My turn for blacked out headlights!

[geoff5093]

This morning I went down and picked up a can of adhesion promoter primer that comes in a spray can (designed for plastics), a can of high-temp low gloss black paint, and a tube of silicon sealant/adhesive. I knew I had the afternoon free so I thought I would have plenty of time, although I wasn't expecting it to take 6 hours to do (although I took a lot of breaks and watched some TV while working on the lights, lol).

Anyways, the trickiest part for me was trying to get the headlight assembly apart. I read several threads here about it, and I tried the 200F for 10 minute one first, without much luck. I then went up slowly until I came to 225-235F for 8-10 minutes. I was really worried about warping the plastic or melting the headlight assembly, so I didn't want to try the pre-heat to 400F and then cook for 2 minute idea, but after a few tries with the first headlight, the second one at 230F for 8 minutes was perfect.

I didn't take any pictures of removing the headlight assembly, as there is already a DIY guide, but I did take some pictures of what I did prior and after painting.









If you look at the chrome rings, you will see a little overspray. I was expecting that so I was able to clean it off so now thats all removed.






Here you will notice that everything isn't flush, which is because the assembly had to be re-heated and then pushed back together.

[TRD VVTi]

That looks completely ghey!








































































Just kidding! You did a great job. It looks really nice.

[ebumdude]

Sweet man, that beats paying 200 for them off of ebay.

Let us know how the quality of your output is at night time.

[geoff5093]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

That looks completely ghey!








































































Just kidding! You did a great job. It looks really nice.

LOL! I didn't notice you left all that blank space, so I thought you really meant it was "ghey", haha! Thanks though!

Originally Posted by ebumdude

Sweet man, that beats paying 200 for them off of ebay.

Let us know how the quality of your output is at night time.

Heck yes it does, this cost me around $20 or so, I also fixed the squirrel spotters since I had the headlight assembly apart.

The light output should be exactly the same for the low beam, and almost all of the reflector housing for the high beams are still the stock chrome, so it shouldn't effect the light output much at all.

[alexdadoof]

It's good.
Unfortunately, I had the misfortune of spraying the inside of my highbeam casing as well..
which really dimmed my highbeam brightness.
so, what i did was i sprayed on about 8-9 coats of clear gloss...
and replaced the stock highbeams with Sylvania SU Halogens (9005)
and that did the trick, it's bright as heck. I live in an area where all the streets are lit anyway, so it's not that big of a deal for me.
unless i go to upstate ny..

I'm thinkin of gettin prepainted angel eyes..
they're lookin kinda cool.
haha

welcome to the club Geoff!
=]

good job on the DIY
I did my head lights at 10 min. @ preheated 300degrees
it was a biatch to get the 1st one apart.
but the 2nd time it was easy as cake.
That little ( * ) screw in the front of the headlight attaching the clear plastic front to the paintable assembly was a biatch to do.
I had to run to my local hardware store to find a head to match that.
ugh
lol

good job though it looks good!

[thrawnis]

Those look great! Nice job.

[Punks_Not_Dead5]

great job! major props for DIY

[lammydi]

You da man!

[ebumdude]

Originally Posted by geoff5093

The light output should be exactly the same for the low beam, and almost all of the reflector housing for the high beams are still the stock chrome, so it shouldn't effect the light output much at all.

EDIT;

Nevermind....I see now. LoL

[JSM1284]

He is referring to the High Beam reflector

[ebumdude]

Got'cha...LoL

I had to re-examine the pics. This looks easy enough to attempt.

Thanks for the DIY Geoff!

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by geoff5093

LOL! I didn't notice you left all that blank space, so I thought you really meant it was "ghey", haha! Thanks though!

That was the point.

You really did a nice job.

[mn011890]

that looks great and seems fairly easy to do...im thinkin this could be my next project

[sloth05]

Looks good man.

I can't wait to see some more pics, especially some from a little further back. I've got a red SE and have been wanting to do this as well. One of my bigger concerns is just making sure I get the bumper on and off properly haha (not to mention ruining the headlight in the oven, of course).

I've seen one or two other red Camry's with this done, but after using the search function for days, I can't find them. Anyone remember who that was and/or where I can find those pics?

[Netforcer]

yes yes, welcome to the club