DIY headlight painting

[niko3257]

okay before i start just like to tell everyone this is a great
time to do you horn mods.
by this i mean your alarm horn and your regular horn.
please do a search and find the Honda Accord parts #'s.
very easy plug and play. or whatever horns you desire.

Back on track now.
make sure you get yourself spay paint and
adhesion promoter.


first start off by removing your fog lights.
it's just one screw right in the front and a clip in the back.


pop your hood and take a look at my picture.
pop all these tabs off with a screw driver. i have
circled everything to make it easy.


if you noticed two of the clips are a different color.
this is because two of my clips are longer.
they yellow ones are longer and the red ones
are shorter.

[qbmurderer13]

Niiiiice. Dude you might wanna silicone em when you do yours, im getting a very small amout of condensation on these last cold days and when I wash the car. Nothing major though, only the right headlight.

[kingofpicklez]

where's the rest?? lolol great start on the diy, i've been wanting to get rid of the chrome housing

[doctordoom]

haha you need to change the thread title to "DIY buy spray paint, take off your foglights, and remove 8 clips." jk good start

[Committobefit08]

well I guess I'm sitting here waiting

[Tork]

Give Nick a break. You would think, with all the several helpful DIY's he has done for us you would Know his style of doing DIY's in sections.

Be patient, it will be worth it, lets not add too much clutter!

Nice touch Nick with the paint adhesion booster!!!!!

[mikejet]

I think he fell asleep. I hope the headlights weren't in the oven!

[qbmurderer13]

He usually does his little by little. He'll probably get it done on sunday. If I recall correctly thats his only day off.

[JDM_DOHC_SiR]

Finish this one up and I'll put it up top..

[niko3257]

now i jacked up the car and put it on jack stands. this
makes the whole process easy to me since my car is lowered.
don't forget to put on the E brake.


now that we have the car in the air start taking out all the clips
on the bottom engine cover and half of your fender well.





and for the fender well repeat on the other side also.



now your plastic engine cover from under should be gone and
your fenders should look like this.

[niko3257]

before we forget lets go back to the top of the car
and take off all the plugs for the bulbs to the headlights.
i took off the whole thing with the bulb. makes it easy.


while we are up here take off these headlight bolts. 10mm


after you take those 2 off on each side. there is 2 more on
each side right here.
they are located right behind the grill.


all this should get your front end almost off by now.

[niko3257]

Originally Posted by Tork

Give Nick a break. You would think, with all the several helpful DIY's he has done for us you would Know his style of doing DIY's in sections.

Be patient, it will be worth it, lets not add too much clutter!

Nice touch Nick with the paint adhesion booster!!!!!

Originally Posted by mikejet

I think he fell asleep. I hope the headlights weren't in the oven!

lol

Originally Posted by qbmurderer13

He usually does his little by little. He'll probably get it done on sunday. If I recall correctly thats his only day off.

Originally Posted by JDM_DOHC_SiR

Finish this one up and I'll put it up top..

thanks guys

[niko3257]

Originally Posted by kingofpicklez

where's the rest?? lolol great start on the diy, i've been wanting to get rid of the chrome housing

Originally Posted by doctordoom

haha you need to change the thread title to "DIY buy spray paint, take off your foglights, and remove 8 clips." jk good start

Originally Posted by Committobefit08

well I guess I'm sitting here waiting

more is coming soon have to go to work now.

[niko3257]

now your bumper is almost ready to come off.
if you have a spare set of hands around get
ready to call them. this makes it alot easier.

on each side of the car under the fender you will
see one screw.
you kind of have to look up and towards the front
of the car and you will see it. now take both of them off.
these are the last two screws holding your bumper on.



after you take those out.
get these bolts out. one on each side.
right in the same area. just look back further.
towards the front of the car.
this is also the last headlight bolts.


wratchet wrench works best on this.

[niko3257]

now get you extra man and both of you at the same time
on each side pull your bumper off like so.



just pull back and the whole assmbly bumper and headlights will
come right out.
headlights now should just unclip off of there brackets and you
should have this.






also for those of you going to do HID fogs this is where i mounted
my ballasts.
it's basically right behind the foglight itself. right on the frame.

[niko3257]

now take your lights to a place were you can work safely.
carpet is the best.
take all the screw and bulbs out.


don't forget to take the headlight clip also.


Just so everyone knows i didn't take out the bolt in the picture.
this is the headlight adjustment bolt.

now that the headlights are stripped we can clean them.
i cleaned the headlights just cause i was worried something
might get baked in. so i maid sure they were spotless.
bug and tar remover and glass cleaner.

[niko3257]

now pre heat your oven to 300F
as you are waiting for your oven to pre heat
take a look at your headlights. get to know them.
so you know what your up against.
have your self a set of GLOVES also. gets a little hot.
look at all the clips.



all these clips you will need to pry back in order to pop
your headlights apart.

NOTE: your going to do this prying after you get it out of
the oven.
Also you will need one Flat head screwdriver for this to do
the prying.


now i have no pics for this but you all know what a headlight is the
oven looks like.

when your oven is done preheating you can start.
put your headlight in there one at a time.
Time it for 5 minutes.
if you don't feel safe do 4 minutes.
but i assure you 5 minutes does the trick.
i only had to put them in once.

after 5 minutes pull it out and start working quick to
pry all those tabs i should you earlier. use your screwdriver.
once you pulled all those tabs back it's time to start prying
on the housing itself. keep using your screwdriver till you get
enough out to where you can get it with your hands alone.


just keep pulling like so.



by now it should be apart. if it's not put it back in the oven for
3 to 4 minutes more and repeat prying.

if you have been successful you should have this.


now that one is apart let it sit and cool off.
while it's sitting pop the other headlight in and repeat.

[niko3257]

let them both sit for 10 to 15 minutes each to cool off.

after they have cooled off take these screws off.
3 on each side.




just swing the trim up and it should come right out
with no problems.
note: swing the pointed end up (turn signal side)

repeat on both side and you should have them out.

FYI it's very hard to get the reflector off so if your not
sure don't attempt.
just get masking tape and tape it off.
i managed to get mine off with a minor chip/crack.
anyway after you have done this please clean them well.
use glass cleaner and get all smears off.
after you clean them make sure you don't touch the surface
you are going to be painting. grab from under the housing
and place the somewhere safe.


now get you adhesion promoter and shake well like it says on the
directions.
apply yourself at least three coast on each trim.
wait at least 2 minutes between coast or follow
your cans instructions.
make sure you look throughly after every coat and make sure
you get every inch of the surface.




these 2 pics above are after the promoter has been applied.

remember follow your instructions on the can.
after promoter has dried for 10 minutes start with your paint.

do several thin coats to be safe. and allow for some drying time
in between coats. i did about 4 thin coats.
now you should have something like this.


i let mine sit in the sun to rush the drying process.
mine sat for 20 minutes in the sun to dry.
after that they were dry and ready to go back on.

now start the whole process backwards and your done.
put your three screws back on like so.



now your ready to put back in the oven.
peheat again to 300F.
put headlight and housing together best you can.
then put in the oven for 4 minutes.
then take out and snap all your clips back on.
press really hard. it's very tough.



it's going to be tough to get them all to go back
but they will go back
Hint: bent them back before you put in in the oven.

now that you have the two pieces together wait again like 10 to
15 minutes to put all screws back on.
while your waiting do the other side.

after you have done both sides and all screws are back on you
should have this.




Note: don't forget to turn your oven off after you take apart
and put back together.

now you all done finally.
just use the instructions in reverse and put the car
back together.
easier said then done.lol
just remember to have that second person to put the bumper
back on. make it alot easier.

Note: don't forget to clean your lens with bug cleaner/glass cleaner.
before you put in the oven. that glue stuff will get on there while your
handling the headlights.
also clean them again after you put them on your car.

also don't forget to silicone them before you put them back
on the car.

[niko3257]

and now the finished product.

[niko3257]

now your all done.
if i missed anything let me know i will update it.
thanks for looking
enjoy