How hard is it to paint the inside of the headlights where it is chrome, black? And does it make the headlights dimmer afterwards? I just want the reflective part back, not the bezel around the light. If anyone has any picture of this or a DIY please post it for me. Thanks


Modified by Greg James at 3:35 AM 8/12/2004

 

That would reduce your light on the road...why would you want to do this? I have see people paint the inside of the lens...also reduces light.

 

If you have projectors, 94+ I believe, the reflector is just for show anyway. All the light comes from inside of the projection housing. You'll lose light fom the high beams if you paint the reflectors though.

Search for an article on DIY "Angel Eyes" and you'll see what it takes to separate the headlight covers from the backing. Something about 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven...

 

Does anyone think this would be a stupid idea go with? I just don't like the chrome in the lights. Are there any metalic spray paints that will still give good reflection? I know that there are reds and greens and blues that do...

 

leave 'em alone.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greg James &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does anyone think this would be a stupid idea go with? I just don't like the chrome in the lights. Are there any metalic spray paints that will still give good reflection? I know that there are reds and greens and blues that do...</TD></TR></TABLE>

1) Yes, it is a somewhat lame idea. If you have projectors, you can paint the low beam a different color, but you'll lose light if you paint the high beam. If you don't have projectors, you'll lose light no matter what.
2) There are "metallic" spray paints, but they won't reflect like the chromed plastic
3) Law says headlights have to be white or yellow. HID are technically white, the blue twinkle is a defraction in the lense, and the majority of the light is pure white. Those blue halogen bulbs people use to get the "HID look" are lame, reduce useable light, glare more, and are usually illegal. Most people ignore this, but a cop migth have issue with red headlights, since you can't have any red light visible at the front of the car.

If you really want different headlights, just buy different headlights. Seriously, there are all kinds of companies that make aftermarket headlights for import cars, including changing the surround to carbon fiber, the "JDM look" black, etc... but they'll probably all give worse light than the factory units, and I've seen plenty that just glare more, even when aimed properly. Do everyone else on the road a favor, and just use the factory lights, completely stock.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greg James &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How hard is it to paint the inside of the headlights where it is chrome, black? And does it make the headlights dimmer afterwards? I just want the reflective part back, not the bezel around the light. If anyone has any picture of this or a DIY please post it for me. Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Which part are you referring to exactly? The low beams are a completely self-contained projector lens w/ reflector inside, and the chrome bezel around the projector lens. The high beam is a reflector type, with a reflector bowl behind the bulb, and also a bezel that attaches to the clear lens in front (both bezels attach to the clear lens itself).

You can paint the projector bezel black, and it will reduce glare that shines up above the projector's cutoff beam pattern (which is good). It does not hinder light output on the road in any way (also good).

If you paint the projector bezel, I also suggest painting the high beam bezel, because otherwise it will look wierd, like your car has 2 black eyes or something. Painting the high beam bezel will not hinder high beam light output any detecable amount. Do NOT paint the high beam reflector, as that will render the high beams useless.

I painted the bezels on my headlights, mainly to help cut down on glare from the HID's. On 98+ headlights, it's more of a problem because the bezel below the projector is much larger than on the 94-97 headlights, and more light coming out of the projector tends to get bounced up into the air if you leave them all chrome.

Pics:

My old 94 headlights w/ painted projector bezel only:


See how the low beams look like black holes while the high beams look normal


When I changed to the 98+ headlights with bi-xenon projectors mounted inside, I painted the low beam bezels again, but this time left the inner edge as chrome to help break up the "black hole" look, and I also painted the high beam bezels:


IMHO this is by far the best way to paint Integra headlights.


If you look at some of the OEM HID retrofits on hidforum.com, you will see people using different things to use as shrouds around the projector to give them a more finished look in front, as well as to help keep stray light from escaping. On Integras, it already has the bezel in front of the projector, but having the bezel black w/ the inner edge left chrome gives it the look of having the separate shroud, and IMHO really gives the headlights a nice overall appearance.

 

Thats exactly what I'm wanting to do to it! Thank you for the pictures. How long did it take you to complete and how difficult was it?
Did you use flat black, black gloss or metallic paint?

 

PatrickGSR94, I love the look of your 98+ blacked out headlights.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greg James &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thats exactly what I'm wanting to do to it! Thank you for the pictures. How long did it take you to complete and how difficult was it?
Did you use flat black, black gloss or metallic paint?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did it as part of the process of putting in the Hella bi-xenon HID projectors, which I spent a couple of days completing.

 

I am in the process now of painting the inside reflectors. I've already removed the bumper, lights, and put them in the oven and spent about another hour just getting all of the glue out of there. I'll have pictures up tomorrow of the whole deal. They look great now, I already hooked them up to the lights just to check how bright they were, you can't even tell a difference!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonfed95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">PatrickGSR94, I love the look of your 98+ blacked out headlights.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, those headlights look really good.

 

Ok, I'm finished and I'll post up some day picture of it tomorrow, its too late for me to get and do anymore... its almost 2:30am. Heres the install.

Torn apart, just getting started at around 10:00pm

What they used to look like

Baking in the oven at 275 degrees for 15 minutes(no sooner, if you plan on doing this it will make your life much easier)to loosen the hard glue between the clear lense and the base.

After the glue loosened and the lense came off, be sure to get all of the old glue out so it won't let water in when you seal it up.

Painting the reflectors

After it was put back together








If you don't like it... you can kiss my ***, that was more work than I thought it was going to be. I'll get better day pictures tomorrow

 

dude, that looks freaking sick!! It's like ... an alien or something hmmm, maybe I should do that ... and make my blue angle eyes in the highbeams work again

 

Now does everyone think I shouldn't of done it...?

 

awww dude you should not have painted the high beam reflectors, only the BEZELS. Now your high beams are useless. Hope you don't have to go through inspection where you live, as it probably won't pass.

I also would not have recommended cleaning the glue off. I tried that on one of my old headlights, never could get it all off, and tried to reseal it w/ some new stuff, and it always had condensation problems. Since then, I just use the oven to soften the sealant to get the lights apart, then I use the oven again to soften it again, and push the halves back together, and I've never had condensation problems.

 

You don't add any silicon or anything? I tried doing that and had condensation problems, so I used some hondabond to help seal the outter edge.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by m R g S r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You don't add any silicon or anything? I tried doing that and had condensation problems, so I used some hondabond to help seal the outter edge.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have taken my headlights apart several times (since that first time) and did not add any sealant, I just used what was already in there, using the oven again to heat up the halves, and them pressing them together, and have not had any condensation problems.

I don't think you really want the housings 100% sealed anyway. My bi-xenon projectors have holes in the back around where the bulb goes in, and when they are turned on if the hood is open, you can see light shining on my PS reservoir and ABS unit, and even still I don't have any condensation problems.

 

yeah patrickgsr94 comes true again...hey i just finished mine, painted my bezels gunmetal. but looks good im trying to post pics since i promised you.

neway yeah dude you shouldnt have had painted the reflectors on the high beam. just put her back in the oven and use paint thinner

yeah i think i pulled my headlights apart like three times trying to finish my retrofit. but i did put clear sealant on mine the last time i put them back

 

patrick have u sold your 94-97 lights with the black bezels??

 

I did that same mod about 4 days ago, came out like patricks but Greg James why did your high beams come out so black?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b18b-se &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">patrick have u sold your 94-97 lights with the black bezels??</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well the pass. side one broke in the wreck last December, and I got another headlight to replace it, but I never used it. So I have a driver side headlight w/ black bezel, and a pass. side headlight that is still stock. If you would be interested in both of them, I will be happy to take them apart and paint the passenger side to match the driver side, and also paint the high beam bezels to make it look a bit better. $150 shipped takes them both (after I paint them, if you're interested).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jweezy225 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I did that same mod about 4 days ago, came out like patricks but Greg James why did your high beams come out so black?</TD></TR></TABLE>

because he painted the bezels AND reflectors, not just the bezels themselves.

 

what are the reflectors? the part on the plastic covering?

 

the part inside the headlight where the bulb goes in, looks like a bowl, you can see how he painted them in the pics above.