*DIY Paint Headlight insides* V36
#1
*DIY Paint Headlight insides* V36
Hey guys, so couldn't post this in the DIY section so posting it here... plus its very very similar to the way you do it on the V35 as well. Wrote this just to give some encouragement to those who need that extra push to do it.
Do this at your own risk, its a pain in the aS$, you will not be able to feel your fingers, you will bleed, you may cry, it can take all day or more then a day, and you may break ****... but soooo worth it!
Tools needed:
Screw Drivers (Phillips and flat head)
Needle nose pliers
10mm Socket (I Believe it was 10mm)
hair dryer
Oven
Band Aids
Blue painters tape
Big *****
Step 1: Remove all black plastic clips along top of bumper, should be about 6 or 8 of them... cant remember off the top of my head. All you have to do is stick a skinny flat head screwdriver under the top of the clip and pull up. There are also one clip on each fender liner too pull those off while your at it.
IMG956357.jpg?t=1297132305
Step 2: Remove all bolts underneath the bumper towards the front of the car, these hold your bumper to your under car "slitter/cover" Should be like 8 or 10 of these... sorry again cant remember how many there are. Wear gloves when you do this because you will scrape your knuckles along the ground especially if your cars lowered
Step 3: make sure you tape up the bumper completely along the edges and make sure you do this on the bumper near the fender liner and fender otherwise you WILL scrape your paint. Then pull fender liner directly toward the rear of the car to access two bolts holding the bumper to the fender (the two greenish ones.) Its a pain in the *** holding the fender liner and unscrewing so have a friend hold the fender liner back for you while you dig for the two bolts
dgf.jpg?t=1297132418
Step 4: Admire how badass your car looks without a bumper
IMG959607.jpg?t=1297132638
Step 5: There are 3 bolts holding the headlights on. the first two are easy to see, one underneith where im pointing and one by the fender which you can see the bolt loosely hanging out. For the third you have to pull the rubber liner off on top of the fender and where im pointing is where the 3rd bolt is.
Two bottom bolts
dgffg.jpg?t=1297132830
One top bolt
mailgooglecom.jpg?t=1297132729
Step 6: There are a few black random black plastic pieces that you should take off of the headlights, and I've never taken out the bulbs or anything while cooking. now the scary part for most people. Pre-heat the oven to about 250-300 degrees. Place your headlights either face down on a cookie sheet with a towel of something to protect it from scratching or face up... doesn't matter. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes, if you do it a bit more shouldn't make a huge difference but less will make it tough to pull apart. First unscrew the phillips head screw that hold the lense to the plastic (should be three small silver ones) then Start prying apart on one corner with a flat head and work your way around untill lense pops off... It may take 4-5 heating up in the oven to get them apart... warning you will not be able to feel your fingers after this is done
IMG954419.jpg?t=1297132901
Step 7: Next there are I believe 3 small silver screws holding the chrome part to the lense and one clip which will allow you to pull the chrome insides apart from the lense.
Should look like this...
dgfddfff.jpg?t=1297132895
Step 8: Tape up anything front and back that you do not want painted, everything else will be painted.... I use krylon fusion gloss black engine spray paint. you can use other stuff but I found this works best for me
IMG958937.jpg?t=1297132905
Step 9: create a homemade spray booth away from everything you don't want paint on... and warning you will get high if you dont open a window or door... trust me And I use a gallon zip lock on my hand/arm so I can hold up the headlight while painting and don't completely paint my arm, a bit ghetto but it works
IMG952162.jpg?t=1297132897
Step 10: Paint.... Start with very very very light coats, it you want a high gloss finish then do a few light coats, let it dry, sand with 600-1500 grit paper but very lightly depending on how smooth you want it, then lay down a wet coat. If you want almost a crinkle glossy finish which I always do and I think looks almost OEM but alot more AWESOME then just do a bunch of light coats pretty far away (and by far away I mean about 6 inches away). Start your spray off of the item, then do a quick pass and end spraying off of the object. Remember be patient and let it dry about 15-20 minutes between coats. I don't use a clear coat since its covered and protected.
IMG952989.jpg?t=1297132907
Step 11: once the paint is completely dry make sure you take off the tape carefully. then re-screw the now black headlight housings back into the lense. then heat up the silicon with either a hairdryer or with the oven (I only use hairdryers, its easier) then when its hot press the lense/housing into the plastic headlight backing making sure not to scratch anything. Then rescrew in the screws into the back of the headlight that hold the lense on and keep reheating and pressing.... Make sure you get it 99% of the way back to the way it was or it wont fit right when putting it back on the car.
IMG953800.jpg?t=1297132902
Step 12 - a million: Reverse the steps and put everything back on... ya its a pain in the aS$... good luck HAHAHA
If you have any questions or want someone to do it for you, hit me up. Im more then happy to give advice or help out if need be. Helping other car guys out is what its all about!
P.S. Finished product pictures will be up soon. We finished really late and he's going to get his car detailed then take pictures
Finished products, looks sick in person! closeups coming soon
IMG_2310.jpg?t=1297220092
IMG_2311.jpg?t=1297220092
IMG955090.jpg?t=1297220092
Do this at your own risk, its a pain in the aS$, you will not be able to feel your fingers, you will bleed, you may cry, it can take all day or more then a day, and you may break ****... but soooo worth it!
Tools needed:
Screw Drivers (Phillips and flat head)
Needle nose pliers
10mm Socket (I Believe it was 10mm)
hair dryer
Oven
Band Aids
Blue painters tape
Big *****
Step 1: Remove all black plastic clips along top of bumper, should be about 6 or 8 of them... cant remember off the top of my head. All you have to do is stick a skinny flat head screwdriver under the top of the clip and pull up. There are also one clip on each fender liner too pull those off while your at it.
IMG956357.jpg?t=1297132305
Step 2: Remove all bolts underneath the bumper towards the front of the car, these hold your bumper to your under car "slitter/cover" Should be like 8 or 10 of these... sorry again cant remember how many there are. Wear gloves when you do this because you will scrape your knuckles along the ground especially if your cars lowered
Step 3: make sure you tape up the bumper completely along the edges and make sure you do this on the bumper near the fender liner and fender otherwise you WILL scrape your paint. Then pull fender liner directly toward the rear of the car to access two bolts holding the bumper to the fender (the two greenish ones.) Its a pain in the *** holding the fender liner and unscrewing so have a friend hold the fender liner back for you while you dig for the two bolts
dgf.jpg?t=1297132418
Step 4: Admire how badass your car looks without a bumper
IMG959607.jpg?t=1297132638
Step 5: There are 3 bolts holding the headlights on. the first two are easy to see, one underneith where im pointing and one by the fender which you can see the bolt loosely hanging out. For the third you have to pull the rubber liner off on top of the fender and where im pointing is where the 3rd bolt is.
Two bottom bolts
dgffg.jpg?t=1297132830
One top bolt
mailgooglecom.jpg?t=1297132729
Step 6: There are a few black random black plastic pieces that you should take off of the headlights, and I've never taken out the bulbs or anything while cooking. now the scary part for most people. Pre-heat the oven to about 250-300 degrees. Place your headlights either face down on a cookie sheet with a towel of something to protect it from scratching or face up... doesn't matter. Let it cook for 3-5 minutes, if you do it a bit more shouldn't make a huge difference but less will make it tough to pull apart. First unscrew the phillips head screw that hold the lense to the plastic (should be three small silver ones) then Start prying apart on one corner with a flat head and work your way around untill lense pops off... It may take 4-5 heating up in the oven to get them apart... warning you will not be able to feel your fingers after this is done
IMG954419.jpg?t=1297132901
Step 7: Next there are I believe 3 small silver screws holding the chrome part to the lense and one clip which will allow you to pull the chrome insides apart from the lense.
Should look like this...
dgfddfff.jpg?t=1297132895
Step 8: Tape up anything front and back that you do not want painted, everything else will be painted.... I use krylon fusion gloss black engine spray paint. you can use other stuff but I found this works best for me
IMG958937.jpg?t=1297132905
Step 9: create a homemade spray booth away from everything you don't want paint on... and warning you will get high if you dont open a window or door... trust me And I use a gallon zip lock on my hand/arm so I can hold up the headlight while painting and don't completely paint my arm, a bit ghetto but it works
IMG952162.jpg?t=1297132897
Step 10: Paint.... Start with very very very light coats, it you want a high gloss finish then do a few light coats, let it dry, sand with 600-1500 grit paper but very lightly depending on how smooth you want it, then lay down a wet coat. If you want almost a crinkle glossy finish which I always do and I think looks almost OEM but alot more AWESOME then just do a bunch of light coats pretty far away (and by far away I mean about 6 inches away). Start your spray off of the item, then do a quick pass and end spraying off of the object. Remember be patient and let it dry about 15-20 minutes between coats. I don't use a clear coat since its covered and protected.
IMG952989.jpg?t=1297132907
Step 11: once the paint is completely dry make sure you take off the tape carefully. then re-screw the now black headlight housings back into the lense. then heat up the silicon with either a hairdryer or with the oven (I only use hairdryers, its easier) then when its hot press the lense/housing into the plastic headlight backing making sure not to scratch anything. Then rescrew in the screws into the back of the headlight that hold the lense on and keep reheating and pressing.... Make sure you get it 99% of the way back to the way it was or it wont fit right when putting it back on the car.
IMG953800.jpg?t=1297132902
Step 12 - a million: Reverse the steps and put everything back on... ya its a pain in the aS$... good luck HAHAHA
If you have any questions or want someone to do it for you, hit me up. Im more then happy to give advice or help out if need be. Helping other car guys out is what its all about!
P.S. Finished product pictures will be up soon. We finished really late and he's going to get his car detailed then take pictures
Finished products, looks sick in person! closeups coming soon
IMG_2310.jpg?t=1297220092
IMG_2311.jpg?t=1297220092
IMG955090.jpg?t=1297220092
Last edited by das stig; 02-08-2011 at 10:02 PM.
#3
ill Sedan
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#9
I don't mean to sound like a dick, but is that wire hose perhaps the wire harness that actually sends power/controls your headlight? If so yes thats supposed to be there, and just disconnect it to pull the headlight out....
#11
#14
One was a black harness which I couldn't get off from the top or bottom and was such a tight space to make it harder. The other was attached by a black clip in a open black cover which is impossible to get to with any tool, that black cover had a tiny screw that is holding it to the housing which you can't unscrew because of the angle.
#15
One was a black harness which I couldn't get off from the top or bottom and was such a tight space to make it harder. The other was attached by a black clip in a open black cover which is impossible to get to with any tool, that black cover had a tiny screw that is holding it to the housing which you can't unscrew because of the angle.