Apohl17's AventuRunner Build Thread - V8 4th Gen

Been compiling parts for an upcoming retrofit... Oof da, it's going to be a fun one :guitar2:

apohl17 said:

The only other thing I see is that the corner edge welds are on the exterior and due to the painting process, rust might be able to form from salt and water seeping in the crack - but we'll see how she holds up in the long run. For the price, I'm happy, but there definitely are a few quirks.
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Just my opinion, but I would fill those unwelded cracks with some type of filler...some boat chalking, exterior window chalking, etc. anything that will withstand the winter weather/road salt, moisture etc. so nothing gets in them because you know it's going to cause rust sooner or later.

AuSeeker said:

Just my opinion, but I would fill those unwelded cracks with some type of filler...some boat chalking, exterior window chalking, etc. anything that will withstand the winter weather/road salt, moisture etc. so nothing gets in them because you know it's going to cause rust sooner or later.

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I know...I reached out to LFD and they said they had no issues in the past with rust at this joint... part of me wants to let it go through a winter for testing purposes, and the other part wants to fill that sucker up ASAP. :shrug:

Morning pre-work, warming-up, front-end shot... for kicks

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So for those with keen eyes, one might have noticed a drop in clarity in my passenger side headlight since a couple weeks ago. Why? Oh, i'll tell ya...
opcorn:opcorn:opcorn:
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Because of this CARNAGE.
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Long story, but here's the jist:

1. Bought these fogged and yellowed up OEM housings off a forum member.
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2. Planned on doing a full 3M resto before pulling them apart and using them for my upcoming retrofit...
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3. DID the resto on both housings and was fairly satisfied with my work before clear coating...
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4. And then proceeded to drop the driver's side housing on the floor, busting off two of the three main tabs right as I got done with my two hour semi-meticulous restoration. :yell::yell::yell::fear::fear::fear::yell::yell:
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Luckily (I guess), the PO had replaced the passenger headlight assembly with a brand new TYC unit, and it was in nearly perfect shape, so... I decided to buy a driver side TYC housing new ($75, thanks eBay), replace my newly refurbed extra OEM passenger housing with the one on the truck, so now I have two very nice TYC housings to retro with. Why doesn't it look as nice, if you just refurbished the thing? I didn't feel like wasting a $20 can of 2k clear on a headlight that likely will be coming off in the next couple months... When it comes time to sell them I will likely polish them again and spray them for the next owner, but for now, its a reminder to get cracking on my retrofit

And, I got to rip apart that broken OEM housing and play around with the innards, practice dissasembly, etc. so I don't ruin my TYC ones....
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Why couldn't these be glass like my 3rd gen??? Oh wait, that probably would have been worse :shrug:

Moral of the story: Don't let your buffing pad get wrapped up in your shirt, pulling on your arm... eventually making your elbow whack your nicely finished OEM housing off the workbench.

Okay? :lmao: :lmao:

Took some measurements of the inner shield for retrofitting purposes. Hope this helps others in terms of sizing halos, shrouds, led strips... etc!

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Couple more pics for posterity's sake. Planning on re-purposing that metal bracket to the new D2S 5.0's I plan on installing in the low beam location over spending a whopping $70 on new ones, but I also want them pretty perfect, so we'll see...

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The OEM:

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Alright, so I'm a wee confused. Here I thought the TYC housings were sealed with butyl rubber - now it seems that, because of my inability to open up the housings after multiple cycles of 7 minutes in the oven at 275 and heat gun help. These HAVE to be permasealed like OEM...???

It was SO much nicer to open up the 3rd gen lights with glass lenses... :lmao:

apohl17 said:

Alright, so I'm a wee confused. Here I thought the TYC housings were sealed with butyl rubber - now it seems that, because of my inability to open up the housings after multiple cycles of 7 minutes in the oven at 275 and heat gun help. These HAVE to be permasealed like OEM...???

It was SO much nicer to open up the 3rd gen lights with glass lenses... :lmao:

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IIRC when I did my retro, I believe I used tyc housings which also wouldn't open, so I just kept baking them and I think after about 12 minutes at 300 or 320 they POPPED open. Popped meaning I was pulling them apart and the entire lens just came right off. it looked like TYC used a cheap seal for the butyl rubber because it maintained 95% of its shape when heated and when I split the housings rather than getting gummy like TRS retro rubber. to clean the TYC seal I just had to sit down with a heat gun, scraper and some pliers and just take hours of my life to pull the cheapo sealant off. It ended up being worth my time to do that rather than buy new oem housings though so I cant complain too much

***disclaimer, I am not suggesting it was a good idea to bake my lights for 12 minutes at 300+ degrees, however it did end up working for me
if you choose to do this I would strongly suggest watching it very closely

Dirtrider216 said:

IIRC when I did my retro, I believe I used tyc housings which also wouldn't open, so I just kept baking them and I think after about 12 minutes at 300 or 320 they POPPED open. Popped meaning I was pulling them apart and the entire lens just came right off. it looked like TYC used a cheap seal for the butyl rubber because it maintained 95% of its shape when heated and when I split the housings rather than getting gummy like TRS retro rubber. to clean the TYC seal I just had to sit down with a heat gun, scraper and some pliers and just take hours of my life to pull the cheapo sealant off. It ended up being worth my time to do that rather than buy new oem housings though so I cant complain too much

***disclaimer, I am not suggesting it was a good idea to bake my lights for 12 minutes at 300+ degrees, however it did end up working for me
if you choose to do this I would strongly suggest watching it very closely

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This is very helpful info... Sounds like I need to submit my housings to the great ball o' fire and see what happens :rockon:

I have to get them open one way or another - the Lightwerkz sale prompted the purchase of the last of my retro components! Haha

Thanks for the information of the skid plate on a V8. It looks good

YumaTRD said:

Thanks for the information of the skid plate on a V8. It looks good

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Anytime. Glad to help!

Got sick of my not-so-bright reverse lights and their minimal impact at night to illuminate my backup camera. Everyone points to these, and the JDM custoemr service is supposed to be spot on, so... ordered. :cell:

Canbus JDM ASTAR 921 912 3020 6000K White LED Reverse Backup Light Bulbs | eBay

Yay, Black Friday!... Oh shoot my wallet is flying away now, it's so light :sad:
But, I got a PSD System on order and I can't wait to get organized!:dance:

Got the ASTAR 921's installed yesterday, and I'm happy so far! Let's see if the winter months can torture test these babes out...
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Update on the retro progress: Finally got into the one TYC housing! Man O life, was that a lot of "heat gunnin' on max", careful prying, gloved pulling, and ripping out fragments of butyl rubber sealant that must have a softening point of twice the temperature of the sun.... I still have a lot of work left to do to peel it off the lens, but hopefully the next one (which is a brand spanking new TYC) will go easier.
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Little update on the ditch lights - very happy with them. The confidence they inspire at night with deer everywhere is nuts....
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Should be the last few bits of my retro build ...... If I ever get these dern TYC housings open and cleaned up to my liking :lmao:
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