removing the 5th gen prelude "silver part of the headlight"

Tanabe_Luder · 12-29-2002, 11:42 PM

hey everyone, i just wanted to know if anyone knows how to remove the front part of the prelude, its a silver piece of the headlight. the front part. i seen it on the japan prelude.

the back of the lighting its silver. and the front is black. is there a trick to doing this?

97lude · 12-30-2002, 11:49 AM

u talking about painting the inside of the headlight? It is possible if thats what u are talking about

Tanabe_Luder · 12-30-2002, 11:57 AM

wow. then yea i guess. i thought that you had to melt out that. has anyone done it to there 5th gen prelude? i like how it looks.

97lude · 12-30-2002, 12:45 PM

Here is another write up: written by Joe W at PO

Painting your Headlight housing [5th gen writeup]
I didn't see any other writeups on this, so here is what I did.

First off, park the car somewhere level and set the e-brake.
Pop the hood and jack the front of the car up (place jack under tow hook).
Place jack stands under each jack mount behind each front wheel.
Using a 10mm ratchet, take out the bolts holding the plastic splash shield under the front of the car. This will

make it much easier to remove the lights from your turn signals/fog lights/sidemarkers.
Make sure you got these 3 bolts out so the bumper will come off:

Pull down the plastic shield from the front of the wheel well on one side of the car. Reach up and twist the bulbs (to the left) on the side markers, turn signals, and fog lights if you have them.

With the hood popped, remove the two 10mm bolts and two plastic retaining clips from the plastic upper grille.

Remove the plastic grille.
Now the fastners that hold the bumper in place should be exposed:

Remove the plastic clips. They come off easily, just pop the center up with a flathead screwdriver then pull it out.

Continued...

97lude · 12-30-2002, 12:46 PM

Now its time to start removing the bumper. On each side, there are two clips at the top of the bumper and a bolt or screw (I can't remember) on the end where the bumper meets the fender at the wheel well. See picture for exact locations:

First you will need to remove the bolt on the end, then pull the side of the bumper outward and it will pop out of the clips. They should come out fairly easily but you may need to pull a little - don't be afraid, its just plastic. Repeat for both sides.
Now you should be able to pull the bumper straight off, but first lay some old towels down on the floor so you don't scratch the bumper. Pull the bumper straight off. It should come off easily with no resistance. If it doesn't want to come off, you probably missed a bolt or a clip. Set the bumper to the side. If you have a body kit, you may want to set it upside down like so:

And your car should look something like this:

cont.....

97lude · 12-30-2002, 12:47 PM

Now you need to remove the headlights. There are 3 bulbs you need to unplug. The parking light (small one on the corner) needs to twist off to the left then pull it out. The other two just pull straight out.
Next you need to unbolt the headlights. There should be 3 bolts for each headlight and they should be 10mm bolts.

The driver's side is easy but the passenger side can be a pain but just bare with it. One bolt on top of the light, and one on either side:

You will need to tilt the lights around a little to wiggle them out but they should come out easily.

Now comes the fun part. Get a flat head screwdriver, both headlights, a towel, and some oven mitts and go in the kitchen. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, spread the towel out on the counter and set the headlights on the towel. Take the lights out of the headlight (I'm not sure if cooking them would harm them or not, but I removed them anyways). Make sure you put the racks in the oven down as low as they will go and place a pan on the lowest rack to dissipate the heat. Direct heat would be bad for your headlights. After the oven preheats, TURN THE OVEN OFF! Then promptly place one of the headlights in the oven. Set a timer for two minutes.
After two minutes of cooking, take the headlight out of the oven and set it on the towel. Make sure you use the oven mitts because it will be very hot.
Holding the light with one hand with an oven mitt, use the flat head screwdriver with your other hand to gently and slowly pry the housing apart. You will notice that there are clips all around the headlight and you need to pop the clip up and out then pry the clear lens away from the housing. Pry around the entire headlight and once you get about halfway around it should start to come off fast and easy. By now the clear lens should be cool enough to touch, so set the screwdriver down and pull it off. Repeat for each headlight.

Continued...

97lude · 12-30-2002, 12:47 PM

Set the housing to the side and place the clear lens face down on the towel. You will notice there are two screws holding the silver plastic piece to the clear lens, this is what you want to paint. Now cuss at me for not telling you to get a phillips head screwdriver, then go out to the garage and get a phllips head screwdriver and remove those two screws from each light.

Once you remove both screws, the plastic piece should come out easily, you may want to start from the corner with the sharpest angle first, I found it comes out easier if you pull from that corner.
Now you should have something like this:

You will want to scuff it a little with some 600 grit sandpaper so the paint will stick good. Then take it outside and put 2 or 3 coats of paint on. Make sure you cover all of the areas that will be visible but don't spray it too thick or it will run and look bad. Repeat for the other light. If your clear plastic lens is dirty, this would be a good time to clean it. After the paint is dry (drying time will depend on what type of paint you used) then screw the painted pieces back to the clear housing. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, TURN THE OVEN OFF, put the headlight back together and press down a little (it won't snap together because the sealant is dried up and hard). Now place the unit into the oven for 2 minutes. When it is done, take it out with the oven mitts and press and hold it together firmly. This step is crucial because you don't want moisture to get into your headlight. Make sure it is sealed back up good all the way around and the clips are all back in place.

Now put everything back together the opposite way you took it apart, and you're good to go.

Congratulations! You're done

Leprechaun · 12-30-2002, 12:55 PM

Do you have any pics after it is installed??

97lude · 12-30-2002, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Leprechaun
Do you have any pics after it is installed??

thats not my write up.......its JoeW"s from PO

let me look for some

97lude · 12-30-2002, 01:10 PM

want more?
after oven:
Slowly pry all around the black lip around the lens...

- Once you get a good grip, slowly pull the lens off...
http://www.chillybanana.com/Prelude/...1-1129_IMG.jpg[/IMG]

Once off, remove the 2 screws on the lens side.

http://www.chillybanana.com/Prelude/...1-1134_IMG.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]

This is what you are trying to get out to sand and paint.

- Afterwards, I had to clean the blow light...