Xenon ballast replacement?

[gnat]

Gaudin Porsche Parts shows the 996-631-157-01 for $1700, ECS shows it for $2250.
I have always been able to call Gaudin and get an actual accurate shipping estimate. If the parts have to come from Germany, then it's 3 weeks no matter what.

ECS told me they had them with the Hella name (they are all the same source) for $1300 each, but that didn't get me anywhere. I'll take a look at Gaudin as that is still better than $4k before shipping and tax from most Porsche dealers. Thanks

[theprf]

Wow, $1300 each sounds like a great deal - if they really exist. You might also check Delaware Porsche, they've got good online prices too.

[gnat]

I called this time and rather than an hour on hold a nice gentleman (Austin?) at Gaudin picked up right away. They don't have them in stock, but they are in the US so he says they should ship in 2 days. Here's hoping...

[sweet victory]

Those headlights can be still saved. You will have to sand, compound, and then polish before they will appear new again. The factory UV film/coating is toast; you need to sand it completely off and polish the plastic. Polish is not abrasive enough to cut through that. I have used the 3m kit restoration kit with great success. If I had to do it again, I would buy two kits just so I don't feel like I'm rationing sand paper. No fancy tools needed other than a drill.

Once you polish the headlights, the original uv protection is gone, and will yellow quickly. You will need to coat it with paint protection film, clear coat, or regularly apply a sealant like opticoat. Spaymax 2k is popular and what I will use next time I do a touch up on the head lights

[gnat]

Those headlights can be still saved.

Saved is relative. They have already been sanded and polished 3 times and the last time even though they were clear they still had a yellow tint. That cleaning didn't last more than a month or so. Time to fogging has gone down significantly with each cleaning.

Since it lives outside and these damn things are so expensive, my plan is to polish them up and seal the crap out of them and then reinstall them. I'll put the new housings in when it's time to polish the old ones again and for state inspections.

Thankfully Porsche makes swapping the housings incredibly simple. The BMW's lights are getting bad too, but to remove them you have to take the bumper off So they have to be done on the car itself

[sweet victory]

Saved is relative. They have already been sanded and polished 3 times and the last time even though they were clear they still had a yellow tint. That cleaning didn't last more than a month or so. Time to fogging has gone down significantly with each cleaning.

Since it lives outside and these damn things are so expensive, my plan is to polish them up and seal the crap out of them and then reinstall them. I'll put the new housings in when it's time to polish the old ones again and for state inspections.

Thankfully Porsche makes swapping the housings incredibly simple. The BMW's lights are getting bad too, but to remove them you have to take the bumper off So they have to be done on the car itself

Any reason why you would prefer to seal instead of using a film or clear coat? Another thought is seeking out a competent detailer. A very high end detailer in my area offers a complete service for $600 and that includes applying a film. He isn't using 3M DIY kits, all very specialized rupes and 3m equipment. While expensive, something like this is still much cheaper than replacing them, and I imagine there are certainly cheaper detailers who could produce similar results.

[OceanBlue2000]

Gaudin Porsche Parts shows the 996-631-157-01 for $1700, ECS shows it for $2250.
I have always been able to call Gaudin and get an actual accurate shipping estimate. If the parts have to come from Germany, then it's 3 weeks no matter what.

$4K for a set of litronics at Suncoast.

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/9X6LITRONIC.html

[gnat]

Gaudin Porsche Parts shows the 996-631-157-01 for $1700, ECS shows it for $2250.
I have always been able to call Gaudin and get an actual accurate shipping estimate. If the parts have to come from Germany, then it's 3 weeks no matter what.

$4K for a set of litronics at Suncoast.

https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/9X6LITRONIC.html

Guadin came in about $500 cheaper after tax and shipping were added. That about covers the parts cost to replace the bad signal bar on the 958...

[gnat]

Well that did not go as planned

The lights look good:

Unfortunately the passenger side did not want to come out nicely and it appears that the tray is damaged so I can't get it to lock the light back in.

[32wildbilly]

So now you have to order a tray!!??

Well that did not go as planned

The lights look good:
PXL_20210430_162933078.MP.jpgPXL_20210430_162437133.MP.jpg

Unfortunately the passenger side did not want to come out nicely and it appears that the tray is damaged so I can't get it to lock the light back in.