Fog light glass replacement

[bassrocker032]

My bad with the typo in title.....Okay, as most people know, a ground hog decided I don't need my drivers side fog light glass anymore. Well I went out and bought a new set, but I decided to put them beside the stock ones in the rectangle slot so now I'm looking to fix the broken one. I want to have halogen bulbs in my stock normal light, my stock fog lights, and my new ones already have halogen, that way i'll have two sets of halogen fogs, plus halogen lows and highs, but now I have a few questions. First of all, how do you take the stock glass off the stock fog light surrounding? I know how to take the fog light off and when I did, I saw a few screws on the very back of them. I'd guess that'd be my start but I couldn't get them to budge and I wanted to hit it up here first before I did a lot of disassemble. Second, where can I find this replacement glass if possible? I found a few whole for light surroundings that cost around $40-$50 but I don't want the whole thing, just the glass.Third, are they any people or places that makes a clear replacement I can buy? If yes, I'LL TAKE TWO!!!Last, has anyone made their own, have a posted how-to-do-it-yourself, or think I should make my own and make a how-to-do-it-yourself if the others answer no..?

[keithvibe]

Won't be able to remove the glass with out breaking it. It's not replaceable, you need to replace the whole unit. You can try making a new cover out of plexiglass.The other issue that your talking about is having two sets of fogs and your headlights. I'm afraid to inform you that this is illegal. You can not have more than four forward facing lights on at one time. If you have both sets of fogs on and your lowbeams you now have 6 forward facing lights and will attract the attention of the police

[bassrocker032]

I wont use all of them all the time, the second set would be more for offroad use and or just adding an extra cosmetic look, but my only problem is I don't have alot of the extra stuff needed to fab my own out of plexiglass or something other than just plastic. I think i'll fab a nice clear one out of plastic, remove the other fog glass and do the same.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 »I wont use all of them all the time, the second set would be more for offroad use and or just adding an extra cosmetic look, but my only problem is I don't have alot of the extra stuff needed to fab my own out of plexiglass or something other than just plastic. I think i'll fab a nice clear one out of plastic, remove the other fog glass and do the same. Ebay replacement stock fogs.. ~80$You WILL spend FAR more trying to fix/fab them.. When you DO replace them, get the plexi covers (through a member here) so they don't get broken out again, by rocks (ask me how I know about this)

[Old Tele man]

...hm-m-m, "...fig..." lamp....is that what one of those marble Greek statues 'wear' in the dark?

[bassrocker032]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »Ebay replacement stock fogs.. ~80$You WILL spend FAR more trying to fix/fab them.. When you DO replace them, get the plexi covers (through a member here) so they don't get broken out again, by rocks (ask me how I know about this)First of all, I would most def not spend more money trying to fab my own. Ebay may sell stock ones for $80 but there are plenty out there for $50. Plexi glass is super cheap and everywhere. I have all the tools needed to fab it so i don't see where the emasculate cost you speak of is? Also next time you give advice, try to not push it on the person by tell me what i'm GOING to do with MY car. I've removed the glass from both fog lights and will begin fabrication soon. My brother-in-law gave me a big sheet of plexi glass so that part was free. And of course as I said, I have all the tools and everything needed to fab my own and attach them so the entire replacement will not only be free, but I also will have clear fog lights instead of the smoked out stock ones. I would take pics and do a walk through guide but I sold my Nikon d-40 due to car payment.

[epcIII]

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind »You WILL spend FAR more trying to fix/fab them.. When you DO replace them, get the plexi covers (through a member here) so they don't get broken out again, by rocks (ask me how I know about this)Actually it was really cheap for me to make my own covers out of Lexan I bought at Lowes. Total was around $9--about $3 for the Lexan and $5 for the silicon glue, plus taxes. The guy that sold the protective covers hasn't been around for awhile now so that's why I made my own.Here's a link to what I did: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=42431. REALLY easy and have had no problems yet. Good luck!

[bassrocker032]

Well, good news everyone. I found a camera to use for the fab process so pics will be joining the party. I'll take pictures of most steps and tools used. Here's progress so far. Bet you can't tell which one was the one with the broken glass, lol. I'll be cleaning the other one before the final plexi is put on but yeah.So far i used a flat head screw driver to pry the glass from the surrounding. Came out pretty easy. Now i'm waiting on my batteries to charger for my hand helf saw to cut the larger pieces of plexi away so I can start the belt sanding for a perfect fit. I'll take pics of the plexi when I go back outside in a sec.

[epcIII]

It gets really hot in there so make sure you are using the right kind of plexi. Lexan can stand the heat just fine.

[bassrocker032]

These won't be my primary fogs, I have another set mounted right beside the stock fog placement, I may not even have working bulbs in my stock fogs, I'm just doing this to fix something that was wrong with the car. I just don't like that fact that I have one broken glass and one not broken so i'm fixing them. Here's some updated pics of the progress. And so far $0 spent on this project. Here's how I got the correct size and correct side and so on. Here's what they looked like after I cut the circle away from the large piece. More cutting was done to reduce larger chunks before it hit the belt sander. Here's it without all the excess And finally a nearly perfect fit. Fab'd by yours truly. Gimme some feedback on what everyone thinks so far.

[bassrocker032]

well I've decided a different direction. One of those change as you mod things. Well my car came without the little plastic part beside the stock fog light surrounding. So what did was put a set of fogs in that spot. Well now I'm going to paint the plexi black since I won't be able to legally use them and the plexi glass wouldn't with stand the heat so this will be more of a stock fog light delete. I will not have working buls in them. They will be covered by black plexi glass. Once I get my gray trim painted white to take away the duo tone look, which will look good with these black plexi deletes over the stock surrounding. It may all not make much sence but i'll have pics up soon.

[06pvibe]

Since they are now more like driving lights than fogs (no fluting in the lenses,) what I might do is put the new fogs into the original place and wire them as factory. Then take the old fogs and put them in the new place, or higher up if possible. The grilles come to mind. Driving lights like to be as close to the same level as the headlights as possible for proper adjustment and distance. Add bulbs, a relay, a switch and a fuse, and connect the trigger (switched power) side of the relay to the high beam circuit so they go off with the low beams and you don't blind oncoming drivers.And if you've already done the independent fog light mod, both can be on at the same time when running the high beams. Very useful for those dark country lanes.However, as epcIII pointed out, if the plexi is not Lexan, polycarbonate or better, they will yellow, brown, craze and crack under the heat of the bulbs and you will be doing this again sooner than you think.Plastic headlamp lenses, "Lexan," have a thin layer of polycarbonate over the Lexan to protect them... well, for a time anyway. Raw Plexi does not and is susceptible to immediate damage, so be sure to use some Lamin-X film on both sets for better protection from scratches, UV rays and other road hazards.

[bassrocker032]

I have some final pics coming up in a little bit. The white on the first pic is just light reflecting, there are no air bubbles in the paint. I just put the final layer of black on the plexi and i'm waiting for it to dry overnight before I put them back in but i'm happy with how it turned out, plus to my knowledge, i'm the first to do this. But i'll update with more pics tomorrow. Until then, hopefully these can hold everyone over. Gimme some feedback.

[bassrocker032]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »Since they are now more like driving lights than fogs (no fluting in the lenses,) what I might do is put the new fogs into the original place and wire them as factory. Then take the old fogs and put them in the new place, or higher up if possible. The grilles come to mind. Driving lights like to be as close to the same level as the headlights as possible for proper adjustment and distance. Add bulbs, a relay, a switch and a fuse, and connect the trigger (switched power) side of the relay to the high beam circuit so they go off with the low beams and you don't blind oncoming drivers.And if you've already done the independent fog light mod, both can be on at the same time when running the high beams. Very useful for those dark country lanes.However, as epcIII pointed out, if the plexi is not Lexan, polycarbonate or better, they will yellow, brown, craze and crack under the heat of the bulbs and you will be doing this again sooner than you think.Plastic headlamp lenses, "Lexan," have a thin layer of polycarbonate over the Lexan to protect them... well, for a time anyway. Raw Plexi does not and is susceptible to immediate damage, so be sure to use some Lamin-X film on both sets for better protection from scratches, UV rays and other road hazards. I already did the independent fog light mod, so I can have high beams and fogs on at the same time. And i've already painted the plexi black and i'm just planning on leaving them in the stock place. I like having my aftermarket ones beside where my stock ones go.

[06pvibe]

You've missed my point.... IF you had used the fog lights you are working on now as driving lights, since that is essentially what they would have been, they would be on only when the high beams are, so you would have all 6 lights (headlights, OE fogs and the new "driving" lights) working w/high beams. BUT, you wouldn't want the driving lights to still be on w/the low beams. That would be bad. Of course it's all moot now since you've gone all crazy w/the black paint again.....

[bassrocker032]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »You've missed my point.... IF you had used the fog lights you are working on now as driving lights, since that is essentially what they would have been, they would be on only when the high beams are, so you would have all 6 lights (headlights, OE fogs and the new "driving" lights) working w/high beams. BUT, you wouldn't want the driving lights to still be on w/the low beams. That would be bad. Of course it's all moot now since you've gone all crazy w/the black paint again..... lol. I did miss your point but now I get what you mean. I like your idea but I've gone to far to go back unless I scrub these with some finger nail polish remover which I may do. What I was thinking was putting amber colored lights in the stock fog light surrounding. That'd be pretty cool plus they couldn't get me for the whole forward facing lights thing. But your idea was a very smart one. I'll just have to see how it turns out tomorrow in the daylight.

[bassrocker032]

Here's an update of how it looks all finished. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Also in this picture you can see how my headlights turned out after I took all the tint off.

[06pvibe]

Dude... I don't believe you. Those AM lights are not fog lights, they look like SPOT lights!! You will blind somebody with those.Did the box they came in say, "for off-road use ONLY???" Or not DOT approved?THEY should be connected to your high beams, not your low beams. In fact, they may not be legal (or safe) at all!!Look into it before you kill somebody, will ya'?

[bassrocker032]

They're not spot lights, the box said fog lights, they have halogen bulbs and they're not any brighter than my halogen bulbs in my headlights. The box doesn't say off road use only but i'm considering taking the black off the stock fogs and putting amber lights in them. The AM ones i have are bright no doubt but not deadly by any means, lol. Definatley not brighter than any 2000k HID bulbs or anything like that so no worries. I've got some plans in store for the next few weeks though. Also, they're perfectly legal. I passed many cops and haven't gotten pulled over and I'm yet to get bright lighted telling me that they're to bright. I'll consider tinting them if it is truly that big of a problem possibly but idk.

[rAERRK]

where the heck is rockmart?

[keithvibe]

i'm sure they are driving lights.. but on a side note... (removed) happened to your headlights? is the passengerside filled with water?, your headlights shouldn't be THAT cloudy yet... it's not that old of a car. Unless they were tinted and the tint was removed, which would leave the headlights looking like they do. Now I understand why you want brighter lights.... your headlights stink

[bassrocker032]

No, I removed most of the tint with sanding. I then heard you could remove the tint with fingernail polish remover so that's why it looks like there is water. The right one wouldn't come off all the way at the bottom which is why it has some black on it. I plan on getting headlight restoration kit and fixing them.

[A Psycho Martyr]

it all looks good with a solid, clean installation, but you can still kinda tell where they're supposed to be. And FYI... my headlights looks JUST like that when I sanded them off a month ago. Get some 600 grit and sand all in one direction, then 800grit in the opposite direction til you can no longer see the grain from 600. Then use 2000grit and go the opposite direction again til you can't see the grain from 800. Then wetsand with your 2000 grit and polish and they will look awesome I swear! Mine turned out completely clear

[bassrocker032]

Could you post pics so I could see how they turned out. Either way i'm gonna do the multiple sanding as you stated but I just want to have a guideline so when i'm done, I see how it comes out.

[keithvibe]

don't forget to clear coat them or they will yellow in 6months

[06pvibe]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »i'm sure they are driving lights.. An untethered, exposed bulb with a clear, un-fluted lens in an un-fluted parabolic reflector? What ever gave you that idea, Keith?I used to have a friend in school. We shared at least one class together. The teacher used to say to him, "Greg, you scare the hell out of me. You learn only enough to get yourself in a world of trouble." (Meaning he was impatient enough to not read, or hear the whole lesson.) He said that several times on several occasions and while I was a lousy student myself, I could see why he (the teacher) said that about my friend Greg. He is STILL like that to this day and he is 50 yrs old now. Bassrocker, I have to say... you scare the hell out of me.

[A Psycho Martyr]

Here's my cell number : (256)347-9037Text me and let me know it's you and I'll send you some pics. Or any time you have a question just text.Same goes for anyone else too.lol just lemme know who ya are

[keithvibe]

google driving lights, then look at the images 99% of them have clear front lenses.Though some will say fog lights... thats not the case.

[bassrocker032]

Idk what they are. The box said fog lights, cops don't pay them any attention so i'm just going to continue using them as fog lights. With the halogens in my head lights, there is no difference on the road as far as brightness goes. What i'll end up doing once I get some cash is remove the black paint with nail polish remover, put amber lights in my fogs and use them as "cool" lights as I've heard them called. That way I didn't waste my time fabing the plexi and i'll still get function out of them.

[06pvibe]

I repeat... you scare the hell out of me.Please do not drive anywhere near me, especially at night. Thank you.

[bassrocker032]

would it give you peace of mind to know i'm probably gonna just remove the black paint and put halogens in my stock fog, I'll leave the other lights there since they were a gift but they won't be hooked up or probably only used in rare conditions.

[A Psycho Martyr]

DURING:DONE:And as KeithVibe said....you NEED to coat them with clear or they will yellow in a few months. But I retinted mine instead. Just WAAAAYYYYY lighter

[bassrocker032]

I soaked the plexi in fingernail polish remover and got all the paint off, I've now put some tint on them, and replaced the broken bulb. I'll have pics up later but I don't think it could've turned out better. I plan on taking the round "spot lights" off and replacing them with rectangular lights to fill the hole better while still having great function. I'll have pics of all my lights on in a bit but i've got to run a mattress to my bro's house.

[bassrocker032]

Well bad news for me came up last night when I got home. the plexi glass began to melt so i'm going to have to get a different plexi as every said, I just had to text it of course. But also I was wondering if there are any alternatives I could use other than just the Lexan plexi. Any ideas?

[bassrocker032]

This is an exact copy of what I said on "what did you do to your vibe today" so if you've read that, then I'm trying to save you some time instead of you reading this. If not, then enjoy. I just hope I help someone save some money and have a good D.I.Y for the weekend if they have the same fog light glass break problem I did.well since the plexi I fabricated the first time to fit my fogs ended up not being heat resistant as I feared, I had to replace it with something yet again. I was working on some glass when my brother in law pulls up to my house with some plastic that is used for spot lights that burn as bright as 1,000,000 candles so it should be heat resistant. But anyways, here's some pics. Still over all price spent on this mod/D.I.Y fix is $0 but I'm sure the most that would be spent on doing this if you didn't have a brother in law like mine would be no more that $15 which is alot better than the $45-$80 for the entire fog surrounding. I also installed the rectangular lights in the spot that was open beside my fogs. I won't be running all 6 at the same time, I plan on hooking my rectangular ones up to my brights so when I turn on my brights, my stock fogs go off and my AM ones come on. They are "driving lights" and the box didn't say off road use only. I should be getting some later tonight with the lights on. Next on my list now is fixing my headlights. I'll keep updating away.

[bassrocker032]

here's the update of pics at night. Feedback on general complete D.I.Y and any suggestions? I also have a pic of where my switch is located. Now to just fix those stupid head lights, lol. All that's left as far as lighting goes is halogen bulbs and restoring the headlights, then time to focus back on performance. Stock fogs with new outer cover. AM driving lights All 6 lights on at once And finally my switch location

[06pvibe]

Why is your coin holder in upside down?

[bassrocker032]

because it never fails that when someone other than me drives my car, they put change in there as compared to putting it where I keep al my change so I turn it upside down to get the point across.

[epcIII]

Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 »because it never fails that when someone other than me drives my car, they put change in there as compared to putting it where I keep al my change so I turn it upside down to get the point across. Man, I wish that people would leave change in my car when they drive it. Wouldn't care where they put it.

[bassrocker032]

well the only reason it gets left is the fact that they use my change and whatever they don't use, they put there.... I wish people would leave change in my car too, lol.

[A Psycho Martyr]

Amen on people leaving change in there.... that'd be sweet!And don't listen to haters man, I got SO much crap about my headlights on here but that's just people lookin out for ya or voicing their opinion. Like waveresponder and his strut brace. I love it and others hate because it has no triangulation. And i.ll prob get some negative feedback on my next mod for too much white but I'm nowhere NEAR done with the white in my car lol

[06pvibe]

It's not so much hate as frustration. I am frustrated with people like him.He is the kind that does and does and does, and I can respect that!! It's commendable, but he never learns what it is he's doing before he does it. Never considers the consequences of his actions until, "uh-oh? I think I've made a mistake?" He flits from flower to flower never stopping to see what flower it is he's landed on. Never stopping to learn what to do with that flower first!!Last week it was off-road rallies. With a VIBE?? AND he wants it to be a show car too?Before that, it was white wheel covers and fake fender vents.NOS steering wheel cover and floor mats?? Who is he trying to kid?I believe the "fake blow-off valve" thread was his too, wasn't it? Or am I mistaken?His car is ever changing EXCEPT... it is NEVER clean? He paints pieces from the engine bay, but the rest of the egnine compartment looks like a**. He adds wheels covers and all sorts of other faul-der-all to the exterior but the car is filthy!!Yes, originally my comments were meant to inform and educate, as were many others... keithvibe comes to mind here. But after so many fails in such a short time, you'd think he'd be thinking to himself, "Hmmm, perhaps I'd better figure it all out before I act." On a more positive note(s):1) I am very glad he got rid of those tinted headlights. No good can come from them on a DD. 2) I also like the black surround left by the tint on his headlights. I think that's VERY COOL looking, and doesn't hurt anybody.3) I liked the round "driving" lights, but they were wired incorrectly (did not go out with the high beams) and mounted in the wrong location (they should be mounted as close to the center-line of the headlights as possible.) 4) The fog light fiasco seems to have had a more or less happy ending. I'm still wondering what kind of pattern those lights throw now, and how long those lenses will remain lenses, but? For what new ones cost (+/-$80/set,) and all the trouble and mistakes he's made on these (I was not surprised in the least the fingernail polish remover e.g. acetone, was going to melt the Plexi,) he should have just gone to eBay and purchased a new set, covered them in Lamin-X and been done with it.bassrocker, I'm guessing that you are very young... probably 16 or 17. Take some advice from someone much more experienced than you seem to be: Sooner or later you may come to realize that having a plan in mind from the start is the one of the few ways for things to turn out as you wish. Vision is what you lack, imo, vision and patience. If a plan eludes you, then patience and slow, careful steps are the way to go. A lot of research BEFORE you start helps too.

[bassrocker032]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »It's not so much hate as frustration. I am frustrated with people like him.He is the kind that does and does and does, and I can respect that!! It's commendable, but he never learns what it is he's doing before he does it. Never considers the consequences of his actions until, "uh-oh? I think I've made a mistake?" He flits from flower to flower never stopping to see what flower it is he's landed on. Never stopping to learn what to do with that flower first!!Last week it was off-road rallies. With a VIBE?? AND he wants it to be a show car too?Before that, it was white wheel covers and fake fender vents.NOS steering wheel cover and floor mats?? Who is he trying to kid?I believe the "fake blow-off valve" thread was his too, wasn't it? Or am I mistaken?His car is ever changing EXCEPT... it is NEVER clean? He paints pieces from the engine bay, but the rest of the egnine compartment looks like a**. He adds wheels covers and all sorts of other faul-der-all to the exterior but the car is filthy!!Yes, originally my comments were meant to inform and educate, as were many others... keithvibe comes to mind here. But after so many fails in such a short time, you'd think he'd be thinking to himself, "Hmmm, perhaps I'd better figure it all out before I act." On a more positive note(s):1) I am very glad he got rid of those tinted headlights. No good can come from them on a DD. 2) I also like the black surround left by the tint on his headlights. I think that's VERY COOL looking, and doesn't hurt anybody.3) I liked the round "driving" lights, but they were wired incorrectly (did not go out with the high beams) and mounted in the wrong location (they should be mounted as close to the center-line of the headlights as possible.) 4) The fog light fiasco seems to have had a more or less happy ending. I'm still wondering what kind of pattern those lights throw now, and how long those lenses will remain lenses, but? For what new ones cost (+/-$80/set,) and all the trouble and mistakes he's made on these (I was not surprised in the least the fingernail polish remover e.g. acetone, was going to melt the Plexi,) he should have just gone to eBay and purchased a new set, covered them in Lamin-X and been done with it.bassrocker, I'm guessing that you are very young... probably 16 or 17. Take some advice from someone much more experienced than you seem to be: Sooner or later you may come to realize that having a plan in mind from the start is the one of the few ways for things to turn out as you wish. Vision is what you lack, imo, vision and patience. If a plan eludes you, then patience and slow, careful steps are the way to go. A lot of research BEFORE you start helps too. Wow. First of all on these many topics at discussion, I do and do because I want to improve things that are wrong with my car. MOST PEOPLE on this site usually do and do, it's how people get badass cars, they don't just evolve over night. I'm sorry if I take a D.I.Y approach instead of paying for it to be done. Now second, the rallies was just an idea. If you've noticed, I haven't said much more on that topic. I just brought it up here for feedback, which is what I got and ended the idea. What the **** do you mean who am I trying to fool by having floor mats and a steering wheel cover? I didn't know that choosing something for its color and ease of use would define me as a person.Fake blow off valve had nothing to do with me, I actually posted in there saying what a waste it would be. I live in bum **** georgia that has alot of dirt roads as back roads and suchs so it's hard to keep my car clean. I'm sorry that I take spur of the moment pictures and don't treat every picture like a photoshoot for a magazine. And explain my fails. The finger nail polish remover didn't melt the plexi, the heat from the bulbs did. And I stated I wasn't sure if the plexi was heat resistant or not but I was gonna give it a shot anyways, either way, it kills time and if it works then awesome. And of course i'm going to get $20 wheel covers to cover the steelies when I don't have the $300-$400 to throw into rims right now. You should understand that with you stock pontiac wheel covers. I didn't listen to SOME of your advice because it's my car and I'll do to it what I will. If you look back, i've taken most if not all of your suggestions especially to the top of my to do list. You're usually a cool guy but maybe you're having a bad day and decided to take it out on me. And i'm not 16-17. I'm 20 and married so money is short and the car is a hobby, not something I can drop alot of money into at this time so I do what little I can.

[epcIII]

Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 » I'm 20 and married so money is short and the car is a hobby, not something I can drop alot of money into at this time so I do what little I can. Ha, that's like my best friend. He's married, though he's a rich doctor now, he loved keeping is old '89 Ford Taurus Wagon around to work on as an 'escape'.