Blacking Out Headlights, How to

[L_Jackson]

spencer,
truck looks GREAT..... i want to black mine out too.... your truck and hodges really make want to but i was worried about moisture getting in..... but after sixgunsams comments i guess it's ok.....

how is driving at night? can you tell the lights are not as bright now becuase they light isn't be reflected as much? or does it drive about the same?

thanks guys

[spencer_hong]

no it doesnt affect your headlights at all. i actually put in some luminics headlight bulbs. they're a really clean, hyper bright white and it looks great. i also went with some blue fog light bulbs.


BTW not sure what pictures you guys are talking about, but i dont have any current ones up. i've done alot of work on my truck and will get some updated pictures when i have time

[Big Guns]

I am definatley going to do this. I think it would look sick on my blue truck. As far as the nightshade goes, does it just spray directly over the outside of the tail lamp? or do i have to disassemble? Also, i noticed someone brought it up but didnt see an answer, do i use gloss or flat krylon paint? and how much paint did it take to coat the lamps and all the emblems?

[spencer_hong]

Gloss of flat black krylon will do. I used the gloss but you'll notice it doesnt really come out too glossy. It won't take you more than a can for both the headlights and emblems. You'll realize there isnt too much to paint once you disassemble the heads.

For the tail lights, nightshades just sprays over your tail lights. Open the bed, unscrew the bolts, and they just pop out with a little pull. Clean them with rubbing alcohol, and just spray the nightshades. Be sure to use numerous light coats rather than just all at once, you'll get blobs.

[TuRDTACO]

thats the same way i did my taillights, just make sure your coats are as light as you can spray them. it will take longer, but if you want them to come out perfect then you really have to do several coats. my taillights are solid black and i did probly 12-15 coats

[kristopherl]

Finally did my headlights

[L_Jackson]

nice job!
looks great. wish i had the nerve to do mine

[kristopherl]

Originally Posted by L_Jackson

nice job!
looks great. wish i had the nerve to do mine

BELIEVE ME!!!! I was VERY NERVOUS!!! but it wasn't bad after all. After trying all the temps that people have posted, I found that 300deg then shutting off the oven worked the best... I worked from the sharpest corner wearing machanic's gloves. I left it in the oven for 9 min then had to stick it back in for about another 5 min after trying to muscle it apart.

I LOVE the outcome. If you are wanting to do it you should... it really isn't nearly as bad as it seems. Key thing is to make sure you TURN OFF THE OVEN as soon as you stick the headlight in the oven.

[Big Guns]

SO i just finished my lights yesterday. I was very very nervous but i just bit the bullet and went for it. All in all it was relativley easy. a little time consuming, but not too bad. the only issues i had was with putting the painted frame back into the cover. i was running short on time [had to go to work] and i couldnt let my light sit for a real long period of time. there is some knicks around the edges, but nothing too too noticable. This is where i recomend: LET THE PAINT SET. i sat for about 45 min after my final coat and it was like doing surgery to get it back in. let the paint set for as long as you can. One of the resources i found said to let them set overnight, but i needed my truck. Other then that just go for it. I'm very pleased with the outcome.

I tried to post pics, but my file sizes are too big. ill try and figure that out and post em later.

[kristopherl]

Originally Posted by Big Guns

SO i just finished my lights yesterday. I was very very nervous but i just bit the bullet and went for it. All in all it was relativley easy. a little time consuming, but not too bad. the only issues i had was with putting the painted frame back into the cover. i was running short on time [had to go to work] and i couldnt let my light sit for a real long period of time. there is some knicks around the edges, but nothing too too noticable. This is where i recomend: LET THE PAINT SET. i sat for about 45 min after my final coat and it was like doing surgery to get it back in. let the paint set for as long as you can. One of the resources i found said to let them set overnight, but i needed my truck. Other then that just go for it. I'm very pleased with the outcome.

I tried to post pics, but my file sizes are too big. ill try and figure that out and post em later.

Congrats on pulling the trigger... I deliberately walk past the front of my truck just to see them

[Big Guns]

Ha ha. me too.

[PatheticJoe]

Well I hate to ruin all these great success stories with a bad one but that is how by BHLM experience went. I started on Saturday and after struggling to get that 4th screw out the oven part went easy and off to paint. Based on reading that a lot of other people just painted the plastic with no prep I decided to go the same way and this is what happened.

1. The paint was not sticking to several surfaces which led to..
2. The paint pooling in the corners and
3. The paint running in other spots.

I finally got so sick of it I decided I would sand one down and start over. This was the really really stupid part. Trying to sand off paint that has only been dried for an hour with pooling that is still wet is really dumb. I only got about 10% when I realizied my stupidity. I cleaned it up the best I could and repainted it but now the uneven sanded parts show though. Then to top it off I chipped part of the paint off today poping the pieces back together. Below is a picture of the finished product but up close it looks like crap. Maybe after I get my taxes back I'll go aftermarket on Ebay or hopefully I'll just forget they look like crap up close. BTW, I should point out I'm not a skilled or experienced painter so that probably led to most of this mayhem. Thanks, TuRDTaco for pushing me into this, I told you it was beyond my skills. The grill is new this weekend, seemed like a good time to do both.

[phantom]

Patheticjoe might be like me and get tired of scrolling down through a bunch of big pics on a popular thread
i always think it is nicer if someone just puts a link, but that is just me
but i sure don't like seeing flames here
one of the nice things here is people are friendly and usually don't do that or if they do there is always the PM feature

[kristopherl]

Originally Posted by phantom

Patheticjoe might be like me and get tired of scrolling down through a bunch of big pics on a popular thread
i always think it is nicer if someone just puts a link, but that is just me
but i sure don't like seeing flames here
one of the nice things here is people are friendly and usually don't do that or if they do there is always the PM feature

I totally agree. lets not turn this into TN. I stopped going to that sight because of how hostile it is over there. We have a much better bunch of people over here

[Roland]

Completely off topic but hopefully helpful.

for those with pictures:
Large images can slow page loading to a crawl for people on a dialup or other low bandwidth connection.

And for those tired of scrolling:
At the top of each thread page is a link to "View First Unread"
In the user control panel there is the option to vew the threads from newest to oldest. It takes a while to get used to that view but it can be handy.



We now return you to your normally scheduled awesome mod thread!

[sunruner19]

I removed the pics for several reasons. I should have put them on a link in the first place. And I do not want to see this forum become another TN.

However, if anyone has a problem with what i post here, send me a private message next time instead of putting it out on here, and it will be settled peacefully instead of flamin..........

[PatheticJoe]

Just want everyone to know my post wasn't meant to be hostile I edited it several times trying to soften the point but still make my recomendation. I guess I failed. I for one love TW for all the great people we have and the respect we show so I'll definately try and remember to PM stuff like that in the future.

[sunruner19]

This post of mine was also not intended to be hostile or flaming either. Sometimes I fire off a reply without thinking, which in this case I did. Joe and I have resolved this misunderstanding in a peaceful way which is the adult thing to do.

In the future, if i cant shrink a photo down to a respectable, non bogging size, I will just use links to it.

Now, lets get back on track with this headlight mod, keep our cool and remember, this aint an easy mod on the first try, and thats why we have this post to help others. Isnt that whats this forum is all about?

[sawdust]

Aw, shucks. I've been so involved in the Texas vs. Carolina war, I was hoping to be a spectator in a NY vs. CA war

[TuRDTACO]

Originally Posted by PatheticJoe

Well I hate to ruin all these great success stories with a bad one but that is how by BHLM experience went. I started on Saturday and after struggling to get that 4th screw out the oven part went easy and off to paint. Based on reading that a lot of other people just painted the plastic with no prep I decided to go the same way and this is what happened.

1. The paint was not sticking to several surfaces which led to..
2. The paint pooling in the corners and
3. The paint running in other spots.

I finally got so sick of it I decided I would sand one down and start over. This was the really really stupid part. Trying to sand off paint that has only been dried for an hour with pooling that is still wet is really dumb. I only got about 10% when I realizied my stupidity. I cleaned it up the best I could and repainted it but now the uneven sanded parts show though. Then to top it off I chipped part of the paint off today poping the pieces back together. Below is a picture of the finished product but up close it looks like crap. Maybe after I get my taxes back I'll go aftermarket on Ebay or hopefully I'll just forget they look like crap up close. BTW, I should point out I'm not a skilled or experienced painter so that probably led to most of this mayhem. Thanks, TuRDTaco for pushing me into this, I told you it was beyond my skills. The grill is new this weekend, seemed like a good time to do both.

lol, i figured if i could do it after melting a headlight then anyone could do it...i did only some slight sanding of the chrome on the headlight housing, then just several very light coats of paint to avoid running and pooling. if you'd like, send me a pair of used taco headlights and i'll do em up for you and send them back..