How to replace headlight assemblies

I noticed that it's hard to see at night - my eyes aren't the best, but I suspect the 98 Cobra's headlights are mostly to blame.

I was parked nose to nose with a Cadillac SUV last night at a gas station. He turned on his lights and the whole area lit up with a perfect pure clean white light. Not a overbearing blue-white light that hurts your eyes, just a nice clean white light.

The light from my car is kind of a wimpy yellow in comparison.

The lenses are really hazed over and the bulbs are original.

I looked at the assembly to see how to remove it. It doesn't look all that easy but I know a lot of people have done it.

How hard is it to swap them out?

What would be the best type of bulb to go with?

I could try polishing the lenses I have now. As far as I can tell all the bad stuff is on the outside. If I could clean them up maybe just a new set of bulbs would help. Any tips on what to use?

thanks

Mort

Reply to
Mort Guffman
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You can polish them out to a certain degree. Start with wet sanding with a 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and LOTS of elbow grease. DOnt push too hard. Move to a 1000, then a 1200 and then a 1500 grit (all wet sand). I've been told not to sand in circles - sand sideways for a while and then up and down at 90 dgree angles to each movement. Once you've spent a couple of hours per lens sanding to the 1500 grit, clean the lens thoroughly get some Meguiars #10 plastic polish and (optionally) some #17 plastic cleaner/sealer. Its alot of work, but the results are decent. If you have the cash, buy the replacements. :) I did the hand polish and I am ok with the results but when I have some free cash and time I will buy the replacement lenses.

Reply to
cprice

Man, that sounds like a lot of work! How much are the replacements with or without labor?

BTW, I've got a 2001 GT, and my lenses look like doody, too.

- Max - ======= Do you know what it means To miss New Orleans And miss it each night and day . . .

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Reply to
Max C. Webster III

Its a solid Saturday afternoons worth of work. I think I put probably

2-2.5 hours into each of mine and they turned out 'ok', but not perfectly new. Oh, and do yourself a favor and tape off your bodywork before you start. Even 800 grit will make a mess of the paint around the headlights. Trust me. ;)

If you have time on your hands, then try polishing. If you have money , buy the lenses. ;)

Max C. Webster III wrote:

Reply to
cprice

They are available on ebay all the time and are not particularly pricey. . Here's what I bought a couple of years ago.

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is not difficult.

Reply to
Richard

GE Nighthawks I believe are currently regarded to be the best bulbs on the market. I have the previous best, sylvania xtravisions. However, the greatest problem outside the headlamps themselves is the wiring. The small gauge wiring can't flow enough current. I put in relays with larger gauge wiring. I use the driver's side headlamp plug to provide the signal to the relays.

See:

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The whole relay kit for my '97 was under $60 He also carries the nighthawks, but I had already bought the Xtravisions locally (walmart actually) for about half as much.

I used maquires paint products, swirl remover and show car glaze depending on how deep the hazing was. Of course this lasted shorter and shorter each time. When one lamp got cracked I just bought a set of '98 cobra knockoffs. Ford's stock headlamp design isn't that good to begin with so it was ok to go with these stock replacements. I would avoid any of the rice boy crap from APC and the like.

Reply to
Brent P

"Mort Guffman" wrote

That's cuz the Caddy had HID's and your car doesn't.

Reply to
66 6F HCS

Thanks for the advice. I replaced one bulb today with a Sylvania "Silverstar" to see how much of a difference it made. It's definitely whiter and I think brighter. Hard to say how much better it will be.

Later I swapped the second bulb. I took a ride tonight (in the rain) and I could see OK. Still hard to say if it's significantly improved. I think it is though.

I still want to swap out the headlight assemblies.

Thanks to everyone for the good advice.

Mort

Reply to
Mort Guffman

Reply to
Brent P

Wet-sand with 600 grit, follow with 1000. Try to remove the "fog" Then mask off and paint with a good automotive clear coat paint. Our 2001 headlights turned out almost as good as new! Wish I had taken before and after pics, you would not have believed it.

Reply to
Dean Knight

Ugh. That's just an optical illusion: It's not whiter *or* brighter, just bluer. Go for the Sylvania Xtravision; it's the same bulb as the Silverstar, without the light-stealing blue filter.

More info:

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Reply to
Garth Almgren

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