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- Camaro 1990 to 2002 How to Replace Headlights and Fog Lights<br>Step by step instructions for do-it-yourself repairs.
98-02 Camaro replacement headlamp assemblies - what brand/where do you find them?
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Hey guys, the headlamps on my Camaro look AWFUL - they are a nasty shade of yellow/white from all the fogginess.
I've been looking over the past few days on LS1tech/eBay/Amazon/miscellaneous online retailers and found numerous "OE Style" Replacements for the about $200-$250 a pair. I was only able to find one website - GMPartsDirect - that carried the OEM set, and they were going to be $500 a pair!! ![EEK !!](https://ls1tech.com/forums/images/smilies/LS1Tech/gr_eek2.gif)
For those of you that have replaced yours, what brand did you use? How did they fit? Would you recommend them? I greatly appreciate any feedback.
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For those of you that have replaced yours, what brand did you use? How did they fit? Would you recommend them? I greatly appreciate any feedback.
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Why not just head up to walmart and buy a headlight restoration kit for like 10 bucks? Mine were terrible, I just used the kit as directed and it cleared them right up. If i had pics id post em but I'm lacking a camera at the moment
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i used a kit as well and it looks pretty good. but if you want new ones, i would go to 6LE website and buy the whistler headlights. Thats what i was going to do if the headlight restore kit didnt work out.
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Did the headlight restoration kits work for anyone else?
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yes they work. I bought 3M's kit (should be a gold color one, a white one, and a grey one sanding pads, with a buffing pad and polish in the kit). I will post crapy cell pics but you may see a difference. I saved my money for headlights and spent it on a new SS spoiler.
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SparkyJJO, what did those set you back? I've read more than one thread about the Depo lights (which are supposedly what GM actually carries now) not fitting right. When I saw the price of the stock ones on GMPartsDirect, I thought to myself, "hell, for that price, I'll just buy the BLS projector headlights." Lol.
Did those kits really work well for you guys? I'm surprised to hear that - I figured it was a gimmick. I guess mine could be worse, but they are pretty bad - as bad as I've seen on any other Camaro personally. But for $10-$20, I suppose that would be a good first step. If they could make a 70-80% improvement, I suppose I could live with that over $200-$300 for the assemblies. I'm going to check out the whistlers on 6LE also. Thanks for the feedback, Ricers4breakfast and Drokkers!
Did the headlight restoration kits work for anyone else?
Did those kits really work well for you guys? I'm surprised to hear that - I figured it was a gimmick. I guess mine could be worse, but they are pretty bad - as bad as I've seen on any other Camaro personally. But for $10-$20, I suppose that would be a good first step. If they could make a 70-80% improvement, I suppose I could live with that over $200-$300 for the assemblies. I'm going to check out the whistlers on 6LE also. Thanks for the feedback, Ricers4breakfast and Drokkers!
Did the headlight restoration kits work for anyone else?
If you were looking at paying $500 for 'OEM' I would just pay a little extra and get the BLS kit. IIRC, they were starting at 525 shipped during the group buys.
98-02 kit on their website lists pricing for options as well. Like it says on their website, send them a message to check current pricing.
Those headlight restoration kits do work but you can buy other things separately cheaper. The kits do improve them but not to brand new looking. There has got to be a write up on wet sanding headlight lenses, If you follow one of those (not a 20 minute deal, can take over an hour per light) then you will get better results.
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SparkyJJO, what did those set you back? I've read more than one thread about the Depo lights (which are supposedly what GM actually carries now) not fitting right. When I saw the price of the stock ones on GMPartsDirect, I thought to myself, "hell, for that price, I'll just buy the BLS projector headlights." Lol.
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Depo headlights leave a huge gap between the bumper and the bottom of the headlight. And when I received mine the damn rubber around the headlight was coming off so u could see all the white residue from the tape that tried holding it on. U get what u pay for. I actually have a set of brand new oem headlights from a Chevy dealer, for sale. Definitely not the same headlight.
And if I knew how shitty the depo headlights were I would have sent BLS my old original lights and told them to put new lenses.
And if I knew how shitty the depo headlights were I would have sent BLS my old original lights and told them to put new lenses.
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I just finished polishing my headlights yesterday, I used the Meguiar's Heavy Duty lens restoration kit. I had sanded the headlights before by hand but they didn't turn out worth a damn, but with the kit they look amazing. I'll get you some pictures in the morning.
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The driver side was worse. And the bottom post (that connects the light to the bracket) on the headlight is shorter than the one on the Oem headlight, which makes the gap. I had to unscrew it almost all the way to fill the gap. I have a pic of what I'm talking about but I'm not at my computer.
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Here are my headlights after I used the polishing kit. I didn't get a before picture but they were very yellowed and oxidized. I spent about an hour or so going over them with the sanding pads, then hit them swice with the plastic polish.
![](http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/spiral1183/2002%20Camaro/IMAG0146.jpg)
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I bought these just a few days ago. I am happy with them. They look great and the fitment was pretty good. I haven't level them and they probably still need a little adjusting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390379194963...84.m1497.l2649
Here is a small comparison picture I took.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...headlight.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/390379194963...84.m1497.l2649
Here is a small comparison picture I took.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...headlight.html
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Wow thanks a bunch for all the feedback, guys! Johnny59 e-mailed me some photos of his that he restored. He used the method I've seen other people talk about on here using multiple stages of sand paper and then the polish - and they look nearly brand new. I have previous experience with wet sanding and buffing, so I think I'm going to give that a shot first. Money is tight right now (I just bought an MGW shifter, TWM **** and redline boot for this car a couple weeks ago LOL) so if that will work, I would much rather save $200-$250. If I could find a set for $50-$100, that may be a different story - but $200+ for ones that may or may not fit properly depending on who you ask is just a bit more than I can stomach. I hate to see the inconsistency with Depo and these other brands - very disappointing. I'll post before/after pics when I complete the sand/polish.
Thanks again guys - really appreciate the help.
Thanks again guys - really appreciate the help.