Gen 5 Painting Housing Question

1972 Views 21 Replies 14 Participants Last post by white3ch0c0late, Dec 14, 2005

white3ch0c0late

Discussion Starter · Dec 12, 2005

I'm going to be painting my headlight housing "Gloss Black" soon. My question is this: in your guys' opnion, what would be better? Spraying right on top of the chrome? Sanding and then spraying? Or sanding, primering, and then spraying? I was planning on primering it and then spraying afterwards, but some people didn't do that, and I just wanted to get your opinions.

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majorgercko1

· #2 · Dec 12, 2005 (Edited)

lol, spray right on. If you sand it you might uneven the surface, as it is is perfect, its clean and smooth, dont ruin it by trying to sand it. If you want you can prime it it wont hurt, but dont sand it. What i did is just sprayed right on. good luck, i wanna see tha shit nice on sat. :banana:

Why dont you paint it red like your car, it would look like those new Corvette's. I ve seen a yellow one with yellow headlights damn sweet. Just tape up the ring so you dont paint that, i messed up on that and ended up painting the entire thing, but it would be better with a chrome ring like oem SE headlights.

johnnyzee

· #3 · Dec 12, 2005

u need really light grit sandpaper to scuff the chrome finish trust me. paint does not stick well to shiny surfaces. just use a really light (high number grit rating) sandpaper so u dont leave any deep scratches. all u need is the scuff

majorgercko1

· #4 · Dec 12, 2005

funny i tried to remove the paint on the chrome lip but it would not come off. Johnny tell me how to get paint not to stick, i tried thiner, but dont work.

White its on u nuka, just dont fuck it up =D

ModifierMR

· #5 · Dec 12, 2005

Dude trust me on this one I have spray painted so much shit it aint funny.

1. Sand with 180g
2. sand with 400g
3. paint
4. sand with 800g
5. paint
6. sand with 1200g
7. paint
8. and if u have patience, sand with 2000.
9. paint one more time.

If you sand each time with finer and finer paper you can elimnated the chrome and make a nice smooth surface that PAINT CAN ACTUALLY STICK TOO! Dont paint right on the chrome, it ill eventually chip off because it has nothing to hold on to.

if u do the nine steps above it will come out really glossy and smooth

And i wouldnt prime it, after the sanding, there will be a good enough surface to stick to. just spray right on.

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JMSinMD

· #6 · Dec 12, 2005

Painting

If you do decide to do this I would suggest flat black rather than gloss. If you do gloss you are just asking for reflection that is going to mess up the look. Jon.

majorgercko1

· #7 · Dec 12, 2005

i guess ill be painting them again, cuz i sprayed right onto the chrome, so far its fine. Dunno when or if it will start to chip but i mean how can it nothing is touching it..

elhsgrad04

· #8 · Dec 12, 2005

post pics when you are done i definately wanna check this out...

sasair

· #9 · Dec 12, 2005

Temperature changes from summer to winter to lights on and off will expand and contract the plastic housing and COULD lead to flaking if the paint doesn't stick right. Also just from all the vibration any car goes through.

I'd say since you've already painted it, just watch it for flaking or bubbling, and only if you need to, open it back up and repaint it.

majorgercko1 said:
i guess ill be painting them again, cuz i sprayed right onto the chrome, so far its fine. Dunno when or if it will start to chip but i mean how can it nothing is touching it..

white3ch0c0late

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 12, 2005

Thanks guys. I'll sand it with medium to fine grit, and I'll probably primer it just to get a nice surface for the paint to stick to. I'll post pics when I'm done.

I'll probably get around to doing it after finals though.. (after next week)... gonna be busy studying for the next week or so. I'm also gonna clear out the amber lens piece.

JustAnotherAsian

· #11 · Dec 12, 2005 (Edited)

damn you whit3chocolate. you're gonna beat me to this mod on a gen 5. lol. :lol: baking the housing and all, taking out the amber reflectors, painting the housing black...

on that note, i hope nothing but luck to you, and a diy from you in the distant future.:thumbup:

have you considered blackout/gunmetal taillight spray? i have no idea how that would work, but taillights put out temperature differences as well (but not as extreme as headlights i assume). i was thinking of goin for the gunmetal housings on the gen 5.5 SE camrys with this spray. this is just a thought, but i'm gonna probably resort to just flat black (after sanding off the chrome).

youngstylez

· #12 · Dec 13, 2005

i did this a while back ago.. i jss simply cleaned the chrome part makin sure theres no dust on them or anything.. sprayed 2 coats of primer.. and about 2-3 clean coats of phantom grey to match the color of my car. its been well over 6 months now and the paint is still in condition.. no chips. or cracks or anything.

92_Gen3_5SFE_LE

· #13 · Dec 13, 2005

whoa dont sand with 180, it is already a mirror smooth finish lightly and evenly sand with 2000 grit and then light even primer then light even coats of the gloss until fully covered.

ALL of the LOW GRIT SANDING STEPS ARE FOR REMOVING IMPERFECTIONS. WHEN STARTING WITH A MIRROR SMOOTH FINISH ONLY USE VERY HIGH GRIT SAND PAPER TO LIGHTLY AND EVENLY SCUFF

leasaunce

· #14 · Dec 13, 2005

is that what you're trying to do??

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white3ch0c0late

Discussion Starter · #15 · Dec 13, 2005

^ :lol: Yeah, basically... its going to look like that, but I'm also tinting the fog light lens yellow.

KILRCAM

· #16 · Dec 13, 2005

I just did mine last night in gunmetal and I just sprayed it on. I wiped it down first with rubbing alcohol, then painted. It came out great!:clap:

leasaunce

· #17 · Dec 13, 2005

should be easy ASS to paint them. make sure you get HIGH TEMP spray paint.

Goodluck Mike!

JustAnotherAsian

· #18 · Dec 14, 2005

KILRCAM said:
I just did mine last night in gunmetal and I just sprayed it on. I wiped it down first with rubbing alcohol, then painted. It came out great!:clap:

ouch. i've been beaten to the mod by a lot now. lol.

anywaiz, if you have time, may you post pics? pretty please? lol.

ekim55121

· #19 · Dec 14, 2005

are you getting the test drive now sign also? cause that would be sweet!

JMSinMD

· #20 · Dec 14, 2005

Good Point

In retrospect I think painting it the same color as the car would look great. Maybe the guy that is doing your bumper can do the headlight? Blacked out looks like an SE. Jon.

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