When a retro is done correctly it should look factory? Right?

 

Didn't Saleen use Ebay OEM style lights? Those aren't permaseal

 

I work with both
Just opened a set of OEM lights the other day and I have another OEM set to open pretty soon.

 

What's the secret to permaseal on these 11th gens then? I plan on doing a retro on my new truck which is a 11th gen.

 

I typically do 15-20 minutes in the oven at 245*F, get a corner of the headlight going, then back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so.
Once you break the seal in one spot, the rest opens up just by pulling apart.

 

saleen,

First off, thanks for the input. It helps to ease my mind a little. How do you keep the permaseal (once partially melted) off of the headlight lens? From what I've read, a lot of people had this issue as well.

 

Also, thanks to the recommendation by MGD, I got home just now and blew the dust off of my old stock heads from my '10 FX2. These will be my test subjects to see just how bad this permaseal stuff is.

Pacman, I had thought of that idea once MGD suggested going to a junk yard for testing purposes. I do like the look of the OEM heads though. I was thinking of maybe cracking open the '10s, ordering all of the parts to do the '13s, and doing a retrofit with the '10s just to see how they turn out. If I don't like it, I can just swap the parts into the '13 like I had planned to do anyway.

 

Thank you good sir

 

I try to take off what I can while it's still hot, then just reheat it as needed to help remove the rest. It's time consuming, but just be careful with the lens.

 

So I got home today from work excited to throw some headlights in the oven! After several weird/confused/angry/suspicious looks from my wife, I pre-heated to 245 degrees. I threw one of those bad boys in there and set the timer to 15 minutes and waited.



15 minutes later, I threw on my gloves and took the headlight out to the garage where I had several screw drivers ready to start prying. I started at the bottom and started to work my way across with a flat head. Some of the glue was somewhat soft and workable. Some of it was even coming off in small pieces so that I could grab and pull. After about 5 minutes or so, I could tell it was starting to cool down, so I put them back in the oven for 10 minutes. After that, I started again at the same spot as before. At this point, the plastic backing of the headlight was pretty soft and bendable. With each pry of the screwdriver, the plastic would just give away leaving nothing else to pry against. This glue is no joke. Once I had already busted one of the tabs and bent some of the plastic back from prying, I decided to REALLY try to get under the lens and see if I could even get to a corner without completely screwing up the housing. Nope......I didn't even bother going further. Just from the little bit I did, I could tell I would end up demolishing any sense of a headlight if I were to continue. Not that I care about these test heads, but I would seriously be bummed if I had even done SOME of the damage I did on these to my '13s. Sooooo...that's it. Not worth it to me to destroy some $1000 heads to make them better. As much as I REALLY want to do this, I just don't possess the talent to do it properly or without damaging something in the process. Here is the aftermath:







So I'm sure I'm doing something wrong as I know people have already done this successfully. Although, so far, most of the success stories have been from people who do it for a living/side job.

Annnnnnnnnnndddddd here is what the rest of my night will consist of:



and to all those who have successfully opened a set of permasealed headlights.

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...oyal-pita.html

Look farmiliar?

See Post # 20 ....

You give up too easily - and yall haven't even destroyed the other one yet,

And:

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...emoval-Process


http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...rmaseal-lights

 

Yup, MGD. I feel that man's frustration. Although, I didn't even try for more than 30 minutes. I knew within that time frame that it just wasn't going to happen without destroying them. And that's enough for me to know that I wasn't even going to try this with my brand new heads. Even one of those little scratches and I would be PO'd. Props to those who have tried and succeeded. Guess it's just not for me. If people weren't charging around $2000 for this upgrade already completed, I would consider buying them and selling my stocks. But even if I sell mine for $1000, I'd be paying $1000 for the upgraded one's. Just not worth it. I'll keep my stocks and be happy that they are 10x better than any halogens on the road.

 

I WISH it were as easy as that TRS video shows! That is, of course, with butyl though. Not even close to as easy as that. Permaseal is the devil!

 

Ah, Roger that.

Too bad there isn't a headlight opening service offered by the retrofitting dealers ( or IS there ? Hmmmm .... )

Sorry - the TRS vidya was posted only to show the description below it: Permaseal Headlights: 285 Fahrenheit for 23 minutes

PS: ye did look at pst # 20, right? ;-))

If you were closer, I'd buy you a

MGD

 

Howdy thar, il duce!

30 minutes 'n ye dun give out? Hell fahr, son! Ye ain't French, ere ye?

Resiliency, bud...resiliency! It's a royal PITA workin' wiff Permaseal, but it can be done. Heck, the retrofittin' fellers whut does it fer a livin' has to do 'em all the time, 'n I jist aboot betchee they puts thur britchees on jist lahk y'all does it. They hain't got nary extry set'a hands ner nuffin' nether. Lol!

Just set aside a couple hours and get it done. Be patient. Slow 'n steady. Ye might booger the edges a might, but that's whut the butyl tape's fer.

You got this, man. I gots faith in ye!