headlight painting [Merged 10-8] paint headlights head light lights painted

[A. Van]

I'm gonna clear out my headlights this weekend and I want to paint the chrome part black ( not the area needed to reflect light from the bulb ). Any suggestion on what kind of paint...high temp..etc..etc.. I want it kinda glossy too, to try and match my exterior color.

 

[tlnpwr]

i did mine on tuesday......
before....

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after...

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i just used regular gloss black paint that i got from home depot.

 

[Defiant]

It made it all darker outside, too.

 

[tlnpwr]

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actually the car is sitting in my garage in the after pic

 

[farmdogg55]

i used high temp red, but thats just because i had it. you dont have to use a high temp paint. just go get a good gloss black can from walmart.

 

[tlnpwr]

ok for the ppl that have painted ur lites....

on my old car when i painted the parking/turn signal lenses with the spray tint sometimes it would end up looking like it was cracked (like a lot of little cracks all over the lense). i cleaned the lenses prior to painting, and even on another set, i sanded it down prior to painting. i just don get it. b/c when i painted my taillights, everything was fine.

 

[A. Van]

Thanks guys

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by tlnpwr
ok for the ppl that have painted ur lites....

on my old car when i painted the parking/turn signal lenses with the spray tint sometimes it would end up looking like it was cracked (like a lot of little cracks all over the lense).

Sounds like the paint was crazing the plastic. Bad chemicals, luck of the draw- the plastic didn't like the paint carriers, like painting a plastic model with lacquer and no sealer, you can wind up with a ball of plastic. At least it burns good.....

 

[tlnpwr]

so defiant....there's nothing that can be done about that?

 

[Defiant]

You might get away with sanding them down, polishing them up, and using lighter coats with lots of drying time in between. It's usually the thinners and carriers in the paint that affects the plastic, not the tinting.

 

[A. Van]

I got mine done on sunday.... What a b!tch. I did the grab and yank method, which worked, but it was still a pain in the ass to get them out. My passengers side light is perfect. My drivers side light is defective. It was a little yellow so I tried to clean it and buff it, but there are these small wave marks in the plastic, so it didn't clear right. The pain for the drivers side didn't want to stick right so a small bit of the chrome just barely shows. I used alcohol to clean them then wiped them off and let dry. While I was in there I did the BCS restrictor removel mod. I took only 10 minutes to put them back in and put the car back together. With all said and done, it looks pretty cool, although I will be looking for a new drivers side assembly.

 

[focusedrage]

so how many minutes at 300 degrees? it seems like this is a piece of cake but i dont want to mess up my headlights

 

[A. Van]

7 minutes is good, then pull them apart. I tried to pull them apart with oven mits on but they wouldn't grab, so I just grab them real fast and pulled hard many times...very hot. Make sure you pull from the end with only one tab, the other end has two tabs.

 

[tlnpwr]

definitely take out the bulbs. the wires were fine when i did mine. i didnt re-heat the headlights, i just re-sealed them with some silicone. good luck.

 

[eclipse13]

^^^where can i get some silicone for it

 

[A. Van]

I just reheated both parts, forced them back togather and aplied some silicone to the edges

 

[tlnpwr]

Originally posted by eclipse13
^^^where can i get some silicone for it

home depot

 

[Patryk]

here is a good website i found on how to paint them.


http://www.londonautoclub.org/html/Tech_Info/how_to_clear_paint_headlight.htm

 

[Patryk]

Originally posted by tlnpwr
i did mine on tuesday......
before....

did you clear your corners or you can't do that on our headlights?

 

[tlnpwr]

yeah i cleared mine while i had it opened. all u do is unscrew 2 screws and pull the amber lense out.

 

[ceniack]

anyone done this to a 1g? with non pop-ups?

 

[Patryk]

1 more question... our original housing (95-96 headlights) is chrome right?

Did you just paint over it or did you remove the paint?

 

[A. Van]

Paint over it. Just make sure it's real clean and dry. I used alcohol to clean the chrome part. The little clear lens in the chrome part comes out too.

 

[Patryk]

Does anyone have pics of what our headlight looks dissasembled?

 

[lordmark]

Originally posted by ceniack
anyone done this to a 1g? with non pop-ups?

i will be attempting this in a few days. i just need to get off my lazy ass and do it. you cant clear out the corners on 92-94s cause the orange plastic is built into the housing. to get clear corners for our cars you need to buy new ones.