I know this has been covered a few times, but I have a few specific questions I would like to get clarification on.

Blow dry stock sealant until able to pry lose? (do you do this in sections or just heat the whole thing at once?)

Once open masking tape what will not be painted.

Spray paint what you do want black (how many coats of paint?)

let dry

remove masking tape

reseal (how exactly do you re use the sealant? Wont it lose its sealing power once its heated up and pulled apart and cooled down again?)

anything else I should know?

 

I'm curious too now.

 

There is a how-to, but I'll help you out anyhow as i have not read it myself. We did it on my buddies tC.

Just put the headlight in the oven instead of using the hairdryer. It makes it a lot easier. I do believe the temp is in the how-to.

Make sure you use plastic primer/lightly sand the areas to be painted with fine grit paper. We did a couple coats to ensure 100% coverage.

Let the paint thoroughly dry, or else the lens may etch after being put back on and you'll have to buy another headlight. Trust me on this step, as my buddy learned the hard way the first time.

Reassemble light the best you can. Re-insert into the oven to get the sealant goey again. Press the light together until it looks like it's sealed nicely. This may take a couple of times of heating and cooling as you don't want to melt the light.

Once it looks all sealed, run an extra CLEAN bead of RTV silicone around the edge where it seals to ensure no moisture gets in there.

Allow to dry for awhile and reinstall. Enjoy the new look.

 

Does anyone have pics of what the etching looks like? It looks like I have dust on the inside of my light at night but does not affect light output. Is that what the etching looks like?

 

The etching looks like a permanent frost that won't go away. It's just annoying looking, but the light will still pass through it.

 

OK I talked to a friend of mine who said to wrap the headlight in tin foil and heat in an over for 15-20 mins at 250 degrees.

I am thinking about letting him help me with it. He says he has extra silicone glue in a calking gun we can use, and IM sure hes just as knowledgable about the rest of it.

So just regular black spraypaint will do the trick? How long do you have to let each coat dry for?

when sealing it back up, how long do you have to let the new silicone sealant dry for?

Can someone detail why you need sand paper? I thought you could just paint over what is already there, not quite understanding how/why the sand paper comes into play?

etching is flaks of paint on the lense itself? You just have to let it properly dry to keep this from happening right?

 

1) use high temp paint from pepboys
2) you use sand paper so it doesnt look like t monkeys did it (also called half assed job)
3) Let them dry youll be fine

 

I dont understand the sandpaper side of things? Why? You already have a smooth flat surface to paint on, why would you want to sand paper? Only thing I see this doing is causing flakes or fine dust to stay in your headlight housing and cause this etching phoenominon you all keep speaking of.

 

You sand paper it, so you have a slightly abrasive surface, this allowes the paint to "stick" properly, otherwise your paint may look like its blobing together. It's not different than when you get your car painted, the body shop uses a fine paper to give a slightly abrasive texture to the current paint/metal before applying a new coat of paint.

Also, when done sanding, use a CLEAN and DRY cloth to wipe clear any dust etc. The etching their all speaking of, isn't on the painted portion of the headlight housing, but on the clear plastic cover portion.

 

I would almost garantee at 250* the chrome plating on the bezel will start to crinkle up , then u got a big mess sanding that smooth ...as well as crinkles on the actual headlight reflector . And you probabaly will start getting little fine lines or etching on the lens . With my job I work with both the vacum metalized plating , and the polycarbonate plastic used for the lens . I wouldnt go over 150* personally . I did mine at 130* and left it in just long enuff to goo up the adhesive . It took maybe 10 minutes at that temp .

Also , I rushed my current headlight due to time constraints .....and impatience , and reassembled them to soon before the paint was fully cured . The inside of lens on my lights did haze over Best bet is to let the paint cure overnite if ya can .

 

i just did mine after wanting to for a year. i did a cast iron gray instead of black even though u cant tell.
i put mine in the oven at 200 for 10 min and they were fine. make sure you get out all of the moisture inside headlight. i had some fogging at first though its now fixed.
ill post my pics in main gallery.