guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

So yesterday shtewps met up at my house to black out our headlights.

We basically started at 2PM and basically got everything back on the car at 2AM.

In that time frame, we:

- Replaced all his bulbs in his steering wheel
- Polished (and wetsanded) his headlight lens
- Polished his exhaust tips
- Aimed his recently installed Accord Fogs (with Type-S grills!)
- Blacked out his headlights (V2 style with the amber diffuser)

Then at 2AM we went for a little cruise and took some pics.

Here are the ones I took from my PnS camera.

Please excuse the low quality pics
Not bad for a PnS though (Sony WX1).

Hopefully he uploads his from his awesome camera.

Outside my house with everything back together:













On the left: White angled flank LED license plate bulb
On the right: Cold Cathodes

You can see the LEDS have a bluer hue to them:












Okay, so now I have a question:

I'm about to black out my headlights too (and add in Type-S diffusers I have) but I don't know if I want to paint the turn signal reflector part.

You can see how it's dimmer than stock even though we partially painted his turn signal reflector.

Should I just partially paint my turn signal reflector and install LEDs or just leave the whole thing chrome so it reflects as much light as possible.

Do un-modified Type-S headlights have a partially painted turn signal reflector or is it left all chrome (like base TLs)

I really like the darkened look of partially painting the turn signal reflector, though.

Thanks!

Oh yeah, our cars are pretty much identical from the front because we both have:

Accord Fogs with Type-S grills
Nokya Yellow Accord fog bulbs
A-Spec kit
Blacked out headlights (well, soon mine will be blacked out LOL).

Soon we're both gonna wrap our middle bar of the center grill with 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl

o4Komodo

iTrader: (2)

Tint them, but tint the diffusers not the reflectors.
Then use a high powered LED or a 120SMT bulb [68? 90? is good too].

In the daytime it's still kinda noticeable and at night... with those LEDs it's as if nothing was ever wrong. My Type-S diffusers are pretty dark and at night they still shine bright. I have the 68 or 90 V2 Switchback, whatever it was again, from autolumination.


Oh, and the pics aren't too bad for a PnS. Not familiar with the models though =p

BigPZ

If by "turn signal reflector" you mean the bulb housing, then my answer is yes. When my Type-S lights were opened up, everything behind the diffuser was chrome, essentially to reflect as much light from turn signal bulb as possible. This piece was painted matte black in order to match the "smoked" look of the stock Type-S side markers and taillights.

Good Luck!!! Hopefully your work will be ready for the Speed Star meet

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Ah thanks for the suggestions man.

I actually like the non-tinted Type-S diffuser look so I probably won't be tinting the diffuser LOL

Thanks man!

It's a tough choice of what I want...
It's either have bright turn signal or have a nice darkened headlight look.

If a unmodified Type-S headlight's turn signal housing is ALL chrome and no black, then I'm probably leaning towards that just to stay OEM lol
Not to mention it would save time and paint to leave it unpainted and all chrome.

I hope I can make it to the meet

mn2trance

I would say to leave the reflector chrome to help reflect the light output. You have to remember about daylight, too, when you need to signal.

Warped Performance

LoL, just kidding! Love the White on the TL's!!

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

I have the indicator blacked out and no diffuser and it still give me good output coz this is what i did:

i painted the indicator part black other than the top part....so well the top is chrome and the rest is blacked out....the chrome part cannot be seen...and good enough to reflect a lot of light....

mn2trance

Pics?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

Am going to take some daytime and nighttime pix later....

kidduce

iTrader: (1)

I love twins....

Clean looking cars.

UA6

Nice shots. Clean looking rides.

mugenspire

iTrader: (4)

nice whips and shots. love those front ends

Poconozoo

How romantic. Look'en great.

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

Nice shots, I can't wait to see the new headlights installed.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Nicely done!

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Thanks guys!

I think I'm gonna just leave the turn signal reflector chrome (the whole thing; not partially), and just add in the Type-S diffusers.

It'll really look like un-modified Type-S headlights and I'll be able to keep the same output as stock 100% for the turn signals.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

GP, for 2am shots, they really look good!

Looking forward to seeing pics of your headlights.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Thanks so much Steven!

We were pretty much dead tired after and to top it off, shtewps had to drive 2 hours home which meant he got home at around 4AM

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I think after we mod the headlights we get more critical of the light output, I remember that even totally stock my parking lights were hard to see when the sun was glaring out...

I can tell you that if you leave the area around the bulb chrome (like with your friends) you will be fine...and at night, you definitely can see everything just fine. Even during the day, when you use your turn signal the output is easily double what it is when it's just the parking light.

Another thing I ended up doing for extra safety is I made the relays to make my sidemarkers blink with my signal too. Plus, it looks cool.
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/g-043-blinking-sidemarker-diy-guide-suitable-3g-garage-703668/

Here are how my lights look right now...V2, with chrome dipped amber bulb and type S diffusers with carbon fiber on the amber edge.

omnuts

Nice work guys, came out nice. Nice pics too

Ruby

niiiice

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Thanks guys!

Okay, so I think I'm going to start doing my headlights tonight.

For sure I'm leaving the turn signal reflector fully chrome (untouched).

Now I'm just thinking, after looking at Type-S headlights, I found out that the part that's already black is just left flat black and the only "painted black" part in there is the one chrome reflector piece that goes infront of the DRL and HID.

Should I just paint both of pieces (to paint match), or leave the one piece that's already (flat) black and paint just the chrome reflector?

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Now we're talkin' !!!!

Love the carbon fiber in the corners...

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Here are my headlights in the making:



Headlights baked and cracked open:


All done painting:

Look at that gloss just like a mirror!!!




As of right now I'm just waiting for the paint to fully dry.

Then after that it's assembly time!

mn2trance

Very nice for tackling this daunting task! Can't wait to see the final result. Also, are you going to keep the diffuser amber or going to put Type-S ones in?

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Thanks man

I'm going to put these Type-S bad boys in



Special thanks to Alex (Locomaaan) for them!

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Does anybody have any advice for removing dust and such before putting everything back together?

I was thinking of using a cool cloth I have but it sheds lint all over which makes it worst.

I have compressed air can but sometimes the piece of dust needs something to physically touch it to remove it lol

mn2trance

How about one of those Swiffer dusters? Then shoot the compressed air to blow out the rest. What about microfiber towels?

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

I'll see if I have a clean swiffer duster refill lol

I think my microfibers shed =(
I got tonnes though so I'll see which one works good.

Thanks for the suggestions man.

Here's a day time pic of shtewps' headlight (Blacked out V2 with amber diffuser):

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

RU_JELLY

iTrader: (1)

cars look good , cant wait to see the headlights

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Nice twins. Can't wait to see the headlights when you're done.

AcRightLINY

Very nice!!! Good work gentlemen!!!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

GP-your headlights pictures look very familiar!

But believe me, it's well worth it. Take our time and they'll look outstanding.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Thank you folks!

My last coat of paint was applied at 11AM and right now would mean it's been drying for almost 9 hours.

Do you guys think I should leave it to dry overnight or just start assembling everything back together tonight?

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

You're probably good to go-9 hours should be sufficient.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Go ahead and put it back together. I waited barely two hours for my paint to dry and it was just fine.

omnuts

^ yea like Steven said more than enough.. Go ahead and put it back

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Alright cool thanks guys!

I'm just gonna polish up my lenses and clean every part to ensure no dust is inside then I'll throw her together!

Oh I also forgot I have to epoxy the chrome strip back on the housing since I broke the tabs off (there was really no other way of removing it).

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

All done.

Clamped up for the night:







Two mistakes I made throughout the whole thing:

1. Forgot to use Adhesion Promoter
2. Forgot to wipe and clean diffusers