04 Denali Headlight Inspection and cleaning

[Sdp1234]

My low beams are very dim. Today was the day to take them apart, clean them, and install new bulbs.
A couple pictures of the assembly’s

I’m worried about the flaking mirror material looking down inside the light

Is this what’s causing my problems.

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[Rocket Man]

If the chrome is flaking off the inside of your projectors, your lights won’t work well at all.

 

[Sdp1234]

Can projectors be purchased separately or do I need to purchase the complete assembly?


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[Rocket Man]

Can projectors be purchased separately or do I need to purchase the complete assembly?


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You’ll need to buy the whole assembly. Might be able to find some used ones in a wrecking yard or EBay that have real bad lenses that are all yellowed out and steal projectors from them.

 

[OR VietVet]

Can projectors be purchased separately or do I need to purchase the complete assembly?


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I have an 02 and was interested in this and I looked and found only complete assembly listed at RA and GM Parts

 

[Tonyrodz]

Don't they have reflective metallic silver paint? You could spray it.

 

[Rocket Man]

Don't they have reflective metallic silver paint? You could spray it.

 

[Rocket Man]

I wouldn’t suggest painting the reflector part of any headlight, projector or regular reflector. In projectors especially the quality of the reflector bowl is directly related to the quality of the output. You want something as close to a mirror as possible with the least flaws. There’s no paint that will do that.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I wouldn’t suggest painting the reflector part of any headlight, projector or regular reflector. In projectors especially the quality of the reflector bowl is directly related to the quality of the output. You want something as close to a mirror as possible with the least flaws. There’s no paint that will do that.

Noted.

 

[05Single]

Buy CB&D brackets for a retrofit. $55

Then get H1 bowls from theretrofitsource.com

Acme super mini H1 - $50
Morimoto mini H1 - $150

H1 halogen bulbs - $10 - $30
H1 HID kit - $30 - $150

Not only will you have new bowls with new reflective and non flaking chrome but you’ll have better output than you would even with brand new oem lights

 

[Sdp1234]

05Single, I’ll look into this in the future. Purchased Purde replacements and installed them. They were cheap and you get what you pay for. Much better than the stock with the bad reflectors but a lot off shadows.

I will keep my stock lights and look into the new bowls and retrofit.

 

[Rocket Man]

05Single, I’ll look into this in the future. Purchased Purde replacements and installed them. They were cheap and you get what you pay for. Much better than the stock with the bad reflectors but a lot off shadows.

I will keep my stock lights and look into the new bowls and retrofit.

The retrofits are a great idea and also the easiest retrofits out there, you don’t have to bake the headlights open like almost all the others. I completely forgot the stock Denali headlights are candidates for that with the brackets you can buy.

 

[PNWMuseumman]

My low beams are very dim. Today was the day to take them apart, clean them, and install new bulbs.
A couple pictures of the assembly’s

I’m worried about the flaking mirror material looking down inside the light

Is this what’s causing my problems.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Excuse my french, but how in the hell did you get the actual projector assembly off of the rest of the housing??? The projectors on my 02 are filthy, but hwen I took out all the screws it wouldn't budge. reguardless of how much I pried on it.. I finally gave up for fear of breaking it. Word to the wise, it is possible to clean it up "some" with it still attached, but it is a major PITA, and I still look at it almost everyday and silently curse those housings...

Many thanks for any help as to how you did this wizardry!

 

[Rocket Man]

Excuse my french, but how in the hell did you get the actual projector assembly off of the rest of the housing??? The projectors on my 02 are filthy, but hwen I took out all the screws it wouldn't budge. reguardless of how much I pried on it.. I finally gave up for fear of breaking it. Word to the wise, it is possible to clean it up "some" with it still attached, but it is a major PITA, and I still look at it almost everyday and silently curse those housings...

Many thanks for any help as to how you did this wizardry!

They’re held in place with Permaseal which is a *****. Google it. Heat helps a bit, prying helps a bit and you definitely need a good razor knife.

 

[Sdp1234]

Excuse my french, but how in the hell did you get the actual projector assembly off of the rest of the housing??? The projectors on my 02 are filthy, but hwen I took out all the screws it wouldn't budge. reguardless of how much I pried on it.. I finally gave up for fear of breaking it. Word to the wise, it is possible to clean it up "some" with it still attached, but it is a major PITA, and I still look at it almost everyday and silently curse those housings...

Many thanks for any help as to how you did this wizardry!

I’m sorry but there was not a secret . Maybe it was easier because I already determined they were “toast” I pried from simultaneous points at the same time

 

[Sdp1234]

The retrofits are a great idea and also the easiest retrofits out there, you don’t have to bake the headlights open like almost all the others. I completely forgot the stock Denali headlights are candidates for that with the brackets you can buy.

Will the new retrofits bolt into the purde lights I naught? They don’t have good light but they look much better than my old stock units

 

[Rocket Man]

Will the new retrofits bolt into the purde lights I naught? They don’t have good light but they look much better than my old stock units

Into the purde lights ? They will only fit if your new lights have the same projectors as the stock ones. I know Anzo U-bar ones work.

 

[Sdp1234]

Into the purde lights ? They will only fit if your new lights have the same projectors as the stock ones. I know Anzo U-bar ones work.

The new hids will have projectors so I guess that matters so that the adapter plates and everything line up?

 

[Sdp1234]

Buy CB&D brackets for a retrofit. $55

Then get H1 bowls from theretrofitsource.com

Acme super mini H1 - $50
Morimoto mini H1 - $150

H1 halogen bulbs - $10 - $30
H1 HID kit - $30 - $150

Not only will you have new bowls with new reflective and non flaking chrome but you’ll have better output than you would even with brand new oem lights

Finally going to do this... ordering later today. Any reason not to proceed with something like this?

 

[05Single]

Finally going to do this... ordering later today. Any reason not to proceed with something like this?

I have zero regret . Anyone who has done this has zero regret