Please advise on how to perform a Amberectomy

That's my next mod......is it idiot-proof? Details please....

Yes. Just pull toward you from the wheel well end.

NO, there is a risk of burning the blinker hole/seat.. I will find "the thread" https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...berectomy.html note post #32 is very detailed pics... hmmm, some pics look lost, i will locate them, those are on my home computer... Rudy made it thru and if you read the thread you will understand alot

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HAHA, I think I remember that.... Too funny. Isn't that when Marc made that cool book for you?

I consider "idiot proof" a personal challenge.

no this had nothing to do with the book... this is one of my very few sucess stories after several attempts

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Nothing is "idiot proof" - someone will always build a better idiot. "Idiot resistant" is all we can hope for.

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I tend to wear my helmet when performing DIY's.....that way I can't hurt myself..........take a peek from my last DIY. Had to dodge an errant lug nut.

damn Pete, glad that rabid lug nut didnt take a chunck out a yur a$$

Did this mod tonight also, < 2 mins to swap out, 20 mins troubleshooting why they don't blink when the indicators are on, apparently they don't, just too funny.

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That's the side markers I've done that. I thought there was more to a Aberectomy then replacing the side markers.

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You is confused son.......the Amberectomy is done by removing the headlight, taking a soldering iron and cutting / removing the orange film within the headlight turn signal. This will take a little more time. And don't drink the night before.....you need a steady hand for this one.

So it's only for the original fried eggs headlights. We'll side markers done, car looks smooth now, funny I always liked the yellow side markers until I replace them tonight, then WOW that looks so much better.

the steps FYI, the final pic is untouched... that's just the way the camera took it = sometimes I miss that car

ahhhhhh, best to put down the long island ice tea before I get started.

Thats the great thing about my blue lights , you can't see the amber

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Love the look but the mod doesn't look as easy as changing the license plate bulb!

3M protective film, saves your headlights from day to day crap and if you go to the track then no need to tape up.

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I would have someone else do this for you. You're the wheel weigh guy right?

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the headlights come out in 10 seconds... there is a locking screw (cam) and you just "unlock" it and they come out... the actual "operation" takes maybe 30-40 minutes for the first one, and about 15-20 for the second one (because you learned how the dumb thing comes out) I have done 4 complete sets and its one of those mods I love... FREE, and looks WAY BETTER than stock Like I said, the "risk" is burning the holes the blinker socket goes in (so cover it well in foil) and the off chance of getting tiny "junk" in the light, and I have heard too much heat might cause a foggy spot on the outter lens...just dont use a giant solder iron I also heard someone say they just "ripped it out" though that seems like you could break something. Just tak a couple hours, a good chair, some soft towels and go at it .. its fun !

I didn't realize either that the amberectomy is more than just replacing the side markers... Looking at my car the orange inside the lens bothered me, just not enough to really look at it though. I've got a bit of time today so I'll see what kind of trouble I can get myself into here as the photo's of the black car on Ed's post look really good!

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Thanks, thats my old car ..... I have more pics if you like

You gotta love the look post amberectomy. My advice, use a long skinny soldering iron, protect the outside rim of the opening with tin foil, and have a steady hand.

I've already got my headlight out on the breakfast table with the kids wondering what's gonna happen lol I think there's allot of us "newbies" on the forum right now so all this "old" news/ pics is new and great for us.

you can order up some siler colored bulbs that light up amber too... that really completes the looks. Your bulbs will be clear and wont blink amber, and if you replace them with amber you defeat the "get rid of the amber" operation...

man, this thread is giving me a guilt complex...

dont worry Ferd... it looks good on you

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yuppers

Okay, I've pulled the orange all out of the front headlights and then put the orange lights in so it flashes orange again.... the orange is still in there though from the bulbs The Stealth lights are really nice but I'd have to order them and wait at least a week, besides the fact that they are a little pricey so in the interim... I haven't uploaded the pics yet to the computer but all I did was spray paint the orange bulbs aluminum with some high temp paint. It's worked perfectly, they look aluminum and still flash orange. I was worried that I may have put too much paint on them, but they flash orange as if nothing was on them. Anyways I'll let you know how they last. So all up the paint was high temp aluminum 6 bucks and the bulbs were 4. The side markers is the same story, pulled them out and painted them too

Cool.....always more than one way to skin a cat. I would be afraid a little bit of the bulb breaking inside the entire headlight housing though. Looking forward to the pics.

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Bawhahahah!!!!! Tanner, You are taking the ribbing vey well. You are going to fit in here really well!

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Ferd, You are just NOW beginning to have a guilt complex???? Then there is no hope for you. Good one, Ed! I was thinking of posting the same reply myself!

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here is a true DIY'r He made his own light bulbs !! must have saved at least $3 !!! BUT.... he can make more now that he is "tooled up" WTG !

I think that orange makes Ferd's *** look big.

Here are the photo's and it's all good. I'd have to say though I saved WAYYY more than 3 bucks. I'd have to say at least $3.57 !! LOL Anyone thinking about this it's pretty easy and looks great. The sides are done too. If there's anyone in my area that's interested you can come by and we can do this. It takes all of half an hour max. I know Jasper is around the corner but not sure if your bulbs are already silver.

Are you asking for the laparoscopic method, or the 'open' method?

Dan, wake up !! he is done!

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Ill keep the orange then.

PICTURE - INFO REQUEST anyone done or seen or heard of doing the Amberectomy on MKII headlights?? any info ? (dont want to be the first, but then again )

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They have to address the cup holder delete problem first.... C'mon Ed, go for it..... Take one for the team...... Just don't put them in the oven like some maniacs do.

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Why? There is no amber plastic in MK II headlights. The amber you see is from the amber turn signal bulbs, change the bulbs and you should be good to go.

really? all that jello from a bulb - awe... so I think we swap the bulbs and its done (John)

if you're talking side markers - let me know if you need the clears, I never installed ones I bought for my old 996. brand new

cool, I will let people know... no I am talking front (blinkers)

Yep - the orange colour you see in the MkII headlights is all from the orange bulbs. Last fall I did in fact meet up with Jeff ( jcan) and we spray painted my bulbs silver as well. I put a real light coat on at first, and it worked fine (except that I had a bad connection but that wasn't related to the bulb mod). It worked so good in fact that I took them out and put a heavier coat on them. Bad idea, the bulbs were so dim people could obviously not tell if I was signaling or not. What's that saying again about if it ain't broke....? So, a new pair of amber bulbs, and a nice light coat and third time's a charm. I'm blinging with the best of 'em. A set of silver bulbs here will cost at least $30 plus 12% tax....so yes it's worth just painting a $5 set of bulbs. Thanks Jeff for the bright idea (hey - that's kind of like a pun!)

Why are you asking about MkII headlights anyway Ed....have you come back to the wet side ?

He was asking about the wet side for me. I wanted to do the amberectomy on my MKII so I got after it myself to find that the only change needed is to the stealth bulbs....

Yuppers.... the plan was to do the operation, but having never done it on MKII's I asked... then he found out it was so easy even a caveman could do it (hey wait!!!) LOL!

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no no - the saying is, "the enemy of good enough is BETTER!"

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Could you drive up to Toronto so I can take a look at how they look?

The mod looks great, especially on a silver car Normally I'd say no problems on driving out but It's gonna take a more than a few tanks of gas to get out your way, I gotta draw the line somewhere I'll get some more pics if you want though...

The problem I have is that the early mk 1 headlights have the orange built into the plastic of the whole lower display. Some of the later mk 1's (early 2000 onwards) *may* have the little orange 'box' that you can melt away but I have no idea what serial numbers this change occured on. I've found no one who has been able to remove the orange surface that I have that seems to be all the way through the plastic. Short of ebaying/Craiglisting a later set (stupidly over priced used I might add) I'll wait until I can find a 'good' deal on a later set that CAN be mod'ed.

I've been looking for a reasonably priced set of litronics for awhile now and your right. Even the Halogens are crazy expensive. I know they say price them at what the market will pay, but I don't know of anyone who has shelled out 2700 bucks for a set... maybe they'll go back down in price. Funny thing is though the later style 996 headlights seem to be priced cheaper than the early 996 style, don't know why that is....

Do you actually touch the iron to the plastic or just get it really close?

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Sure love to see more pics.

Bumping an old thread with some additional photos that might help:

This is one of my favorite mods and have done it twice....for a boxster and my 996...your car looks great!

I've wanted to do that for a long time but didn't want to risk it. It's probably not as scary as I think. I just retired so now I have time. It really makes a difference.

@wyovino It's pretty easy. The trick I found was to use a cutting tool extension for the soldering iron (I bought a $20 pen iron on amazon that came with it) and to make 3 cuts. The amber piece is shaped like this: |__|. So, the quickest way to cut it apart is to make a cut down the middle of each flat section. 3 cuts total, which should leave you with the corner pieces small enough to extract out. Once you make the bulk of the cut on each "panel" just poke a hole somewhere in each piece so you can stick your needle nose pliers through the piece to get something to hold on to and then twist to break it apart. It took about 15 minutes per headlight and it's pretty hard to screw up.

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its really a piece of cake. One thing to do is line the hole with a couple of layers of aluminum foil so you don't touch the plastic with soldering iron. That is what I did. Alos, first time I did it I melted the lens into a bunch of little parts which took a bit longer to fish out the pieces. The second time I did it I just melted a horizontal line across the center of the 3 segments of the lens and it all came out in two peices...took 5 minutes per lens.

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^^^ Your paint looks amazing!

One day, after all of the ambers have been thoughtlessly disposed of in the trash bin, people will be obsessively searching to find amber lenses in junkyards and used parts warehouses. Strange how the world works.

^^^ Throughout the eighties and even early nineties you could get all the Tube/Valve, Hi-Fi & Pro Audio equipment you could handle for next to nothing if not for free. Today, uhhhhh not so much - It's "vintage gear" and commands premium prices... Hang onto those ambers

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Perhaps....but my car is so heavily modified that this will be the least of my problems....LOL

I used the easiest method Ordered a pair of �04 Boxster headlights and put the original amber lights in the box the new ones arrived in.

^^^ But you've still got the interior amber reflector lenses, which after all, is what this thread is about...

^^^ Haha I know I was replying to saving the original amber headlights. My 99 has a 2/98 build date and came with real fried egg headlights. These headlights represent a 98% amberectomy

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Nice work. I agree I like the non-amber look. Seems like most people would just buy used replacements but this seems like a very cost effective option for those that have the more expensive Litronic headlights.

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Thanks, I did a full day paint correction the other week but as these things go, I'm always hardest on my own car. It's a glass in respray (shaking my head ) so if you know what to look for, it's definitely got flaws. I bought it despite this, since it was a good price and was fully mechanically sorted (including Ohlins and a fresh engine rebuild). Originally the intention was just being a place holder until the aircooled market simmers down a bit so I could get back into a 964, but I thoroughly enjoy driving this car. We did a group drive the other week and I managed to hang in the lead group with the front 3 being 718 GTS's (I was 4th car). I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing that pace in the 964. I'm also more likely to take it for a local trip for errands than the 964. So, the long term outlook is growing brighter for this car .