Baking altezza lights ?

[Ridr]

I don't know where to post this , it's not even about my XJ but I need help. I broke the tailight out of my truck a couple years back and replaced them with those altezza lights off of ebay (read "I went the cheap route").
Now they are really dirty inside (I live in the country on gravel roads).
I have heard of baking these things in an oven to get the glue to melt so they will come apart, does anybody know how to do this ??

 

[bjoehandley]

I've known people to do this to debond the CA glue used to hold the tires on the rims of an R/C car, but not to do this. One of the customers (a local part time fireman no less) in the LHS I work at got a set of tires so hot they started to smoke while doing this! I've boiled tires to get them to come off the rims a couple if times, but that's my only experiance with anything along these lines.

 

[Gridikal]

I did this before on a friends ranger- don't remember which method.

One method:
Preheat your cooking oven @ 250 degree for 5 minutes.
5 min is up, sit a piece of WET cardboard on top of the plate.
Place your headlight on top of the WET cardboard. (make sure no wires or bulbs are attached
Bake your headlight for 7 minutes.
After 7 minutes, remove it from the oven. The silicone should be melted. With your bare hand, try to open it up by tugging and pulling. If you are not the Incredible Hulk like me, you may need a 2nd person to help you or use a flat head to pry it open.
While opening, make sure no silicone stick inside your housing. If yes try to clean it off.
In case you can't open it. re-wet the cardboard and throw it back in for about 3 minute should be good.


Another:

Once you have stripped the headlight housings, it's time to bake them in the oven so that the lens can be easily removed. They must be done one at a time. Place each headlight on a cookie sheet with foil or a peice of cardboard to prevent the headlight from melting against the cookie sheet.
As far as temperature, I found that 305 degrees for about 9 minutes works well. Remember, preheat the oven and then once you put the light in there, turn the oven off. While baking try to avoid opening the oven to check on the light. This will prolong the heating process. At this time and temperature, the lens should pry apart from the housing on the first try. Just take your time and don't rush anything. This is not something that just peels apart super easy. I didn't use any tools. I just used my hands and started in a corner where its easy to grab both parts. I also had a buddy helping me pry it apart slowly.

 

[Gnat5680]

I've known people to do this to debond the CA glue used to hold the tires on the rims of an R/C car, but not to do this. One of the customers (a local part time fireman no less) in the LHS I work at got a set of tires so hot they started to smoke while doing this! I've boiled tires to get them to come off the rims a couple if times, but that's my only experiance with anything along these lines.

i wish i had read this before i tore my tires to shreads with a knife. the oven idea with plastic tires=bad idea

othewise the wet cardboard should work