I'm Interested In Breaking My Headlights Down, Painting Them From The Inside, And Taking Out The Amber Lens, Can Anyone Help Me Out w/ Some Dertails On How To?
ThanksJoey
Headlights
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TwiztedNissan
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:22 am
- Car: 2008 Nissan Altima Coupe
Re: Headlights (TwiztedNissan)
gl...youre going to need it....lol
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audtatious
- Moderator
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- Car: 2017 Q60 Red Sport. Gone: 2014 Q50s, 2008 G37s coupe, 2007 G35s Sedan, 2002 Maxima SE, 2000 Villager Estate (Quest), 1998 Quest, 1996 Sentra GXE
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Re: Headlights (TwiztedNissan)
Most Nissan owners will bake the headlights in the oven in order to "crack them open". 15-20 minutes at 210 degrees is the "norm"
Do at your own risk of course.
Do at your own risk of course.
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kanejuice
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:24 pm
- Car: 2008 Altima Coupe 2.5s - CVT - Radiant Silver
Re: Headlights (audtatious)
was there a tutorial for this i remember someone had done it to a white coupe is the forum still around ? ima try this mod myself this week if i can find this tutorial about it 8] and if it doesnt rain 8[
Re: Headlights (kanejuice)
remember to take pics and post!!!!kanejuice wrote:was there a tutorial for this i remember someone had done it to a white coupe is the forum still around ? ima try this mod myself this week if i can find this tutorial about it 8] and if it doesnt rain 8[
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audtatious
- Moderator
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- Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2002 5:31 pm
- Car: 2017 Q60 Red Sport. Gone: 2014 Q50s, 2008 G37s coupe, 2007 G35s Sedan, 2002 Maxima SE, 2000 Villager Estate (Quest), 1998 Quest, 1996 Sentra GXE
- Location: Stalking You
- Contact:
Re: Headlights (kanejuice)
I'm not sure if there is one or not. If someone can point me to it I'll make sure it's on one of the tech pages for later use.
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Absolute Zero
- Posts: 232
- Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:58 pm
- Car: '08 Nissan Altima Coupe
Re: Headlights (audtatious)
There was a thread about doing this, but it wasn't really a how-to, more of a before and after thing.
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LongBeachCoupe
- Posts: 9482
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:43 pm
- Car: 08 Altima Coupe (RIP Hurricane Sandy)
2005 Lexus RX
a little google search...
3. Remove all bulbs from headlamps.
4. Use a heat gun or bake the headlamps in the oven. Work on only one headlamp at a time. Set the oven to 200 degrees for about 5 minutes. Put the headlights in and BAKE them for 8-10 minutes, try to avoid opening the oven every 30 seconds to check on them. Make sure you put foil on the baking sheet if you use one. The housing on the bare metal will probably melt. Don't worry about the small black venting tubes. Just make sure none fall if into the oven.
5. While baking or before heating place a soft cloth or towel down on your work area. This is so you don't scratch headlamp when you’re working on it with the clear lens face down.
6. If you baked them use an over mitt on your secondary hand to hold the headlamp from moving. The metal parts are going to be hot. I find that a medium flat head screw driver works best. Slowly pry apart the front lens from the back housing, starting at the BOTTOM. Go SLOW, make sure you don’t crack the grey plastic clips that help hold the lens to the housing. If it seems hard to pry apart then the sealant isn't hot enough yet. You will just end up bending the housing up all along the edge and this does not help when you reseal them.
7. Remove the chrome piece that you're going to paint, set the other pieces somewhere safe.
PAINTING
8. Sand the chrome off. This prevents the paint from chipping easily and makes the primer stick a bit easier. Nothing worse then chipping the paint trying to get the trim piece back inside the lens.
9. Take your time and mask everything carefully. Be sure to cover the bulb opening in the back of the corner lens. If you don’t overspray will end up on the corner reflector.
10. Using a high temp paint put about 2-3 coats on with about 15 minutes between them. The number of coats depends, use your judgment. I would use a flat not a gloss. The first coat is most important. The paint will not cover it the first time. Don’t worry. All you want to do is get some color on it. The next coat will completely cover the plastic. Don’t put too much paint on! It will run easily because of all the steep angles.http://i8.photobucket.com/albu...6.jpg
11. Le the paint dry, preferably overnight. You don’t want to chip the paint reassembling the trim back into the lens or pulling off the paint when you take the masking off.http://i8.photobucket.com/albu...8.jpg
12. Finally, make sure you pre-bake them or heat them. Most high temp paints will change color and release chemicals. This will make your headlamps foggy inside or make a rainbow like film inside. This is another reason to use a flat color. It will typically turn into a semi-gloss once it’s exposed to heat. Now you're ready to seal them back up.
13. When you do pull the lens off and you get strings of grey OEM sealant don’t push it back into the housing! You'll just end up making it hard to push completely back together again. As long as you put enough new sealant in you'll be fine. Squeeze a good bead in the housing. Make sure you heat the housing back up first if you don't have a heat gun. Then just push the lens on. The sealant will glob out. DO NOT SMEAR IT OR WIPE IT!!! LET IT DRY!!!! When it does you can pull it right off with no damage to the lens. Never ever use Goo Gone to clean up any silicone sealant. You will make a huge mess and ruin the housing. It just smears the silicone everywhere.
14. Using a few clamps so that you ensure maximum seal, clamp the headlights up tight and let them dry for about 4 hours, the longer the better, if you can, leave it overnight. If the headlights don't seal up fully (you'll know cause the sealant wont feel wet) then you'll run the risk of the headlights FOGGING. Which you do NOT want and it the biggest risk in doing this project. As long as you use enough sealant and seal it up right, you will be fine.
15. Reinstall the lights back on your car and put back on your bumper. Over the next few days make sure to check if the headlights fog up, especially when its wet, or in the morning. If they do fog up, you probably didn't use enough sealant and/or didn't seal long enough.
Beforehttp://i8.photobucket.com/albu...3.jpg
Afterhttp://i8.photobucket.com/albu...5.jpg
3. Remove all bulbs from headlamps.
4. Use a heat gun or bake the headlamps in the oven. Work on only one headlamp at a time. Set the oven to 200 degrees for about 5 minutes. Put the headlights in and BAKE them for 8-10 minutes, try to avoid opening the oven every 30 seconds to check on them. Make sure you put foil on the baking sheet if you use one. The housing on the bare metal will probably melt. Don't worry about the small black venting tubes. Just make sure none fall if into the oven.
5. While baking or before heating place a soft cloth or towel down on your work area. This is so you don't scratch headlamp when you’re working on it with the clear lens face down.
6. If you baked them use an over mitt on your secondary hand to hold the headlamp from moving. The metal parts are going to be hot. I find that a medium flat head screw driver works best. Slowly pry apart the front lens from the back housing, starting at the BOTTOM. Go SLOW, make sure you don’t crack the grey plastic clips that help hold the lens to the housing. If it seems hard to pry apart then the sealant isn't hot enough yet. You will just end up bending the housing up all along the edge and this does not help when you reseal them.
7. Remove the chrome piece that you're going to paint, set the other pieces somewhere safe.
PAINTING
8. Sand the chrome off. This prevents the paint from chipping easily and makes the primer stick a bit easier. Nothing worse then chipping the paint trying to get the trim piece back inside the lens.
9. Take your time and mask everything carefully. Be sure to cover the bulb opening in the back of the corner lens. If you don’t overspray will end up on the corner reflector.
10. Using a high temp paint put about 2-3 coats on with about 15 minutes between them. The number of coats depends, use your judgment. I would use a flat not a gloss. The first coat is most important. The paint will not cover it the first time. Don’t worry. All you want to do is get some color on it. The next coat will completely cover the plastic. Don’t put too much paint on! It will run easily because of all the steep angles.http://i8.photobucket.com/albu...6.jpg
11. Le the paint dry, preferably overnight. You don’t want to chip the paint reassembling the trim back into the lens or pulling off the paint when you take the masking off.http://i8.photobucket.com/albu...8.jpg
12. Finally, make sure you pre-bake them or heat them. Most high temp paints will change color and release chemicals. This will make your headlamps foggy inside or make a rainbow like film inside. This is another reason to use a flat color. It will typically turn into a semi-gloss once it’s exposed to heat. Now you're ready to seal them back up.
13. When you do pull the lens off and you get strings of grey OEM sealant don’t push it back into the housing! You'll just end up making it hard to push completely back together again. As long as you put enough new sealant in you'll be fine. Squeeze a good bead in the housing. Make sure you heat the housing back up first if you don't have a heat gun. Then just push the lens on. The sealant will glob out. DO NOT SMEAR IT OR WIPE IT!!! LET IT DRY!!!! When it does you can pull it right off with no damage to the lens. Never ever use Goo Gone to clean up any silicone sealant. You will make a huge mess and ruin the housing. It just smears the silicone everywhere.
14. Using a few clamps so that you ensure maximum seal, clamp the headlights up tight and let them dry for about 4 hours, the longer the better, if you can, leave it overnight. If the headlights don't seal up fully (you'll know cause the sealant wont feel wet) then you'll run the risk of the headlights FOGGING. Which you do NOT want and it the biggest risk in doing this project. As long as you use enough sealant and seal it up right, you will be fine.
15. Reinstall the lights back on your car and put back on your bumper. Over the next few days make sure to check if the headlights fog up, especially when its wet, or in the morning. If they do fog up, you probably didn't use enough sealant and/or didn't seal long enough.
Beforehttp://i8.photobucket.com/albu...3.jpg
Afterhttp://i8.photobucket.com/albu...5.jpg
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kanejuice
- Posts: 138
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:24 pm
- Car: 2008 Altima Coupe 2.5s - CVT - Radiant Silver
Re: (LongBeachCoupe)
nice thanks alot bro.. ima go pick up some spray paint and silicon on d way home and start bakin tomorrow hopefullly if it doesnt rain if not sometime this week ima take pics on the way
Re: (LongBeachCoupe)
I shy away from anything that involves me baking part of my car , but Id be interested to see how it turns out.
Re: (nifty)
Blacking out the inside of headlights is easy, ive done a bunch of sets when i use to be into VW's. You dont even need to bake them i used a hairdryer, heat gun works best though. Then just use blue tape to cover up the parts you dont want to paint. Make sure you dont put the blue tape on to firmly though or when your taking off the tape it can take off part of the chrome.
Re: (LIAC3)
Link to the post everyone was talking about.
http://forums.altimas.org/zerothread?id=305441
Lightwurkz in CA will also do this for you, cost is about 500$ and they'll need the lights for 1-2 weeks.
http://forums.altimas.org/zerothread?id=305441
Lightwurkz in CA will also do this for you, cost is about 500$ and they'll need the lights for 1-2 weeks.