FTO AUSTRALIA

hey guys, as the title says.

i'm opening them up to paint them, but i dont know how to open them up.

it looks like u just have to unclip it, but i'm scared about breaking them.

um... who's done this to their car already? how did u do it?

Put them in the oven, keep an eye on em, every once in a while take em out and try to carefully pry the lense off, if it doesn't budge heat it up a little more until the black sealant loosens up.

Alternatively, use a heat gun to the same effect.

Be carefuly you don't melt them, or set the house on fire mate, if you've got a wife then make her do it, it involves the use of an oven after all and that's where they do there second best work

scarecrow wrote:if you've got a wife then make her do it, it involves the use of an oven after all and that's where they do there second best work

um... good idea, but i dont trust the gf with anything that can hurt anyone/burn anything (she's hitting me right now)... (i'm sorry i stand corrected, kicking not hitting lol)

i know thats what u do for the headlights, is it still the same for the foglights?

BorepYano wrote:hey guys, as the title says.

i'm opening them up to paint them, but i dont know how to open them up.

it looks like u just have to unclip it, but i'm scared about breaking them.

um... who's done this to their car already? how did u do it?

Put the headlight in oven, keep it at 100C,
Keep it there for 5mins first, nothing will happen but you will get some heat into the light,
Then put it in for 3 mins, and more, bit by bit,
You cant just remove the headlight at one go, it will probably take 4-5 heating and cooling,
Needs to get really hot, you wont be able to touch to the headlight due to heat, and it should smell like plastic burning,
Use a flat head screwdriver to lever the clips out,
Clips covers will bend out and loose its shape, dont worry, when putting it all back together you need to heat it all up again, so can correct the damage there

I will be in Brissy this weekend, give me a call if you got stuck

max is that the instructions for the foglights or headlights?

so i have to bake the fogliughts as well?

just wanted to make sure... i dont think mother will be too happy with me if her oven ends up with a big chunk of melted plastic dtuck in it that used to be my fog lights

Yep you have to bake the foglights aswell mate, they're sealed in the same way as the main headlights. There's a thread on it someone and one on FTOOC aswell where they bake them, open them up smash out the orange lense, spray the interior silver and put it all back together again.

ok thanx heaps guys, u'll hear from me in a couple of days on how this turned out...

either i'm happy cos i did it, or...
i'll be after some new lights lol


(i sat there for like an hr poking at the light with a flathead screw driver trying to see if it'll move, good thing i was too scared to force it lol)

scarecrow wrote:... bake them, open them up smash out the orange lense, spray the interior silver and put it all back together again.

No need to smash the orange bit, It's simply screwed in there. Same with the reflectors set up in there for driving lights. The whole thing can be disasembled on the inside.

Little tip while you're in there. Behind the driving light setup, I stuck a silica bag to absorb moisture. You know the type, you find them in shoe boxes and all sorts of other packing. No fogging since

Oven temp wise- I set mine to 150 and baked them in 5 min intervals. Top half of them will heat up more than the bottom, so turn them over each time you put them back in.

Max what glue did you use to seal them up again?

Nacho wrote:Max what glue did you use to seal them up again?

apoxy

I haven't looked at yours up close but can you see where the glue has dried when you look up close?

Then again it doesn't matter coz if anyone notices it that closely you're either gonna ram up their a*s or about to get in a head on collision.

Nacho wrote:I haven't looked at yours up close but can you see where the glue has dried when you look up close?

Then again it doesn't matter coz if anyone notices it that closely you're either gonna ram up their a*s or about to get in a head on collision.

apoxy is clear coloured, like water, even when dried
You dont see any glue
No sign of its been glued even if you purposely look for it

did you guys have any problems getting them out?.. My screws are wrecked as in the head of the screw doesn't give the screwdriver any grip to turn it...any suggestions?

Ther wrote:did you guys have any problems getting them out?.. My screws are wrecked as in the head of the screw doesn't give the screwdriver any grip to turn it...any suggestions?

better screw drivers? not to sound like a smart ass, donno what kind of tools u use, but the quality of the screw driver (and using the exactly right sized screw driver) really helps...

otherwise i can only think of drilling it out

i guess i'll have to drill them out cos the actual screw is stuffed..nothing to do with the screwdriver ....

Ther wrote:i guess i'll have to drill them out cos the actual screw is stuffed..nothing to do with the screwdriver ....

well good luck with it i guess...

i just thought i'd mention the screwdriver thing cos sometimes when u r lucky even completely rusted out screws might be moved by the right screw driver (though i cant see myself paying $50 for a screw driver though), maybe u can cut a deep line through the top, then u can probably undo it with a flat head (probably have to sit there with a good knife for a while scratching the line in though)

or take it to the shops and let them deal with it if u want to pay someone $30 to take a screw out lol

well thats an idea..might give the dremmel tool a go

Ther wrote:well thats an idea..might give the dremmel tool a go

usual solution is to do as above...cut a groove for a flat head.

Depending on space u might try a chisle, or a short bit of haxsaw blade. I have done that a few times. It will cut though real easy.

Easiest way to remove a butchered screw is use 'Easy-outs'



Drill a pilot hole in the centre of the screw, then wind the easy out in. They wind in anti-clockwise & after a few turns they will bite into the screw and you can just keep winding & they will wind the screw out.

Ideally you need one of those tap (as in thread tap) holders to clamp onto it to wind it out, but a shifter will do the trick if you are careful.

ok got my fog lights done now, painted them white, good thing about the paint being on the inside and baking the light is that u dont have to wait for the paint to be completely dry (if u r impatient like me lol), just make sure u didnt preheat the oven (so the temp change is gradual enough to not screw up the paint)

although it ended up taking me half a day to do my lights (on and off).. and i still have to seal them properly.

now since they r the spare set... i just hope that everything works (dont think they were ever tested since before i got them)