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Light getting thru sides of headlight hoods

Bluemill

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Messages
107
Location
Scituate, MA
Corvette
2000 Navy targa

There are black plastic hoods that surround the sides of the headlight assemblies you see in the raised position. When the lights are on, a lot of light comes thru the cracks at the top inner edges, easily seen from inside the car. It's not a terrible thing, but it does look a little Hokey (sorry Va Tech folks!) as far as fit and finish goes. The screws that hold these in place have cone shaped inside heads that auto center the pieces, so you can't shift them up tight and then tack down the screws down to correct it. Very flat inner edge screws of the same size might work, but they can't be too thick, so that they would hit the side of the hood and fender when retracting.

I tried electric tape, but it soon softened with the heat of the lights, and were "Blowing in the wind."

I know there is someone out there who came up with something clever to fill in the gaps and stop the chinks of light from coming out the sides.

Any ideas?

Best,

Bluemill


2000 Navy Targa, black tinted roof, polished aluminum wheels, 6 speed with C6 shifter, P-Zero Nero M&S tires, C6 Z-06 shocks, C5 Z-06 titanium exhaust, and air cleaner cover, cold air holes in fog light enclosures, smooth neck throttle body intake neck, HUD, black gut, all new foam in driver's seat. 79,966 miles. Very dependable car, as rugged as a Silverado, if it only had as nice an interior!!!
 
How about some black RTV and about two minutes???:thumb
 
AND............where does one get the little black circular "plug" that twist-loks into the
inspection port on the side of that black plastic surround? The one on my driver's side
decided to do a little traveling on it's own, and if you think YOU'VE got light leakage........
you should see mine!!!!:eek
Andy :w
 
AND............where does one get the little black circular "plug" that twist-loks into the
inspection port on the side of that black plastic surround? The one on my driver's side
decided to do a little traveling on it's own, and if you think YOU'VE got light leakage........
you should see mine!!!!:eek
Andy :w

The dealer can still get those plugs, actually they latch in with a quarter turn... Most of our usual suppliers also sell the plugs, (MAM, Eklers, Corvette Central,etc.) After I bought on for my '04 vert I found the original down inside the bumper!!
 
There are black plastic hoods that surround the sides of the headlight assemblies you see in the raised position. When the lights are on, a lot of light comes thru the cracks at the top inner edges, easily seen from inside the car. It's not a terrible thing, but it does look a little Hokey (sorry Va Tech folks!) as far as fit and finish goes. The screws that hold these in place have cone shaped inside heads that auto center the pieces, so you can't shift them up tight and then tack down the screws down to correct it. Very flat inner edge screws of the same size might work, but they can't be too thick, so that they would hit the side of the hood and fender when retracting.

I tried electric tape, but it soon softened with the heat of the lights, and were "Blowing in the wind."

I know there is someone out there who came up with something clever to fill in the gaps and stop the chinks of light from coming out the sides.

Any ideas?

I also noticed that the fit on the headlamp bezels was poor on my newly-acquired '98 coupe; I was able to loosen the screws, reposition the bezel a bit, then tighten the screws again. But depending on the amount of gap you're seeing, that might not work out so well.

A thought I had in that case was to find some thin strips of rubber foam and line the gap(s). The foam may or may not need any adhesive backing on it, as the bezel may 'pinch' the foam and hold it in place between it and the painted top plate. And if there's any hanging out, you can probably take a razor and carefully shave off the excess so that the foam is flush with the contour of the bezel...

AND............where does one get the little black circular "plug" that twist-loks into the inspection port on the side of that black plastic surround? The one on my driver's side decided to do a little traveling on it's own, and if you think YOU'VE got light leakage........ you should see mine!!!!:eek

I'm a bit surprised that the later plugs (GM P/N 10435410) are falling out as well; guess I better check to make sure they're tight on my '04... I thought the whole point of GM replacing the older 'snap-in' plugs (GM P/N 10297460) with the 'locking' plugs during the '98 production was to prevent that...? I find myself in need of one of the older, 'snap-in' plugs on my '98.

With regard to the older 'snap-in' plugs (which I realize doesn't apply for anyone else involved in the discussion thus far): apparently, GM does not supply those any longer; their solution is to force owners to buy the newer 'locking' plugs -- which are, conveniently, incompatible with the older bezels, so they sell you a pair of new bezels, too... :eyerole That's not to say a dealer might not have one of the 'snap-in' plugs laying around in their stock, but online sources are going to be your better bet.

New GM Parts seems to have the 'snap-in' caps for under a buck, as well as the newer 'locking' plugs (search the site using the GM part number). Another source for the older 'snap-in' caps may what could be the original supplier: Caplugs. Apparently, their BPF 2-1/8 plug is what GM originally used... But I've not verified that yet myself...

... I found the original down inside the bumper!!

I've been reading that as well, on other posts; a lot of people seem to find the missing plug down in the bumper or somewhere nearby. Worth a good look before buying a replacement; that's my plan, when I get the chance...!
 
I also noticed that the fit on the headlamp bezels was poor on my newly-acquired '98 coupe; I was able to loosen the screws, reposition the bezel a bit, then tighten the screws again. But depending on the amount of gap you're seeing, that might not work out so well.

A thought I had in that case was to find some thin strips of rubber foam and line the gap(s). The foam may or may not need any adhesive backing on it, as the bezel may 'pinch' the foam and hold it in place between it and the painted top plate. And if there's any hanging out, you can probably take a razor and carefully shave off the excess so that the foam is flush with the contour of the bezel...



I'm a bit surprised that the later plugs (GM P/N 10435410) are falling out as well; guess I better check to make sure they're tight on my '04... I thought the whole point of GM replacing the older 'snap-in' plugs (GM P/N 10297460) with the 'locking' plugs during the '98 production was to prevent that...? I find myself in need of one of the older, 'snap-in' plugs on my '98.

With regard to the older 'snap-in' plugs (which I realize doesn't apply for anyone else involved in the discussion thus far): apparently, GM does not supply those any longer; their solution is to force owners to buy the newer 'locking' plugs -- which are, conveniently, incompatible with the older bezels, so they sell you a pair of new bezels, too... :eyerole That's not to say a dealer might not have one of the 'snap-in' plugs laying around in their stock, but online sources are going to be your better bet.

New GM Parts seems to have the 'snap-in' caps for under a buck, as well as the newer 'locking' plugs (search the site using the GM part number). Another source for the older 'snap-in' caps may what could be the original supplier: Caplugs. Apparently, their BPF 2-1/8 plug is what GM originally used... But I've not verified that yet myself...



I've been reading that as well, on other posts; a lot of people seem to find the missing plug down in the bumper or somewhere nearby. Worth a good look before buying a replacement; that's my plan, when I get the chance...!

The black RTV can also serve as an adhesive to better retain the plug if so desired.
 
Just a bit of a follow-up on the bezel plug situation with my '98 coupe: I found the original plug just below the headlamp housing; I'm a bit astonished that it didn't get jarred off the perch on which it was resting, to be lost forever, but sometimes you get lucky, I guess... And I was able to confirm that the plug is indeed the Caplugs BPF 2-1/8.

Anyway, these plugs really don't fit very well, which is probably of no surprise to anyone -- and clearly why GM went to the newer design. When I first tried to place it into the opening in the bezel, it just fell out again. Ultimately, I figured out that enough pressure (far more than you would think, and more than I initially felt comfortable applying to the cap when it was difficult to reach a finger or two back behind the bezel to support it) needs to be applied to get the plug to finally seat itself into the opening; apparently, the lip of the plug won't engage the edge of the opening until you splay it out. And you need to check very closely all the way around to make sure it is seated, or it will probably fall back out sooner than later...
 

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