Blacking Out Headlights, How to

I left that "weather-stripping" on, it seems just fine on my truck.

 

How much sanding do you do? I can't get the sandpaper into all the grooves. If I use an adhesion promoter will the paint still bound well? I am worried about the paint not bonding well to some of the chrome I could not scuff/sand. Sorry for all the question, but I am just super paranoid since I am at the point of no return.

 

I didn't sand at all. I used Rustoleum satin black, no primer either.
but that is why I did wait an hour or so between each of the 5 coats I put on there.

start painting, you'll be fine.

 

I wiped everything down with denatured alcohol after sanding. I ended up spraying three coats of Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter for good measure. Now I didn't spray the backside with color since you can't see it. Is that what everyone else did?

First coat:



Second/third coat:

 

Yep, you're on the right track.

enough with the adhesion stuff - get some color on there!

 

Well the first one is painted. I let it dry over night and attempted to assemble this morning with less than stellar results. When trying to put the bezel back into the lens some of the paint started to come on sharp edges of the bezel. Hardly noticeable at this point, since I stopped before I really messed it up. How can I install the bezel without ruining the paint on the edges? Should I wait for 7 days for the paint to fully cure (Really don't want to be driving around with a headlight removed).

 

Man that sucks.
Take apart both headlights, so you drying time is for both pieces, not just one at a time.
When doing the reassembly, the smaller corner with the turn signal should go in down and in first, then the bulkier/square end can drop right in place.
Try painting these outside, the fresh air/sunlight should help speed up the drying time.

 

One down, one to go:



Looks like the magic temp is 315 at 10 minutes. They pulled right apart. When I went to reassemble I loosely assembled the light then put it back in the oven for 10 minutes at 315 degrees. Went right back together with the old sealant (thanks sunruner).

 

BHLM is complete. Thanks Slvr_DblTaco and Sunruner!!!! Will try and get a couple of pics posted. I tried to take a couple withthe lights on the truck, but they didn't really come out.

 

Hey Snype, that light looks great! Did you warm up the oven to 315 degress and then put in the headlight, or did you put the headlight in the oven set it at 315 and waited 10 mins? Did to you place anything under the headlight while it was in the oven? Why is the sky blue? j/k thanks for your time buddy!

 

Pre-heat the oven to 315 degrees. TURNED THE OVEN OFF!!!!!! Placed light in oven for 10 minutes. Removed light and separated. Did the same when reassembling, just make sure to fit the light back together the best you can prior to reheating the light. If you do, it will go together easy with the original sealant. Hope that helps.


P.S. The sky is blue do to the light filtering out through out atmosphere and leaving only blue light behind Boo Ya!!!

 

LOL! You're the best snypes! I remember when I asked you on a different thread about the emblem glue, you replied Noooooo! And on this thread you crack me up. Way to look after a brother bro! It's guys like you that makes this forum awesome. I really appreciate it! I thought the sky was blue cause it needed the money?

 

Should I get some silicone just in case it doesn't seal with the original stuff just in case or is it pretty much a sure bet it'll seal? Also are there diff kinds of silicone I should get just in case? Sry noob here...

 

If you are going to buy silicone make sure its not the stuff you buy for home use. Go to an autoparts store and look for the silicone sealent made by Permatex.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Au...matex_Clear_RTV_Silicone_Adhesive_Sealant.htm

 

Alright. I'm doing this tomorrow. Tried messing around with taking the grill off today, removed the two screws and the plastic clip-like screws. When I try to get it off, I'm feeling resistence. It looks as if there's something clipped to both the L and R side of the grill. Should I just give it a good tug or is there more pieces to the grill that I need to undo before removing it?

 

yep, there is a small clip along the bottom on each side. Use a flat head screwdriver to push in the one edge, and the grille will pop right out.

 

Cool. Well i'm about to bake my first headlight. I got all the rubber pieces off except for the thick rubber strip that's glued to the top of the light. I can leave that piece on right?

 

yep, I left that in place - no problems.

 

I had to remove the left (dr side) headlamp which filled up with water. This was a stock headlight, not modified. The 2 hoses from the supercharger water pump which is located in front of the radiator enter just behind the left headlamp. This leaves a clearance problem when removing and installing the headlamp. Only solution was to remove the bumper mountings on the left side and let it drop down slightly. There is no need to remove the mountings on the right side as you can gain access just enough to remove the headlamp.

I dont see this to be a problem with non supercharged equipt trucks.

 

Ok. So I finally finished up my BHLM. It wasn't so bad. The hardest part was splitting the housing. It took me about 12 mins @ 350 deg in my mother in laws old school oven, so I don't think the temps were on PAR. I scuffed up a little on the corner of the drivers side light, you wouldn't notice unless you are up close. Here are some pics. Don't mind the bugs lol






I got bored waiting for the paint to dry so I decided to do my center console as well:



I just need to clean my baby up and then hopefully try the Dash lights mod next if I get the balls to try it.

One thing I noticed after doing this mod is that I think my lights are pointing higher up. Could just be reflection or I didn't seat them properly or something. It's not too bad though.