Im going to paint my headlight housing's black to match the rest of the car, should I use a flat, semi gloss or a gloss black paint? Also do you have any preferences on a certain brand to use?
Thank You
Scott

 

I would go with a glossy black. I'm not sure on brands of paint though.

 

Use high temperature engine paint. Some brands stick better with primer, others don't need it. Read the instruction label.

 

I went with black chrome in my housings...

-=Photon=-

 

black chrome look so nice.. how you paint them?

 

looks very sexy! Is this really as simple as it looks?

 

Once you have them disassembled, start prepping the pieces. Tape off any area you don't want painted. Could rough it up with some fine sandpaper to give the paint something to stick too. Make sure everything is clean before sealing it back up. Don't want to find any dirt or dust inside once the sealant cures. Or you'll be back at square one.

 

Mine were previously painted, I took mine apart to clean the lenses. You need some simple hand tools and an oven to disassemble the housings. Decide what you want to do while you have it all apart; retrofit, de-line, clean lenses, and paint of course. The hardest part was getting them apart. Shouldn't take the average person more than a day to do depending on what you want done.

 

I havnt done it before, but it looks pretty easy, I youtube'd it. there are plenty of youtube vids on how to do the paint

 

I would go with flat black.. only because I would imagine the heat from the bulbs would fade the gloss..

although that black chrome is hellasexy

 

I've had a pm on this but I'll answer here in case anyone else was interested.

Chrome painting isn't hard, it's been around for a few years and looks remarkably reflective.

After sanding the original finish with 1500 or finer sandpaper - I did mine wet - then I used a coat of primer for plastic, a heavier coat of high build automotive primer and sanded again to get as smooth as possible.

Then a coat of gloss black, but you can't use a spray can for this coat, it has to be real automotive acrylic enamel with hardener in it, the kind that won't soften with lacquer thinner after it's cured.

Finally a coat of the chrome paint. Only a very fine mist and light coat was used, I actually did this twice because the first time it got too shiny and looked almost like the original chrome so I resprayed the black and misted on the shine with a thinner coat to let the black show through.

The instructions suggest a coating of clear on top for protection, but since these housings won't be rubbed after the cover is back on, I left it as is.

I used smoked chrome from KemFx which you can find on ebay at thecoatingstore. This was KemKhrome KK-02.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Smoked-Reflective...item414e8f6332

The nice thing about this paint is that it is pre-mixed, just pour it into your gun and use it. Very little is used, and what's left goes back into the can and is saved for next time.

Hope this helps...

-=Photon=-

 

i want to do this soon too hehe. i have a spare headlight and high beams so im gonna experiment

 

Good luck on the attempt...show us how yours turn out too. You'll notice that I didn't paint the bottom aluminum filler plate, you can see the two front attachment strips are brighter than the paint so let me know if you darken yours and if it looks much different.

As for the high beams, I don't think it would be such a good idea. The chrome in those is actually used to reflect the bulb so if it was darker, your high beam light output would suffer. Unless you had one of those aftermarket projector high beams, then it would be okay.

Back to SCott300, did you decide on the direction you'll take with your painting?

-=Photon=-

 

I am going with Gloss Black, to match the color of my car and to have the reflective qualities for my high beams. I also went ahead and bought some primer to use first since its pretty inexpensive, that way I can do it right the first time and wont have to do it over again. I am aiming to get it all done next week on my day off, but not sure my take my bike to the track, we'll c. Also, correct me if I am wrong, but do I have to take the front bumper completly off to get the headlights off?

 

NO you do not. Pull back the inner liner after you turn the wheel out of the way. You will see 2 10mm bolts. Loosen and remove them. Then open your hood and remove the other top 10mm bolt. Unplug the lights. Pull up and out. They actually sit down and in, in the front. Good luck.