So I decided to do the black housing headlight conversion with some JDM chromes and save myself some cash. I bought these for $96 shipped on eBay versus the $200 black housings would have cost me. So I figured since I was doing it I might as well write it up.

First off the tools and supplies you will need!
1. Screwdrivers philips and flat heads (maybe 2 sizes of flat heads one small and one larger one for prying)
2. 1'' putty knife
3. Utility knife
4. Butter knife
5. An oven large enough for a headlight
6. Windex and lint free towels
7. 200 grit sandpaper
8. 1 Can Krylon Flat Black plastic paint
9. Cookie Sheet for the headlight to sit on
10. Timer
11. Liquid nails - polyurethane adhesive
12. About 2 Hours and a little patience



First thing to do is setup the oven for the headlights to fit properly. Set the rack so the light will be more towards the top, but not touching of course.

Now get all the supplies together and turn on the oven and set to 200 degrees.

While it is heating start removing everything off the lights: bulbs, rubber seals, metal fasteners, etc..



Then spray the headlights down with Windex and clean them well.

Now you can go ahead and put the first in the oven (put it in with the front pointing up, it will sit quite nicely that way)



Set your timer for 3 minutes and wait (I used my microwave timer)

After 3 minutes remove the light and start prying at the front to pull it from the back part of the light using the smallest screwdriver. Take your time and work your way around the light an inch or two at a time. The area around the corner light seemed to be the most stubborn to me.

There are 3 clip areas that you will need to make sure are coming loose also.





This first time don't expect it to come apart very far. Once the light starts to cool and the glue isn't soft anymore put the light back in the oven for 3 more minutes. And repeat. As the opening gets larger go to the larger screwdriver and eventually progress to the putty knife. You may want to use the utility knife to cut the glue a little if it is being real stubborn. I had to repeat one more time before it came apart for me. Again be careful with the corner light area it was stuck real good, and I could definitely see someone cracking it because of that.

Eventually you will want to use your fingers and slowly pull it apart.



Once it is apart you will see the chrome insert piece has 2 screws holding it into the lens. With a little maneuvering it will come out from the lens. There is a lens for the corner light that removes from this insert. I considered painting it with an amber paint of some sort, but wasn't sure what color to get so I just left it clear. However you could paint this and end up with an amber corner if you wish.

I then cleaned everything with Windex and the lint free cloth and started sanding the chrome insert lightly. I didn't do a real great job of this, basically I just wanted the shiny chrome scuffed up good so the paint could bond better. Again I cleaned it with Windex. Then I painted it with the flat black spray paint in 3-4 light coats. I used krylons plastic paint in hopes the paint will hold forever. Make sure to do light even coats and don't miss any spots. Let it dry completely.



Now you can start putting it back together. First put the corner lens back into the now black insert. And then put the insert back into the headlight lens and return the 2 screws.

Next thing I did was placed a THIN bead of the Liquid nails around the headlight housing. Now place the lens back onto the headlight housing and try and get it together as much as possible without forcing. The main idea here is just to get it all lined up.

Put the headlight back in the oven for 3 minutes. Remove and push it together as much as possible. Make sure everything is lined up good and it should push together with only moderate pressure. Again once it stops going together put it back in the oven and repeat. After the 3rd time the light was back together and I returned the metal clips and made sure the 3 areas with the plastic clips were all tight. I then returned it to the oven one last time to ensure everything was seated well.

Now check for and excess adhesive and wipe clean.






You may want to get some Clear Silicone caulk and go around the entire seam just to ensure that it doesn't leak at all, I will do this before I install them on my car.

There you have it. My $105 JDM Black Housing Headlights $96 for the lights, $4 for the paint, and $5 for the adhesive. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

As far as difficulty goes I would rate this as a 4. With 1 being an oil change and 10 being an engine swap. About as difficult as changing brake pads. I did the taillight conversion quite some time ago and I found that more difficult do to the fact the rear lens was glass and cracks quite easily.

Now all you have to do is install them! And here is a link with step by step instructions of how to do that. I may update later with my own writeup.

http://www27.brinkster.com/sons/jdmlights.html


Modified by MadCityLude at 1:41 AM 9/6/2006

 

those came out real nice.

 

to you! great write up

 

yeah that would be very helpful to some people on H-T who dont know how to do it.

 

^are you gonna do the OEM jdm way or the DRL way that confuses alot of ppl and if not done properly it will melt harnesses???

 

^save yourself the time, theres a writeup floating around somewhere already.

 

well to be able to complete your project of an official writeup, inc. istallation

http://www27.brinkster.com/sons/jdmlights.html

 

Nice JoB! ReAllY CaMe OuT Perfect!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by petern101 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^are you gonna do the OEM jdm way or the DRL way that confuses alot of ppl and if not done properly it will melt harnesses???

</TD></TR></TABLE>

whats the drl way? i never followed any write up when i did mine. i just wired the high beams and low beams to the respective wires that were on the usdm harness...

 

I'v done this on my Volkswagen before... it was a bit of a pain to get the lights opened up... but **** to save $100 bucks i just might have to do it again.

Anyways it looks real good.

 

nice DIY. :D

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fastludeh22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats the drl way?</TD></TR></TABLE>



those are my "drl" way i have yet to do a full writeup but i will if i get enough interest

 

^yeah, there's a few MS paint drawn diagrams on PO

but honestly, i don't see a need to do a jdm wiring writeup. i mean its basically chopping off your old harnesses, splice in with same wires to jdm harness and attach.

you could make it cleaner/less permanent with different connectors. but overall i don't think its neccessary

 

no you take the Ground off the H1 and put it on the 3rd prong on the H4.

for my drl i used an Insight Daytime Running Light Module to reduce the output of light so its not a bright *** blinding light. mine specificially i have the H4 wired as a low/high, the H1 is wired as the "drl" using a yellow bulb and the DRL module. its all wired so that when i flick my high's, the H1 turns off.

 

So where do you get this module your speaking of? And where do you get yellow H1's. And how do you get the H1s to turn off when you turn on your brights?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MadCityLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So where do you get this module your speaking of? And where do you get yellow H1's. And how do you get the H1s to turn off when you turn on your brights?</TD></TR></TABLE>

module: ebay - 20 shipped
low wat yellow h1's: ebay - 25 shipped

turn off when brights come on: relay. i have a diagram for it but really dont have a chance to do a writeup or take pictures and instructions to do so. its really not hard at all, just some wiring.