver reflective stuff to the point where you couldn't really tell there was a bulb in there. But when they were turned on, they were about 50% dimmer than the stock bulb. So, not one to choose to do something for looks that puts myself at not a safe position, I bought a standard pair of amber bulbs that looked better.

mcgusto82 · Post by **mcgusto82** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:43 am

I don't like the overlays. My suggestion is opening up the light housing, remove the ORANGE reflector, then painting it chrome to mach the rest of the light. You don't HAVE to bake the lights either. You can always use a dremel tool with the rotary disc and saw it off. it's quite easy. Edit: You cut along the seal. In case anyone missed that. Then seal it back together with RTV.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:10 am

why would you cut the light?? just use a heat gun! it's safer and easy to do. but here, we can use either blinking amber or red for the turn signals. a white light is illegal. i'm very surprised they allow it there, usually white/strobe is left for emergency vehicles.

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:07 am

O.K. I'm lost here...My overlays have been on too long, but, the reflectors are not lit up with the orange bulb, are they ? (someone run out to their car and turn the lights on and try the blinker.) so changing the blinker (orange)bulb wouldn't make the reflector any less orange.

DavidPIL · Post by **DavidPIL** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:27 am

Hey,The light for the turn/parking does shine through that reflector. Mine has a noticable rectangular section which is right next to the bulb. Causes the reflector to glow when that bulb is on.Dave

scherry2 · Post by **scherry2** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:01 am

thank you. go overlays, the cops don't see enough vibes to know if there's one there or not.

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:15 am

i just put in the new clear bulbs and it looks great... now time to decide whether to go overlays or open it up... i'm leaning towards overlays, but the site makes it sound pretty sketchy putting them on... any tips or tricks to it?

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:56 am

you can open up your lights in about 45 mins. will take you just as long to get those overlays on the car if you want to do it right. plus, use lots of soapy water, a heat gun and either a squeegee or something similar to install them. otherwise, get a heat gun and open it up.

sagekai · Post by **sagekai** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:32 am

hmmm im on the fence betwee the two options now... does anyone have a pic of what it looks like when you remove the orange w/o a layover? I'm just curious to see what it looks like under the orange

is it possible to pop out the ugly orange reflectors in the headlights?

is it possible to pop out the ugly orange reflectors in the headlights?

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