EL Fairmont Headlight Replacements

BEN189 · 25-03-2008, 12:32 PM

Hi All

I am sure that this has been discussed before.

I need to get new headlights for my EL badly. I rang Ford up and they told me they cost $398 each! On ebay, I can buy "copy" ones for around 110 but I have heard they are no good.
There is no way I am going to spend $800 for new head lights when I can get some for a quarter of the price.
Who on here has used the ebay headlights? Are they ok?

Gohan · 25-03-2008, 01:08 PM

hey

try the wreckers they will have some. EF Falcon, EF Fairmont and EL fairmont headlights are the same only differance is the EL Falcon headlights which were differant molding for the differant front end. PS i heard bad stuff about the copied headlights like they melt under the heat of the headlight globes

hope this helps u out

fairmont1998 · 25-03-2008, 01:08 PM

They are rubbish. Honestly, stay away from them.
Speak to The Dok, he is a headlight specialist.

**Sorted** · 25-03-2008, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fairmont1998

They are rubbish. Honestly, stay away from them.
Speak to The Dok, he is a headlight specialist.

As above

see this thread:- http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=113911

http://www.theheadlighthospital.com.au/

There is a reason why the "copy" ones are around $110 each, cheap plastic which melts under heat, cheap wiring which again melts under heat, cheap reflectors, they may last you 6 months but then you will be back to where you are now and need to replace them again.........................

JC · 25-03-2008, 01:29 PM

Do they need replacing because they are broken, or because they are yellow? If yellow, then clean them following the procedure outlined in DrHemi's first link. It works a treat.

BEN189 · 25-03-2008, 03:24 PM

My headlights are pretty bad though, maybe beyond repair.

**Sorted** · 25-03-2008, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BEN189

My headlights are pretty bad though, maybe beyond repair.

If in doubt just to change over with The Dok from The Headlight Hospital - he is highly recommended by many forum members

I couldnt be stuffed trying to clean them so i did the easy option

Here are pics of mine:-

[Tonko] · 27-03-2008, 12:57 AM

When you do decide, get some headlight covers, my EL Ghia had them from new and they looked brand spankin'
That car was outside 24-7 aswell.

AHMD6T · 28-03-2008, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRHEMI

There is a reason why the "copy" ones are around $110 each, cheap plastic which melts under heat, cheap wiring which again melts under heat, cheap reflectors, they may last you 6 months but then you will be back to where you are now and need to replace them again.........................

Has anyone ever even tried these? I've been using aftermarket ones on my EL Fairmont for over 1 year now and haven't had a problem. I've seen some examples that don't fit correctly but other than that, there doesn't seem to be a problem with aftermarket lights.

A mate of mine has been running aftermarket units in his EL Futura for over 2 years after smashing in to a fence and breaking all the tabs off the originals which were yellowed. They still look and work fantastic after so long.

From reading a lot in here recently I think some of you may be playing chinese whispers with a lot of this kind of stuff.

As for The Dok, I have no doubt in his ability but a panel beater mate of mine showed me a way to turn filthy yellowed lights to brand new spec with in 1 hour and without a lot of effort. You need a proper buffer, some sandpaper and a strong compound. I forget the name.

**Sorted** · 28-03-2008, 02:16 PM

There is always the good storys and the bad storys with anything but from personal experience I asked a couple of eBay sellers of these headlights to put it in writing to me that they wont melt and will fit perfectly and all i got was a silent responce.......... silence says alot ALSO no gaurantee says more...... :evil3:

One of them in his add stated his repo lights are better than other ones listed on eBay, I asked him why and he didnt know the answer - what a tool !

And in regards to repairing them, I did the repair job, spent 3 hours on my old headlights and they were no way near as clear as what the Dok can do them as he actually cleans the inside of the lense, the reflector and the housing so at the end of the day when they faded again(in 3 months) I said stuff it and I can't be bothered so I will take it to the expert............

tapeworm · 03-04-2008, 08:53 PM

Rub cut and polish into them with a sponge, they come up like new.