Any suggestions and help is very much appreciated, thanks in advance!



I have a 2000 Lexus GS400 and i want to open up the hedlights to paint the inside black can
any one help me out thank you.

 

1. You're going to have to take off the front bumper. This isn't very difficult to do but there are two bolts that I've always thought were difficult to get to. If you need to know how to take off the bumper, you can always visit BananaGS's DIY site. You can find it if you search for it on this forum. Just search BananaGS or DIY or something.

2. After you've gotten off the front bumper, you'll need to remove the headlight assembly. This is easy to do. Just remove the bolts that are holding the assembly in place and unplug the headlights. The assembly should come right off.

3. If you want to open up the assembly, you'll need to bake the whole headlight in the oven. Stick the headlight assembly into the oven and literally "bake" the headlight assembly. I've opened up my friend's RSX headlight and that took about 10-15 minutes in the oven. I'm guessing that the GS headlight assembly should take about the same amount of time. The headlight is held together by little clips and a glue-like substance. When you heat the headlight, the glue stuff becomes soft and it becomes easy to seperate the clear lense and the rear section of the assemly. After heating, all you literally have to do is pull the lense and the assembly apart. It should be easy to once the headlight has been baked.

4. You're ready to paint.

*Make sure that when you paint the inside, you clean it very well. Wipe it down with a towel and some Windex first. Then wet the towel and wipe it down with water. And then dry it using a dry towel or a microfiber towel if you have it. This assures a smooth surface for the paint to dry on. You don't want little dust particles and stuff to make the spray look uneven.

When I painted my tail lenses red (just did them again today), I let the paint bake in the sun for a little while. You should do the same for your headlights. Don't just let them dry, but let them bake. Not necessarily in the oven, but if you roll your windows up and the weather is warm, the inside of the car should be sufficient. Make sure you covers the seat and stuff with newspaper before doing that.

After finishing the painting, just heat up the entire headlight assembly again and it should be easy to just press back together. Make sure that the little clips are together and the entire assembly is tightly shut.

 

260F for about 8 minutes should do the trick - start with a butter knife at the inside edge of the hi beam and gently pry until it starts to separate.

 

when seperating the lenses, the glue gets everywhere. make sure it doesn't touch the clear lense because it will be hard to clean up. take your time prying them apart. you can always put the headlights in the oven to reheat them if the glue starts to harden.

 

Should you pre-heat the oven first?

 

Yes. Preheat the oven and then turn it off. I've seen mounting tabs melt before.