I LIKE IT!!! what did you use to paint the housing? special paint?

 

I used a can of high temp paint found at any automotive store. I used a flat-black color.

Here is a picture of what it looks like out of the headlight...


And when I was cleaning out the housing, I noticed this thin metal piece that you can remove...anyone know what the purpose of it is for?

 

anybody ever considered painting their headlight housings body colored like a ferrari 360? id like to see what that would look like, theres potential for hawtness there.

 

I'm guessing the projector bounces off that. Did you put it back on?

 

Tony,

My thought on that removable piece was because of condensation. When water condensates in the headlamp, it will eventually drip down to the bottom and puddle. If it is left there, it will eat the chrome and cause it to flake off. By having that little chrome piece that sits up a little, it stays chrome. Of course, I am guessing.

MW

 

ACleanSC4 that looks tight, I was thinking of doing that but then I thought that it might affect the amount of light that could be reflected. Does it affect the light output or no, but all in all I think it looks really good.

 

I think it's not as bright because the light doesn't reflect off anything.

If you download that video clip, you'll see a night shot of the lights. I turn on my HIDs and turn on my blinker too, so you can see what it looks like at night.

 

Give me a source for Sandstone Beige in a can and I'll show you


I don't think the black paint effects brightness of anything except the city light. The signal doesn't need to be any brighter than the bulb itself is. The black headlight would actually improve the lighting of HID by reducing the flare in front of the bumper caused by that dettachable chrome piece. Tony, any observations on that?

 

I decided to leave those detachable pieces in.

Did you try to PM me Rich? Sorry, my box was full...try again or email me Tony@fobx.com

 

painting it black would not decrease any light below the cut off line. it will totally eliminate and light above the cutoff line which is good.

 

ACLEANSC4--hey man your car looks aweseom..

i have one question..everytime i post a pic of my car.(even though its a 300, it came with the 400 lip spoiler)...everyone tells me to paint it

my car is also a pearl white..and i was wondering

1)where did you buy the paint?
2)was it a close match to the color?
3)was it hard removing the lip spoiler?
4)is the paint holding up ok? (cuz i painted moldings before on a diff car i had, and it all started chipping after about a year)

 

Tony,

Nice mods. I was wondering about the black housing as all the newer JDM cars have the blacked out housing. Did you happen to try them out on the black SC and take photos?

You just painted the housing flat black right? You did not paint the lens right? Or did you paint the lens b/c some of those photos make the lens look blacked out as well. I just wished our lens did not have all those grooves and were smooth and clear. Looks sweet.

To remove the lens did you bake, heat gun - how did you do it? thanks and nice job again.

 

ryanSC300lover: removing the lip is easy, just look underneath the bumper and you'll see the screws

I had it painted twice, first time: I used Alpine White (a color of a spray can) and spray painted it. It matched and didn't look bad because it's just a small piece. Then I got into a little fender bender and had it repainted with pearl. The paint on it will always chip off due to rocks.

If you decide to paint the lip yourself, get some plastic prep and use that first so the spray paint will stick and not flake off.

lawman: I didn't try them on the black SC, taking the headlights in and out of both cars was a pain. I even scratched the bottom of my bumper removing those lights. I am looking for a used set of headlights to paint them for install on the TT. The TT has brand new headlights on it and I don't want to waste them.

Yes, I just painted the silver reflective housing flat black. The lense is not painted but looks a bit dirty. I didn't clean it that well.

To remove the headlight, put it in the oven for about 10 minutes @ 250-300 and check on it every once and a while. If it looks soft, just grab the headlight at one end and pop it open.

To seal it back, put it back into the oven, heat it up again and clamp the 2 pieces back together.

Thanks everyone for the compliments! =)

 

Hey Tony, if your headlights are dirty/cloudy on the ouside, might I suggest you use 2000-grit sandpaper and wetsand with running water, finished off with car polish and wax. Works wonders to remove cloudy mildewy build-up!

 

I was kinda thinking that the housing would look like the ferrari 360. Clear lens and color matched housing. But it looks kinda dark. I guess it could be because of the "dirty" lens. Hard to tell. Thats why I wish our lens were more the smooth clear type. Easier to see the colored housing. Still a great job and nice look, but clean the lens anyway j/k