How To: Paint The Inside Of The Headlights

[nccelica]

All finished, sorry it took so long. :)

http://members.inteliport.net/~easye/headlights.htm

[CSteckel]

Uhhh,
plan on telling everybody how to reassemble them without having any cracks or viods that let moisture into them???

[soceur]

once again Wilmington is in the house!!!:) Good job bro! This should make its way to the install secton pretty soon.

Lau'San

[nccelica]

done

[Chumpchiggy]

Larry, can we add this to the installs?

[MarkyMark]

looks good...but

put them in an oven :wtf:

[soceur]

loosens the epoxy. Just dont forget to turn the oven off before you put them in. Ive done this before a couple of times no problems.

Lau'San

[jotan82]

umm baked headlights :gap:

[dawgg]

car looks nice. is that the US or japanese blitz copy front? I was wondering how that would look with the WW sides and rear. Might have to bit eyour style =)

[nccelica]

jappy

[00CericaRuss]

nice

[ArchangelX]

Dayang..

That looks a helluva lot better than those projection headlights...

How about the paint? Does it stand up to the heat of the bulbs?

Wow...looks great...I think this is a worthy mod..I'm gonna run to the junkyard and see if there's some Celi headlights...woot!

[nccelica]

ive got automotive quality paint (PPG) on my covers, but i did my friends with regular old $0.68 spray paint from walmart and his is fine

[Whiteboy]

How do the colors match up when you have your car waxed and inside the headlights it's not waxed? Is there a noticable difference?

[xi KiNG ix]

cool

[nccelica]

the inside was already waxed and since its a sealed headlight it doesnt get dusty or dirty :)

[Whiteboy]

Alrighty then

[ohwhatafeeling]

EVERYONE WHO HASN'T DONE SO ALREADY, PLEASE GO INTO THE PERFORMANCE MOD THREAD AND LOOK FOR THE PETITION THAT DAVID DRAPER HAS STARTED UP......WE JUST NEED YOUR NAME AND E-MAIL ADDRESS .....HE'S GIVIN' THIS TO TOYOTA SO THEY CAN MAYBE GET A MOVE TO CREATE SOME STUFF FOR US OR GET ANSWERS AS TO WHY THEY HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY....THANKS ...THIS WILL DRAW ATTENTION TO THE CELICA CROWD, AND TRD WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DENY US ANY LONGER....NOR WILL ANY AFTERMARKET COMPANIES AFTER THE PETITION IS HEARD.....THANKS AGAIN

[nccelica]

:confused:

[soceur]

hmmm:wtf:
his hearts in the right place, but the noob in him made him do it.
hahaha!!!!


Lau'San

[soceur]

I just noticed he went into a bunch of threads and did that. hmmm

Lau'San

[baNanA_ryCe]

wait..i'm confused...all the pictures that i see looks like you have a BLACK car...but u put Carbon Blue...are they just the pics?

[nccelica]

yea its just the pictures, my car is carbon blue and the headlights are painted carbon blue, the pictures are in the shade, thats why they came out black, you can tell in the first picture of the install guide that my car has the blueish pigment in it, plus my car was dirty as crap when those pics were taken for the guide ;)

[gt2000quebec]

i'm doing my headlight in white this week-end ;) i think it will look better white on my car.... instead of "JDM" look

[X-EVIL-X]

hey, the paint on the cover looks dull.
im going to do this but take it to a shop to throw some black paint on em...
is there any reason your cb looks like that or is it just the pic?
they'll paint that cover but it will come out glossy.
is that what i want?

[nccelica]

cus of the pictures, mine is glossy in person, could also be because of the shade

[X-EVIL-X]

so in person if your standing over the headlight and compairing the painted part to the actual paint of the car does it looks any different?

[nccelica]

it looks a lil different, thats cus it goes through the plastic, but not much

[X-EVIL-X]

TTT
put this in the instal guide!!!

[Bo]

Good write up. I did it the exact same way except only had the oven up to 200 degrees and pulled them apart as my friend used a utility knife to cut the epoxy.

A tip on the painting.... Paint the inside of the clear piece so it remains glossy on the outside.

Good job! :thumbup:

[Sleeka]

I really like the look of it but looking at the install pics I noticed how warped the plastic gets after being pryed on. I don't doubt that you can reseal the headlights but I don't like the idea of torturing it first. Is there any kind of epoxy dissolver that you might be able to put into the seams to dissolve the glue? This seems like a way better alternative and would be worth looking into. Anybody have any ideas?

GTSnut: how did the plastic look using a putty knife instead of screwdriver?

[Bo]

I had to do some prying myself, so it was the same. There's no easy way around it. That stuff is like tar. Here are my pics from October when I did mine.

Bo's headlight pics (http://community.webshots.com/album/34435215pYzwAB)

[TRD StreetRacing]

Originally posted by gt2000quebec
i'm doing my headlight in white this week-end ;) i think it will look better white on my car.... instead of "JDM" look

that will look sick!!!! please do post some picz:thumbup:

[X-EVIL-X]

hey bo
you think it will look good just painting the plastic piece that nccelica did?
i dont think the all 100% black would look good
i dont know though
yours look really dark

[gt2000quebec]

Originally posted by TRD StreetRacing


that will look sick!!!! please do post some picz:thumbup:
sure well.... i should have pics monday afternoon ;)

[X-EVIL-X]

i think this looks a lot better than headlight covers.
ill do mine in a week
so nccelica- are the parts that come out(to paint) one piece or two?
so the a part between the wavy plastic?
im just kinda confused about that because i coulnd't see a piece of plastic under the plastic

[carbonbluchick]

theres 3 pieces total, the reflector piece, the piece you paint and the cover, the cover is just the top part of the headlight, and you can see the reflector piece in one of the pictures... im on vacation so if im slow to respond and not on aim you know why ;)

GTSNut is where i got the idea from, the day he poasted the pics i went after the headlights :D

if you pry from the side that faces the outside of hte car it wont be visible

*edit* oh yea this is nc btw, im at my girls house hehe

[baNanA_ryCe]

my brother just used a blow dryer and pryed his lights off....but it took a hella long time. so if you're scurred to have burnt headlights, then use a blowdryer and slowly heat up the epoxy and WABAM! it should work. hey gt2000quebec....imma do white too!

[gt2000quebec]

when are you doing those??? maybe i could fix my mind for sure before tomorrow morning haahhhahahahah
i'll use a heat gun too...... i already used it 3 times for sealsbeam job.. it work great!!!! must take more time than oven... but i feel more secure this way..... those damn headlight must cost a arm and a leg!!

[soceur]

is this going in the install section??

[X-EVIL-X]

so can you still see the wavy part on top.
gtsnut's just look all black without the wavy part up top or on the bottom piece.

[baNanA_ryCe]

muahaha i did mine white already gt2000quebec....ok..no i didn't. i'm gonna do it AFTER you do yours. i dunno if it'll look gud, ya basically i'm saying i'm a ***** at trying new things. i gotta see them done first. HURRY UP. its sunday..i'm really anxious. hey x-evil-x....are u gonna do urs?

[nccelica]

if you dont like it, you could always paint over top of it... just an idea heh

[Bo]

One of the reasons mine look so dark is cuz I tinted the huge outside lense as well. I like the dark look, but you may not.

[X-EVIL-X]

im doing mine in a week

so does it still look wavy?
i just dont understand if the part you paint 1 or two pieces.

[h0l0grafik]

are there potential risks involved? will the light still come out as bright ? will moisture get in or water?

[larryd]

Originally posted by Chumpchiggy
Larry, can we add this to the installs?

ill add it as soon as im done readin the forum

[gt2000quebec]

The job is done in white !! i will have some pics today!!

[nccelica]

xzast = you are not painting the reflectors so the light is the same, my headlights resealed themselves after a week so no more moisture problems

x-evil-x = it doesnt look wavy anymore, if i remember right the wavy part is underneath the part your painting

[baNanA_ryCe]

ahhhhhh hurry up....

[gt2000quebec]

Hummmm it looks "clean" Enjoy!!! http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/gt2000quebec/lst?&.dir=/summer+2002&.src=ph&.begin=9999&.view=t&.order=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/gt2000quebec/lst%3f%26.dir=/summer%2b2002%26.src=ph%26.view=t

[baNanA_ryCe]

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice..........i'm just gonna paint the top part....and tape off everything else. did your headlights burn in the oven at all? was it hard to pry apart?

[gt2000quebec]

i used a heat gun........ i wasn't in love at all with the oven thing..... i prefer to have the control of the heat in my hands :)
not hard to take apart.. just take your time, that's the way to go

[gt2000quebec]

hey Banana...... if i were you, i should order headlight cover from procarparts or something like that!!! it covers only the top of the headlight....... i suggest you this... because i opened my sealbeam to do something different... something impossible with headlight cover........

[X-EVIL-X]

looks good.
you should take some more pics...
what color white is that(factory)?
im going to do mine next week.
can you see the waves anymore in the top of the headlight or in the entire bottom peice?
i still dont understan if its that part you paint or a part under the wavy plastic.

[gt2000quebec]

look into my photo album again.... i add some more pics........ no we doesn't see the waves anymore........ a place near me make spray paint the color you want... so i take factory paint..... 040 i think ;)
http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/gt2000quebec/lst?&.dir=/summer+2002&.src=ph&.begin=9999&.view=t&.order=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/gt2000quebec/lst%3f%26.dir=/summer%2b2002%26.src=ph%26.view=t

[nccelica]

if i remember right x-evil-x, the wavy part is the plastic's texture on the bottom and its flat on the top, so if you paint the top you cant see the waves anymore

[gt2000quebec]

you're right nccelica..... ;)

[Blue Bomber]

OK, I just painted the inside of a spare headlight I had (scuffed in an accident), and it came out incredibly well. Don't worry about putting your headlights in the oven. They won't melt or even come close to it. And even if you pry the hell out of the assembly, it will stretch back to its original shape as it cools. I really didn't have much of a problem once I got enough room to grab the top and bottom, and was able to pull them apart by hand.

One question I have, though, is do you need to use high temp paint for this? I noticed some of the plastic seemed to be discolored from the heat (only at the very edge). I'm planning on painting the bottom of the clear plastic so you can still see the pattern. I'm just worried the paint will melt and drip onto the reflectors. BTW, I'm using Rustolem metallic paint. Should I be worried?

[gt2000quebec]

i can't tell, i have them since 3 weeks only, but still perfect now......

[X-EVIL-X]

Originally posted by gt2000quebec
i can't tell, i have them since 3 weeks only, but still perfect now......
i dont think he can tell if his plastic is discolored because he used a hair dryer to get it apart instead of the oven.
you might of heated it up too much in the oven and melted a couple parts.
when i do this im using a hair dryer...than taking it to a body shop to get painted professionally

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by X-EVIL-X
you might of heated it up too much in the oven and melted a couple parts.
when i do this im using a hair dryer...than taking it to a body shop to get painted professionally Nah, it was the actual plastic that gets painted that was discolored. And it was only the section right near the headlight projector lens, so there's no doubt the heat of the bulb did it. Nothing was melted, discolored, or deformed by the oven.

I'm sure you'll have a harder time with the heat gun, since the only reason the headlight was easy to open was because all the epoxy was soft at the same time. I still had to pry and cut some of the epoxy, but it only took like a minute. Besides, if you use the oven, you know the entire light will be heated evenly.

If you use a heat gun, you may not soften all of the epoxy evenly, making it harder to open the headlight. Plus, you may accidentally overheat and damage a section if you heat it up too long. :eek:

[Blue Bomber]

BTW, here's pics of the test headlight:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p0003b45a1c38c7cbc5c96b66071c7b9e/fd92cc88.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p5d0872b6cf15accce81043f64f07d6d4/fd92cc69.jpg

I'll probably do my real headlights tonight.

[gt2000quebec]

looks great""""""""" you use transparent paint right??? because we can see the "waves" again.......... right??

[Blue Bomber]

Nope, I just painted the bottom of the plastic instead of the whole thing.

[X-EVIL-X]

are you planning on painted the top section too???
i dont know if i like seeing the waves with the black.
so everyone else that did this painted the top part and it covers the waves completly right?
post more pics of the process and finished

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by X-EVIL-X
are you planning on painted the top section too???
i dont know if i like seeing the waves with the black.
so everyone else that did this painted the top part and it covers the waves completly right?
post more pics of the process and finished I kinda like the pattern in the headlight, though the part above the projector lens does remind me of a zuchinni. :p In real life, it looks more like the first photo. I used the flash on the second, so the pattern is more pronounced. And yes, painting the top will cover up the lines.

[X-EVIL-X]

take more pics, ahhhhhh

[Blue Bomber]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p6218fc1717b7a7dc86a266da13168660/fd922070.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p233b575ee7089f2cafaa302c6f5f9e5b/fd92207b.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p92aea2ee8a8f2bda468ee1d4c570e909/fd922083.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/pe99e228464e9ace178dad66b647d15f0/fd922094.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p0fa62c5746d2991fa4a757e6dec63201/fd9220a0.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p351fa9f69a6e3f645f939b58604ef3c2/fd9220a7.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/pa4c44570e0d0d1227bcaa292ae0223a6/fd9220ae.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/p1613c2c7d3057f83bcbb0a8f1359b64c/fd9220c9.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid24/pd357b9e090b6edb19e5eca533d52fbc4/fd9220f0.jpg

:D

[redlineGTS]

What did you guys use to seal it back up? and did anyone's lights start to fog up?

[Blue Bomber]

To reseal the lights, just put them back in the oven. BTW, I put up a post in Appearance Mods with loads of pics of the lights installed:

http://newcelica.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=355627

[WillyWonka]

Very cool. I like the "zucchini" look based on the pics and I'm looking forward to see them in person in 2 weeks in NJ with the group. The meeting will bring new meaning to "let's all get baked" ;) . Now that was horrible. As for the paint job, :bowdown: