What is with all the headlights or headlight housings with broken tabs? I've noticed many posts in the "For Sale" forum and/or eBay that mentions this. Do they get broken during the process of clearing the corners or are they easily damaged from a front end collision?



... you gotta drive it like you just stole it !!

 

You guessed it, they easily damaged from a front end collision.

 

I also think people tend to be overly aggressive when clearing out their lights. Instead of being nice to the tabs when they bend them they just yank them and the plastic breaks.

 

Once the tabs are broken ... are the headlights trash?




... you gotta drive it like you just stole it !!

 

If the tabs are the slotted ones that hold the clear lens to the housing (black, if memory serves), then the headlights are not trashed.

Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get the largest zip-ties they sell. These are usually about 2'+ long and very stout, the kind that HVAC techs use. If the lenses are not attached to the housings, warm up the housings and lenses so the goop gets nice and sticky viscous (225 deg at 10 mins or so) Take them out, attach, wrap in a clean towel/sheet, and zip-tie those suckers as tight as you dare. Then back in the oven for another ten minutes, remove the headlights and retension the zip ties if necessary. Leave the assembly to cool for a good hour with the zip-ties on. Then remove the zip ties and put a nice bead of RTV around the seam.

If your lenses are on the housings, do the same as above, but go ahead and wrap and zip tie them before the first baking session.

Good luck