Got my orangeless headlights... now how do i put em in?

Today is a good day, the fed-ex man just showed up with my Orange-free headlights. Now the question is how do i put them in? There seems to be lots of things I can start to unscrew and pull away but i figure id ask and see if there are any faqs or tips you might have before i dig to deep.

Did your car come with an owner's manual? I suggest you look in there before you start unscrewing and pulling away. Seriously though, read the manual. Popping out the headlights is very easy. Unscrew the plastic thumbscrews so you can pull back the carpet in the trunk then use the socket tool to pop out the entire headlamp assembly.

Don't unscrew anything !!!!! As the man said, read the manual and try to change a headlight bulb....... ....the rest will be obvious.

You mean you can actually by those un the US. Where did you get them and how much are they? Thorsten Apart fom that:

psych.....probably not the best thread to start. This is the stuff that is in the manual which is why you are going to get a lot of RTFM posts.

I didnt think replaceing the entire headlight assembly would be covered in the oweners manual actually! I wrote the first post at work after taking a peek at the trunk in the parking lot, figure by the time i got home there would be some suggestions for me. Glad to see this is something easy to do!

Extremely easy psych.....just a basic 1/2 turn of the special tool in your tool kit and the whole assembly slides right out. Slide the new one in and turn back 1/2 turn till you hear it lock. Voila! New lights. This is also the procdure you follow to replace a bulb. It is detailed in the manual.

Well Im finished...car looks MUCH better without the gnarly orange. My car is black so this really makes a difference imo. im still feeling like a noob though... man i can see why about 6 months ago they ran a piece here in LA on the news about 911s being the target for Litronic theft! Piece of cake to pull it out thats for sure! toddel, i found mine on Ebay for $500 plus another 35 for the corner pieces as this set didnt include them. I have seen the orange ones go for around $200 on ebay so if you resell your old ones you should be able to do the upgrade for $300 or so. psychonoob

Pretty easy, right? Now this next mod will completely remove the amber (if you use a Silvervision or other silver coated turn signal bulb). Click here for instructions on performing this mod. Thanks to Henry V. on Renntech.org for the pictures and instructions.

that is definitely the next step! is he just using a pen style soldering iron as the melting device?

Yup. He used a soldering iron. http://hverheyen.vssi-eda.com/box_pics/lights/

Okay, now I get it - yours are not completely white yet. That was what I was wondering about. Would have been nice to order them with the soldering job already done. I already bought a set of litronics on Ebay Germany this week and was lucky to get them for 720EUR(!). Normally they go for about 800EUR~1000 USD. Since I own a C4 I already have the sam set in my car but I will need those to be able to sell the car with a legal headlight configuration in the future or for the T�V every two years. Thorsten

Yep. Henry used my soldering iron and I took the pictures. 40 watt Weller. We had a work on cars day and needed somethig to do.

I ordered some Silvervisions last night and just my luck I have the exact same 40 watt Weller in my toolbox! Sweet!

I must admit I have a problem with the fog light conversion... Unless he's used a lower watt bulb he'll will not make any new friends with this mod. At least not among people forced to drive behind him for more than 1 mile. I personally feel the strong urge to force people off the Autobahn who drive in front of me with their fog lights on on a rainy night.

i have the old style orange headlights on a '99 996. i have to replace the orang reflectors on the headlight assembly cause one snapped. can i replace them with what appears to be a clear marker from an '00? anyone know what that will look like?

Hi. Can you post a picture of the headlight? I want to see exactly what piece snapped off. If it is just the corner piece that snapped off then you can replace it easily (you need to specify whether you have headlight washers or not). I don't recommend getting a clear corner piece because it would look odd IMO. The bottom amber (indicator) section of the '99 headlights are actually part of the assembly. I don't think they can be replaced/taken out. Try to do a search on eBay for used '00 or later (clear) halogen headlights -- a lot of folks are upgrading to Litronics and sell the old halogen headlights. The better upgrade is of course to get the Litronics Retrofit Kit which is about $1,100 new.

Toddel68, Its not the fog light, its the signal light. It won't bother anyone, providing he use a silver color bulb that lights up amber.

programmatore - you're right: i'm referring to the corner piece thats just an orange reflector, not a light. i wasn't sure what it would look like if i just replaced that part with a clear one. since i have to replace it i thought i'd jump at the opportunity to install some clear pieces. thanks for the info, i think i'll stick with the amber since i dont have the money to upgrade to halogens/litronics

I was referring to pics 15+16 on (in reading sequence) on http://hverheyen.vssi-eda.com/box_pics/lights/ As far as I understood the fog lights are converted to be on all the time as long as the normal lights are on. Or did I get it wrong somehow? However, converted mine today and I love it. By the way: this orange plastic seems to be coming right out of hell. Hard as steel and flexible as chewing gum. Must be the only plastic part on the car not designed to break under stress Before in normal light: At sunset with the the light in photographers back After mod: Thorsten

Looks great! Now you need a silver hood crest to go with the clear headlights! I know, I know, the mods never stop!