How To: Black Out Gen 4.5 Headlights... Pics Inside.

[PortugalFocus]

Here's a how-to. I've been wanting to do it for quite sometime now but haven't really got a chance.

Here are the easy steps with decent pictures.

You will need:
Flathead Screwdriver
Heat Gun
Shop Rags
Two Headlights
Black Spray Paint
Clear Coat Spray Paint
Green ScotchBrite Pad
Painters Tape

Step 1: Gentle and slowly heat the outside of the headlamp where clear cover meets the housing until the glue starts to melt....




Step 2: Tape off the section you don't want painted carefully.





Step 3: Scuff with the ScotchBrite.


Step 4: First, hit it with two light coats of primer then and wet coat. Paint black then clear. I did three black coats and two clear.






Step 5: After it's all dry, slightly reheat the glue with the heat gun on the low setting and push the two halves back together.

The finished pictures are coming up tonight...

[ONE_to_HATE]

great DYI! ..

i THINK- (from my experiences..) its better if you cleaned off the old adhesive and use silicone to close it up. This way, you get a much better/newer seal that'll close up the housing neatly. this helps keep the moisture out on cold days and prevents yellowing as well, opposed to the old adhesive where it'll build air bubbles between the glue on the lens, and glue on the housing.

heeehee! my .02 cents. thanks again and great job!

[PortugalFocus]

^^ I forgot to add that I put clear silicone the whole way around the gap in the headlamps.

I will take more pics tonight.

[PortugalFocus]

Well it was pretty rainy last night and I didn't want to install them. Here is the finished product.







I like they way they turned out a lot. The only thing I didn't like was the cheap quality of the headlamps. I purposely bought the cheapest versions I could find just to test out the final product. I had to swap over the original headlamp brackets that were CAPA certified. Even still, they fit kind of oddly. They may have fit on another Camry just fine, but since mine was popped in the front when I got it, not everything will line up as I want it to without some tweaking. Anyway, they look fantastic to me. It's a subtle look and I really didn't want the cheap ricey looking halo's on ebay.

[Chris Crash]

That is badass looking! Especially since your car is black.

I also love your grill.

[bigbird]

looks great man...good work.

[chronoti]

i bake my lights open, pop them in the oven, turn on @ 200 (let them heat with the oven), leave for 15-20 min, opens like a cheap hooker

[PortugalFocus]

^ I thought about the oven, I but I fear what my wife would do to me if she saw me doing that.

I liked the idea of a heat gun, it was more controlled heat. Plus I didn't want to handle a headlamp that was hot allover. I know handling this was tough enough.