what do you paint the chrome peice with.. what kind of paint ? do i have to prep the chrome peice before i paint over it?.. how do i take off my front bumper??

sorry.. im really slow.. haha

 

sorry cant help u with this one.

 

hahah.. its cool.. you helped me out with everything else already.. hahah

 

the bumper is held on by a couple of gromets...n as for prepping...just use krylon primer...like 1-2 coats...then just black afterwards...*important* do not paint in the side blinker section...*important* that said...ur all ready to go...for a better look...i wouldnt paint the diffuser section either...it looks even better...n go get urself some clear diffusers...well worth it...

 

how's it going anyway? i wanna see pics of this thing when its all done.

 

The bumper has 2 main screws on each side. One by the wheel base in the little groove and the other is near the edge where the bumper leaves the wheel's curve and becomes horizontal to the ground.

Then there are a bunch of tabs. The kind the you push in and the hold things place. They are closer to the front of the bumber and there are like 3 or 4 on each side.

The last ones are the ones on top of the bumper under the hood. The are right along the edge.

Trust me though. Removing the bumper is by far the easiest part. Making sure you dont mess up the headlights is the tricky thing.

There is a DIY somewhere. If I find it I will let you know. You also do not have to prime the chrome. Going over it a few times until it looks metalic is the way to go.

 

abunchofcars.com has the DIY...but sometimes the site doesnt work...

 

I started this process last night myself.

There's a nice DIY here in the acurazine forums; run a search with "blacked out headlights" and it'll come up.

But to answer your questions, I just bought plain plastic primer and added a coat last night before I went to bed. I have yet to decided whether or not I want to add a second coat; the second coat is really unnecessary unless you plan to wetsand the coating of primer.

As for painting the headlights, make sure you use masking tape to cover the diffuser section and blinker section. I'm only painting the walls in both the diffuser and blinker section and keeping the bulb wall chrome.

Although any black paint will suffice, many people have recommended using the special application paints for bbq grills and stoves. I think that black paint will stand up to some ridiculous amount of heat like 1000 degrees or something. Although I doubt it'll ever be that hot, its still a good idea as the paint can warp if it gets to hot, or moist if your lights are not sealed properly.

I might post pictures of this if you're really interested, but since it's already done in a DIY I dont see the point. Well... I guess the DIY has pictures of a 99 TL headlight set, while I'm blacking out a 2003 TL-S headlight, so I might if people are interested.

Let me warn you, this is not a project for the impatient; it takes a really really really long ass time. Wet sanding the chrome off, applying primer, applying paint, applying clearcoat, waiting for the paints/coats to dry, and taking off your bumper and crap takes forever. I just bought an extra set of headlights since I didnt want my TL-S to be sitting without headlights.

Anyhow, gluck on trying to black them out. I should have my set finished by this weekend.

 

I don't know about painting the chrome but this may help with removing bumper, headlight, and clearing the headlight.
/forums/showthread.php?t=18740

 

try this

/forums/showthread.php?t=1874

 

/forums/showthread.php?t=18740

 

BraveDemon: do you got pictures of your headlights.. i want to see exactly what it looks like with the lights blacked out and the chrome blinker section.

TL_S_Driver: im starting the project this weekend so ill show my updates as i go through it this weekend..

 

Also.. do i have to sand down the chrome before doing the primering??

 

i dont believe so, just make sure it has been thoroughly cleaned.

 

I blacked mine out with the blinker section chrome. I got the idea from the CLS. I will post a pic. Also you do not have to wet sand the chrome. It is not necessary.

 

yeah.. if can please send the picture of your head lights with the corner blacked out.. and if someone can send a picsture without it blacked out so i can see the difference..

 

wet sanding the chrome is not necessary. I decided to wet sand off the chrome just for my own assurance of mind; I didnt want the paint to chip or anything.

But yeah, lots of ppl just clean off the chrome or i've even heard of others using a scotch brite pad to clean it off. (although I imagine the scotch brite pad would cause scratches.. in which case you might as well just sand it off).

One tip for you: Try to apply any paints/coats during the day time before the temp drops below 77 degrees. I see you're down in San Diego, which is about an hour away from where I am (Irvine), and the humidity in our cities (coastal cities) does strange things to the paint.

Will post pictures later tonight.

 

Ok here is a pic with the blinker section amber but darkend and the parking light section all chrome. I did a little extra on the head light part because I wanted to be diff. Ok just realized I don't know how to add pics. Some one tell me or ryguyGTSK shoot me a pm and I can email em to ya.

-Ice