DIY Versus New Headlights

andy

I've seen a lot of questions floating around lately about DIY and E-Bay headlights, and I seem to be in a position to help.  I did the DIY black housings on my stock lights about 6 months ago, but being the perfectionist that I am, I was not satisfied with them.  Today I bought some new black housing lights from NOPI to replace my DIY's, and I took some pictures to give you an idea of the aesthetic difference between the two.  Now I personally had some fogging on my DIY's, and I realize that it can be done such that they do not fog.  This is my own personal experience ONLY - I slathered them in silicone, but they still fogged up on me.  I am MUCH more satisfied with the new lights.

These are the exact lights I bought:
from : localhost/www.nopionline.com/nopistore/...20Civic%201998
I've had great luck with my Sonar tails, so I went with Sonar headlights as well.

These are the results, befores and afters, etc.  If you are unsure, the DIYs are the foggy ones and the new ones are those that look PERFECT.   8)

So my final conclusion - if you are perfectionist, you likely won't be happy with the DIY, unless you do a much better job than I did.  If not, or if you don't have the money for new lights, they are a great start.

.the old ones didnt look all that bad but the new ones look really nice, how much did you pay?

.umm...steve that doesnt look like fogging inside ur old ones...thats what happens when ur lights are used..mine looked the same, its from all the rocks and shit that hits the lights while driving...ur new ones are gona look exaclty the same way in the future....
unless u really know that its moisture that was condensed inside...i dont know, im not there...

btw the new ones look great man....

.well they both look aight to me. But i hear where ur coming from about being a perfectionist though. nice lights by the way

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Originally Posted by greenlx777umm...steve that doesnt look like fogging inside ur old ones...thats what happens when ur lights are used..mine looked the same, its from all the rocks and shit that hits the lights while driving...ur new ones are gona look exaclty the same way in the future....
unless u really know that its moisture that was condensed inside...i dont know, im not there...

btw the new ones look great man....

I'm certain it is condensation - 6 months ago (before I opened and re-sealed) they looked great.  I've got a pic that shows a little more clearly that it's condensation, because most of the fogging it is clustered at the top, where you'd expect it.  And they look worse immediately after washing.

Edit: I'm sure that some of the difference between the two is because one set is 6 years old and one is brand new, but the majority of the difference is the fogging.

Thanks for the comment on the new lights.

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Originally Posted by blacktaillightsthe old ones didnt look all that bad but the new ones look really nice, how much did you pay?

$105 with tax, no shipping since I picked them up locally.  I couldn't even beat that on E-Bay - the best I could find was $80 with $35 shipping = $115.

.Well damn.. my lights didnt turn out like yours..o.o... mine came out the way the ones you bought look.. lol..   I guess it's all just how you do it. My guess is that you ended up trapping some moisture in either side before putting them back together...

.my DIY headlights didn't fog up, ebay one's did.

.Looks good Steve. Now we've got 2 testaments to the new black housings as opposed to the DIY.

By the way, congrats again on your new son. 8)