Ive noticed some people on this board that have black headlight housings...is that DIY? how hard is it to do?

 

credit goes to vxcll ( i think ) who wrote this up...

I am just going to make a how to:

1. Take off your front bumper (if you don’t know how to do a search or by a helm manual.
you should buy one anyways)

2. Unbolt the headlamps. (6 bolts each, impossible to do without taking the bumper off)

3. Remove all bulbs from headlamps.

4. Use a heat gun or bake the headlamps in the oven. Work on only one headlamp at a time!
I found 250 degrees is a good temp. I left one in there for 15 minutes to see what would
happen and it was fine. If you don’t think your oven temp is accurate 200 is good. Bake
them for 8-10 minutes. Make sure you put foil on the baking sheet if you use one! The housing
on the bare metal will probably melt. Don't worry about the small black venting tubes. Just
make sure none fall if into the oven. I would take them off anyways because you will have to
reglue them most likely after baking the headlamp.

5. While baking or before heating place a soft cloth or towel down on your work area. This is
so you don't scratch headlamp when you’re working on it with the clear lense face down.

6. If you baked them use an over mitt on your secondary hand to hold the headlamp from moving.
The metal parts are going to be red hot! I find that a medium flat head screw driver works best.
Make sure you don’t crack the grey plastic clips that help hold the lense to the housing. If it
seems hard to pry apart then the sealant isn't hot enough yet! You will just end up bending the
housing up all along the edge and this does not help when you reseal them.

6. When you do pull the lense off and you get strings of grey oem sealant don’t push it back
into the housing! You'll just end up making it hard to push completely back together again. As
long as you put enough new sealant in you'll be fine. I recommend Permatex Ultra Black sealant.
Good to 500 degrees, perfect for custom xenon setups. Squeeze a good bead in the housing. Make s
ure you heat the housing back up first if you don't have a heat gun. Then just push the lense on.
The black sealant will glob out. DO NOT SMEAR IT OR WIPE IT!!! LET IT DRY!!!! When it does you
can pull it right off with no damage to the lense. Never ever use Goo Gone to clean up any silicone
sealant!! You will make a huge mess and ruin the housing. It just smears the silicone everywhere.

7. If you are going to paint the housings black make sure you pre-bake them or heat them. Most
high temp paints will change color and release chemicals. This will make your headlamps foggy
inside or make a rainbow like film inside.

If you need more information than pm me. That’s it for now. I'll make a webpage with pics when I
do another xenon projector conversion.

If you want to do a real xenon or projector conversion pm me for parts.

 

i prefer using a heatgun over an oven..you don't have to deal with a heated object and better control and everything

also, if you don't feel like doing it yourself..you can pick up a pair of black housing headlights for a overcharged price of some sort =)

 

do the 03 headlights fit on an 01?

 

Where and how much? As far as i knew, there werent any black housing headlights avaiable for the First Gens...? Was i wrong? Id probably drop a nice amount of cash on some, if they were available.

 

i did a better write up including paint instructions also. should have come up in a search but here

LENS REMOVAL

1. Take off your front bumper (if you don’t know how to do a search or by a helm manual. you should buy one anyways)

2. Unbolt the headlamps. (6 bolts each, impossible to do without taking the bumper off)

3. Remove all bulbs from headlamps.

4. Use a heat gun or bake the headlamps in the oven. Work on only one headlamp at a time! I found 250 degrees is a good temp. I left one in there for 15 minutes to see what would happen and it was fine. If you don’t think your oven temp is accurate 200 is good. Bake them for 8-10 minutes. Make sure you put foil on the baking sheet if you use one! The housing on the bare metal will probably melt. Don't worry about the small black venting tubes. Just make sure none fall if into the oven.

5. While baking or before heating place a soft cloth or towel down on your work area. This is so you don't scratch headlamp when you’re working on it with the clear lens face down.

6. If you baked them use an over mitt on your secondary hand to hold the headlamp from moving. The metal parts are going to be red hot! I find that a medium flat head screw driver works best. Make sure you don’t crack the grey plastic clips that help hold the lens to the housing. If it seems hard to pry apart then the sealant isn't hot enough yet! You will just end up bending the housing up all along the edge and this does not help when you reseal them.

7. When you do pull the lens off and you get strings of grey oem sealant don’t push it back into the housing! You'll just end up making it hard to push completely back together again. As long as you put enough new sealant in you'll be fine. I recommend Permatex Ultra Grey sealant. Good to 500 degrees, perfect for custom xenon setups. Squeeze a good bead in the housing. Make sure you heat the housing back up first if you don't have a heat gun. Then just push the lens on. The sealant will glob out. DO NOT SMEAR IT OR WIPE IT!!! LET IT DRY!!!! When it does you can pull it right off with no damage to the lens. Never ever use Goo Gone to clean up any silicone sealant!! You will make a huge mess and ruin the housing. It just smears the silicone everywhere.

* I’ve been told that Nissan part # B6553-89915 is a black butyl rubber sealant same as the Honda OEM sealant.*


PAINTING TIPS

1. Sand the chrome off. This prevents the paint from chipping easily. Nothing worse then chipping the paint trying to get the trim piece back inside the lens. I recommend wet sanding them with 600 grit wet sand paper until most of the white plastic is exposed.

2. Take your time and mask everything carefully. Be sure to cover the bulb opening in the back of the corner lens! If you don’t overspray will end up on the corner reflector.

3. Using a high temp engine enamel put about 5-6 coats on with about 15 minutes between them. I would use a flat not a gloss. The first coat is most important. The paint will not cover it the first time. Don’t worry. All you want to do is get some color on it. The next coat will completely cover the plastic. Don’t put too much paint on! It will run easily because of all the steep angles.

4. Allow at least 24 hrs after the last coat before handling them. You don’t want to chip the paint reassembling the trim back into the lens or pulling off the paint when you take the masking off.

5. Finally, make sure you pre-bake them or heat them. Most high temp paints will change color and release chemicals. This will make your headlamps foggy inside or make a rainbow like film inside. This is another reason to use a flat color. It will typically turn into a semi-gloss once it’s exposed to heat.


-peace

this should be a sticky somewhere

 

 

^... hmm.....? any help guys? i think its a dope mod and would look great what do you guys think ?

 

how much could i buy a pair for? I dont want to risk doin it myself.

 

u have to do it ur self unless u can find someone who is willing to sell their blackhousing. they dont make blackhousing headlight for our car.

 

hey has anybody tinted their bumper lights?..
i want to do that so it matches my body of the car (black)
but i dont know how it will turn out.. should i tint the amber ones as testers or the clear ones?

 

ive seen a couple cars who've done it...the pics are on my comp at home though, sorry. What color is your car nato?

 

my car is black.... and i wanted to tint the bumper lights black as well..

 

sounds tight. seen it before and i would do it if mine was black...

 

search for this material spray called niteshades some ppl have dont it before on here and said that it doesnt stick well, or bubbles after a while im sure you can use the stuff on your bumper lights as well