Jump to content
Steve-Oh

How to Black out your Headlights!

Recommended Posts

Alright, after serious annoyance of my computer last night. Here we go again.....on my own?*BUMMMM BAWMMMMM*

So after being displeased with the entire appearance of my headlights, I've decided enough is enough and it's time to do something about it! Inspired by Steve-Oh, this project was guided but did not have a very solid how to to follow so here yah go!

Materials needed:

-Headlights

-Oven

-Towel

-Screwdrivers (Phillip and Flathead)

-Putty knife

-Oven Mitt

-Scotchbrite Pad

-Primer

-Spray paint

-Clear Coat

Prep Materials:

-Open up your oven and remove everything from the inside. Notice how I put the rack in the middle, this will allow the headlight to heat thoroughly and the glue to be warmed up on each side.

8372530870_570d7bd7cf_b.jpg

8372530228_25037005a7_b.jpg

-Once emptied out, turn your oven on to 245*F and allow to preheat (Use this temperature at your own risk, I started at 235 and It wasn't really heating the glue enough. Since the housing is fiberglass I didn't have to worry about melting plastic, I'm going to have to be much more careful when I do the corners)

8372529164_fe308bfb11_b.jpg

-Now is time to prep the headlights. See the three screws on each of the bezels for the lightbulbs? Remove those and remove the bezels and light bulbs from the lights.

8371457211_83ff151587_b.jpg

-Next take note of the clips on each side of the light. We have to remove these because they can end up melting and nobody got time fo dat!

8371456721_2b5591f4ba_b.jpg

The easiest way to remove these is to pop the collar up around the ball (see pics) and then use needle nose pliers to close the arms and push it out.

8371466693_3b8acbd13f_b.jpg

8371466155_5b09cfc89a_b.jpg

Time to bake!

-Put down that towel (you're a towel) on the oven rack, make sure that you dampen the towel first so the rack doent put grill lines on your headlights. The first headlight I messed around with a bunch of different temperatures and times at varying degrees. The combination that I found worked the best was 245*, leave the headlights in for 20 minutes and then start working at them.

8371465675_5ea6995e13_b.jpg

To open them up took a bunch of effort and even more patience. Once you have it opened up halfway, it's a good idea to pop it back into the oven to heat up the glue again. The basic idea is to start at a corner and work your way around the light. Starting was the hardest part. I found that I couldn't preserve the corner of the housing (see pics) but the rest of the light I could keep in great shape if I used a combination of putty knife and exacto blade to cut the glue. Just take your time going along the lens and if it starts getting hard to open, pop it back in the oven with a screwdriver to keep separated what you have already.

8372536216_30fbd9aa2e_b.jpg

8372535578_b2970124e3_b.jpg

8371463739_3d4e451f02_b.jpg

8372534490_855e846c28_b.jpg

Both done!

8371461679_7e4878fbac_b.jpg

8372532436_2f39555364_b.jpg

Taped up for the next step

8371460573_b4b7d5fdd9_b.jpg

8372531366_a4c13781ac_b.jpg

Going to do the next step now! Update tonight!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onto the painting!

The first thing that I did to get them ready for painting was to scuff them up. Was going to use a scotchbrite pad but only had 1000grit sandpaper so I opted for that instead.

8377610177_3e536c90fe_b.jpg

8377616847_118f2c3ed6_b.jpg

8378692066_30cacd6c4f_b.jpg

Here's the products that I used. The color was a semigloss black, Took the lid off already.

8378686576_f9f5cb4070_b.jpg

Shot the light with some primer after I scuffed it all up. Ended up using about 4-5 coats of the primer, made sure that it covered the whole thing real well so that it could stick too it.

8378691356_b6b31176e1_b.jpg

All nice and dried

8377614645_7375bce75d_b.jpg

After a few layers of color

8378688910_5339e116f5_b.jpg

and a few layers of clear (ignore the milkyness, clearcoat wasnt dried). I used 4-5 coats of clear, going in a criss cross pattern on each coat, one horizontal, one vertical, then waiting 2 minutes inbetween coats

8378689900_382e34dd39_b.jpg

8378687424_999feed889_b.jpg

Final product compared to the original

8377612369_7f2f270e01_b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

lol it took a lot of mental prep, i'm even more scared to do my corners tomorrow =\ But my headlights are fiberglass housing so i didnt have to worry about melting it at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looks like you might have picked up some dust somewhere along the paint/clear area. One word of advice when painting is too wet down the floor where you are painting. This way anytime you walk over to it/away from it, any dust that was on the floor will not be stirred up and any dust released from you/your clothes will stick to the floor and not get transfered. Just spray enough water to wet the surface 5-10 mins before you paint and then let everything settle down to get caught in the water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looks like you might have picked up some dust somewhere along the paint/clear area. One word of advice when painting is too wet down the floor where you are painting. This way anytime you walk over to it/away from it, any dust that was on the floor will not be stirred up and any dust released from you/your clothes will stick to the floor and not get transfered. Just spray enough water to wet the surface 5-10 mins before you paint and then let everything settle down to get caught in the water.

Thanks forthe advice! Luckily I was jist doing these for myself so i'm not super anal retentive on the quality. I was shooting in my garage so i had the torpedo heater on in conjunction with a fan so im sure shit got blown around. Our garage isnt a very clean place hah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

looks like you might have picked up some dust somewhere along the paint/clear area. One word of advice when painting is too wet down the floor where you are painting. This way anytime you walk over to it/away from it, any dust that was on the floor will not be stirred up and any dust released from you/your clothes will stick to the floor and not get transfered. Just spray enough water to wet the surface 5-10 mins before you paint and then let everything settle down to get caught in the water.

That was actually a brilliant idea. I have always had this issue when I have spray painted something..

Thanks Scott! lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yea the garage is where I do all my work and that heater is probably what did it.

I have not painted anything for anyone else in years but I find myself even more anal about my stuff. just wanted to share that idea for you and the rest as its a super simple and VERY effective way to cut the dust down to nearly nothing even in a dusty garage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yah i was painting with my back to the heater (so face of the headlight facing it) and probably could of cut down almost all of the dust if i would have just turned it around so the back of the light was facing the heater.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am planning to do it to my depot-projectors lights but paint the shroud the body color. Might throw a better projector while I am at it.

If you're going to go through all of that you might as well do a retro-fit. To my knowledge, the projector area does not come apart easily, if at all. Unless the shroud around the projector unscrews or snaps out...

Also Bryan, apparently I started this thread :thumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're going to go through all of that you might as well do a retro-fit. To my knowledge, the projector area does not come apart easily, if at all. Unless the shroud around the projector unscrews or snaps out...

Also Bryan, apparently I started this thread :thumb:

It has metal clips and glue holding the glass/housing together. Might need some cutting to take the shroud apart but that is nothing a little glue can't fix and like you said if I am going to take them apart why not?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has metal clips and glue holding the glass/housing together. Might need some cutting to take the shroud apart but that is nothing a little glue can't fix and like you said if I am going to take them apart why not?

Hmmm I'm gonna have to experiment with mine. Good to know!

Sent from Space

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^negative, went out to my girls place today and got frustrated monday so i'm gonna give them another shot tomorrow.....might be buying a new if things dont go well like they havent so far -__-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welp, Cracked the lens on one and melted the other, fuggggggggg. Ordering a new pair today and giving this another shot next week =\ such a frustrating sensation. Damn these shit ass corner lights!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welp, Cracked the lens on one and melted the other, fuggggggggg. Ordering a new pair today and giving this another shot next week =\ such a frustrating sensation. Damn these shit ass corner lights!
so one not enough heat and the other to much heat? Welp there are those corners we talked about yesterday. Just sayin.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


SN95 Source ©

The premier SN95 Community

×
×
  • Create New...