I basjoosed my headlights today (sealed the surrounding gap)

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Intrigued

after a while the foam seems to draw up, and leaves a sticky mess.

That pretty much describes the situation.

I'm just going to reposition the foam to act as a backstop for black silicone caulk.

[Chris D.]

great mods, I'll be doing this to the hood and front end of my truck
tomorrow if I can get my oil change and other maintenance done..

[Eddles]

Looks like filling in gaps is the definite way forward. I've got an ECO4 which is a factory modified Astra to increase fuel economy. I just had a look at the headlights and they have a rubber surround which looks like used to fill in gaps. I don't know whether it's an ECO4 specific mod, or standard on all Astras, but it's interesting to see this. It has the same rubber at the bottom of the headlights but it's hard to take a good picture of that.

[vtec-e]

Nice. And i see they insulated the battery, with an opening to the front to admit cold air. I guess the engine bay can get pretty hot then?

ollie

[Eddles]

No idea. Didn't think too hard why they insulated the battery. Can't guess why.

Back on topic, yesterday went to the supermarket, funnily enough while there were about 20 cars there, I parked between 2 identical silver astra's. They were even the same model level - LS (but not LS ECO4 like mine). I checked out their headlights they both had the same rubber strip all the way round. I now doubt they put that in to improve areodynamics, they are probably just there to prevent bonnet rattling on the lights and cracking them?

[MetroMPG]

I wouldn't discount the aero benefit as a reason they've done it. Also possibly to keep down soiling in the engine compartment, and possibly to improve cooling performance (higher pressure differential if you keep high pressure air from "leaking" into the engine compartment past the radiator).

[ECONORAM]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

No more business card size hole in the front of the car! Mercedes, eat your heart out.

I need to finish the quarter panel gap around the side marker portion of the assembly. I'll just use black silicone there since it's too small for the foam strip.

I am working on doing the exact same thing with my wife's Avenger. Dodge did a better job on it than my truck, but it can still use some cleaning up...

[ECONORAM]

Originally Posted by vtec-e

Nice. And i see they insulated the battery, with an opening to the front to admit cold air. I guess the engine bay can get pretty hot then?

ollie

That would be my guess. I know VW Rabbits and Jetta 1s were hard on batteries. The battery shop told me they were pretty surprised I got five years out of mine. It sat right behind the radiator, so it got a good heat soak...

[Jethro]

I also think door moulding, the type that presses over the pinch weld would work very well (provided the edge of the plastic bumper is close to the opening)
Typically they are nice and soft, compress well, and don't move!

Maybe a trip to the junkyard to take one off a car, pick one that's torn so the guy at the counter will go "Eh take it" then cut/use what ya need.

Oh how I wish the local junk yard wasn't over 100 miles away!

[ShadeTreeMech]

Originally Posted by Eddles

No idea. Didn't think too hard why they insulated the battery. Can't guess why.

I know the reason for that!

A clean battery will last a lot longer than one exposed to dirt and grime. One of the main causes of battery failure is dirt covering the surface and effetively slowly shorting it to death. A constantly discharged battery will eventually die, but one that is kept clinically clean, and also incidentally, protected from temperature extremes, can last the life of the car.

A friend of mine had a late 90s Pontiac Bonneville where the battery was kept in a storage compartment under the back seat. It was kept clean and insulated, and it was the OEM original battery. He said he's never had any issues with it!