Retrofit - Has Anyone Tried A Cardboard Box + Heat Gun Instead Of Oven?

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So as many of you know I'm going to be doing my first retrofit soon and I've been watching YouTube videos and learning everything I can before I get started.

I came across a YouTube video and I saw something I've never seen before. The person used a big cardboard box, modified, and put a heat gun into a small tube leading into the box. He did this instead of the oven technique to open the lights.

292dba23f4991bb90680b1d4c3fa33a8.jpgcc48eef59e9dc738465d9e495626f268.jpg

https://youtu.be/0nd6x0zlNTw

Has anyone tried this themselves or even heard of anyone doing this? How does it compare to the oven method? I have a very nice heat gun and I could get cardboard very easily so I was wondering if this method is used by others and how well it actually works. Being that the lights most likely had permaseal on them, it looks like he got them separated in one try, which seems extremely rare considering most people say they need 2 or 3 re-bakes to get them open.

Judging by some of the comments on the YouTube video it seems others have tried this method and have had success.

Any opinions or experience with this method?

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Rzrman328

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Do the oven method.

In between when I took mine out of the oven and when it was getting cold I would use the heat gun.....it worked ok....but I just found myself poppin it back in the oven for another 5-8 minutes and then goin back to town when I pulled it out.

And the thing about YouTube videos is stuff can be edited....stuff they may have had to do "behind the scenes" that we won't ever see.


Awww...crap just remembered your oven situation.....lol
 
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Do the oven method.

In between when I took mine out of the oven and when it was getting cold I would use the heat gun.....it worked ok....but I just found myself poppin it back in the oven for another 5-8 minutes and then goin back to town when I pulled it out.

And the thing about YouTube videos is stuff can be edited....stuff they may have had to do "behind the scenes" that we won't ever see.


Awww...crap just remembered your oven situation.....lol
It's cool I actually am allowed to use the oven. Lol. I asked and explained it and she was surprisingly ok with it.

I was just wondering if this worked just as well... it would just be easier to do/use.

So I'm guessing nobody else has ever tried this?

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I came across that video as well before I did my retro....I just decided the oven was the best route. I found way more retros that had been done using the oven method and so I didn't even entertain the box idea.
 

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I am currently doing mine and I found a heat gun worked very well to open them up. And I watched that video and it really didn't help me that much. I'm currently painting so pics will come when I get done. Also it is very easy to strip the adjustment screws on the headlights so don't be like me and break them


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I am currently doing mine and I found a heat gun worked very well to open them up. And I watched that video and it really didn't help me that much. I'm currently painting so pics will come when I get done. Also it is very easy to strip the adjustment screws on the headlights so don't be like me and break them


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What did you do? Just go around the headlight seal for 15-20 minutes with the heat gun? Can you explain your method a little bit please and also what lights you used the heat gun to open (oem or replicas? Quads, Duals or Projectors?)

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What did you do? Just go around the headlight seal for 15-20 minutes with the heat gun? Can you explain your method a little bit please and also what lights you used the heat gun to open (oem or replicas? Quads, Duals or Projectors?)

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I did mine with only using a heat gun, they were 2015 quad headlights, and I did it with a buddy of mine. He worked the heat gun and I had used two different size screwdrivers to pry it open. Worked great.
Got them both laying open for about a month now, still deciding if I'm just going to paint them or retrofit them.
 
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And I think the reason behind the box is, that way it essentially creates an oven, without the risk of melting your light on the metal parts inside an oven.
 
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I did mine with only using a heat gun, they were 2015 quad headlights, and I did it with a buddy of mine. He worked the heat gun and I had used two different size screwdrivers to pry it open. Worked great.
Got them both laying open for about a month now, still deciding if I'm just going to paint them or retrofit them.
So your buddy used the heat gun while you pryed away on it section by section? How long did each headlight take to do? Got any pictures??
And I think the reason behind the box is, that way it essentially creates an oven, without the risk of melting your light on the metal parts inside an oven.
Yea I figured that. Seems like a pretty cool idea.

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So your buddy used the heat gun while you pryed away on it section by section? How long did each headlight take to do? Got any pictures??

Yea I figured that. Seems like a pretty cool idea.

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Don't have any pics of the process, it took about an hour and a half for the first one and an hour for the second, we weren't in a hurry though. I highly recommend taking your time and be careful with that heat gun, and have a couple drinks on hand.
We worked around the outside first and the did the straight part of the light last, the piece that's under the grille.
The hardest part is getting all the permaseal of the lens and the housing once you have them apart.

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. I highly recommend taking your time and be careful with that heat gun

This would be the best advice....take your time!

I had a second set of heads to run during my build and it took me over a week to get both retros done from start to finish.

I rushed one spot and broke a clip :favorites68:

As far as the heat gun....be careful to keep a good distance as you can easily warp the plastic...once that happens, done sir done.
 
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This would be the best advice....take your time!

I had a second set of heads to run during my build and it took me over a week to get both retros done from start to finish.

I rushed one spot and broke a clip :favorites68:

As far as the heat gun....be careful to keep a good distance as you can easily warp the plastic...once that happens, done sir done.
My buddy put a yellow spot on my lens when wasn't paying attention for a second, it's in the corner by the grille so you can't see it.
 

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Okay to explain I did have quad replicas. I used the heat gun and just went about 6in at a time around it to melt the glue a little and used a screwdriver to pry it until I could just pull it apart.


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Don't have any pics of the process, it took about an hour and a half for the first one and an hour for the second, we weren't in a hurry though. I highly recommend taking your time and be careful with that heat gun, and have a couple drinks on hand.
We worked around the outside first and the did the straight part of the light last, the piece that's under the grille.
The hardest part is getting all the permaseal of the lens and the housing once you have them apart.

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This would be the best advice....take your time!

I had a second set of heads to run during my build and it took me over a week to get both retros done from start to finish.

I rushed one spot and broke a clip :favorites68:

As far as the heat gun....be careful to keep a good distance as you can easily warp the plastic...once that happens, done sir done.

My buddy put a yellow spot on my lens when wasn't paying attention for a second, it's in the corner by the grille so you can't see it.
All good advice... thanks guys.
Okay to explain I did have quad replicas. I used the heat gun and just went about 6in at a time around it to melt the glue a little and used a screwdriver to pry it until I could just pull it apart.


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Yours were replicas... which are 100x times easier to open because they use Butyl to seal them instead of Permaseal.

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Okay to explain I did have quad replicas. I used the heat gun and just went about 6in at a time around it to melt the glue a little and used a screwdriver to pry it until I could just pull it apart.


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As he said with the heat gun you try to work sections at a time, don't try to heat the whole light at once, 6 to 8 inches works perfect.
 
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As he said with the heat gun you try to work sections at a time, don't try to heat the whole light at once, 6 to 8 inches works perfect.
Yea that's what i figured. Divide it up into 4 or 5 sections and work on 1 section at a time.

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As for resealing, can I just put the Butyl (using Morimoto RetroRubber) on the housing, push the lense over it, use some tie-down straps, clamp them real tight and then go around the light with the heat gun and melt the glue to reseal it? Would this method work?

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The downside to the box with heatgun is a lot of heat will be concentrated on one spot which can warp, discolor, or many other horrible things.
 

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I used this tape on my heads and it did ok but I wouldn't use it again. If I do my other set I'll use black or clear silicone like i did on my taillights....much easier to work with...IMO
 

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dhows31

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As for resealing, can I just put the Butyl (using Morimoto RetroRubber) on the housing, push the lense over it, use some tie-down straps, clamp them real tight and then go around the light with the heat gun and melt the glue to reseal it? Would this method work?

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That's exactly what I plan to do


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