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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

fitting clear lenses


jackso11

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Ha, ha - I'm in the same boat mate. My second lamp should be pulled apart and the plastic insert sprayed up this weekend, so that'll mean I'm good to go with fitting the clear lenses.

 

Don't suppose you'd let me know if you find anyone?

 

I'm assuming you've done this before Scott - couldn't you be persuaded if there's 2 of us? I've got the 'how to' guide printed off that Gaz did - I'm just not that confident I'll make a good job of it.

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Ha, ha - I'm in the same boat mate. My second lamp should be pulled apart and the plastic insert sprayed up this weekend, so that'll mean I'm good to go with fitting the clear lenses.

 

Don't suppose you'd let me know if you find anyone?

 

I'm assuming you've done this before Scott - couldn't you be persuaded if there's 2 of us? I've got the 'how to' guide printed off that Gaz did - I'm just not that confident I'll make a good job of it.

 

If you do follow the how to guide they will look crap IMO. Cross head screws will never look right on the lights no matter what you do to them unfortunately.

 

I couldn't do it mate, honestly. It is a PIG of a job to get them looking decent.

 

What I did was to very gently and evenly trim the lip off of the original lenses. I did this a little bit at a time to make sure I got the contour as close as I could to the lenses, the lenses themselves are quite plyable so there is a little wiggle room, as long as it isn't a ragged edge. I made sure that all the gunky stuff that holds the lens in place was off of the casing and also off of the lip, I then put the lip into place and sanded the edge of the lip smooth and also evened the lip up so that the lenses fitted near OEM. From there I took the lip out and bonded it to the clear lens (You only get 1 shot at this). I used 2 part araldite, smeared a little on the lip and bonded the lens to it. Once it was held firm I then put a small amount of araldite all the way around the inside of the lens where it meets the lip, not a gargantuan amount just enough to make a firm bond. Once that was done I got some black silicone sealant and went around the same area again, the sealant will just keep out any condensation. Once that was done I masked up the lens to leave a 3/4" border round the outside, this neatly hid the araldite and the silicone. I then got some black gum (think it's plumbers putty or something like that) and put it into place on the casing for the lip/lens assembly to bond to... as per stock. I put it the casing in the oven to make the putty much more plyable and much more likely to create a good bond/seal and then finally assembled the lenses.

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how exactly is it done? do you have to cut the original lense out, leving a 'lip' to bond the new clear lense onto?

 

Exactly. Mine came with fibreglass lips to bond on so I don't actually need cut up the old lenses, but the edges of my lenses are unfinished so I need to cut off the excess plastic and polish the edges up smooth.....which I have no idea how to do.

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Exactly. Mine came with fibreglass lips to bond on so I don't actually need cut up the old lenses, but the edges of my lenses are unfinished so I need to cut off the excess plastic and polish the edges up smooth.....which I have no idea how to do.

 

Dremel

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  • 4 weeks later...

This is all very well as long as you have a dogs boll%s bond. The small screws are a physical way to ensure you don't loose a lense at 70mph on the motorway. Cover them with small amount of filler and itis like they were never there. Trust me, been there done that when I first invented these.

 

If you do follow the how to guide they will look crap IMO. Cross head screws will never look right on the lights no matter what you do to them unfortunately.

 

I couldn't do it mate, honestly. It is a PIG of a job to get them looking decent.

 

What I did was to very gently and evenly trim the lip off of the original lenses. I did this a little bit at a time to make sure I got the contour as close as I could to the lenses, the lenses themselves are quite plyable so there is a little wiggle room, as long as it isn't a ragged edge. I made sure that all the gunky stuff that holds the lens in place was off of the casing and also off of the lip, I then put the lip into place and sanded the edge of the lip smooth and also evened the lip up so that the lenses fitted near OEM. From there I took the lip out and bonded it to the clear lens (You only get 1 shot at this). I used 2 part araldite, smeared a little on the lip and bonded the lens to it. Once it was held firm I then put a small amount of araldite all the way around the inside of the lens where it meets the lip, not a gargantuan amount just enough to make a firm bond. Once that was done I got some black silicone sealant and went around the same area again, the sealant will just keep out any condensation. Once that was done I masked up the lens to leave a 3/4" border round the outside, this neatly hid the araldite and the silicone. I then got some black gum (think it's plumbers putty or something like that) and put it into place on the casing for the lip/lens assembly to bond to... as per stock. I put it the casing in the oven to make the putty much more plyable and much more likely to create a good bond/seal and then finally assembled the lenses.

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This is all very well as long as you have a dogs boll%s bond. The small screws are a physical way to ensure you don't loose a lense at 70mph on the motorway. Cover them with small amount of filler and itis like they were never there. Trust me, been there done that when I first invented these.

 

You're having a laugh mate. You think that those tiny countersunk screws will make a blind bit of difference? Take it from an engineer, those things would crack the perspex and fly off long before any b&q bonding all the way round the perimeter will. It doesn't matter what you use, cheap ass silicone would hold better.

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  • 3 weeks later...
You're having a laugh mate. You think that those tiny countersunk screws will make a blind bit of difference? Take it from an engineer, those things would crack the perspex and fly off long before any b&q bonding all the way round the perimeter will. It doesn't matter what you use, cheap ass silicone would hold better.

 

From an engineer hey!!!?! Hmmm, wonder how the f%ck I managed to design and manufacture all these lenses then??? And how are they still on my car 5 years after developing them??? Suprattgaz BEng Hons

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