My 1992 XJS has the Euro style headlights with plastic lenses. I managed to get one new replacement headlight (LH/LHD, driver's side) but the other (RH, passenger side) is still the old one and pretty abraded and yellowed.
So I wondered about whether it was possible to get a new lens 3D printed and installed. So, I have found a company (in China) that advertises doing 3D printing of headlights (and other things). Has anyone tried this and did it work?
I have my "spare" headlight (the LH/LHD one I replaced with the new one) and could take off the lens and send that for 3D scanning for a template. I could actually get them to do an exact reverse image to get the other side (RH).
It also occurred to me if there was any kind of volume discount, maybe it is worth getting extra made of each side?
Has anyone heard of a company in N America making 3D printed replacement headlight lenses?
I know 3D printing like this can work, because completely unrelated to cars, I got a older musical wind instrument repaired for my wife where someone made a key out of 3D plastic that the original manufacturer - which still exists - said could not be repaired and they had no parts.
Bill
1992 XJS Coupe 6 cylinder

 

Can they 3D print perfectly transparent plastics? I know nothing about the technology. Plastic headlight lenses are usually hot molded. Have you tried restoring the lenses? As long as it isn't broken or crazed, you can polish out just about anything.

 

If you search very hard and frequently you MIGHT find a pair of European LHD glass headlights . I found 2 near perfect ones last year....dont ask how much. ouch.

Is your car a US import ?

 

Hi- If you found a place in China that can make them, you’ll make good money selling them on eBay. You really can’t clean the yellow out of facelift XJS lenses. Those clean up methods work when the outside layer is yellow and you basically polish it off, but whatever plastic they used on the XJS is yellow to the core.

There two right hand lenses on ebay right now. I bought a pair for $250 and thought it a good deal, but you can’t find LEFT hand any more. I need another set!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30458813762...mis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12607236762...mis&media=COPY

 

Although I suspect one could "print" this on a large format resin printer in some sort of transparent-ish resin, it's durability would be low. AFAIK there's no resin that combines being truly tough, clear enough, and UV resistant, plus hard enough to resist scratching that would suffice for a cast piece. It would be possible to *cast* a UV resistant acrylic piece simply by creating a silicone mold of an existing piece (surfaced to good condition). There's a guy on YT that regularly does tail-lights and side lights (he's a pro)... and it's not cheap at all to contract that skill level in the West. I think he said some quite simple tail lights to re-cast were near $1000 at his skill level. E.g. . I suspect over $100 + in materials were used. Certainly a 3D resin print could also be used as a master for such a mold.

An issue you might run into in trying to "sell" these ... in some markets like the US ... is possibly that without going through a DOT certification (IDK what's involved there) these might have to be sold as off-road only... which some customers would be angry about, and others would accept the liability. But that's an issue that would need to be looked into to keep ones-self out of legal liability. Perhaps an exact material copy would be no issue. IDK.

~PK

 

I was curious how a (or the?) Chinese place did it. Apparently they shoot a laser into a vat of liquid to solidify the plastic, and are not printing with a filament. The resulting plastic piece must then be sanded down and polished out because the laser does not make an instantly smooth piece. All the headlight examples on the website have a smooth on both inside and outside appearance. The XJS has quite a complicated pattern embossed into the plastic, so there is no chance of smoothing the print down. I have to assume this pattern is what controls the light pattern, in conjunction with the reflector. I must wonder if this is truly a suitable process for reproducing Jaguar headlight lenses for facelift cars.

What would be useful is a “fake up” lens cover for earlier cars. Keep the dual bulb set up, and make a clear non-patterned cover that clips over them. Then you have any possibility of modern bulbs or projectors in the original housings behind a euro style cap.. Sort of like how the Etype had covers over the headlights. Certainly must be sold for off road use only!