EXT: Custom black housing headlights

[psyphre]

Yeah, the corners are quite finished. but they are pretty orange.

[Legacy Accord]

Looks like I found what to do on the weekend

[ChunteRX]

i read this thread the other day and it inspired me to do it myself. Like ya'll said, masking it took the longest time. I didnt prime mine, i just sanded the chrome down, and applied about 4 coats of flat black paint. Those headlights look so damn good on my chrcoal granite accord. I also have clear corners on my car, and the next day, i got inspired to do those too. melted em, took em apart, and sanded and painted those black too. those look REALLY good with the headlights. My whole front end looks black now and compliments my car well.

[blkhonda1991]

Originally posted by psyphre
Ok, i'm almost done, i've got one more coat of black an then i can put em together again. so i guess i have the option of leaving the cap off the headlight and converting to all high beams. Has anyone done this yet?

wouldnt leaving the cap off blind other drivers?

[ChunteRX]

i put the cap back on mine. It was there when i took it apart, so it went back on when i put it back together. Plus, dont really wanna get pulled over for constant high beams.

[psyphre]

oh yeah i ended up putting the caps back on. the light output is fine like everyone else said.

[kings_blend]

that looks dope yo.....

[xplode]

Thats a nice look IMO, plus some of the painted surfaces cuts off some excess glare.

[WeDgE]

I don't think painting them black would hurt your headlights ability to reflect the bulb's light if you used clearcoat on top of the black to get the shine back. What I've taken from the DIY writeup is that you paint the chrome reflector with flat black paint, not glossy, nor a clearcoat afterwards.

Anyone try it with a glossy black? or clearcoated the flat black?

I'd like to try it either way...just not with flat black.

[fliplyricist1]

I wouldn't really call it a flat black. Well, I'm not sure if others used a flat black, but what I used was 'low gloss' high temp engine paint. It does have a mild gloss to it, just nothing bling bling. Light output has not diminished in the least. And I'm not even using 9005 bulbs like I was before.

[WeDgE]

So you did paint the entire inside of the light then? Top, bottom and reflector?

[ChunteRX]

you will wanna paint everything but the back reflective part of the housing. All the flat parts basically. If you paint the bavk part, you ruin the reflection capabilities of the housing. It will not shine the way its supposed to. As soon as i get the chance, i will post pics of how i did mine.

[WeDgE]

Originally posted by ChunteRX
you will wanna paint everything but the back reflective part of the housing. All the flat parts basically. If you paint the bavk part, you ruin the reflection capabilities of the housing. It will not shine the way its supposed to. As soon as i get the chance, i will post pics of how i did mine.

Which is why I brought up the point, why not paint it with a glossy black, or clearcoat afterwards...would still retain the reflectiveness while allowing you to paint the whole thing black. ??

[fliplyricist1]

Originally posted by WeDgE
Which is why I brought up the point, why not paint it with a glossy black, or clearcoat afterwards...would still retain the reflectiveness while allowing you to paint the whole thing black. ??

Black, no matter how shiny or the amount of clear coats you put on...does NOT and WILL NOT reflect light in comparison to the silver reflectors. Like others said, so long as you don't paint the back reflector, then little-to-no output will be lost. But if you paint the back reflector with any color (most especially a dark one), you'll find that your light output is basically gone...no matter how much clearcoat you put on. Don't do it.

Plus, all black headlights would look like crap IMO, unless you have retrofitted hid projectors in there.

[WeDgE]

Ok, I figured clearcoating it afterwards would help, guess I was mistaken. Just curious though, have you guys tried this in order to confirm light output is seriously diminished (isn't this what fizzbob7 did?)? I think it'd look alot better than just painting the bottom and sides black, IMO. My apologies for being a pain about this...