How to replicate HELLA's smoked ellipsoid technique:

[Bread]

What a pain it was to get the plastic high beams apart. But now I have another problem. My plastic reflector US highbeams have a moisture vent right in the way of the vertical baffle. Now I'm trying to decide if I should just remove the vent and silicone over the hole, or if I should cut the baffle to clear the vent post and paint the post black. Thoughts?

[Simon S]

1988 E30 M3, 1999 Ducati 996, 1971 International Scout II

that is a fuckin fabulous collection of vehicles there.. damn

[Bread]

that is a fuckin fabulous collection of vehicles there.. damn

I try to have a little of everything in my stable :) Just need a 7-series to even it out.


To update the thread, I ended up notching the light baffle for the vent. I blackened the white vent post with a black sharpie. Looks awsome.

I then continued on to the second side and proceeded to shatter the lense on the 2nd high beam` And since the best price I can find on a used high beam lense is $40, I'm looking into alternative high beam options. Perhaps trying to fit some Hella spot/driving lights in their place. Who knows.

[Wishno87]

do the euro lights have the vent like the U.S. ellips? could i just remove it?

[mikeedler]

no, euro lights have no vent. they are sealed though with a rubber seal on the rear where the bulb goes in.

[Wishno87]

so you think i can just remove the vent and seal the hole up?

[///M42 sport]

yeah why not? or maybe the us ellipsoids aren't sealed well, so it needs a vent.

[mikeedler]

I think the u.s. lights need the hole cause the 9005/9006 bulbs dont really seal airtight. if you can seal the rear really good, then sure, otherwise you will want a larger vent for them or they will fog, and stay fogged.

[n2motorsports]

I just modded the vent, shortened it and painted it black so it didn't interfer with crosshairs.



it's much shorter, but better then nothing. no problems yet, it's only been a week however.

Oh and btw, don't boil the lens, I did that to the first light and the lens was very difficult to remove, eventually ended up cracking it. the remaining lights were baked in the oven and popped right off.

[///M42 sport]

I just modded the vent, shortened it and painted it black so it didn't interfer with crosshairs.



it's much shorter, but better then nothing. no problems yet, it's only been a week however.

Oh and btw, don't boil the lens, I did that to the first light and the lens was very difficult to remove, eventually ended up cracking it. the remaining lights were baked in the oven and popped right off.

Did you let the lense touch the bottom of the pot? I boiled the projector assembly b/c it was plastic and I didn't want it to melt in the oven. I just suspended it on aluminum foil with boiling water underneath. The key is to gradually heat the lense. Takes alot of time so need to be patient.

[Justin B]

Just finished mine with a set of Compression's group buy crosshairs-




Edit- I used clear liquid nails. I really hope I don't have to take the lenses off, this shit sticks good.

[///M42 sport]

One thing I tried to minimize the pitted lenses was to spray a couple layers of clearcoat, then cover it with laminex. I dont' know if this will hold on the long term but the initial results are very impressive.

[ColdAccord]

anyone know if e34 high beams are the same size? I want to smoke my daily driver

[evil_twin]

The lens is the same, but the I think the body itself is too long. I might be wrong though.

[ColdAccord]

damn. i was trying to see if I could use the same template for the crosshairs