Has anyone colormatched the headlights?

sorry it took me so long to get back. i actually got really mad at these. i got them finished and when i put them in the oven the paint flaked off. and its taking me forever to get all of the paint off now and i havnt had much time to work on them. but i also got the turn signal cover too dark so now im just going to do the bhlm. but heres one completed, just not on the truck.

 

Get you some acetone to take the paint off. I had to strip mine back down after I did them the first time. Took about 30 minutes to take the paint off.

 

did you soak it or rub it on? i thought about that but i didnt want to melt the plastic so i used the spary goof off and a sos pad but its a pain.

 

I used a rag and rubbed it off. I used Q-tips to get in the corners.

 

want to see silver on the truck!

 

i only rubbed mine down with alcohol then sprayed 3 coats of adhesion promoter before painting mine. it helped a good deal. no paint fell off. after the first 2 coats, it looked like the paint wasn't going to look even but after several coats it looked nice.

 

I was thinking about doing the AP and some primer before paint too since I'll probably color match vs Blacking it out. Havent decided yet though.

 

i used the AP but for some reason it didnt stick when i done it in the oven. the paint kinda shriveled up and flaked. but im going to try the acetone next chance i get. hopefully it will work because ive been tempted to try to find someone with a soda blaster to get the rest of it off.

 

i didn't throw mine in the oven to dry. i let it dry overnight.

 

Yea, I wouldnt bake it if you go the AP/Primer/Paint route. I dont think its necessary.

 

These look great in white!

 

I agree!

 

It happened when i was baking it to reseal them up. i didnt bake it to dry. i left them alone for about 2 days then tried to seal them back up. I got them sealed then realized the paint had flaked off.

 

I've done 2 sets of headlights for my truck. I used the exact same color coat paint in both sets.

The first time I wet sanded the chrome coating off, primed, then painted the color coat. The second time I did not sand off the chrome, used adhesion promoter, then painted the color coat. I had better results with sanding off the chrome. The second set was prone to paint chipping during reassembly, and I had to do some touch-up a few times.

The set that had the chrome coating sanded off was definately more durable IMO.

The "chrome" coating is very thin, and wet sands off quickly. Each headlight bezzel took me about 20 minutes to sand. The hardest part is getting into the nooks and crannies, but IMO is worth the effort.

 

Agreed, the chrome does come off pretty easily. Just time consuming. Just finished my drivers side light. passenger side is next....

Almost done sanding...


After the first coat of primer


and checking out how it'll look once its back together.

 

Ive been using acetone to get mine off. im about halfway done. this time i will be taking all of the chrome off to try it that way. maybe they will turn out this time. its very time consuming taking the stuff off.