HeadLight Glass Removal

[Medwin_3sGTE_AE86]

I remember it being discussed on the old forums, but cant find a thread relating to it....

How has everyone approached removing the glass from the head lights on ADM 86's?

[dustyae86]

heat it up with a heat gun.... still not very easy though

[redsprinter]

yeah heat gun is your friend ... heat up the plastic housing that hold the glass .. remeber to keep the heat gun moving and use a nice edge flat head or a sturdy paint scrapper to gently remove the glass ... do bit at a time so you dont deform/ melt the plastic housing .. the goal is to soften the glue that hold the glass onto the housing .

a qiuck google found me this :http://www.mazda626.net/index.php?showtopic=33855 - using the oven option.

[Sly*]

stick it in your oven on very low and keep checking it until all the sikaflex goes soft and then it just pops out easy

[Chairs with flares]

I've found 250*c to the the right setting on my oven to make it all sweet in about 10mins. Wear gloves though as the whole headlight housing is hot.

Watch out if your oven is fan-forced as the area near the fan will be much much hotter.

And make sure the weight of the light isn't resting on a plastic mounting tab or anything fragile, or it'll heat and bend under weight.

*These are my experiences, take with a biig grain of salt.

[Medwin_3sGTE_AE86]

OK, so i've done it!

Was a bit nervous putting the lights into the oven, but gave it a shot.

Pre-heat(ed) the oven (fan forced) to 140*c.

Went 1x Light at a time, about 7 minutes had it soft enough to peel off. Left most of the glue in the plastic groove in the light body, ready for re-installing once I freshen them up.

Plan on pressing the glass back in by hand as far as it can go when cold, back in the oven to soften and then press together more. No reason why it shouldnt work!

Thanks for the advice guys!

[evil86]

what glue did u use to stick the glass back on?

[Medwin_3sGTE_AE86]

what glue did u use to stick the glass back on?

The same glue that was still on the glass...

Heated up in oven when removing so only softened the glue enough to seperate.

Let cool down, do painting etc, press glass back into place as much as possible when glue is hard, back in oven to soften again, then press together properly (as you're able to now its soft) and allow to cool. Done! ;)