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

[A. Van]

Items you will/may need.

Paint, small saw for cutting tabs under headlight, epoxy, silicone.

2G:
Start with your passenger side. you'll have to remove your air box. take out the 3 screw, take out bulbs. The light should be a little loose. Grab and yank/pull ( you have to break a tab underneath ), but be sure to not yank out the headlight completely. There is a connector and you don't want the broken plastic to scrape on your bumper.

Now click link: http://www.auburn.edu/~fauchpj/headlight.htm

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I did mine to match the car but to each his own...here's a pic for those curious what paint matching looks like.

Tom

 

[A. Van]

No need to remove your bumper. Just grab the headlight after all 3 screws are out and yank, might take a few tries. There is another screw that you can't get to unless you remove the bumper. The screw and tab aren't needed. when you yank them, the tab under the headlight will break and it might break part of the headlight housing. After the light is out unscrew the broken tab from the car. If it broke part of the housing, just epoxy it back on, then use the saw to cut the tabs off ( after the epoxy dries ) It'll take awhile to get them out. The driver side is a pain cuz there is another tab on it, but it's not screwed in, you just have to bend it back til you can slide the light out. You see what I mean when you do it. It's easier then it sounds, just takes some time.

 

[darat]

Should I primer the chrome before painting it? Im going to do this this week, maybe tomorrow along with my Angel eyes and i was thinking of using sand/primer on the chrome so the paint will stick better.. I guess it doesnt matter though


One more question, if i reseal it with siliicone, can i usde the oven method again to open them up? Also, will the wires from the Angel Eye light melt in the heat in the oven? I know that they shouldn't, but if they have a chance then that's not good, ill have to use some silicone..

 

[A. Van]

I didn't sand or primer my light, although it wouldn't hurt.

The silicone should be able to peel off if you need to open them again, just peel it off before heating.

Angel eye's..what wires? Is the eye a wire loom kinda of deal or the wires that go into the eye's? If it just wires used to hook them up then the 300 degrees should affect them at all. If it's a loom type thing around the eye, then i don't know. Is it thick or soft plastic around the eye? Either way I don't think it'll hurt them unless the bulbs or what ever lights them up are heat sensitive. but then you got figure, light get pretty hot on there own.

 

[Patryk]

i got high heat black engine paint from autozone (duplicolor)....is that good?

also when im gunna reseal it do i just put silicone around the edges and let it sit for a few minutes or do i put it back in the oven and let it sit in there before putting it back on

 

[darat]

Just the wire im using (12 gage wire) but yeah it should be okay, it is meant for heat applications haha.

Im going to buy some paint today, dunno if im going to primer them. Think I'll try to do all of my work i want today though..

Now i have to teach myself how to solder

Edit: gunna use blue paint too.. Blue on black, how would that look?

 

[A. Van]

High heat good

put the silicone on after you re-assemble the headlight. You don't want to cook the silicone

blue on black car...maybe a really dark blue...

 

[Patryk]

ok i got mine all apart took amber thing off now im ready to paint it.

im gunna wipe it down with alcohol.


What did you put over the turn signal on the chrome housing? Obviously that can't be painted ... should i just put peices of duct tape over it and paint the rest?

also did youy paint the whole thing...top and bottom?

 

[greathuskie]

i used 2 thin coats of primer before starting, made it much much easier to do

 

[Talonman]

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). 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.

Did youuse VHT Nightshades ($19 from Summit Racing)? I just got some and want to paint my cf tails centerpiece but dont want this cracking. Are you talking about painting (smoke tinting) the outside of the lense?

 

[Patryk]

do i have to remove the old glue before putting silicone on there? im trying right now and its hard to get that crap off

 

[A. Van]

No keep the old glue, you'll need it to reseal. Depending on your state, you'll want to buy new amber bulbs, 1157 NA..there amber.

Using the VHT on your headlights might be illegal in some states. We're talking about painting the chrome piece inside the headlight.

VHT for $19 from summit?! Ouch...I can get it around my area for $8

 

[tlnpwr]

Originally posted by Talonman
Did youuse VHT Nightshades ($19 from Summit Racing)? I just got some and want to paint my cf tails centerpiece but dont want this cracking. Are you talking about painting (smoke tinting) the outside of the lense?

yeah i used nightshades, but i bought it from a shop around me ($10) and yes im talking about painting the outside of the lense.

 

[Patryk]

mine are done and they look sweet. only thing now is that the damn foglights are still light color and it doesnt really match unlike a 97 where the foglights got that black thing around it

 

[daddyrich1227]

here's the other one.

 

[daddyrich1227]

tried to send this one first but i guess it didn't work.

 

[Spln_Hrd]

headlight painting? doesn't look any diff than stock, what did you do(in detail)?

 

[daddyrich1227]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86980

 

[Spln_Hrd]

o, i'de be to lazy to do that

 

[FiReBReTHa]

take a head on pic for us, it looks good!

 

[nickrule99]

how did you reseal the whole lamp???

is it still airtight?

 

[dave99gst]

Originally posted by nickrule99
how did you reseal the whole lamp???

is it still airtight?

its not airtight in the first place.

 

[nickrule99]

yeah, i realize that now

what i meant to say was is the lense sealed onto the housing... so no water can get in?

 

[Hottalon92]

Here is some pic of my 1g headlights just finished painting them. Before and after.