RE: Headlight covers, Griot's or Stongard???

[Eric Renneisen <renneie@hlthsrc.com>]

>>I've seen Lexan covers that mount in front of the lights.
[snip]
>anybody else able to source these?
[snip]
>J.C. Whitney, perhaps????

Yep, just installed my second pair on the CQ.  ~$30 from JCW.  The
company is GTS from Californy.  Their smoked covers for headlights
and taillights are pretty popular with the muscle-car kids 'round these
parts.  Mine are clear, and virtually invisable once I scratched off the
logo.

>They are a pain to clean. Because the are not in contact with the
>headlight, road grime builds up on the inside. So you have top remove
>them to clean.

These stay pretty clean relative the the rest of the car.  I don't know
about other brands/cars, but mine just pop right out for cleaning.  Other
cars might require brackets or adhesive tape for installation.

>On top of this the exterior surface gets sandblasted pretty quickly,
>reducing the light transmitted, this can become signifigant given that
>perspex only transmits something like 80% when new.

The set I just removed were on for several months and quite a bit of
high speed driving, and I see very few scratches or pits.  Of course,
this is in the southeast US.  As far as light transmision goes, umm... half
of zero is still zero, right?  (thanks, DOT)

>They generally only stop one potentially headlight breaking rock, after
>which your cover is probably in several pieces or at least badly
>cracked & in need of replacement.

Mine are pretty strong, but even if they save me from one headlight
replacement, they've paid for themselves.

>Of course they only come in pairs-, anyone want to buy my collection
>of mismatched pairs?

Ditto.  I lost half of my right one in a minor accident.  It still covers the
headlight, but I wanted to protect the expensive clear turn sig, too.

>They can be a source of noise.

No problem here.

>They can rub against the surrounding bodywork, damaging the paint

These wedge in just below and above the light, and sweep around to
cover the turn signal.  Pretty good fitment.

>Not exactly cheap. $20 might get a crappy set for a common car, more
>like $70+ if you found the right set for your Audi.

I was surprised that I could find them for an Audi, but the box lists
several models:  '85-'86 (& '87, I presume) 4K, '84-'85 5K, '86
Quattro(??), '86-'87 5KS-CS, '87-'88 5KQ, '88-'91 80/90 (CQ).

>All in all I reckon that they are a poor solution & the general population
>seem to agree, they are nowhere near as common now as 10 years
>ago. That being said, if someone stills wants a set, I'll see what I can
>find

Maybe not the best solution, but they work for me.  YMMV.

Eric Renneisen
'90 CQ 20V  -  my 'racing-iron'  ;^)
Chattanooga, TN