DIY: Joey Mod for the Mk4 GTI/Golf

[05GTI1.8T]

sooo i got my head lights done

heres what i did i took the idea from the thread on vortex and i give that guy credit for the press n seal idea.

List of Materials

Glad press n seal wrap
Rattle can (spray paint)
silicone all weather sealant


List of Tools

flat head screw driver
phillips head screw driver
ratcheting wrench
10mm socket
8mm socket
torx socket
heat gun (optional)
razor

Step One Removal

remove front bumper cover (need 10mm socket for 2 bolts on the bottom and torx for 4 bolts under the grill and phillips for the four screws in each wheel well)

remove headlights (8mm socket required)


Step Two Disassembly

remove 4 retaining clips on the headlight with flat head
remove all bulbs
pre heat your oven to 200 degrees
one at a time place a headlight on a pan in the oven making sure that the lens isnt touching ne thing.
let sit in oven for 1 1/2 - 2min MAXIMUM
carefully with your flat head start spreading apart the lens from the housing
this takes some time and alot of aggrivation XD
your headlight should look like this after its taken apart


(OPTIONAL)once you have the lenses off the housing take your heat gun and heat the silicone sealant for about a second to two seconds.



take your flat head and start scraping the silicone out of the housing.

all the silicone from 2 headlights


after you have finished taking the silicone out you can begin masking off your headlights.

heres a photo of the housings with no silicone left


Step Three Masking

take your press n seal wrap and carefully seal off the reflectors making sure there are no creases do this right the first time or land up having to respray your entire housing chrome.

your headlight should look like this after you have properly masked it off



Step Four Paint

after you have masked off everything that you wanted you are ready for paint

in a well ventilated area begin painting your housings and the shrouds using sweeping motions to keep from having drips or runs

apply at least 3 coats of paint to ensure complete coverage

Step Five Reassembly
once you have waited at least 3-4 hours for the paint to completely dry and cure you can begin reassembling

begin by wiping down the lenses with some windex making sure they r super clean as u wont have another opportunity to clean the insides

apply silicone sealant to the housings and immediatly put the lenses on and snap in the retaining clips

wipe away any excess silicone and let dry for at least 2-3 hours (i left mine overnight)

after they are all reassembled you should have something like this



Step Six Installation
once you have your headlights completely reassembled go ahead and re install the bulbs and the headlamps
make sure to re install the 2 rubber drain tubes

then reinstall onto the car and re install front bumper cover

YOUR ALL DONE

heres my completed work i smoked out my turn signals and one of my headlamps r burnt out lol






high beams

[05GTI1.8T]

i have a couple more diy's lined up like n75 replacement sai removal n249 removal and the big one diy headliner refab <-- this might take a while to get done tho so dont be expecting ne thing soon the n75 sai and n249 r comming soon

i might even do a diy for evap removal.

[ProStreetDriver]

Excellent work Will definitely being doing this to my car also when the weather gets better.

Does the orange and chrome lens things between the low and high beam pop out???

[05GTI1.8T]

the turn indicator i didnt try to pop it out as i was just goin to smoke it the signal assembly has 2 screws on the back so id assume u could take the orange peice out.

as for the silver "dummy fog" its part of the housing itself.

[missioncirca]

I had to bake my damn headlights for like 7 minutes. I don't know why the silicon was so stubborn, but I had to leave them in longer and it still hurt the hell out of my hands to rip them apart.

[05GTI1.8T]

i have a nifty little spreading tool that i used its mainly used for hose clamps but u can reverse it to open stuff and thats wat i used along with a flathead screwdriver peice of cake the hard part was getting that silicone off the housings

[_FUBAR_]

Nice job. The turn signal lens is removable. I popped mine out and smoked it with vht. Then did the same as you just sprayed over the dummy fog. Our lights look identical

[fukn_dubn_gti]

looks good man.. added to diy sticky

[05GTI1.8T]

fubar: yes our lights r exactly the same now lol

fukin: as always thanks man got the next diy underway look out n249 and sai

[_FUBAR_]

Looking forward to reading it.

[fukn_dubn_gti]

********** i used a putty knife to scrape out the silicone.. vs a flat head.. and i used a putty knife to pull of the lenses... either way works.

[Denako]

Great little tutorial. Going to go by this when I joey mod em. Is the prying off of the clear casing really hard? I don't want to screw this up :/

[05GTI1.8T]

its pretty hard but the lenses and the housings wont crack or anything just keep prying it apart till the silicon starts to rip ... i did it where i got the lenses far enough away from the housings then i used a razor to cut the silicone and then pulled it apart by hand.

[Denako]

Originally Posted by 05GTI1.8T

its pretty hard but the lenses and the housings wont crack or anything just keep prying it apart till the silicon starts to rip ... i did it where i got the lenses far enough away from the housings then i used a razor to cut the silicone and then pulled it apart by hand.

Okay thanks (:

[05GTI1.8T]

no problem just follow the diy to a t and ull b alright dont leave ur headlights in the oven for more than 3 min or u run the chance of melting your lenses.