Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I had a brain fart this morning. I ordered new led headlights for my 67 and got the classic look lens. It looks great but I wondered if you could cut the front lens off of a original t3 headlight and use it on my T4 bulb back housing ? How would you cut the sealed beam in half? Diamond bit?

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I know a guy who tried it for some reason or other back in '77. A lot of busted bulbs is all he got for his troubles. I think that the type of glass eventually cracks when it is nicked right, like safety glass does.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

It's annealed glass, so you could cut it in theory. It would be pretty difficult. If you used a fine diamond blade and a lubricant like water to keep the glass cool you might be successful. Aside from keeping a straight cut, the biggest problem I can see is the heat resulting from cutting and the temperature differential that would create. That's what's going to cause the glass to break.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I saw a video somewhere where someone took a piece of string soaked in alcohol wrapped it around a bottle of jack lit the string for a few seconds then droped it in watter and it split where the string was burning . dont know if it really works but might be worth a try

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I found this thread from hotrod magazine. I want to do this now. https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1006...rs-conversion/

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Looks like an interesting project with a chance of shattering some glass as noted above. Depending on your desired result, consider this: The beam pattern is determined by the bulb, the reflector, and the lens. The T3 lens fluting is different than the fluting on an E-code H4 headlamp, so the beam pattern will be altered. No telling what the end result will be. If you go ahead with this, will you post before & after pics? Good luck, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out!

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I agree, the lens is made for the lights to work properly and with that being said I probably won't do this but it would be cool on my truck because I have such a stock looking truck with no modern upgrades appearance wise these will stand out a bit and if the t3 lens was on the H4 case it would still be stock appearance.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

That is a good thread. My truck still has both t3 headlights in it. I have not drove it at night but I did have it in the driveway at night with the headlights on and they are very yellow and dim compared to my 2006 truck. I want to leave the t3’s in for the original look but I know I will be driving this at night and it will not be good visibility. Wish they made a t3 upgrade.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

If you haven't already done the relay mod, it's worthwhile. Full voltage to the headlamps makes them brighter. Add some good E-codes like Cibies and you'll have excellent safe lighting for those night drives.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I had a pair of 7'' halogen headlamps, I left on a '67 Suburban for years. When I took them off, the lenses came right off. They were originally epoxied on I guess.
For my purpose, I glued them back together with Blue RTV [what I had around]. I used one for a week until new headlamps came in from RockAuto. The other fell off my tailgate and broke. I think they were Sylvania.
Look at the edge. If it's not a solid glass piece, it may separate easily. The Tungsten lamps are sealed, and if air gets into the ''capsule'' the filament burns out quick. But halogens had a small quartz-halogen capsule inside the reflector housing that is self-contained.
Of course, it won't say T-3 on the outside.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I guess there's the answer. Looks like a pretty good little project.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Chewey; what lights are those?

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

They are from octane lighting. They are super nice with the LED's. Much brighter than sealed beams.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I second this. The relay mod made a much bigger difference than I expected. $30 well spent.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Well I'm going to give this a shot hopefully over the Xmas break. I ordered some diamond wheels today and I think I know how I'm going to cut them to Get a straight cut. I'll post here when I do this and we'll see how it goes.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I would try to cut it with a tile saw.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Subscribed, I want to see how this goes :cool:

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Try Googleing hid conversion those guys split open many types of headlights by putting them in the oven warm up the glue that hold the lens on and separate them

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

I Wil post the results. I will try it on a different bulb first. I may try a few ideas. I just hope something will work. If you have any links to videos or such where ppl have split these bulbs please post them.

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

My ancient Cibie lights fell apart.
Replaced with some Hella H4 and a relay harness
way better light output

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Subscribed

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

Subbed to watch too.

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Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

What is the relay harness mentioned by a few fellows?

Re: Has anyone cut the lens off from a sealed beam headlight?
 

You connect the relays to the battery and the headlights. When you turn on the headlights, power goes through the relays to the headlights instead of roundy-round from the battery to the headlight switch, dimmer switch and then to the headlights. Much less voltage drop. Here is a thread I made to show the difference from stock to using the relays. I bought them from LMC.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=782071