Matte or gloss?
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,093
Likes: 213
From: Inside my G
Matte or gloss?
Neither 
Figured i'd try out black shadow chrome. It's... different, to say the least. Don't expect to get a real black chrome effect out of this, but it's nice in its own way.
Also, haste definitely makes waste. I was pressed for time, rushed through a couple of things and it shows up close
. I don't usually speed through a project, i chalk it up to not thinking straight because of a bug. 
Oh well, lesson learned. I have to re-open the driver side lights sometime, i forgot to snap the mount back for the projector assembly. Now i have an AFS error.
By the way, you can bake this for 15 minutes at 195 degrees. Came off in one shot quite easily.
p.s. Taking the projector lens is a big PITA, those screws are almost welded down. No STI-R lenses for this guy.
Figured i'd try out black shadow chrome. It's... different, to say the least. Don't expect to get a real black chrome effect out of this, but it's nice in its own way.
Also, haste definitely makes waste. I was pressed for time, rushed through a couple of things and it shows up close
. I don't usually speed through a project, i chalk it up to not thinking straight because of a bug. Oh well, lesson learned. I have to re-open the driver side lights sometime, i forgot to snap the mount back for the projector assembly. Now i have an AFS error.
By the way, you can bake this for 15 minutes at 195 degrees. Came off in one shot quite easily.
p.s. Taking the projector lens is a big PITA, those screws are almost welded down. No STI-R lenses for this guy.
I have plans to replacing the projector lens to the sti-r lens. I never baked headlights before, do you think it is fairly simple to open up the headlights? did you reuse the existing glue to put back the headlights together? or purchase a new bonding glue? any other tips that would be helpful for me in replacing the lens? thanks!
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,093
Likes: 213
From: Inside my G
Thank you, folks. I wish i had spent more time on this, as they are it's just "okay." For anyone planning on doing this slowly but surely, set aside at least two days *minimum*.
Thanks! The shroud really worked out well, but i removed the mask off the clearance light "shroud" too early and it lifted in some areas -- it's very obvious up close. Thankfully the combination of black chrome and traditional chrome sort of hides the fact since they're both reflective in nature.
Baking headlights is very simple, i've done it on my last car (more times than i care to admit) -- the key is to do it slowly but re-assuringly, especially when prying and pulling apart the case. I used to bake at 225F/15m, but on the G the newer driver side headlight assembly i got had a different approach to mounting the ballast -- i just couldn't detach it, so my only choice was to bake that along with the rest of the assembly. I went with 195 degrees at 16m and the glue was almost like butter when i tried to detach -- very easy.
Funny you ask about the sealant/glue. Upon removing the passenger light, i noticed that a bottom rubber/harness was not attached to the assembly --- there was literally a gaping hole staring back at me, it must've been like that since the lights were replaced under warranty a couple years ago --- i never saw condensation on that headlight, ever.
That said, i re-used what glue was on the assembly. Did not add to it or anything. However, i did bake the headlights after putting it together again. Once at 10, pressed everything together, then again at 5 minutes, then pressed everything back together one more time before cooling and installation.
Now, for the lens. The screws holding the lens mount was pretty much fused to the rest of the projector assembly. I could not remove it even if my life depended on it. The folks on HID forums basically suggested killing the screw and replacing it with new ones. I didn't want to do it for risk of damaging anything else, especially the AFS motors (the projector assembly moves quite easily.)
I have plans to replacing the projector lens to the sti-r lens. I never baked headlights before, do you think it is fairly simple to open up the headlights? did you reuse the existing glue to put back the headlights together? or purchase a new bonding glue? any other tips that would be helpful for me in replacing the lens? thanks!
Funny you ask about the sealant/glue. Upon removing the passenger light, i noticed that a bottom rubber/harness was not attached to the assembly --- there was literally a gaping hole staring back at me, it must've been like that since the lights were replaced under warranty a couple years ago --- i never saw condensation on that headlight, ever.
That said, i re-used what glue was on the assembly. Did not add to it or anything. However, i did bake the headlights after putting it together again. Once at 10, pressed everything together, then again at 5 minutes, then pressed everything back together one more time before cooling and installation.
Now, for the lens. The screws holding the lens mount was pretty much fused to the rest of the projector assembly. I could not remove it even if my life depended on it. The folks on HID forums basically suggested killing the screw and replacing it with new ones. I didn't want to do it for risk of damaging anything else, especially the AFS motors (the projector assembly moves quite easily.)
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 4,093
Likes: 213
From: Inside my G
Thanks, i just referred to a couple old posts on how to remove the headlights and my old notes for replacing the bumper. The headlight assembly itself seemed pretty straightforward up to the point i was faced with the projector assembly with the AFS motor/actuator, which would not come off either.
Actually had to get a right-angle screwdriver to get the shroud off for painting.
Actually had to get a right-angle screwdriver to get the shroud off for painting.
Baking headlights is very simple, i've done it on my last car (more times than i care to admit) -- the key is to do it slowly but re-assuringly, especially when prying and pulling apart the case. I used to bake at 225F/15m, but on the G the newer driver side headlight assembly i got had a different approach to mounting the ballast -- i just couldn't detach it, so my only choice was to bake that along with the rest of the assembly. I went with 195 degrees at 16m and the glue was almost like butter when i tried to detach -- very easy.
Funny you ask about the sealant/glue. Upon removing the passenger light, i noticed that a bottom rubber/harness was not attached to the assembly --- there was literally a gaping hole staring back at me, it must've been like that since the lights were replaced under warranty a couple years ago --- i never saw condensation on that headlight, ever.
That said, i re-used what glue was on the assembly. Did not add to it or anything. However, i did bake the headlights after putting it together again. Once at 10, pressed everything together, then again at 5 minutes, then pressed everything back together one more time before cooling and installation.
Now, for the lens. The screws holding the lens mount was pretty much fused to the rest of the projector assembly. I could not remove it even if my life depended on it. The folks on HID forums basically suggested killing the screw and replacing it with new ones. I didn't want to do it for risk of damaging anything else, especially the AFS motors (the projector assembly moves quite easily.)
Funny you ask about the sealant/glue. Upon removing the passenger light, i noticed that a bottom rubber/harness was not attached to the assembly --- there was literally a gaping hole staring back at me, it must've been like that since the lights were replaced under warranty a couple years ago --- i never saw condensation on that headlight, ever.
That said, i re-used what glue was on the assembly. Did not add to it or anything. However, i did bake the headlights after putting it together again. Once at 10, pressed everything together, then again at 5 minutes, then pressed everything back together one more time before cooling and installation.
Now, for the lens. The screws holding the lens mount was pretty much fused to the rest of the projector assembly. I could not remove it even if my life depended on it. The folks on HID forums basically suggested killing the screw and replacing it with new ones. I didn't want to do it for risk of damaging anything else, especially the AFS motors (the projector assembly moves quite easily.)
Now show me the money...installed pics!
