Weapon_R

So I spent a little while searching for older threads about black housing headlights for my integra. I found that Patrickgsr had done it and it looked pretty incredible. I'm interested in finding a tutorial or link that will help me do this.

Also, is it possible to remove the head lights without removing the bumper?

jdm_cars

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MickeyA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So I spent a little while searching for older threads about black housing headlights for my integra. I found that Patrickgsr had done it and it looked pretty incredible. I'm interested in finding a tutorial or link that will help me do this.

Also, is it possible to remove the head lights without removing the bumper?</TD></TR></TABLE>

first Question, why?

second question, why not just get the blacked out Angel Eyes?

answer to your question, no, you cannot remove the headlights without taking off the bumper. just spend the extra 15mins to remove the bumper and take off the lights the right way.

NightRiderS2K

Because blacked out headlights look way better than stock "chromes".

Patrick retrofitted his 98+ headlights with some e55 projectors, and while he was at it, he spraye painted his headlights with black paint.

Angel Eyes should stay on BMWs.


<FONT SIZE="6">Assuming you've taken your bumper out, and the headlights are out of your car....</FONT>
Heres a how I did it a year ago (not retrofit HID projectors but take the headlights apart to black them out):

Tools needed:
- Your mom's Oven (the one found in your house)
- Gloves (lets be safe here)
- Aluminum foil
- Flathead screwdriver
- Plastic polish (available at most auto stores, hardware stores)
----Ex: Meguiars plastic cleaner & polish. Eagle1 metal polish will WORK TOO!
- Clean cloth(s)
- Black semi-gloss spraypaint, or glossy, whatever you prefer. It doesn't matter if it's high temp or not. Just your $2 can will work.

Place a sheet of aluminum foil in the oven and set the oven for 275 degrees. Oven times and baking times vary from oven to oven, so this part is basically a trial and error thing.

Identifying the headlight components:
- There are 2 main parts we need to know: The grey part which is the housing and the clear plastic lense that covers it.
- Inbetween those are seals that we will need to melt off to be able to take the headlights apart, hence we bake it in the oven to get it soft and gooey.

Taking apart the headlight:
- There are four metal clips (98+ headlight do not have them I believe).
- Two clips on the top and two on the bottom.
- Pry these off with the flathead screwdriver.
- Cover the grey housing with foil, leaving the plastic lense exposed.
- Once all prepped up, you are ready to bake it.
- Put the headlight in the oven with the lense facing out. (CAUTION: make sure it is placed properly in the middle and away from the top and bottom heating rods).
- Leave for 5 minutes and check if the seal is soft (use common sense when doing this).
- Check from time to time until the headlights are ready to be taken apart.
- The seals are ready when its soft and gooey and has gum-like qualities (don't worry about using new seals since we will be able to reuse it).
- Take out the headlight while still hot (use gloves!!)...use the flathead to pry out the headlights (this part shouldn't be that hard, but it takes time and skill) and make sure you're careful to avoid permanently damaging your headlights.
- When taking it apart, make sure you don't get any of the sealing onto the clear lense as it quickly hardens and is pretty difficult to remove!

Painting (Blacking OUT) the headlights:
- Once the two pieces, the housing and the lense are apart, you can now begin to remove the chrome reflectors of your headlights.
- Take a close look at the internal structure of your headlights and you will notice screws that hold the projector to the housing.
- Disassemble it until you have just the chrome housing or whatever it is you want to paint black.
- Wash the part(s) you want to black out with soap and water. You do not need to sand or what not to prep it for paint.
- As far as the high beam housings...you have a choice.
-----If you want to black it out, you will lose the high beam function as it will not reflect back to the road.
-----You can leave it crome, and black out part of it, like an outline so it is still somewhat functional.
-----Or just leave it alone.
- Spray a light coat.
- Wait several minutes.
- Repeat spraying with LIGHT coats to avoid uneven paint since overspray, runny paint, or what not is ugly and noticable.
- Again, wait several mintutes in between coats.
- PICTURES WOULD REALLY HELP, but I have none...so just picture all of this in your head or print this portion out while your blacking out your headlights.

Re-sealing the headlights back together:
- With the oven still hot, place the two pieces once again in the oven.
- Leave it in there until the seals are soft and gooey.
- When it's ready, take out the two pieces and put them back together.
- Hold the two pieces tightly to make a good seal. It's like supergluing one piece onto another. It's the same concept.
- It's a little tricky when putting them back together, but it's not hard.
- Put back the metal clips (reminder, 98+ headlights do not have these).
- Viola! You are almost finished...
- You can now put it back on your car,...
- Have a

Any questions, or did I miss something...Please, let me know!

NRg

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

On my high beams, I painted the chrome bezel which attaches to the clear lens. I did not touch the high beam reflector. High beams are still fully functional and not hindered in any way.

As far as heating the headlights, I like to follow the original headlight baking how-to thread here on H-T, and that is to heat the oven to about 300, turn it OFF, and then put the headlight in there for about 10 minutes.

Cover the rear housing with foil? Make sure the lens faces out? I've never heard of doing that, never done it myself, see no reason to. Just heat up oven and stick light in.

Before putting the light into the oven, completely strip down everything that you can, including all metal clips, rubber drain tubes, the rubber seals on the back, the left-right alignment guage (it has an o-ring, remember to take that out, too, and don't lose it), etc.

As far as painting, it's probably a good idea to scuff the chrome or sand it so that the paint will stick better. When I did mine, I didn't have any sandpaper available at the time, so I used the wire bristle brush bit in my Dremel to scuff the chrome. I also masked off the raised "V"-shaped lip around the inside edge of the projector bezel. This gives the look of a chrome ring around the projector lens, inside the black housing, and IMHO really gives it a sporty look. When I painted my old 94 projector bezels, I just sprayed the whole thing, and it made my car look like it had 2 black eyes. You might be able to do something similar to what I did on 94-97 headlights, but the 94-97 projector bezels don't have as much of a defined lip around the inside edge of the projector bezel like the 98-01 headlights have.

NightRiderS2K

Thanks PAT.

I wrote this more than a year ago, before even knowing about the official HOW-TO.