another blacked out headlight thread...DIY lots of pics.
 

i know this has been done many times before but questions always come up about the taking it apart so ill do my best to help and provide pics.

i used a semi gloss plastic spray from Lowes and only did the one coat. i did not sand the inside and it stuck nicely and smooth

i did not remove the bumper and you wont need to either.

you will first need to remove this black protective cover, there are several caps holding it in and a small flat blade will do the job

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...y.jpg~original

now there are 4 bolts holding the headlights on 3 easy to get to one PITA to get to

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...1.jpg~original
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...3.jpg~original


to remove the 4th without taking the bumper off...i un-did the bottom screws [2 on drivers side 3 on passenger side] to the fender well and i did the first two on the inside of the tire. there is enough room to get a socet in there barely. the drivers side was the more difficult side. i did not put this bolt back when i put it all back together

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...y.jpg~original

the bottom panel of the headlight does latch in into the fender so be carefeul here. after the headlight is removed there is a tab to pop this off

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...y.jpg~original

after that just unplug everything and remove headlight.

i had to be careful of my HID bulbs

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...b.jpg~original

next there are 5 screws, philip heads, on the back of the headlight assembly

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...y.jpg~original


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...1.jpg~original

then in the oven at 250 degrees for 8-10 mins. here i had small issue due to my 3M clear mask on the headlight..it did get a little soft but did not get ruined.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...9.jpg~original

slowly pry it apart. i happened to have a gasket scraper like screw driver laying around which had a bigger head on it. this takes some time and i even placed it back in the oven a few times during this process to keep the silicone goop soft

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...3.jpg~original

i masked off the corner lamps at first and sprayed them last so that they would not be as dark and i removed the amber reflector. this popped out and i used the dremmel to clean it up some

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...5.jpg~original

and thats it. i put it all back together..and put it back in the oven for another 8 mins and pushed it all back together slowly. overall time about 2-3hrs. i didnt actually keep track of the time because i was doing other tasks at the same time.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...6.jpg~original


here are pics of the lights installed


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...0.jpg~original

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...3.jpg~original

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...7.jpg~original

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...8.jpg~original

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...0.jpg~original

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a42...1.jpg~original

Great Job!!!....I know.... those screws behind the bumper are a pain in the a$$$.. I didn't put them back neither...had a hard time taking them off..especially the one from the drivers side when I changed my headlights.

Now we need to see some pics of you blacked out headlights.

I actually prefer your stock headlights...however, it was cleanly done.

You're one definately one of thee members on this forum that pays attention to details.

Woww...they look sweet!

thanks, i appreciate that.

i like the stock too, and was not sure what i wanted more soooo....

once i get an idea in my head i run with it.

thanks JAC, yes the drivers side was a pain but now that i know how to do it ill be able to change it out easy

Boy that didn't take long for you to make up your mind! Nicely done man. Makes such a difference IMHO. You're gonna love it.

yes, i needed something to do today and this seemed like a good project.
thanks again for the info.

Nice write up! I put my lights in the oven at 305 for 9-10 min. But i put them on a baking sheet with card board on it. Seems to work with the first shot. Looks good!!!


I also put some silicone on the tracks of the housing before i put them in the oven again to make sure there is a tight seal. Call me anal but so far all is good.

Damn you Leftyguns21! I just convinced myself not to do this mod last week and now you have me thinking about it again. The great thing about it is that it's so cheap and simple to do. I even purchased the paint last weekend.

I just don't know how it would look on my Titanium Metallic with a chrome bull bar and black cover PIAA 520's.

Excellent pics to go with the wright-up.

ive been deciding back n fourth to do this mod, ive done it on my civic many times but black seems to be too dark imo.... maybe a lighter color will do the trick? perhaps a gunmetal color paint? nonetheless nice work..

u didnt mod the squirrel finder when the whole thing was apart? i took the plates out and taped the hole and i got a better cutoff. well nice job, u should of sand and do couple of thin coats, the out come is much better.

Damn now I gotta do it

I didn't have my computer on to look that up when I remembered about the squirrel finder. They don't really bother me much and I don't drive at night a lot so maybe I'll get to that later. Taking the headlights off now is easy.

As far as other colors I say go for it. A gunmetal or even the same body color would look good. I think some sort of an accent color wouldn't look good though.

There's a few other members w silver 4runners and a light bar that have this done I'm pretty sure? I think it would match ok. I had the same mentality it's super cheap and easy to do. It's only headlights so later on if you don't like it you can get new headlights.

Nice work, that 4th screw way down in the well on the lamp fixture arm really is a pain if you don't do anything out of the ordinary to access it. Look good man!