I finally got a day off around here so I thought I'd waste it by tackling the clear corners project. First off, thanks to everyone here for first of all pioneering this mod and also providing great information in taking on this task. Let me just say, this project takes patience of gigantic proportions if you don't know what to expect. However, if you know what to expect this doesn't take much time at all. I thought I might share some tips that really helped me get this thing done!!

Tools needed:
1. Phillips head screwdriver
2. 10 mm socket
3. 8 mm socket
4. Socket Extension
5. Oven
6. Helpful assistant (preferably very pretty and with a lot of patience!!!!)
7. Budha like patience and determination

1. I don't have a helms manual so I was initially worried about getting my front bumper off. I was unsure of all the various bolts and their locations. So here is a quick breakdown of what to expect. Start with the black strip with the weatherstripping on it in the engine bay. Undue the phillips screws and take the black strip off. Now look to the left and right where the weatherstripping tucked under the fender. You will see a bolt facing out at you. Remove that one. (see picture)

Now proceed under the front bumper armed with your trusty 10 mm socket and have at the bolts on the underside of the bumper cover. There are 9 total I believe, 3 on the side sections and 3 in the middle straight section:

Now grab an 8 mm socket with an extension and head over to the wheel well. Look to where the fender and the bumper cover meet. There is a bolt there that is very hard to find and will cause you much grief if you don't realize its there and try to pull your bumper cover off......not that I would ever do that

Now here is the uncomfortable part. Grab the bumper at the wheel well and start to pull. Look between the bumper cover and just under the headlight. There is a small metal tab that protrudes upwards into a slot in the bumper cover. So to remove lift the bumper upwards and pull out. Either that, or get a small flat metal object and help the slot over that metal tab. Repeat for the other side and voila, your bumper is free!!!

2. Next comes the headlight. First remove the metal brace under the headlight. There are four 10 mm bolts that are gold in color that hold that in place

Now back up to the engine bay and look in the first hole on the rad support by the headlight. Undo the 10 mm bolt in there. Next, if you move directly toward the back of the car from the hole you were just in, there will be 3 bolts. Undo the middle one.

One more bolt to go!! Look under the headlight back towards the splashguard that makes the fenderwell. There is one bolt hidden way up in there towards the outside of the car. It too is 10 mm in size and an extension is needed. Sorry, couldn't get a pic of this. Your headlight is now free!!
To make things even easier, you will notice that all of the bolts for the headlight are the same color. They are all a flat greyish color.

3. Undo the proper connections (3 total) and take your headlight up to your waiting oven. PreHeat to 200 deg F. Stick it in there and let warm for about 5 mins. Now I've heard various ways to do this, but this worked best for me. Grab the headlight at the pointy end. There will be a bolt support on the black part that is convienently placed so you can grab it with the other hand. Now pull!!! I know it sounds brutal but it really worked the best for me. Coax it along by placing a small plaster tool (about an inch across) inbetween the black part and the headlight. After much pulling sweating and cursing, the two halves will begin to seperate. Now have your trusty assistant cut away at that evil black glue (what is that crap anyways!!). Make sure your assistant takes car of the tabs as you proceed. Clickety click Barba trick, you have 2 halves with very little distortion to the black housing!!! Undo the 3 screws and remove the ugly orange piece and smile!! I then placed some black sealant into the groove on the black housing where the headlight cover sits in. Place the two halves together, stick back in the oven heat for a few minutes and press together doing up all the tabs on the way. Put everything back together and finally done!!!

Sorry bout the length of this, but I thought it might save someone a little pain and misery!!

 

Thanx. I'm gonna order my AEM in the next few days so I think I'll do the clear corners when I install that. I'm sure this will help me out. thanx a lot

 

Excellent write up, thanks!

 

almost wished you were local to me to help me.

Yeah, any local Bay Area people want to help me clear my corners?

 

And just as a side note, it's almost impossible to tell whether or not you got the housings completely sealed when you put them back together. So because of this, you'll never really know if moisture can get inside the housing until it actually does.

After I did my conversion, my housings were fine for two or three months, and then I got caught in a huge storm downpour. Well moistre got in somehow, and a lot of it. I'm sure wherever the seal was broken it was tiny, but still big enough.

Anyway, the water in the housing would not evaporate in time. It would seem to go about 80% away after like a day of sitting, but as soon as the temperature dropped, the moisture would reform. At the time, the S was my only car, so I was forced to drive it. Big mistake. I think a combination of the sun and the high intensity discharge headlamp ended up baking the water that was in the housing and it totally stained and clouded up my housing. Since this was my only car, I didn't have the time during the week to open the housing up and clean it out so it jsut got worst.

I tried bleaching the discoloration out and also tried to buff out the little dots that it looked as if the dried water made, but I had little luck.

So my advice would be that if you ever do get moisture in the housing, open it up and clean it out as soon as possible. The housing that got screwed up isn't all that bad, but it certainly looks as if it belongs on a car a few years older while the other one is spotless.

I've got a thread with pics of the housings here...
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...clear+headlight

 

dang, looks nice as hell
I want mine to be cleared out but don't have the skills and time. I wish there was a shop that does it for around 100 to 200 that i am willing to pay.

 

S2KO, Thanks for a great post, and doing what some of us who have done this job before should have done. This will be a great help to others on this board who attempt the job!

 

Great post. Thanks a lot. It looks very helpful.

 

hey man, what the hell is wrong with you??...we need to see some final pictures!

i did mine in early september, and haven't had any problems yet (knock on wood). i used a heat gun, which was very very very difficult, 'cause it took me three days (a total of 10 hours). i think it was worth it though, 'cause my S2000 looks even more beautiful than before. thanks for the post man.

 

No problem at all guys. This board has been so helpful to me in the past so I'm just glad I could finally contribute something of use for you guys
On the topic of sealing your headlights, I agree completely with Jaded41. This was my main apprehension in doing this mod. I made sure I had plenty of sealant in the seam between the two halves. It actually rained hard down here the night I did this!!! I was afraid I didn't give enough time for the sealant to cure but I (knock on wood) haven't seen any signs of leakage yet. I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope I got lucky with this!!