Headlight Assembly Bottom Cracked - New or Epoxy?

[saved4it]

I took out my headlights to get them wetsanded, polished, and clear coated at my local body shop so they look new again. Cleaned them up with a rag first, and realized I had to put them back into the car in order to take off the chrome headlight washer. In the process, I noticed that the bottom of the passenger side lamp assembly was cracked pretty good. Isn't this supposed to be sealed against the air? I mean, a little moisture gets in there and it could get pretty ugly, right?

Do you think I could just get these polished and then use a little epoxy to seal the bottom up tight? The inside of the lamp seems clear (although it's hard to know with the outside being a little dull and yellow). The lamps and washers function fine when I put them back into the car. I certainly hope I have an alternative, as a new assembly is $2300!!! If I could just buy the black bottom piece, I'd gladly do that.

See the picture where I've circled in yellow the cracks.

Thoughts?

Edited November 8, 2010 by saved4it

[kbrandsma]

I took out my headlights to get them wetsanded, polished, and clear coated at my local body shop so they look new again. Cleaned them up with a rag first, and realized I had to put them back into the car in order to take off the chrome headlight washer. In the process, I noticed that the bottom of the passenger side lamp assembly was cracked pretty good. Isn't this supposed to be sealed against the air? I mean, a little moisture gets in there and it could get pretty ugly, right?

Do you think I could just get these polished and then use a little epoxy to seal the bottom up tight? The inside of the lamp seems clear (although it's hard to know with the outside being a little dull and yellow). The lamps and washers function fine when I put them back into the car. I certainly hope I have an alternative, as a new assembly is $2300!!! If I could just buy the black bottom piece, I'd gladly do that.

See the picture where I've circled in yellow the cracks.

Thoughts?

Interesting, you have to wonder what caused the cracks. They come in a complete unit and you can't buy individual parts. The light units aren't airtight. You actually have an air tube that goes from the front bumber to the back of each light plug. Keeps the units from fogging up. I would seal then up the best you can and see what happens. YOu can always replace them later.

[saved4it]

I think someone didn't use the guide rails when reinstalling the headlamp and forced it down, causing a crack. I guess I have nothing to lose by using some heavy duty epoxy. I'll see if the body shop can do it while it's there getting polished. Thanks =)

[PAULUNM]

There's a used set on the 996 GT3 section on rennlist...

[saved4it]

There's a used set on the 996 GT3 section on rennlist...

Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll give the epoxy, polish, and two new chrome pieces a go. $300 vs. $1200 is worth the risk, and I don't think there will be any problem with sealing it up well enough.

Anyone have any recommendation on epoxy to try? Or maybe a piece of tape first, then epoxy over it?

[gregthiara]

My lights where also damaged in the same place after I had a little bump nothing major just lifted the bumper a little, done the repairs myself and also repaired the lights. Im not saying your car had a bump this could also have been done with force as you say.

I used fibre glass repair and then sanded and painted over with black paint, be careful you don’t put any inside the light, it was very simple and now you can not see the damage I think fibre glass repair kit would last the lifetime of your lights mine cost £11 in the uk and was done over 3 years ago still unable to tell where damage was.

Hope this helps.

[saved4it]

Thanks for the tip!

[saved4it]

Aha! More information comes in. The gentleman above mentioned an air tube that feeds the light apparatus coming from the front bumper. I noticed that on this same broken headlight that the mounting bracket with this tube was broken. I guess that at some point my bumper also hit the curb or something and broke off this little piece, and perhaps also hit hard enough to crack the plastic on bottom.