Sooner

For those of you that have bumperettes on your cars and want clear corners, but don't want the expense of replacing the entire bumper or spending $250 for cut down corners, I found an inexpensive DIY alternative.

I picked up a pair of Euro clear corners at sunset (List is $74.48, but ouside oregon you get cost +15% which is $49.68 each). & cut them down myself using a fine hacksaw blade.

Materials
2 -Euro Clear Corners $49.68 ea or $74.48 ea (Sunset Imports) Part No: 993-631-061-01 & 993-631-062-01 www.sunsetimports.com
2 -Hack saw blades (fine)
1 -Tube of clear silicone sealant
2 -Sylvania SilverStar bulbs $22.50 Dual filament Part No: 1157AST I got em locally at GI Joes for $19.99 or http://www.costore.com/performancesh...=34&pid=298203

Instructions:

1) Remove amber lenses from the car
2) Measure (I measured 3 times each) -make sure you measure in the same spot on each lense (ie top & top)
3) Mark the clear lense w/ a marker (sharpie works well)
4) Remove the bulb holders from the clear lenses
5) Take 1 hack saw blade & slowly cut the clear lense! Take your time cutting or you will break the plastic!
6) Use a new blade for the 2nd lense
7) Clean up the clear lenses with air to remove the debris
8) you can use goof off to clean the sharpie marks off if needed
9) Fill the end opening with Silicone & smooth out with your finger
10) Allow to dry for 24 hours
11) Install new bulbs in the OLD bulb holders (you don't need the new ones the are for single filament)
12) Install the new lenses -You may need to take off the bumperettes to make it easier.
13) Enjoy!

Note: I cut mine a bit longer than the amber ones in order to make a tighter fit and a smoother look. That's why I had to remove the bumperettes to install them.

jhale

Thanks for the post, I was curious about how people were cutting the lenses. I just finished installing the s ducts and this was the next project. Why did you replace the bulbs, were they amber bulbs?

Also, is it possible to use the amber lenses as a template for the clear lenses?

97Targa

"Why did you replace the bulbs..."?
For a clean appearance, with the clear lenses, most go with the special bulb that does not look amber/orange until activated.

Sooner

The new lenses came w/ amber bulbs. 1) they are single filament & won't work 2) I didn't like the look of the amber behind the clear lenses.

As for a template, I used a piece of string cut to the length of the amber lense, then used that to measure & mark the clear one. (just makke sure you use the same location as a reference point)

This is a very simple job, just take your time cutting & use a fresh blade for each lense.

TheOtherEric

One comment: be careful of the angle at which you cut the lenses. You want the cut to be inline with the axis of the car so that you don't have this obvious line of silicone evident from the front view of your car. Hope that makes sense. It makes cutting a bit of a pain.

Also, cut VERY SLOWLY. If you cut too fast or sloppily it's easy to crack the plastic. Oh wait, you said that 2x, but it's worth repeating!!

Father of 3

Eric, your car is looking good. Love that avatar picture!

STLPCA

The cut is much easier & faster w/a Dremel cut-off wheel.

Sooner

That is the route I was originally going to take, but I was warned that it's possible to melt the plastic with the Dremmel cutting wheel. I'm sure if you are careful it works fine.

jkuniverse

Brian, thanks for the DIY post and it looks great...and it's one of my next DIYs. What type of hack saw blade did you use and why the new blade for the 2nd lense? just curious. Thanks in advance.

kkim

From reading past posts, I believe the trick was to practice with different speeds of the Dremel to get the cutting wheel at the right speed to get a clean cut made. You can practice all you want making cuts on the lens before the line you actually need to cut. I was all set to do this on a set of the long Euro lens when a short version came up for sale on the board. Needless to say, I bought the short versions and sold the long ones.

Racer944

Brian;

You mentioned that you cut it a bit longer than the amber lens and removed the bumperette to mount... Does this mean that the lens can actually goes under the bumperette slightly?

Eric

TheOtherEric

Thanks.

I would imagine that a dremel routing bit would work too, no? That's my new favorite dremel thingy.

Sooner

I probably didn't need a new blade, but just wanted to make sure I got a nice smooth cut. Not sure what type it was, I just went to Home Depot & picked one out w/ very fine teetch. It was around $2.99 for a pair.
No, not under, but it's right up against it. The amber lenses had a small gap between the lense & bumperette. I like the earlier post that suggested cutting at an angle to better hide the cut & silicone. You can see the silicone on mine if you look closely, but not from a distance.

mborkow

"I would imagine that a dremel routing bit would work too, no? That's my new favorite dremel thingy."

these cars should have come with a dremel as standard equipment ;-)

Father of 3

A dumb question but how do you guys take off the bumperette? Seems like you need a long socket to get down in there. Am I missing something?