Lamin-X Installation: Don't Try This at Home Kids

[Chris D.]

I finally worked up enough nerve to attempt to install my Lamin-X kit over my headlights. The product installed over the small, oval, flat turn signal (?) light covers easily but installation over the headlight covers was impossible. I followed the directions to the T working from the inside out. The top inside of the headlight cover isn't a problem, but I couldn't get it to flatten out down over the outside of the cover. I kept ending up with two large, narrow, wrinkles or puckers (with bubbles around them) that just wouldn't flatten down. The manufacturer suggests heating it with a blow dryer but no amount of heating would get rid of those wrinkles. Eventually, I decided to cut away about a quarter inch from the top of the one wrinkle which smoothed it out perfectly but it looked like I had a crack in my headlamp, so I ended up tearing the stuff off and throwing it away. I didn't even attempt the second headlight. Another aggravation was that the product was supposed to be precut to fit all the lights but it was too big for every one of them and required a lot of delicate trimming around the edges. I am going to contact the manufacturer tomorrow. I will let you know how it works out.

[fastliz]

Well, crap. Mine just arrived. Mind you, I don't have an Elise, yet!

Mike

[ChrisStarrUSA]

Just a thought. I have the thick 3M protectant on the headlights of my other cars. Installation was pretty easy since they are flat headlights. Because the Elise headlights have the hard curves, I expect that installation will as difficult as you state for most of us non-professional installers. perhaps a better route is to simply use the thin Starshield-thickness protectant on the headlights rather than the thick stuff (which is very hard to bend). The thin stuff bends easily, and will provide only slightly less protection.

[mpadgett]

Glad to hear that it's not just me. Just spent an hour trying to install one headlight film. Same story, lots of puckers no matter what I tried. Has anyone perfomed a successful install? I will now go away dejected, spending the evening totally humiliated by a small piece of plastic.

[ChrisStarrUSA]

I believe Randy has had them on his car since day one - but I'm not sure he used the thick stuff.

[Chris D.]

I don't know if a thinner material would help. I just tried Saran wrap as an experiment and had the same problem. The light has a hump in the middle of it so you are working against a couple of angles. I don't see how anything could work unless it was premolded in the shape of the light.

M. Padgett, have we met before? Have you spent anytime in KY?

[ChrisStarrUSA]

That's correct. What you will need to do is special request a set of headlight covers from any of the 3M product companies (Ston-Gard, X-Pel, etc.). Just tell them you want the usual paint protecting thickness, rather than the thick gauge normal headlight covers. They have special cutting machines that cut them in seconds. A special request should be no problem. Good luck.

[Premier]

The headlamps on the Elise is one of the tougher vehicles to install. Even the pre-cut material will be difficult to install........especially for diy. Anyone interested in doing this should search out a pro......even for those doing this as a business, we have seen some poor installations for panels / lights w/ compound curves.

Installation for the headlamps for us takes approximately 2 minutes each.........we do this day in day out for close to 7 yrs now.

[heidi528]

Great. I bought them; am waiting for warmer weather to install. I'm doomed.

[Samurai]

Mine are installed and I finnally got all the wrinkles out. I had to heat the material and lay the material down. The problem was as it cooled it would pull back up and then would wrinkle again. I just decided to heat the thing up and hold the material in place with a cedit card. I then took an ice cube and cooled the material until it was just under room temperature. The piece now stays in place, but all the pulling and replacing the material has made it look like, well it doesn't look good at the edges. The thing looks cloudy because I had keep pulling the piece off because of the wrinkles. I think I am going to get some uncut material and try a thinner piece.

[Chris D.]

I spoke to Chris at Lamin-X -- excellent customer service by the way. I am going to attempt another installation based upon the suggestions that he provided. I would really prefer to install this particular product because it is thicker. I could tell as soon as I layed my hands on it that it would provide some serious protection for the lights. Plus, it is undetectable on the turn signal lights where I was able to install it on my first attempt. I suggested to Chris that he post his tips in here, so I think you can expect him to provide additional details. I will let you know how my installation turns out.

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by ChrisStarrUSA

I believe Randy has had them on his car since day one - but I'm not sure he used the thick stuff.

It is the thicker stuff. I was fortunate to have the Lamin-x guy do the install. He mentioned it could be difficult for someone with less experience due to the compound curves.

[TTP]

I also had a hard time getting the wrinkles on the edge to lay down. It took me a total of two hours to install everything. I too had to trim the edge. The first one had lot of wrinkles. It doesn't look good at all. I wonder of he sells just one lens cover? I want to reapply it. The second one has only one minor wrinkle so it looks great. After you do the first you learn from the mistakes and the the second is easier.

Just work slowly down and evenly as the instructions indicate. Wet the underside of the film. Heat the material. Remove the heat source and push the material down accross the curve in SMALL, EVEN increments. I made sure I pushed the material towards the two pointy tips of the lights to equalize the tension so that the wrinkles don't form.

[Lamin-x]

Hello all. Just thought I'd reply to this considering many Lotus owners have ordered headlight kits recently. This is definitely one of the more difficult headlight installations. I gave a couple of helpful suggestions to Chris to make the next attempt easier. We will be changing the supplemental Elise installation instructions to reflect these suggestions.

When applying down the side of the headlight, constant heating/warming to the underside (adhesive side) with a blow dryer will be needed. It is preferrable to do this section of the light dry. Too much moisture will not allow the adhesive to stick to the light and you will encounter big, frustrating wrinkles. You will incremetally press the film down from the top to the bottom of the light, so bubbles can be either prevented or removed. Applying in increments will help keep the wrinkles small and controllable, which will be eliminated once the edge of the light is reached.

If you don't feel comfortable trying to install the kit, then let us know and we will try to locate a professional installer in your area. Hope this all helps.

Chris

[ekological]

Is one of the vendors still providing the headlight kit at a discount?

[MattG]

A couple days ago, I installed the Lamin-X headlight covers on my Elise. The newest instructions from Lamin-X (see two posts up) were very helpful. I've installed headlight covers on a different car before, one with fairly flat headlights and had a tough time getting it to all lay flat there. I didn't know how I was going to do the Elise. Keeping the side of the light dry (or mostly dry) made it really quite easy to apply. The hardest part was aligning the wet half correctly to get an even gap all around, while trying to hold the dry side up so it wouldn't stick. Leave a small gap, not too much (1/8"?) when aligning.

One confusing part about Lamin-X's instructions, though, was "You will incremetally press the film down from the top to the bottom of the light". On the first light, I assumed 'top' was the end of the light at, well, the top, and started from there. It worked, but got progressively more difficult as I progressed 'down' towards the end of the light at the front of the car. The edge of the film in that area is wavy as a result of all the stretching it had to do. For the second light, I changed my definition of 'top' to mean the spine or ridge running the length of the light. Starting from there resulted in a much more even distribution of creases (it looked worse than lasagna noodles) - but these creases were easily brought flat using a hair dryer and the plastic scraper.

The result looks...like crap. It's partly my fault, in some areas where a speck of dirt got caught (typical challenge, it seems when working with this stuff). Also, each side had one crease that proved tough to beat. I thought I had it licked, it was staying flat and looked fine, but when I checked it the next morning it had lifted a little there. I should have checked it 15, 30 minutes after finishing. The last problem is much stranger and I'm hoping someone here might recognize it. In several areas, there are sharply defined cloudy areas. Has anyone seen anything like this before (see pics)?

All in all, I didn't think this was too difficult to install and, with the exception of the cloudy areas, I think the cosmetic problems are mostly a learning experience and I should be able to do much better next time.

[Chris D.]

Matt,
Get in touch with Lamin-x regarding the clouded areas but I don't think they are a problem. As I understand it, some time in the hot sun should get rid of them since the material is permeable. It will also help with the adhesion of the material overall as well.

As a suggestion for anyone else planning to do the installtion. I washed my lights and then blew them with compressed air to get off every little speck of dust/lint.

[Randy Chase]

The Lamin-x guy told me that the cloudiness was normal and I had it to. It goes away within a day or so.

[Midlife]

my first thought was no problem they went on the Z06 in about a minute.. Then I thought about the shape of the Elise's headlight... Def looks like a challenge!!

[Johnny B]

Well, I wasted two hours and two headlight covers last night. I've put covers on other cars and know what the finished product should look like.

Mine had big air bubbles, about the size of an asprin and I had fingerprints underneath due to stretching, heating, stretching, heating, stretching, heating.

Wasn't happy at all about the appearance, so I pulled them off. I really didn't think that bubbles that big would disappear over time, plus I didn't like knowing that I got my finger prints all over the covers.

The turn signal covers went on without a hitch, just like doing the lights on other cars, or window tint.

Will need to get a pro in Houston to do this. It sucks because I'm love DIY, but also want the project to look right. I'd rather the lenses have nothing than look the way they did after last night's (this morning's) install.

I'm bummed because it would have been cheaper in the long run to have had it done right the first time.

On a project like this, you want a pro.