Cleaning and Tinting/Smoking your 'yellowed' Zenki 240sx headlamps. (The correct way)
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Many 95-96 240sx owners suffer from faded/aged headlamps, others just go Kouki and avoid the problem altogether. Others on a budget or that prefer the Zenki front-end are left with issues to resolve. I'll outline all the steps required to clean up your headlamps to be like new as well as smoke them without hindering their lightoutput.
:Outline:
-Tools and Other Prerequisites-Removal-Disassembly-Cleaning and Clearing-Smoking/Tinting-Reassembly
:Tools and Other Prerequisites:
Ratchet 8mm socketPhillips screwdriver (small)Phillips screwdriver (large)Flathead screwdriver (large)6 cu.ft. oven OR heatgunDish soapSandpaper grits: 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500Polishing compound (Novus 3 stage recommended)Clean lint-free terry cloth1/2" blue painter's tapeRazor bladeHigh-temp matte' or gloss black paint
:Removal:
Removing the headlamps and corner lamps is a rather easy task and only takes about 15 minutes to complete.
-Open hood-Remove two 'plastic trees' from top of grill insert.-Slide grill forward and out from three lower tabs attaching it to the re-bar-Remove phillips screw from the top corner that connects the corner lamps to the headlamps-Slide corner lamps out-Remove two 8mm nuts securing each headlamp from the sides that are now exposed.-Lamps should come out slightly now, remove high-beam and low-beam connections (remember to unscrew cuff around low-beam harness-Once wiring is removed the lamp assemblies should slide out freely at this point.
Now you'll want to remove the bulbs and go ahead and wash the assembly with warm water and dish soap. Make sure that all sand and bugs, etc are clean from the lense face. From here you can either go straight to sanding and clearing the lense face or you can continue to the next steps of seperating the lense from the housing. Doing so is not required but makes clearing the sides of the lense easier. The main reason to seperate the housings is to prepare to 'smoke' or 'tint' the lenses.
isassembly:Take the flathead screwdriver and pop off the four metal retainers holding the lense and housing together. I suggest going from the black housing side as it is possible to chip the lense if the screwdriver slips.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees (f) and remove everything except the lower rack. lay the headlamp assemblies into the over once heated; assuring that nothing touches the lense face or that the headlamps are against the wall of the oven. The bottom of the headlamps can be sat on the oven rack. At this temperature the plastics will not melt but direct contact could case scarring of the lense so it is better to be safe than sorry. This will soften the sealant holding the lense to the housing. After about 15 minutes the sealant will be soft enough that seperation with a flathead screwdriver will be easy.
Seperating the lense from the housing:
The other option if you do not have a large enough oven is to work around the breakline between the lense and housing with a heatgun to soften the sealant, as you work around use the flathead screwdriver to lightly pry the housings apart, dont be too forceful or the plastic may crack
Work evenly around the housings in a timely manner with the flathead screwdriver; the sealant will begin to reharden as it cools down. The sealant will be very gummy, be careful that it doesnt string out and sling back into the lense otherwise it may leave hard to remove black marks on the inside of the lense.
There will be a shield that covers part of the highbeam bulb, this is easily removed by the two small screws on the top reflector with a small phillips screwdriver. This is required in order smoke the lenses but can be reinsalled afterwards. I left mine out and have had no ill effects or angry oncomers.
:Cleaning and Clearing:
Take the lense and wash it with soap and warm water once more to assure you dont have anything on the surface that could scratch the plastic while sanding. Now fill a bowl with clean water and gather up your sandpaper, it is best to do this outside as it is very messy.
Take the 800 grit sand paper and dip it in the bowl of water; begin sanding the lense in a back/forth motion, try to stay on the same plane and not change directions. Redip the sandpaper every so often to assure it stays wet and clean, continue this for about 7-10 minutes. Repeat this process with each grit of sandpaper, AT LEAST to 2000 grit. Higher grits can be used and are recommended but nothing above 2500 is really required. Better results will obviously be given with higher grits.
Wash the entire lense once you have worked through all the grits, make sure all sides have consistant sanding and are clear of any yellowing or deep scratches. Now you can move on to the polishing compounds which are much cleaner and can be done in the comfort of your living room.
Take the heavy-cut polish and apply an even amount across the lense, do one side at a time and rub generously in a back/fourth motion with your terry cloth. Once the compund is a thin film you can move to a clean portion of your cloth and wipe away.
Now use the medium-cut polish and apply in the same fashion, this time generously rub in a circular motion until there is only a thin film. Moving to a clean portion of cloth wipe away.
The last step is a fine polish/cleaner that can be generously doused on. Wipe away in a back/fourth motion until dry using a clean portion of cloth. This is also good to apply to the inside of the lense as it cleans the inner sections of any small dust/dirt that may of gotten in.
Cleaned lense and polishes
:Smoking/Tinting:
Many people will and have taken VHT's Nightshades spray-on product and tinted their headlamps. It offers the desired effect but has the inwanted drawback of dimming the light output from the headlamp assembly; this is bad and will make nighttime driving more difficult. The proper way to smoke the headlamps is to take the unused reflector sections from the inside of the headlamp and paint them black. This effect has been used on many vehicles including the 00 Impala and 01 Mustangs. The reflector sections are needed to guide the light onto the road, however several portions are not used and they are obvious upon looking at them.
Take painters tape and mask off the primary reflectors. These are the shaped ones that curve around the bulb. The flat reflectors on the bottom and top as well as the center where the hi and low buckets meet are safe to paint. Once I had the tape over the entire primary reflector surface I used a razorblade to cut to shape and unvail the sections I wish to paint. I used additional tape around the joint for the lense to minimize overspray from the reflector insert.
[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER]
I recommend lightly sanding the sections to be painted to assist with paint adhesion, 800grit is fine just to rough it up a bit. I used high-temp flat black paint but gloss is fine, the important part is hi-temp as the bulbs get very hot and you dont want the paint to bubble off or melt.
Follow the instructions on the back of the paint can, shaking well for a few minutes, and spraying in a even side to side motion. I sprayed a thin coat from the top of the housing to assure good coverage on the bottom and sides, waited for the paint to flash (initially dry, glossyness fades away) then sprayed another thin coat from the bottom to get good top coverage. I suggest repeating this three to four times or until you have a solid and consistant layer of paint on all desired sections. Do not remove tape, leave the housing to dry overnight -- premature removal could cause the tape to take paint with it.
The finished housing should look like so:
:Reassembly:
Reassembly is easy, I didnt even heat my headlamps up in order to assure a good seal but if you have leaks I'd try sticking the assemblies into the oven at 250 degrees (f) for 15 minutes if water leaks occur. I mearly pushed the lenses back into the housing and reinstalled the four metal clamps. The pressure from the retainers is usually enough to assure a good seal with the sealant already between the housing and lense.
Reassembled smoked housing
Reinstalling the lights is the reverse of uninstallation, once complete assure your level guides are within spec; the bubble should be in the middle of the glass between the two bold lines.
Your headlights should look similar to this once done:
Before / After
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