DREADED Headlight glasses

I have got hold of a nosecone with glasses intact.Which is the best or easiest way to change the glasses.
I have read somewhere on here about removing front bumper/nosecone etc but in the Workshop manual it says go in from under the bonnet removing headlight units and pushing a innertube to support glasses while bonding?
Which is easier for a amateur?or would a pearl white gta with a yellow nose look good?

You don't need to take the nosecone off .You can do it as per the manual and remove the headlights but you can do it all from the outside .I replaced mine with some polycarb units and did it without having to remove the lights .
The glass will come out and go back in from the front .

Be very careful when knifing them out .Don't use a stanley knife type blade ,it will just stick .Use a small rigid serrated blade or hacksaw with a fairly course tooth .
Mask off the new glass to the nosecone hole ,this will give you a guide as to where to put the glue when you reinstall them .Remove all the old bonding from both glass and nosecone .Mask off the area around the holes as well as it will get messy .
Use some Tigerseal or I use Ambersil 5024A ( you can get this in black or translucent ) .Apply to the naked area on the glass then feed it in through the aperture .Get some sucker pads to pull the glass into place .I put some string on the suckers and tied them to a post to hold in l pace whilst it goes off ,about half an hour .
You could do it the inner tube way but as you have to remove the headlight assembly you may find you create another few little jobs in the process .............................

[BIG_MVS]

Never had to do them, the last car I changed the nosecone complete as it was a red car and I had a red nosecone, not much good for your situation.

I think you need lots of patience basically. Not a good sign is that both Turbodog and Mr Dell have cars in their possession which are "complete with 2 new headlamp glasses ready to fit". These 2 are Guru's when it comes to GTA's so if they are put off it can't be an easy job to do!!

LOL

both not mechanics..........

not hard at all, should take about 2 hours a side if you take your time and finish it well.

i have changed loads........

[BIG_MVS]

LOL

both not mechanics..........

not hard at all, should take about 2 hours a side if you take your time and finish it well.

i have changed loads........

OK Guru was probably a compliment. What I mean is they know their stuff but are not mechanics like your goodself so it could be daunting to the amateur....Unless you have done it before take your time, at least you can practice removal on your spare nosecone

[stephendell]

Not a good sign is that both Turbodog and Mr Dell have cars in their possession which are "complete with 2 new headlamp glasses ready to fit"

It's just one of those jobs that I prefer to keep putting put off!

How long it takes and how well it turns out often depends on how badly some one has or hasn't bodged it before.

Tony & myself recently had to do a rescue mission for Simon's Le Mans project. The body shop fitting the kit just couldn't remove the glasses and they were bonded in with something akin to concrete! We got them out though.

You can uncover all manner of horrors where people have been there before. I've had cars where the nosecone has been cut thorough completely at the bottom. I put off doing one on the convertible because the idiot that bonded in the glass also bonded in both the indicators and they needed to be broken out piece by piece.

Also the headlamp panels can be difficult to remove and/or rotten and needing replacement and then it all becomes a much bigger job.

But you may be lucky and have perfect headlamp panels and glasses that just fall out because someone has fitted them previously with silicone by mistake.

Also depends on how fussy you are with regards to finish. If it's not your car or one to sell on then you may be happy with a nosecone on job. It's certainly the easiest way. If your're a real perfectionist and want an 'as new' job then you may want to take the nosecone off, but be warned it could become a huge job as the bumper has to come off first and every fitting will most likely be rotten and break.

In summary every one is slightly different, but take your time and you should be OK. Try not to slip with the knife or you'll end up repainting or repairing the nose!

Good luck!

both not mechanics..........

Surely this is more of a body shop task rather than something complicated and mechanical. So long as you have the right tools and parts and know how to do it (various options discussed above), even a competant DIYer could do it.

I agree with Steve, replacing the glasses are not hard to do but it can be quite fiddly, as I have done quite a few.
The secret is mask off the bodywork around the glass and use a flexible blade, take your time as the last thing you want to do is mark the paintwork.
It's one of the jobs I've put on the backburner for now until I can get a larger garage as it's not the sort of job you want to do outside.

both not mechanics..........

Surely this is more of a body shop task rather than something complicated and mechanical. So long as you have the right tools and parts and know how to do it (various options discussed above), even a competant DIYer could do it.

I still have the pleasure of rebuilding the front end once its back from the sprayers It will be worth it in the end though!!

Looks like I'll be busy this winter (as always)

Big Thanks to Tony and Stephen for the open head light glass surgery to my Leman nose cone.

si21