New headlights for 2005/6MY Ford GT

[2112]

Left and right side lights

Please keep us posted on the developments. Does anyone here on this forum offer a service to refinish the Ford GT lights and lenses?

Mine appear to have hairline cracks or are these just in the lenses and can be polished out?

Those look like they have been apart before. The bezel appears to be smoked rather than clear.

I also think a lot of those scuffs can be polished out.

 

[Lambofam]

I think you're absolutely right. I don't know who to send these to to get polished and get corrected. I just don't want them to get screwed up. Any suggestions?

 

[Rick Mustang]

Yes. Sean is the owner. He can provide references

 

[2112]

I think you're absolutely right. I don't know who to send these to to get polished and get corrected. I just don't want them to get screwed up. Any suggestions?

Might very well be able to polish them without removing them from the car. Might want to check around with the better paint correction shops.

 

[69b302]

The minor scratches in the headlight clear coat can be polished out. The clear coat, on the headlights, like any clear coat, is not that thick, so there is the risk of polishing thru the clear coat. If you do polish thru, or know you have scratches thru the clear coat, you can remove the headlight, sand all imperfections out, and then reclear coat. I ended up redoing the clear coat on one of my headlights with very good success. You want to use a 2 part(epoxy) clear or something specifically made for headlights. In my experience the fine spidering is sometimes in the polycarbonate and cannot be practically sanded/polished out. A trusted body shop should be able to handle the headlight re-clearing.

 

[2112]

The lens of the headlight is about 1/8" thick.

 

[BSim27]

Does anyone know if “fine spidering” can be caused by polishing or wet sanding? I’ve had ppf removed from one of my headlights and it seems to have pulled some clear. I want to polish the imperfections but I’m worried I might do more damage…ie spidering. Thanks

 

[ViVa gt]

Does anyone know if “fine spidering” can be caused by polishing or wet sanding? I’ve had ppf removed from one of my headlights and it seems to have pulled some clear. I want to polish the imperfections but I’m worried I might do more damage…ie spidering. Thanks

I did the exact same thing and ended up changing the full light assembly. But now,,, it's hard to find the light assembly.
Let us know how you make out on the repair. I might dig mine out of storage and have it resurfaced.

 

[HighHP]

Headlight lens can be fine sanded and polished. Your local PPG or other automotive paint store carries UV clear coat in a spray can for UV protection to replace the protection that was sanded off.

 

[GT@50]

PM me a price if you have a set of lights. Thanks

 

[2112]

I think you're absolutely right. I don't know who to send these to to get polished and get corrected. I just don't want them to get screwed up. Any suggestions?

I just bought an automotive grade catalyzed clear coat from an automotive paint supply. You activate the paint with a plunger and have 6 hours to use it. The spray quality is very good. Even and smooth. It can be cut and polished when cured.

 

[Specracer]

That spray works well, I have repaired 2 sets of non GT headlights. One set is outside 24/7, and still looks great after well over a year.

 

[2112]

I just finished reassembling my headlights (I will Start a separate thread).

I believe most of us are wanting to refresh the lens, which is the most likely component to suffer damage.

I think we can simplify this project by reproducing the lens and swapping it onto the original headlight chassis. I am not saying this is easy. But it seems far more doable and cost effective than reproducing the entire assembly.

Taking these apart and putting them back together seems daunting, but once you do it, it isn’t bad. They are actually well designed for assembly and proper sealing.

 

[Lambofam]

I would love to see a new thread is possible on this subject of refinishing the lenses. Can you post it up please?

 

[Tapps GT]

As far as I can establish the headlamps for 2005/6 GTs are no longer available and I'm not aware of any plans by Ford to resume production of them.

I've been talking with a company called Bee Lighting who make all the exterior lights for the 2017+ GT here in the UK. I've met with them and left them a pair of used but serviceable headlamps to inspect and study.
After a long period of discussion we now have some pricing to produce replicas of the original light which will be a straight swap for the OE parts. As there may be some subtle differences in appearances we are only planning on producing these in pairs. As a service replacement part they will not be DOT marked - the cost of doing the extra testing to do DOT tests and approvals is significant and something I understand we'd need.
So far, so straightforward.

The main issue is one of minimum order quantities (MOQ) to ensure a practical sales price.
Based on an MOQ of 25 pairs of lights we can get these for £9000 for a pair - which I think is a sensible level given the values of the cars. The issue we have is getting 25 orders.
Timing would be 14 to 18 weeks from kick off to the first sets being available.

I considered doing this as a kick starter type thing to encourage owners to place orders with a £9000/pair price and a higher price coming in after the kickstarter as an incentive but I have no idea if we can get the numbers to make that work.
I have discussed this with Rich Brooks too.

I'm open to any ideas of how we do this - feel free to chime in with suggestions or drop me a message.

My intention in this is not to make lots of money - purely to keep parts supply sustainable for Ford GT owners for the future.
Let me know what you think.

Did anything come of your research

I have company state side quoting this too David..But glad to see a price to compare to..

 

[Tapps GT]

Hello guys, Did anything come of your research on replacement headlamps. I purchased a 2005 and it needs a complete passenger headlamp. Please let me know if you have any information on where I can purchase one or a pair if needed.
mark

 

[GT101]

Amazingly we're still talking to the supplier - they're now looking at alternative production methods to reduce the minimum order quantity which has always been the stumbling block.
We haven't given up yet....

 

[Lambofam]

I like many others here would be interested in replacing the headlights but they need to be new level performance so they work properly. Is this still in the works?

 

[fjpikul]

David looking forward to seeing you in LeMans