[RR BuGGz]

Probably won't be the best write-up as I started out enthusiastic with wanting to be detailed with the picture taking but cold weather and wanting to just get it done ended that idea quick. You may notice some pics look out of sequence for visual purposes, but the instructions are written in correct order.

Here's what you start out with. This happens to be a 2007 wagon but it should be similar if not the same for sedans and 2006 headlights.





Pop your hood and get started. First things first mask off your bumper with masking tape to prevent scratches to your paint when removing/reinstalling your lights. Next, you will need to remove all the plastic rivet fasteners holding the grille pieces and headlights. Use a flathead screwdriver to pop the centers up on each fastener. Try to be careful not to scratch or break any clips (although they are pretty cheap to replace from the dealer). You can wrap the tip of the screwdriver with electrical tape to prevent scratching. Not necessary but I’m picky about scratches. Although not necessary I also highly recommend removing the 3 bolts on the top of each front fender. This will help to give you some room to remove and especially help to make reinstalling the lights easier. Use a 10mm socket wrench for this. I happen to have Tein hood dampeners in my picture but there’s normally a fender bolt there.




Now that all the plastic fasteners are off and the fender bolts are off its time to move on to the 3-piece grille. All three are snap fitted in via 4 tabs on each corner. Start with the center grille. Pull the grille forward carefully. Mine came out relatively easy. Try to pull with equal force on the left/right side of the center grille to try and pull the grille off in one clean motion. You may notice one side coming off first, which is fine. Just work the remaining tabs off carefully. Next are the 2 out grille pieces (the “wings”). The reason to take the center grille off is the expose the inner tabs that holds the 2 outer grilles in place. Be extremely careful with the tabs on the wings. I broke one tab on each wing piece. They are not cheap ($100+ was the quote, unless the guy didn’t know what he was talking about). You can look and feel in the center grille hole to see the feel/see where the inner wing tabs are. You press on them if you can get your hand in there. It was cold out so I’m guessing that contributed to one of tabs breaking off. It should come off the same way as the center grill if pulled on with equal force. But try and feel for the tabs if you can reach. You will notice the painted bezel/surround on the wing grilles may come loose. That is perfectly fine as they snap right back in. Below are pics with the grills off and the mount points for the tabs highlighted.





With the grilles off the remaining bolts/plastic fasteners holding the headlights are revealed. Use a 10mm socket wrench with an extension to remove the 2 bolts and 2 nuts holding the inner headlight bracket. Use a flat head to remove the plastic rivet. There is also one 10mm bolt on the top of the headlight also circled in the pic below.



Now it’s time to remove the headlight. It’s not very difficult but it will take manipulating of the headlight, fender, and bumper cover. The headlight is still connected the inner headlight bracket where the 2 nuts were. You need to slide the headlight forward to remove it off the too threaded posts. It will become more clear as you are actually working on the part in question. The headlight is also connected with a pressure fitted expansion rivet/bolt by the turn signal corner. Pulling the light forward will release the headlight by the fender corner. When both ends of the light are released from there relative connecting points the light will be loose but still fairly secure in the headlight opening.Make sure you disconnect the main power harness. It’s the only big square plus so you can’t miss it. You will need to bend the bumper cover down a little to pull the bottom of the headlight out/up/forward. The lower headlight basically acts as a lip secured behind the bumper cover. If will take some time but once you get one side out the other side will be easier. I really didn’t take any pics of the lights off the car, as I didn’t think they serve as any visual aid.

With the light out, preheat your oven to 220 degrees. Next get a Phillips screwdriver and remove the screws on the back of the headlight. I believe there are 5 per each light but one is hidden in the picture. You don’t need to remove the screw holding the main power harness. Ignore the wires coming out of my low beam bulb cover. That’s for a HID kit I installed while the light was out. You do not need to remove any bulbs or any of the wires. They are perfectly fine in the oven. Place the headlight on a sheet of aluminum foil in the oven and bake for about 15-20 min. Once it’s heated remove from the oven. Use oven mitts, as the light will be hot. You can let it cool for a minute or two but do not let it cool too much or else the sealant holding the lights together will harden.



If you look around the perimeter of the seam of the headlight you will see a set of snap tabs that hold the 2 halves together. Take a flat head and pry each snap tab off the notch it is holding. Be careful not to bend or mangle the tab, as it is very soft when hot. After tab is released take the tip of the flat head and pry a section of the seam of the headlight and work your way around for a couple of inches. Try to get a section of the seam opened far enough so that you can get a grip of each half, one in each hand. Slowly and carefully pry the two halves apart. You will find the sealant to be very stringy and web like. Just go slow as not to make a mess.



With the two halves apart you will see the front reflector and the part you want to paint is secure to the lens housing by a set of Phillips screws. With the front reflector removed you will find the amber lens is secured by one Phillips screw in the corner. Be careful when removing the amber reflector as the reflector has a thin section by the amber reflector than can easily be snapped.



To paint you can and really should prep the surface of the chrome reflector by scuffing it with some 800 grit sandpaper. It’s very hard to get under the projector area but you can get most of the reflector scuffed. I decided to mask off a chrome ring around my projector. That’s up to you. But if you wish to mask it off use the blue painter’s tape for delicate surfaces as I find it leaves a cleaner paint line than regular painter’s tape. It’s also thinner and therefore more pliable to make rounded lines. All that said I didn’t sand my reflector. I just cleaned the surface with to make sure no finger oils or dust were on the reflector. I used duplicolor trim paint. I know some people recommend hi temp paints but I don’t think the lights get that hot to warrant hi temp paints but they can be used as well. I’ve just had good results with trim paint on plastics. It is good to have some 800 or 1000 grit sand paper on hand in case you find any lint or blemishes between spray coats. You can do a light wet sand to smooth out the surface blemish. Use light coats and spray evening and when spraying make sure us start to spray before the reflector and continue past the reflector. Never stop midway thru anything you paint. This help to ensure a smooth even finish. Sometimes I’ll do a wet sand with 1000 grit paper on the entire piece I’m painting right before the final coat or two. This will help make a smoother finish unless you want a more wrinkle/orange peel type finish. If you want more of that orange peel effect you can spray a little further away just be careful you don’t get any sudden spurts of paint drops/drips.


After paint is done reverse the process to put the reflector back into the lens housing. Take notice and care to line the two halves back together correctly. I would only put 2 screws on preferably screws on diagonal opposite sides of the light. Don’t worry too much if you can’t press the snap tabs back over the notch. You will find the two halves don’t seal back as tight. They will be much easier once the glue is reheated. With the two halves back together and a couple of screwed secured put the light back in the oven for another 15-20 min at 220 degrees. This will soften the glue up again. Once you remove the lights from the oven you can get to work at clipping the snap tabs back on the notches. You will find the seam easier to pull together. It goes much easier if you use a pair of pliers to squeeze the seams of the halves together. I wrapped electrical tape on the pliers as not the scratch the light. After all the tabs are locked secure the remaining Philips screws. I like to do that while the glue is still warm, as it will grab the screw more as it hardens. Some people like to uses extra silicone to seal up the lights against potential leaking and fogging. In my opinion there’s more than enough glue to make a good seal, but it won’t hurt to add a bead of silicone. That’s up to you and at your own risk if you decide to do without adding silicone. Just try to be neat as possible as you will see the bead on the top of the light when you open the hood. Looks bad to me but just my opinion.

Install back into the car is more of a pain than taking the lights out. But you will be glad you loosened the fender. I recommend getting the inner part of the light inside first and on the 2 posts of the headlight bracket. You will need the bend the bumper cover down to slip the lower part of the headlight in. Pull the fender out a little to help everything slip in. Snap the fastener in place by the indicator corner by pushing the light in by the outside corner. Bolt everything back up but leave the bolts loose so you can correctly align the light and all seams are even on both sides of the car. Put plastic rivets last. The grilles snap right back in. Just line up the tabs and push in. Do the outside wings first then the center. Finish up by reinstalling all the push rivets on the top of the grille.

Before:





After:

[shan mann]

Looks nice, Good write up!
BTW, Welcome to the forums

[PartySTi]

Nice write up. I'm just afraid to do something like this on my own..

[MaxD]

Nice write up! I did this a while back using a heat gun and no instructions haha.

[tossty]

Well, I just want to say thanks to you on this DIY. I was able to do the Lightwerks Angel Eyes on my STI thank to your guidance. Ligthwerks did post a DIY on the STI 2006 but your advice was the one that guide me into the right direction. The detail on how to remove the headlight from the beginning to finish including the details on removing the three bolts on the fender made my life easier. Thank a lot for your time on doing this DIY , without this I couldn’t have done this.

[RR BuGGz]

Originally Posted by tossty

Well, I just want to say thanks to you on this DIY. I was able to do the Lightwerks Angel Eyes on my STI thank to your guidance. Ligthwerks did post a DIY on the STI 2006 but your advice was the one that guide me into the right direction. The detail on how to remove the headlight from the beginning to finish including the details on removing the three bolts on the fender made my life easier. Thank a lot for your time on doing this DIY , without this I couldn’t have done this.

No prob, glad it helped. Did you take any pics?

[Razlin]

Very nice job and writeup

[tossty]

Originally Posted by RR BuGGz

No prob, glad it helped. Did you take any pics?

Here are some pictures,

[stealth06wrx]

Nice angel eyes. Are they on all of the time? Or just with the DRL's?

[tossty]

Originally Posted by stealth06wrx

Nice angel eyes. Are they on all of the time? Or just with the DRL's?

They on with parking lights and headlights. DRL have been disable.

[Real Deal]

very nice writeups
the pics help alot
im just too scared i might screw this up to try it

[Fletch07STI]

Im gonna have to try it even though i'm not too confident!

[frshNAtSubie]

Great post, helped me a lot. Sent the lights to my buds paint shop tonight, will post pictures once it is done.

[frshNAtSubie]

Here is my finished product... (06' Impreza)

[slc14]

Very helpful diy. Im probly just going to clear mine for now and see how i like that, but this guide will definatly help in the process of getting them in and out.