CivicSiRacer

Last weekend I painted my headlights gunmetal gray. Took me about 1-2 hours and overnight to dry. It was a fairly easy project but got carried away with painting Don't paint the inner section, leave it chrome But hey I experimented to see what it would look like - but at night it's a pain to drive









Compared to this:



Looks sweet in those pics

OG LL C

Real Niiiiice...!

3.3.3

lookin good.

Kalokohan

Sweetness.

SlickRedSi

Hey man, not bad at all. Not bad. That's cool. At least you took that extra step to do this. So, tell us in detail how you perform the job? Did you use sand paper or just spray the primer on???

DragII

bigTom

P73 DA9

I likw the way the bronze rims look better with that car. The headlights look good though, I saw that poic in the competition section and believed they were CTR headlights .

Phantom

Unbelievable.

I really hope you don't drive this car at night.

KEVlN

Has anyone done this to a 5th gen civic? Can it be done? Man, you did a great job on those lights. Be careful at night.

ff-formula

I have a friend that worked on a 5th Gen. He said they used a hot air gun to soften the glue around the glass. After, they spraid the inner housing with paint tint that you can use on model cars. I hear they look really sweet. I'm gonna try it on my EK eventually.

CivicSiRacer

Has anyone done this to a 5th gen civic? Can it be done? Man, you did a great job on those lights. Be careful at night.

I don't think it can be done cause the headlights in the 6th gens have a housing that you can paint - the 5th gens don't have that same housing.

CivicSiRacer

Unbelievable.
I really hope you don't drive this car at night.

Nope That is why I'm doing stage two when my new headlights come in the mail. I went just a little too far in painting them

CivicSiRacer

Hey man, not bad at all. Not bad. That's cool. At least you took that extra step to do this. So, tell us in detail how you perform the job? Did you use sand paper or just spray the primer on???

You will need: gray primer, masking tape, flat head screw driver, heavy duty gloves (preferably heat resistant), 10mm socket (I think), any color paint you want, window sealant (black not yellow), an oven, and about 2-3 hours, plus overnight to dry.

1. First take off your bumper to remove the headlights, if you have fogllights disconnect them.
2. once you have the bumper off disconnect the turn signals and the wiring to your headlights
3. using your 10mm socket undo the 4 bolts holding the headlights in place.
4. remove the headlights
5. preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put headlights on a tray that you don't care too much about or line it with aluminum foil (this is what I did) and place the headlights in the oven for 10-12 minutes
6. put your gloves on and start to pry around the headlights using the flat head screw drivers. The more you have the easier it is - also another set of hands might help too
7. once you get the lens off pop the other headlight in the oven
8. put the lens aside and pull out the turn signal housing/headlight surround (as seen above)
9. mask off the orange reflector (don't remove it cause it will crack!) and mask off part of the chrome part of your reflector housing (vertical section) with masking tape
10. stick your spray cans in a warm bowl of water - this will help atomize or mist the spray better, causing better coverage. Using VERY VERY light coats spray on the first coat of gray primer. Let it dry 15-30 minutes and spray another very very light coat. If you need a 3rd coating wait another 15-30 minutes.
11. After your last coat of primer let it dry for about an hour.
12. Next spray your favorite coating of spray paint doing the same as above for the primer. Using lighter sprays will not cause dripping and runs which looks like crap.
13. After your last coat of paint let it dry overnight.
14. put everything back together making sure you wipe the inside of the lenses with window cleaner.
15. pop the headlight and lens into the oven again at 200 degrees for 10-12 minutes to soften the glue.
16. Press the lens back onto the headlight housing
17. I used extra window sealant to make sure no moisture gets into the headlights. Make sure you use black cause there are other colors out there
18. put everything back together and stand back and enjoy your work

CivicSiRacer

I liked them too but I wanted to go lighter and wider so I went with Koseis. They were 2lbs lighter and .5" wider. Those wheels aren't made anymore and I kick myself for selling them.

SlickRedSi

Hey man, thanks for the tip. I have an extra set and have to take the time to get to them. Great job again.