Does anyone want brand new replacement headlight lenses?

lambertius

lambertius

Banned
Messages
341
I was complaining about having to polish the acrylic lenses to a friend of mine and he suggested that it might be worth getting the lenses remade altogether (he works for a company that makes fibre optic equipment). He put me in contact with a manufacturer in China which will do low volume (but still has a minimum order quantity). I sent them a CAD model to quote against and got some surprisingly reasonable quotes back.

There are two processes which will have different finish qualities, vacuum casting and CNC machining. Prices would be $200 USD a lens or $600 USD a lens respectively. I'd have to to do two minimum orders of 24 lenses (because of the handedness) and all of a sudden I'm $10k-$20k USD in costs to get it done. I thought I'd see if this is something anyone is interested in before I fix mine the old fashioned way and dismantle them.

Below is a sample of the material they sent me:

66698
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
Messages
12,565
lambertius said:
I was complaining about having to polish the acrylic lenses to a friend of mine and he suggested that it might be worth getting the lenses remade altogether (he works for a company that makes fibre optic equipment). He put me in contact with a manufacturer in China which will do low volume (but still has a minimum order quantity). I sent them a CAD model to quote against and got some surprisingly reasonable quotes back.

There are two processes which will have different finish qualities, vacuum casting and CNC machining. Prices would be $200 USD a lens or $600 USD a lens respectively. I'd have to to do two minimum orders of 24 lenses (because of the handedness) and all of a sudden I'm $10k-$20k USD in costs to get it done. I thought I'd see if this is something anyone is interested in before I fix mine the old fashioned way and dismantle them.

Below is a sample of the material they sent me:

View attachment 66698
Click to expand...
Is this for a Coupe /Gransport
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
Messages
12,565
If they are for Coupe Gransport id have a re think if i was you , the lenses are glued to the main headlight surround , ive done this , you have to cut them off with a sharp stanley type blade and a dremmel with a mini saw blade on , its not easy and very time consuming so as to not damage the main headlight surround whilst manouring the demmel in all sorts of angles. Once the old lens is removed the surface needs to be taken back original , again very time consuming , The quick part is refitting the new lens with the correct sealant , keeping it in place with a decent masking tape
 
FIFTY

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
I would be interested but similar concerns to loz

lozcb said:
If they are for Coupe Gransport id have a re think if i was you , the lenses are glued to the main headlight surround , ive done this , you have to cut them off with a sharp stanley type blade and a dremmel with a mini saw blade on , its not easy and very time consuming so as to not damage the main headlight surround whilst manouring the demmel in all sorts of angles. Once the old lens is removed the surface needs to be taken back original , again very time consuming , The quick part is refitting the new lens with the correct sealant , keeping it in place with a decent masking tape
Click to expand...

I recall talking to @masertel about how he installed angel eyes and restored the lens on his 4200 coupe's headlights. I was quite shocked at the extensive use of the Stanley knife needed to get the job done...

What I was expecting was to bake it in the oven until the glue softens then pry off the lens... Not hacksaw surgery lol. Sadly I'm not brave enough to attempt it
 
lambertius

lambertius

Banned
Messages
341
I have to dismantle my headlights to respray the body colour insert, and the headlight plastic is badly degraded on mine so no matter what I have to ride that bull.

https://www.maseratilife.com/threads/headlight-polishing-inside-and-out.16291/ Here is the process I found if anyone else is looking at going down that path.

My thoughts were it would be a **** of a lot easier to remove the headlight lens if I didn't care about breaking it off and just replacing it.
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
Messages
12,565
lambertius said:
I have to dismantle my headlights to respray the body colour insert, and the headlight plastic is badly degraded on mine so no matter what I have to ride that bull.

https://www.maseratilife.com/threads/headlight-polishing-inside-and-out.16291/ Here is the process I found if anyone else is looking at going down that path.

My thoughts were it would be a **** of a lot easier to remove the headlight lens if I didn't care about breaking it off and just replacing it.
Click to expand...

I think i did a how to some years ago on this , Your bang on the money doing what your doing , its just a pain in the *** to do, i would have thought there were enough reasonably priced ones about now , this was 10 years ago or so and they were absolute gold dust then
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
Messages
12,565
FIFTY said:
I would be interested but similar concerns to loz



I recall talking to @masertel about how he installed angel eyes and restored the lens on his 4200 coupe's headlights. I was quite shocked at the extensive use of the Stanley knife needed to get the job done...

What I was expecting was to bake it in the oven until the glue softens then pry off the lens... Not hacksaw surgery lol. Sadly I'm not brave enough to attempt it
Click to expand...

Yeah i know what you mean LOL , ................. i can remember only too well the sickly feeling holding the oddly shaped lamp precariously between my legs perched on an old quilt , one false move could of cost at that tme around £1200 plus vat ;)
 
Oishi

Oishi

Member
Messages
825
Lambertius, I would be interested. Mine are in great shape, but as I intend to keep her a long time, a set of spares would be nice.
 
Vampyrebat

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,130
lambertius said:
I have to dismantle my headlights to respray the body colour insert, and the headlight plastic is badly degraded on mine so no matter what I have to ride that bull.

https://www.maseratilife.com/threads/headlight-polishing-inside-and-out.16291/ Here is the process I found if anyone else is looking at going down that path.

My thoughts were it would be a **** of a lot easier to remove the headlight lens if I didn't care about breaking it off and just replacing it.
Click to expand...
Are they really beyond restoration? Hard to tell without seeing them but I have restored a set of bad ones recently for a mate (by hand) and they came out looking great!66714
 
lambertius

lambertius

Banned
Messages
341
Mine aren't beyond restoration - the problem is they are silver inserts and not black to match the body colour (I suspect they were changed during import, if the lenses were fogged it would've been a requirement to replace them. There is no accident history on the car in Australia, and no evidence of repairs even with the bumper off.).

So I have a couple of options:

1 - I crack them open and respray the insert. Time 100, Effort 100, Cost $15
2 - I buy a set of black headlights, but then I'm stuck with some silver lights that I have to try and sell. Time 0, Effort 50, Cost $2600AUD (I've tried to convince a wrecker to do a partial exchange but haven't been able to get it to stick).
3 - Do step one but reduce time and effort by replacing the lens.

Ideally step 2 would be the best for me, but I just really don't want to be stuck with a totally unnecessary set of silver lights for a few years.
 
safrane

safrane

Member
Messages
16,866
There were some models that came with silver inserts (90th Anv) regardless of the body colour.
 
Vampyrebat

Vampyrebat

Member
Messages
3,130
jasst said:
My old ones! always knew they would come up ok, you have to be pretty brutal, but as long as you take your time its amazing what you can achieve.
Click to expand...
Yup!....... Surprising what you can do on a 'flexi' day off and the weather is sh!t!!
 
k1coupe

k1coupe

Junior Member
Messages
99
lambertius said:
I was complaining about having to polish the acrylic lenses to a friend of mine and he suggested that it might be worth getting the lenses remade altogether (he works for a company that makes fibre optic equipment). He put me in contact with a manufacturer in China which will do low volume (but still has a minimum order quantity). I sent them a CAD model to quote against and got some surprisingly reasonable quotes back.

There are two processes which will have different finish qualities, vacuum casting and CNC machining. Prices would be $200 USD a lens or $600 USD a lens respectively. I'd have to to do two minimum orders of 24 lenses (because of the handedness) and all of a sudden I'm $10k-$20k USD in costs to get it done. I thought I'd see if this is something anyone is interested in before I fix mine the old fashioned way and dismantle them.

Below is a sample of the material they sent me:

View attachment 66698
Click to expand...
COULD USE A PAIR
 
You must log in or register to reply here.