Thanks for the tips, Josh!
I just finished the job. Since I couldn't find good clear procedures for replacing lenses anywhere on the net or this newsgroup, I wanted to make this post as comprehesive as possible, so let me add a few things.
1) "the headlights have 6 connection points"Yes, they do. Tip here: Don't start a project early in the morning before you have a chance to clear the crusties from your eyes. There are three long headlight-adjustment bolts AND three mounting-bolts WITH
7/16 nuts -- two of the nuts are on the "grill side" and one is on the "fender side" of the headlight.2) "they are very hard to get to. you will need to take off the radiator clips to get to the ones in the middle."
I didn't remove any radiator clips. I simply disconnnected the headlight bulb from the headlight housing. Removing the bulb and wire gave me enough room to get at the three bolts/nuts.
3) "the only way to get the big one off is to loosen it almost all the way off."I assume you're talking about the top, "grill-side" nut. I found is wasn't possible to remove this nut _completely_ until you removed the other two nuts (and loosen the third) and you can push the headlight lense forward a little. There isn't enough room between the end of the bolt and the airbag sensor that's mounted to the radiator support to spin this nut all the way off. (Note: Obviously, pre-air bag cars wouldn't have this obstruction.)
Once you get these three nuts off, the headlight lense just slides out.
HANDY TIP: I found a very small flat-bladed screwdriver works extremely well manipulating the black rubber seals (that are clipped to the outside of the lenses) while sliding the lenses out and back into position.
Now that the headlight lense is out, remove the black rubber seals. There are two "slider clips" on each end of the lense. Use a flat screw driver to slide them off and the black seal itself will then fall off.
This is where the other three "long headlight-adjustment bolts" come into play. There's a little clip on the end of each that must be popped off in order to remove the plastic headlight lenses _housing_. Again, a flat screwdriver is your friend to perform this task. Be careful not to damage or bend up these clips!
Now that the plastic headlight-lense housing has been removed from the headlight lense itself, simply reverse the steps to reinstall your new headlight lense.
Remember to use your little flat-bladed screw driver to manipulate the black rubber seal surrounding the headlighlights. While using this screwdriver, work very slowly & CAREFULLY to not damage the seals.
Also, when you get the headlight lense/housing ALMOST back in place, spin the top "grill-side" nut onto the bolt while you still have room.
Tighten the bolts and plug the headlights back in and you're done, ALMOST. You see... after you have replaced your old worn, yellowed headlight lenses you quickly find that your once decent looking blickers now look HORRIBLE!
So the last step is: Ordering new blicker lenses.
4) "its about 2 hours of headache."Once I opened my eyes and found the three mounting bolts/nuts, it took me about an hour to finish the job... and 15 minutes to order new blickers lenses. Overall, I found it a pretty easy job.
Patrick
---------------