Disassembling Mach HIDs for painting - Steps 1 & 2 (56K Maybe)

[Peloton25]

There's been a lot of talk recently about painting the insides of headlights - and specifically the Mach HIDs. A lot of people seem hesitant to attempt to take them apart given the price if you screw something up - I can't say I blame them.

Since I have done it now several times, I'm happy to offer my complete tutorial on what I think is the best way. I'm sure there are other ways - in fact on my first attempt I didn't do most of step 1 that I'm about to outline in detail, but I think it's a good idea and I will be taking the time to do it from now on with all the lamps I take apart for this process. If you disagree, that's fine. Feel free to state any differing opinions or offer other suggestions, but lets keep this thread free of any arguing.

If you don't want to mess with taking out 'the guts' of the lamp, you are welcome to skip over all these steps and jump straight into the oven with it, but don't come crying to me if you have problems with your lamps once the job is complete. A little preventative work ahead of time could save you trouble later on.

So here goes with step 1...

= = = = = =

We'll start with some shots of the lamp in it's virgin form, fresh from the box.





This is the ballast that so many people talk about. We will remove that later.



The first steps involve removing the plastic trim around the outside of the lamp housing. Starting from the inner most corner of the top of the light, pull the three clips forward carefully until the tab can fit through the large section of the keyhole opening.



Now move to the side of the lamp and remove the rubber piece that clips onto the side trim piece.




Slide the side trim piece forward to remove it being careful with the clips.



Pop the three silver "U" clips off the outside of the lamp housing. There are two on the outer side and one near the inner corner of the lamp along the seam where the clear plastic meets the black housing.



Press in on the four tabs that hold the rear cover in place and remove it. Keep it handy, as it makes a wonderful parts tray.



Some shots of what you can expect to find inside - I took a few from different angles to be used as a reference.



Pay close attention to the location of these two wires connected to the bottom of the projector - more on them later.



Here's a shot of the high beam bulb in place.



Part of the harness is held in place in this clip just below the projector.



Now that we have acquainted ourselves with the innards, it's time to get them out. Start by twisting the bulb igniter counter-clockwise. Doing this will release the connector at the end of the green wires from the igniter. Don't try to pull the connector out of the igniter on it's own.



Now pull the igniter straight out from the projector housing, revealing the bulb.



Use a pair of long needle nose pliers to reach in and remove the green wire from the projector housing. Be sure to grab the spade connector itself, and do not simply pull on the wire - it will break.

DO NOT try to remove the other connector with the brown/black wires at this time. It will stay in place until the projector housing is removed.



Now undo the two retainer clips that hold the bulb in place.



Remove the bulb and set it aside. Hold it carefully and be sure not to touch the glass. I put mine in a ziplock bag until the process is complete.



Now this is how things should look. Note that I tuck the green wires through one of the back cover clips to keep them out of the way. Also note that there are three nuts that hold the projector housing in place. We'll remove those shortly.



Removing the high beam bulb is much simpler than it might appear. You simply need to loosen the two torx screws (T-20) holding it in place ever so slightly, and then you can rotate the bulb counter-clockwise and pull it out. You can see by looking at the bulb holder (still attached) that it just has little tabs on the end, and the screws don't go through them.



Leave the screws in place - there is no need to remove them completely.



Remove the high beam bulb from the connector, again being careful not to touch the glass on the bulb itself and set the bulb aside.



Now twist and remove the turn signal bulb holder and set that aside. Do the same with the city light bulb holder.



Grab a 9/32" deep socket (yeah, who has one of those? ) and remove those three nuts that hold the projector housing in place.



The projector housing will be loose now, but will not come right out. This is where it gets a bit tricky.



See that white ball joint (it's one of the leveling adjusters for the projector).



...using a socket on the outside of the lamp, turn the adjustment knob...



...until the white ball joint has pulled itself in (towards the back of the lamp) as far as it will go.



Then using a flat blade screwdriver, carefully pop the black connector off the white ball to free the projector housing. Try to find the optimum angle and don't break the thing in the process.



I didn't take any photos, but it will help at this point to turn the other adjustment knob on the ouside of the lamp housing at the top so that the projector carrier is pushed as far into the lamp as possible moving it and the threaded posts out of your way.

Now CAREFULLY twist and pull and tilt the projector housing to squeeze it through what little space there is and pull it out of the back of the lamp being mindful of the brown/black wire connector that is still attached to it.



Partial victory here - the projector housing is now out.



Learning the hard way here, don't break the connector on the brown/black wires when you attempt to disconnect it the wrong way like I did. What you need to do is take a sharp pointy object and stick it into that small hole on the top of the connector's socket (nearest my index finger) while carefully pulling on the back of the connector (not the wires) to remove it. It comes out easily if you do it right.



Here's some shots of the projector housing out of the lamp. Fancy looking, isn't it.



In this shot, you can see that there is a shield inside the reflector bowl that is not shiny, and actually reduces the light output of the Mach HIDs. Some people have removed this shield for better lighting performance. You can choose to do it at this point, or simply leave it in place if you aren't interested.



If you decide to remove it, its a fairly simple process. Simply bend the two tabs that clip over the projector housing up as seen in this shot.



Then bend the entire mounting arm downwards - do this carefully so that you don't have the shield scratching the heck out of your reflector bowl at the same time.



Now rotate the shield downwards...



...and slide it out the side of the projector housing.



Leaving behind the shiny reflective surface of the projector bowl. Note that the projector housing is actually being held upside down at this point.



Back to the inside of the lamp housing - this is what we are left with once the projector housing comes out. On the three posts where you removed the 9/32nds retaining nuts you will find three rubber spacers/washers that allow for some movement of the projector housing when it is installed. Remove these and put them in your parts tray I mentioned previously.



Now remove the three outer most torx screws from the ballast. Don't touch the four on the ballast case - there will be no need to take the ballast apart.



Once the three screws are out, the ballast pulls straight off the bottom of the lamp housing. That red rubber gasket is a loose item, so don't let it wander away. Take it off and put it with the other parts for safe keeping.



Squeeze that silver clip, and pull it out of the holder on the black plastic housing. Don't bother taking it apart further - there is no need to.



Now back to the ballast connection point. See the three little tabs/clips that stick out from the (in this case) top side of the connector. Using a small flat blade screwdriver, push them down towards the center of the connector, while putting slight inward pressure on the connector itself.



It should pop loose into the lamp housing. Here's another angle on those little tabs/clips.



Here's a shot to acquaint yourself with most of what is left. This is kind of where it gets tricky, and it was difficult to get good photos of some of this. Take your time and read carefully, and you will figure the rest out - I promise.

Look towards the bottom of this photo and you can see there are three wires in there. That brown wire in the foreground is attached to the inner portion of the socket for the turn signal bulb. It has an offshoot wire that connects to the city light as well. One of the black wires is attached to the other side of the turn signal socket. The final black wire is the second wire for the city light and has a large black plastic connector. More on all these wires in a few steps.



This is the outside of the lamp housing looking into the turn signal bulb socket. You can see there are three small indented clips around the outer edge of the connector. Pop these inwards, towards the center of the socket to free the socket from the housing.



Looking inside the lamp housing again, we can see that the turn signal socket is now floating free. Just above the turn signal socket, you can see there is a brown wire running to a spade connector where the city light bulb would be. Pull this towards the front of the housing to get it off using a pair of long needle nose pliers, again grabbing from the brass spade connector and not simply pulling on the wire. With that brown wire removed, there is enough slack in the brown and black wires still connected to the turn signal socket to pull it out through the opening on the back of the lamp housing.



Once you have it out, use a sharp pointy object like a pick tool to remove the two connection points from the plastic socket surround. You basically want to push the tool straight down into the tiny hole that is there and then pry the connector contact out. This is another thing you will want to be careful with.



When you get both out, the wires need to go back into the lamp housing, and the black socket surround can be set aside for a short time.



Here we can see the three wires you just messed with tucked back into the lamp housing. The picture doesn't show it, but they are wrapped around one of the bottom posts that holds the turn signal lens in place and you will have to fish them out underneath that. It's somewhat difficult to pull off so be careful and take your time. You're almost there.



But first, we need to use those long needle nose pliers again to disconnect the black plastic connector that helps power the city light. This one is tricky to get at, and takes a bit of force to remove.



Hopefully you have small hands and are patient, as fishing these wires and the contacts at the ends of them under this post is rather tedious. The brown wire that ran to the turn signal socket with the long copper kinked copper contact can be fished under the post first, as can the offshoot brown wire with the spade connector that ran to the citylight. Take your time being careful not to snag the contacts and break them off in the process. Long nosed tweezers will help at this point.



The brown wires are now free, though you can't see the spade connector in this shot.



Next fish the black wire that ran to the turn signal socket out through the same gap.



That black plastic connector we pulled off the city light socket won't fish through the same hole as it is too large. What you can do to get it out is press down on the floor of the lamp housing and carefully squeeze that wire under the clear plastic piece that sticks down from the turn signal lens mount.



Once that nightmare is over, there's just easy stuff left. Going back to the high beam bulb connector, pry the tabs on each side of this silver clip thing outwards and pop it off the black connector.



Now move over to the lamp housings outside socket for the headlight wiring harness.



...and use a small flat blade screw driver to pry it out from the side with the small tongue. Do this while reaching inside the lamp housing and pushing the connector outwards and it should pop free from the housing. A bit tricky, but not impossible.



Once it is free you can begin to feed the entire inner harness that you just spent all that time removing out through this hole like so.



Out comes the ballast connector...



The wires/contacts for the turn signal socket...



Once those are both out, I recommend reinstalling them into the socket so you don't forget how they go. That silver piece for the brown spade that powers the city light must have come out somehow, but I don't recall exactly how that happened. If it comes out for you, do what I did and stick them together so it doesn't go missing.



Here's an overhead shot to make it clear which fits where. You will have the lamp housing opened up when it comes time to put all this back in, so you won't have to worry about putting things back the same way they came out.



Remove the rubber vent tube from the back of the lamp housing next to where the city light plugs in.



...and VIOLA!!! You are done, and ready to stick these things right into the oven. Here's some more reference shots from all sides to show what's left.







Here's your loose parts tray - don't lose this stuff.



And look - the lamp housing is now ready for some home style cooking courtesy of you.



Directions for that are coming up shortly in part 2.

>8^)
ER

[Peloton25]

Here's part 2 - I wrote this up for another thread previously, so the info might overlap some of what is in the post above. I don't feel like retyping it all now.

I don't have any other photos from this step, but I could take some of another lamp this weekend if there is some demand for that.

= = = = = =

The headlights can be completely disassembled by sticking them in the oven on a cookie sheet at around ~225 degrees (use a real oven thermometer inside the oven) for periods of about 5 minutes at a time. Some have suggested a higher temperature, or a longer time period, but I have found this combo works well.

Monitor them closely if you attempt this - if the oven is too hot you can destroy the back side of the housing. At 225 degrees, the black plastic softens slightly, but does not deform or melt. At over 300 degrees the black plastic will begin to deform and bend, so you want to be certain on the temperature.

The entire process can be completed in around 25 minutes including time spent in the oven. It should be noted that I'm not responsible if you try this and mess up a perfect set of headlights. I am only describing what has worked for me - your mileage may vary.



Every 5 minutes, you will want to remove them from the oven to work on the area with the sealant. When you remove them (they will be hot) you use a small thin bladed screwdriver and run it between the black plastic housing and the clear plastic lens pointing the screwdriver in the direction of the seam, not perpendicular to it and driving it forward down the seam. The screwdriver will start to pick away at the silicone sealant that holds the two outer pieces together.

Some of it will come out in chunks, but at these temperatures it is not sticky. You aren't heating the housing to melt the adhesive, but rater to make the housing a little more pliable to allow better access with the tools to cut through the adhesive. I'm sure the heat helps to break the bond of the glue a bit as well, but you aren't trying to melt anything.

Once you've gotten all the way around the outside of the housing with the small screwdriver, you can insert a hook tool - the end of mine looks like a "?" on a stick - to wrap around the clear lens and break the silicone seal on the inner side of the lens. The black plastic housing basically has a channel that the silicone is in, and then the edge of the lens is pressed into the silicone to seal it up. Once you dig into it you'll better understand what I am talking about.

This method works 100x better than attempting to use the heat gun as some (including myself) have discovered. Most heat guns run at 500-1500 degrees depending on the setting and anything over about 300 degrees will begin to deform the black plastic on the housing as mentioned above.

The oven provides an even amount of heat all the way around, as opposed to the concentrated heat put out by the heat gun nozzle. The oven method sounds scary, but is really much safer and easier that attempting to do it with a heat gun so long as you pay close attention and monitor the oven temperature and don't leave it in too long.

This method can also be used to take apart the Focus HID headlamps like the one in my photo, although I definitely recommend stripping them of the innards prior to putting them in the oven. That process is somewhat tedious, and you have to know what you are doing to get everything out the right way. (See above now...) When I did my set I took plenty of photos and will put them up in a thread with a written tutorial hopefully before the end of next week. (Hey, that's this thread!)

You can chance putting the HID headlamps in the oven without stripping them, as I did that one time, but I think it is worth the extra effort to do it the hard way.

Once the lens is separate from the housing, the chrome trim bezel can be pulled out and you can do what you want to paint it. I'm not the greatest painter, so I'll leave you to your own devices to find painting tips. I have had good success with spray cans, but for the trouble this is worth you might want to have yours painted professionally.

We'll get into the reassembly process of the Machs in a later post. For now, I think there is enough to chew on here.

>8^)
ER

[CrUziN4L]

i would leave some chrome that is around the actual beams chrome...like in the Ferarri superamerica

-chris

[Peloton25]

Some people have masked off the rings around the outside edges of the lights. That seems like it would be an extra PITA though.

I have pictures of five sets of painted Machs that other [FJ] members have done, and three chose to do it that way, with the other two going all black. One of the people who attempted masking off the rings used the wrong kind of tape and actually had some of the chrome peel off with the tape when he went to remove it, forcing him to paint the inner rings around the high beam black too.

I'll put those pics up for reference a little later.

>8^)
ER

[blucarz]

WOW!

Awesome write up, thanks for taking the time to show all of us this.

STICKY PLEASE!

[Peloton25]

Thanks - I tried to make it as comprehensive as possible.

I'm sure xerofall or Majikal will be adding it to the Sticky at the top of the forum if it proves to be a popular discussion.

Also, this thread in its original form was a complete bandwidth killer so I've just gone back through and made most of the images clickable thumbnails to help people with slower connections.

>8^)
ER

[Tobyboom]

Great timing man.... Considering I just finished mine up LAST WEEK!!! LoL





Sorry for the pic quality, these were with my cell phone.


But anyhow, that is probably the most comprehensive write-up I have ever seen. You did a great job detailing everything and ever step. Although a lot of it isnt a MUST DO, I'd suggest that people do it your way. Again, thanks for the great write-up man.

One thing that I might add to this is the painting of the actual projector housing. If you notice in my pics, you can see the outer ring of the projector housing which is silver, and it kind of distracts from the overall blackness(couldnt think of a better way to phrase that)

I think that if you mask off the glass, and paint the outer housing of the projector, it would look a lot better in the end. But thats just my 2cents.

[Croc_Tease!]

Tobyboom, is that flat black? That looks AMAZING.

[Kestrel]

Absolutly Amazing.


Funny oven shot. "Whats for dinner ? " "HIDs !"

[Gigaherz]

Holy detailed post proton!

[frocus]

hehe couldn't ask for a better writeup i am going to try this very soon. bump for the sticky great job Peloton

[elderfeces]

this is the most detailed post in the history of the intArw3b. thanks peloton... i still am working up the courage...

[jdh0526]

WOW tobyboom those look amazing

[sdmex87]

im not going to paint my headlights... i dont even have mach hid's.... but wow that was a hell of a write-up, hats off to you sir.

[xerofall]

Oh... I guess I'll put this in the super-stickie.

[Z63R]

this is the most detailed post in the history of the intArw3b. thanks peloton...

I concur absolutely.

Magazine quality (hell, WAY better, actually) work, my friend.

[Tobyboom]

The paint I used was LOW GLOSS BLACK engine paint made by Dupli-Color. One thing I can tell you to MAKE SURE YOU DO is to scuff the chrome parts that you will be painting. It makes the painting/sanding process go SO MUCH easier.

I'll try to get some more detailed pictures this weekend to add to this post if Peloton25 doesnt have a problem with that.

[Peloton25]

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. When someone says they want a complete how-to as several have asked for, that is exactly what I give them. I'll be back to add to this later.

Toby - feel free to add whatever you have. I'm sure others will appreciate it.

>8^)
ER