Hey guys.... ive seen the way the smoked headlights look on the IS and i was wondering how to do them yourself. Does anybody know of any tutorials that are good and show u how to do this ?

 

if you talk about black smoke, you have to do it yousself by taking the whole headlight apart, sand, paint, and then reseal it yourself. you run the risk for leaking and moisture. some shops do it for you, but it costs money of course.

if you talk about teh black chrome, all 04 has it (and also 03 sport design) that you can purchase. not cheap though

 

About how much would it cost to get it done at a shop
and how do i find out which shops in my area do it

 

Where are you located in California? David (owner at Tunedparts.com) offers head light painting as a service -- http://www.tunedparts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1402 . He's located in San Jose.

Another alternative to painting and the 2004 black chrome headlights, is to purchase JDM headlights, which David at Tunedparts.com may be able to get for you as well.

 

yea ive talkted to david but i dont feel comfortable shipping my headlights....i like in socal....909 area code

 

Well, I believe there are a few people in SoCal that may be able to do your headlights. Just ask on IS300.NET and you may be able to get someone to do it for you.

 

Call up Bobby @ Carson Toyota/Lexus Parts. 800-90-TOYOTA He can obtain the JDM Black headlights for you. They are expensive so your best bet is to get the black chrome versions of the 2004 OR go on .net and find one of the guys selling their black smoked tails in the member sale/trade section.

I must sound like a broken record already haha.

 

is there a diy instruction out there....if so can someone please post it

 

umm.... to be honest, if you are asking for a diy, you probably shouldn't do this mod. i personally don't think this is a hard mod, you put the headlights in the oven 350 for 15 mins and it's off already. however it takes experience and details to seal it back perfect. a lot of times it's test and trial, so the instrucitons are not hard. but the labor is hard

 

There are a couple on IS300.NET, but everybody seems to have a slightly different way of opening the headlights in terms on how long and at what temperature they bake their lights.

Personally, it's not something I would want to do myself. I'd rather have someone else who's done it before do it for me.

Also, somebody on .NET was selling some headlights for really cheap for people to practice on. You just have to be careful you re-seal the head lights well; otherwise, you'll get moisture inside and can destroy your HID ballasts. You will also need to make sure the paint is fully dried before putting everything back together.

I may still have a painting tutorial somewhere. I'll have to dig it up, upload pics, and post it.

 

Anyone experienced in the 909 area code wanna help me smoke my headlights...it Really be nice