Headlight Assembly

[Tim.]

Alright, so on my 99 SC1 I wanted to add a set of those LED headlight accents that would blink with my dome light when I lock the car, etc. I popped the hood today to make sure there would be room to mount, and I found a small white rubber.. thing. It seems to be plugging a hole in the plastic of each headlight assembly. Pardon my lack of knowledge on headlights, but is that hole/plug used for anything in particular? What would happen if I took it out and installed my LED's in the hole instead?

On a similar note, are headlights air-tight or anything? For instance if I drilled a hole into the plastic, and air got in, would it cause the 'yellowing' effect you see on older headlights? I want my blue LED's, but not at the expense of loosing my clear headlights.

[Sky King]

Tim,
As I type I just happen to have a right headlight assy in my lap from a 99 SC-2, which should be the same as yours. The only thing I see on it that resembles a "plug" is what appears to ME to be a vent cap. It is on top above the center bulb.

As for being "air tight", I don't believe they are but they are pretty well sealed up to keep water, bugs etc from getting in. They have this vent, in my opinion to allow air to vent in and out. As the air inside heats up from the bulbs, it expands and would have to escape unless the assembly was designed to withstand internal pressure. I doubt that to be the case. Also as the lamp assy cools, air would have to be allowed to vent back in or a vacuum would be created.

I am not sure where you would want to drill a hole or how big a hole you would have to make for this accent light. I would be careful about where you do this so as not to effect the optical properties of the reflector surface around the bulbs. Also I would also choose to utilize some form of sealant such as RTV around the bulb you install to maintain the integrity of the enclosure.