I'm fixing up a headlight like this one that got some crash damage:
An idea of what the rear looks like from this similar aftermarket headlight:
The two big problems (other than a cracked lens) are:
1. The tab on the outside at the top is cracked off, it's a very clean break, in fact it kind of holds itself together if I perch it back on.
2. All of the lower mounting tabs have some cracks, fairly clean breaks but not perfect.
What's the best approach? I was thinking epoxy glue but should I consider plastic welding? Replacement headlights typically start around $250 used or $650 new, I can get an aftermarket replacement lens for about $60 and install that myself so I'm hoping to make this headlight usable for under $100.
For some reason I seem to get plastic repair videos in my YouTube. The hot ticket seems to be plastic welding with wire (like screen door mesh), or steel wool as a reinforcer. Epoxy is nice, but it really does not take any twisting stress (at the joint).
Just look up plastic repair on YouTube. Lots of videos. It seems like zip ties are the preferred cheap source of the plastic. No need to buy a kit, they show you how to make a "paste" out of the zip ties, or you can just melt them with a soldering iron.
Yep, if its not visible, use a soldering iron and some scrap plastic. Probably want to do it outdoors or with a fan nearby because those fumes are some nasty E36 M3.
If you have a 3d printer and a roll of ABS, just feed filament to the iron and you have yourself a plastic TIG welder. If you do it often, different shaped tips are helpful.
The damage youve described is pretty much a perfect use case for this.
Some cars, I know Toyota is one and there are many others, sell a mounting tab repair kit. On the Toyotas there are two or three molded-in mounting points next to the OE tab that are made for self-tapping screws to attach the replacement repair tab. Search "mounting tab repair kit (car name)". They are sold so that a minor bump that only breaks the mounting tab does not require a whole lamp assembly.
There's no mounting tab repair kit for 2017-2020 Toyobarus unfortunately, there are some aftermarket kits for the earlier models but those have a slightly different headlight shape from what I can find.
