Now that the frustration is wearing off, I can go one of 2 routes tomorrow. I have heard to put it directly onto the rack at 200 degrees for roughly 10 minutes and that it would be just right, no melting issues. I thought that was risky, but after the rag we used was in the oven for a total of 22 minutes, it was still mostly cool, temperature wise.

And the silicone I could tell was soooo close to budging so most likely placing it directly onto the rack would do the trick, and in reality, about 1% of the headlight is actually making contact with the rack and its pretty thick pieces as well.


What would actually make contact w/ rack
Attachment 61998

OR..........

I could put the light back on my tray & damp cloth at 240-250 for 8-10 minutes and hope that does the trick.

Work station
Attachment 61999

Attachment 62000

What I learned DIY'ing with this mod is that it's better to be safe than sorry. I'd put it on the tray with the damp rag and maybe put the temp at 210-215 first. I wouldn't leave it in there for the whole 10 mins without at least taking it out and checking for melted spots like 2 or 3 times.

Take some extra time to figure out the best safe temp and time first then the next one will be a lot easier. We went through 3-4 full sets of headlights doing it the same way before we melted 2 of them.

The part that makes contact with the rack is small, but it's also where the headlight gets bolted onto the car. Definitely don't want to risk ruining that.

Gonna get started again tomorrow hopefully. Thanks for all the help guys

Yeah what blades said. Don't up the temp. Just work slowly and carefully. Don't up the temp and definitely don't put them directly on the rack.

MKG was the only set of headlights that escaped unscathed. Yours, mine, and the guy with the 350z got melted. D broke the clip that holds his HID bulb in on the driver's side.

I'd say raise the temp only if everything else doesn't work, but do it slowly and carefully.

My cousin's 350 headlights didn't get melted so I guess we're 2/4. D was just the unlucky 1st trial :icon17:

Why not just buy a heat gun... I'm a complete noob at this stuff and it was incredibly easy with a heat gun.

They're like $15 too. Requires a bit more patience but if I had to do it over again, this is probably what I'd do.

Success!!
Attachment 62052

We got it the second go around, up'd the temperature to 250 degrees for an
Initial 10 minutes, no dice. So we went in for another 3 minutes (at 250 still) no issues melting, whatsoever, and we finally got it apart after 3 minutes of pulling and wiggling a flathead around to help pry. But I still used a baking tray and instead of just getting a little water on it, we soaked it in cold water, and just wrang it out really good.....

Bullet proof idea. It was also folded in half so double the heat blocking power.
Attachment 62053

After it was all said and done, the cloth on the tray still felt cool to the touch, nothing to worry about melting at 250 degrees if you go lens up.

We had one as backup if the oven didnt work. It's almost more stressful though. We did try and use it for a while, but your barely getting anywhere, and as you go it's all messy so IMO, just get it all heated to the proper temps, and get it apart as quickly as possible because that stuff (silicone) cools fast and it's really stringy and gets all over.Attachment 62054

I'm going to video the next one, start to finish, stripping the light, to getting it apart etc. and post it up here. I'm going to do one at a time and probably won't get them done for a few days. Don't have much time off

it aint fun to do at all xD I took almost 2 days to finish it up xD

it's not silicone because silicone melts north of 400 depending on what stuff it is. it's butylene rubber sealant i posted the nissan p/n in this thread a ways back if you reseal with silicone you will never get them back apart.

Thanks for clarifying, I haven't really know what to call it except goop lol