I did a great job clearing my healights, but now I want them black.
I'm just not sure if it will be more difficult melting the silicone2 ( I used about half a tube on both lamps).
Or if i will have any other problems because the lights were already in the oven at over 250 degrees.
please feel free to encorage or discourage me from doing this project.

 

Why don't you just sell/trade out your lights with someone who wants cleared but hasn't done anything to their's?

 

i have thought of that but I don't know anyone to trade with.

 

Other people have reopened their lights due to fogging issues, so you should be fine.

 

I would test bake a cured piece of the silicone2 sealant and see how it reacts before baking the entire assembly again since that sealant is not the same as the OEM sealant.

 

Post in the black market asking for a trade in your area. You can probably make a couple bucks off your work.

 

Id prolly be down for it

 

Ony my previous cars I've never re-baked. The silicon isn't as hard to warm up like from the factory. I would just use a hair dryer on it to warm it up and then focus on like 1/3 of the headlight/corner and pry it open. I usually did this during the summer too though If you rebake you shouldn't need them in there as long as the first time.

 

I cleared my headlights...then realized it looked pretty bad and decided to black them out. Had no problem putting them in the oven again and dealing with the silicone all over.

 

Trade With Me!!!!

 

I'm down

Ill ship and pay for you ship them to me =]

PM me

 

I already thought of that and it's a good idea. I had half a tube left over that dried and i have a huge, rubbery, cylindrical chunk to test.

i thought it would be a bit harder, but i'll just go ahead & do it again when I have a free day. Probably this weekend.
\I would trade lights, but i don't want to wait.
maybe if u are in LI, but u can just contact JNC to do it

so Duplicolor semi gloss heat resistant engine enamel for best results, right?

 

^ - Yes, that paint works well.

 

That is the same paint that I used on mine last week...very happy with the results. I wouldn't think that you would have a problem reheating them...try a heat gun (as opposed to a lower heat standard blow dryer), it heats up quickly and it is directional to where you want to heat? I used it for the removal of my emblems and worked a hell of a lot better than using a blow dryer. Anyways, I am glad I did the painting the first go-round. I have desire to pull that front-end off again anytime soon. Good luck to ya...give some pics when you are done and let us know how the unseal / reseal goes...

 

it was much easier the 2nd time.
I would have done this last week but my house is being redone & my oven was removed.
I had to get this over with, so I took my lights to a friend's house.

 

looks good

 

thanks. I know you redid yours, so when I made this thread I was hoping for your input

 

I do wish I had those clamps like you used. If I ever have to do this a 3rd time I am def. going to get some of those

 

those are from Home Depot- $2.99 each. they are so strong that my hands hurt from all the clamping. The blackouts are 50x nicer than chrome. more pictures tomorrow

 

Before

After

 

much better. dark color cars should definitely get painted corners.

 

I had plenty of silicone left in them from the 1st time.
I still put more inside and smeared more around on the outside.
this headlight was in the taller box and tipped over from a sharp turn,
but it could've been faulty already.
When I did this the 1st time, it was raining all day & i washed the whole car very well with no problem @ all.

what is the best way to fix it? do it over??
I would just seal them again w/o baking again, but there is water inside the lense now.

 

*sigh* im going through the same problem with my driver side, last season it rained and nothing happened until now =( i dont have time to take it apart either so i think it'll start to haze. but new tl-s headlights are looking real good right about now

 

I was thinking the exact same thing.
I would still clear & blackout the corners.

But I'd rather fix mine than spend more money.

 

for some reason the headlight fogged a bit. i washed the excess silicone off the lights & bumper right after installing them and the next day it had heavy moisture in both ends of one headlight. then it went away for a few days but it came back. then it dried up again after 3 days and I never had a problem again. it was weird, but it's okay now. there are no water spots either. i guess the silicone takes a while to dry completely, but the 1st time i cleared them it was raining all day and i washed it afterwards. it's been 5 months without any fogging.

 

man i loved the way the lights looked before but i am a big fan of chrome. Can you tell me how you did this? I heard you need to remove the front bumper???? Let me know the steps you take in order to do this. Thanks in advance