Does anyone know how to or know websites that can teach my how to paint (trim) my headlights black? Ive seen one member here with a white maxima who has done that. Thanks.

 

It's K Pazzo 6 that did it. I don't think he has a how to, but if you send your HIDs he'll do it for a fee.

 

this is one of those mods you have to do at your own risk! i did mine a couple weeks ago (page 5 on my home page) and i kinda messed up the drivers side lens.

 

heres the link to the 4th gen ae style head lights

http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~cheston/aeheadlight.html

 

Some pics of my painted headlights.

Pics

 

do you have any pictures of them on the car?

 

this is the only picture i have since this was an extra headlight i had laying around so it was my test monkey. right now it's being fitted with angel eyes, so i don't have access to it. but if that angel eye deal dies, then i'll just take my current hid's (weather permitting) and pull them apart, paint them, and clear out the turn signal lens.

 

Wow, thats some good craftmanship there with the painting, thanks. I have a few more questions for you if you please..... First, I am wonderiing, how did you get the front headlight plastic off... or does it come off buy itself. Second, what kind and what color paint is that. third, if i were to mess up, would i be fu*cked or can i easly remove paint where its no supposed to be? Thanks... your pcis were really helpfull.

 

DAMN! that's exactly what i was planning to do...your **** looks fukin nice..... did u stick ur lights in the oven to open them? and can you give me any tips?
your turn signals...did u just remove the lens and leave it open? or did u replace it with another piece? if so what kind?
sorry for so many questions...it's just that u have exactly what i wanted..and i couldn't find a pic of painted headlights on a dark car..so i wasn't sure whether or not to do it....now i'm sold.

 

one more thing..can i see a pic with ur city lights and turn signals on? i wanna see how it looks without the clear piece

 

i used gloss black on mine some ppl use flat
and no they dont come apart easily, well after the glue is heated up they will. I stuck mine in the oven at200degrees for 4 mins and slowly pryed them apart

and here the assembly is taken apart

 

Did you pre-heat the oven before you popped them in? Also, you said they just come apart? or did it take a little more work like taking a knife and slowly eding them? What did you use to put it back together (type of glue i mean).

 

yeah i preheated the oven at 200. Sorry about the confusion, they dont just fall apart, i used a old flathead screw driver and slowly pryed on a corner and edged around it. to put it back together all i did was pop them back in the oven also at 200 again to heat the silicon back up and stick em back together. You souldnt need any more silicon i wound up taking alot off to put mine back together properly.

 

i used a blowdryer and a screwdriver and a lot of patience. heating it up little by little, and not too much that the plastic itself would bend, i was prying with the screwdriver ever so slightly and pulling with both hands (friend was doing the ever so difficult task of holding the hairdryer)
to paint it, i really didin't want any glare, especially getting 2 types of glare body and black. i thought that would look ghetto, so i used a flat black. to me, this would accomplish what i wanted, to make the headlights stand out. then again, this is my opinion. you do what you like. i might just get them painted body color. not sure yet.

i used regular home depot krylon flat black spray paint. i dont' think you need anything special, as these HID's dont' give off hardly any heat. it held up nicely and i only had it for 2 weeks before it was shipped to california and it looked clean as anything else. if you messed up, i dont' see why some paint remover wouldn't hurt. i guess i didn't think of that because i made sure i didn't *** up. i covered everything i could think of before i started.

with the turn signals, my first intention was to simply remove it and dremel out the top light, and this was only because i coudln't find any lens that matched exaclty with the clearance lights. i did dremel it out, and as you can see it does look okay, but i ended up finding a lens that does match the clearance exactly, so i'll be doing that instead. the turn signal lens pops out. the clearance lens is molded on, so you have to dremel it.

 

how did u get the assembly back together then? hairdryer again?

 

 

absolutely perfect.

 

Ehm...the search feature is your friend, although I'm sure you already met it. There is a write-up in the how-to by yours truly.

 

Car looks good.

 

djPlayboy you got some ***** to bake your headlights.
Nice job BTW...

 

check your pm

p.s. - when i get a good digi cam & i do another set i'll take pics & write a how-to.......just remember-- a heat gun is your friend

 

I used the hairdryer and needle nose screwdriver on my last car's headlights, it was a b#tc# to do. I just took off all the old silicone and replaced it with some nice clear, it worked great no fogging until the car went into a lake, then they fogged up.

 

Well, i am scared the my maxima might oneday decide to fall into the lake. By the way, whats a good way to prevent fogging before and after i take a dip into a lake, or maybe just when it rains. Do you know if you lights are air tight so rain doesnt get inside? Thanks.

 

Aren't those gonna bake in the summer sun? If not that is the time to do this project. Here in the south you could fry eggs on a white cars hood in July. I bet the housing would be easy to take apart then.

 

Well when my accord v6 was stolen and crahed into a lake, the drunk dumb@$$es floored it thinking the car would back out somehow and sucked lake water into the engine. It was totalled, so I didn't worry about it too much.

Putting your headlights in the summer sun does work. Just leave them out there for a couple of hours and they should be soft but it still takes a lot of strength to peel them apart, so I definetly recommend a hairdryer.

 

how long does it take with a hairdryer? i'm thinking about doing mine tomorrow..or if it takes less than 3 hours..i'll do it tonite...i am SOO ready to get rid of my turn signal reflector..and paint my housing

 

where can i get a good deal on 2k2 lights w/out being raped by the dealer. ??

 

If you do want to paint it, it will most likely be a 6-7 hour project with proper drying time. Just make sure you use a high temp engine paint when you do it.

 

yup... BTW i didnt even think of the hair drier thing

 

ooh..i'm gonna do my housing painting project tomorrow morning..any quick hints? or any advice? plan on renting a heatgun or buying one ($30 at hoem depot)..and if that doesn't work..then hairdryer..and my last resort would be to stick them in the oven...a friend of mine has a TL-S ....he melted some parts of his headlight in the oven...so i'm a little hesitant about doing that....tips please for tomorrow!

 

Take your time. The oven is fine, so long as you dont let your light touch any part of it. I layed down some foil on a cookie sheet and then put oven mits on top of that. You won't have a problem with it if you do that. Be sure to heat them back up before sticking them back together. It's easily a 6-7 hour project if you allow the paint to have its suggested drying time. If you rush you could run into a couple problems, especially if the paint isnt dry.