Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

anybody know how to do this? i dont want the DIY cause i know i'll mess it up..anyone in sac know how? or want to trade?

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

don't be lazy man.. i did my first set and it came out nice..

did my 2nd set and omg i love it..

then did many many many more till... yea.... haha

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

im scared im gonna mess it up

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

whats there to mess up..

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

the baking part...haha will i have to buy silicone to put it back together? and you guys use flat black or what?

TLin401

If you mess up then you learn from your mistakes and then you go back and correct them until they are truely complete. If you ever get asked to do this or get another TL or car that you want and black/clear out the headlights to you will know what to do with no worries. Like they say live and learn.

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

hmm maybe i should order or find some 02 tl lights and do those =P

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

......

if you've read some of my other posts.. i used a hair dryer.... full on heat.. took me 15-30 min per headlight.

my experience with the extra silicone is bad...

my first set that ill*tl has is when i bought extra silicone and used them..

now he had them condense like none other, and they have condensed on me before but i resealed... or so i thought.

my 2nd set which is what i have now is just the silicone that was left there reused... perfectly fine.. no condensation... open up.. paint watever.. and seal. no extra silicone.. just gotta make sure you seal them good.. heat up which ever side needs to be tightly sealed..


as for paint...

i use just duplicolor black and lots of clear coat for that glossy look... as for that silver strip on the side, i sanded it down and painted it NBP to match body..

what are you going for? full black out or half black half clear..

going for full, you're gonna wanna clear coat the turn signal portion pretty well to get a nice gloss inside so the bulb can atleast reflect off the clear... get what im saying??

if going half and half, carefully tape off and paint...
wait for paint to dry ATLEAST 40 min to hour and take off...

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

search ebay for depo ones.. used those for practice... then put on your car.. drive through them in the rain or wash the car and see if they condense...

if those go well, then do your OEM ones but exactly how you did depo ones but fix watever needs to be fixed like more clear coat or more base... or different look.... etc etc

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

sweet! imma go for the full black

TequiLa

iTrader: (3)

Nike that shit.

The 1st one won't be perfect. you'll realize what you did wrong so practice would be a good idea.

i want to re-do mine cuz the lens isnt clean on the inside but im too lazy...

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

just make sure you give it some good clear for a nice gloss... and make sure you get that silver strip on the side...

full black is nyeh to me on stock height and no kit..


only time it'll look good is with a pretty aggressive look cuz it just flows...

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

^ gawd i miss my LE37... lol

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

damn hella clean..so just bake in oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees pry open take out the orange reflector spray paint flat black with clear coat (how many coats) and then put back together and back for another 10? i think i wanna do the angel eyes at the same time

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

well, i wouldn't kno for oven method.. never used it.... just follow DIY on that method..

and what? flat black?? just get the black they sell at autozone/pepboyzzzzz

clear coat? i did about 3-4... EVEN coats...

don't do angel eyes... pretty tacky if you don't go all out like volly...

rbsurfer

Dude i just did mine this past weekend and it was easy as hell i know i messed up baking the first one but it was because i became impatient. just keep the oven on or under 200 and just put it in for like 2 mins and pull it out and just go crazy like its a dam bear trap on your hand then the silicone is straight cake just squirt it in the crack and just push it back together. and i went to lowes and got primer for plastic and put 2 coats and flat black spry paint and put like 5 coats . . . . .but just remember 200 or under lol you will do fine dude its not that hard just prepair to spend all day or night i started at 9 AM and well i did not finish till like 10 PM lol

CL-Slick

iTrader: (7)

Go to the junkyard, get an old headlight and practice on that.

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

wtf.. thats too long man..

i did a 3G TL-S clearing in 2 hours..

did my blacked out in 4....

rbsurfer

it was the first time i have ever doe it lol check the other fourm i made bout what kind of paint to use for the pic of the damage i just posted pics

rbsurfer

and i did not know you could black out the turnsignal. does it still light up enough??? yours is hott as any thing!!!

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

i had it glossy so it shined.. plus i had the Switchback led... but then, i changed my lights.. new look...

younggunz88

link to the DIY thread plz

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

are you lazy? or just blind.. its like.. the 2nd sticky on the main 2G tl page...

but here you go...

link to all the DIY page.. https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/new-official-2nd-gen-tl-diy-thread-706083/


link to the DIY for headlight stuff..

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...71#post2013918

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-photograph-gallery-99/cleared-painted-housing-brushed-aluminum-grille-frame-%2Apics%2A-567498/

phee

iTrader: (5)

oh man. my car isnt even dropped in those pics

fobstylez

iTrader: (3)

I recent cleared my headlights. So here are my thoughts. My first set, I used a heat gun and that went well, but took longer to do. I felt as though this is the safest way to clear the headlights, I was afraid of baking because I felt the plastic would melt. Anyways, with a heat gun, when you put the headlights back together, you have to get the oem silicon to really heat up evenly when you put it back, or else its going to leak. That was my problem because using a gun to go around is not going to be even. Not saying this is the case for everyone, but that was with me. And with the setup of the hid ballast on the 02-03 headlights, condensation leaked into my ballast and fried it. So I bought a spare set of headlights and baked them. Drop the rack to the lowest, set the oven, take a towel and get it wet and put it on the rack. But once you pull the headlights out, you can rest assure, its safe. When you bake, the heat is coming from the bottom and not the top, so the plastics wont melt. If you do it this way, the silicon will be melted evenly to put back together. I'm speaking from recent experiment, bake it, save yourself a lot of time and possibly money.

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

I have never tried the baking method, as though it does seem easy. I did my headlights twice, using the heat gun. I know what you're talking about its not gonna melt evenly around. What I did the second time around was to put some sealant/silicone in the areas you think will leak and it will be good to go.

fobstylez

iTrader: (3)

yeah I did the samething, after I found out it leaked, I had to buy silicon to cover the leaks, but by then it already leaked into my ballast and fried it. Plus baking it is so much faster. If you are going to clear it and are afraid it will melt the headlights, you can open it and touch the plastic with your hand, its really not that hot to melt it.

younggunz88

calm down buddy. obviously missed it if i asked. this website has a million stickies compared to the forum i frequently visit

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

there's four..........

younggunz88

ok so im seeing a lot of numbers here. how many minutes exactly is the baking part??

2 minutes?

7 minutes?

10 minutes??

jjashaa

iTrader: (23)

put on lowest rack.. do 7 minutes..

younggunz88

im gonna use a set of camry headlights i have laying around and practice with those till i get it right. the baking part is the hard part. painting is easy

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

Taking it out is the easy part. Painting is not that bad either. Hard part is putting it together so that it wont leak or can get condensation in it.

iforyou

iTrader: (1)

^werd...took me..3 attempts...and sometimes it still leaks (ie, from touchless carwash).

Aznryda43

iTrader: (1)

so i went to like the junk yard or w/e saw a 02 tl was in an accident hit on the passenger side. i asked the guy for the fogs wants 100 bucks a piece and the headlights..300 with the ballast effer wont give me the lights itself

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

My buddy does retro fitting so I wont have to worry about leaking because he has been doing it for so long. I think I'm going to do both black out and retro fit 350. Im waiting on my S2k and 07 TL headlights

Haha that sucks Mike go for clearing your headlights I think it would look clean on WDP

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

350 meaning the 350Z projectors? Or the IS350 ones? I'd say go with S2K's if you have the money, otherwise get TSX's or FX35's with clear lens.

fobstylez

iTrader: (3)

from what i read, 350z projectors are no good. I plan on doing s2k or TL, but they are so spendy, waiting for a good deal. I think my hardest part now is putting them back together. i always chip the paint somehow.

Flipster23

iTrader: (15)

my buddy has Fx35 in his van im getting 07 TL and s2k there suppose to be here this coming week hope fully. They do cost hella money but sometime u can go to a junkyard and get them.

Yea I heard 350 Z isnt good either

fobstylez

iTrader: (3)

are you getting one tl and one s2k projector? I dont get why you are getting two sets? Or are they the exact same projector?