Blacked out headlights

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Old 06-19-2017, 11:40 PM
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Blacked out headlights

Has anyone blacked out their headlights/taken the amber out? I have seen some people on IG that have, I'm just hesitant because I don't want to have moisture issues.
Old 06-20-2017, 12:04 AM
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pic from IG
Old 06-20-2017, 06:15 AM
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Originally Posted by MAHONEY507
Has anyone blacked out their headlights/taken the amber out? I have seen some people on IG that have, I'm just hesitant because I don't want to have moisture issues.
why you scared? you won't GET anywhere in life if you're scared.
Open them bitches up and perform surgery, Doctor.

p.s. procedure is as old as time itself. google or youtube "Headlight DIY" "opening headlights" and you will see that it's not as scary as you may think it is.
Old 06-20-2017, 08:08 AM
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True, time for surgery! lol
Old 06-20-2017, 08:19 AM
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be sure to close them up with buytl!
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Old 06-20-2017, 12:32 PM
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Originally Posted by MAHONEY507
Has anyone blacked out their headlights/taken the amber out? I have seen some people on IG that have, I'm just hesitant because I don't want to have moisture issues.
I opened up my headlight assembly and took out the ugly (dated look) plastic orange. You will need to take off the bumper, there are lots of clips and a couple of screws.

Essentially there is no cost, except a proper clip puller (good cheap investment and will save u the grief). There is piece of the orange reflector you can epoxy inside if you wish to remain compliant. Pop it in the oven for I believe 7 minutes at about 220 degrees (not exact sure on that one u may want to look it up). Use gloves as the glue/sealant is very sticky, be sure to go slow as not to beak any tabs (best to bend them back a little first).



Rear of assembly - remove all screws, bulbs and HID ballast (plastic covers etc).
Front with plastic cover removed.


If you actually do this I would recommend you remove the metal shield that actually blocks some of the light from your HID's. I believe the purpose is to not overpower/drown out your fog lights, but in my case it improved the amount HID headlight spill and did not interfere with the fog lights - Albeit, I did convert mine to HID fog lights....

Metal bracket, I cut it off with metal shears.
The top is the lower metal bracket/block for the fogs, remove this. The bottom is the cut shield (reverses through the projector lens much like our eyes reverse the image).
Opens up how much light the HID's spill out.

I hated the look with the orange plastic and bugged me for a while until I got a round to doing it. Most people will not notice it, but you will!!! Also You will have to either buy an amber replacement bulb or Amber LED as the stock bulb is white for the corner markers.

Good luck with it.

You can take a look at "My 2013 Build" for picks of my vehicle, although I did not tint plastic.
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Old 06-20-2017, 12:37 PM
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you could buy "switchbacks" which emit clear but when signaling, switchback to amber
Old 06-20-2017, 12:39 PM
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Sorry I forgot to mention that the orange plastic piece is held in separately and once you open up the lens there are 3 additional screws to take off and then you will be able to access the orange plastic. Once you are done u should put it back together as best as u can and then put it back into the oven to heat up the adhesive/glue - squish together really well. done!
Old 06-20-2017, 12:43 PM
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I used switch backs in my old Honda Civic, but in this case it isn't worth it as the corner markers do not stay on unless they are blinking to indicate a left turn. There is another separate smaller bulb that you can change to white LED like I have that will make it look cleaner.

The top is the smaller LED white and the bottom is my amber LED.




Sorry guys if I photo bombed too much....
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Old 06-20-2017, 12:44 PM
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ahh gotcha!

and no way. pictures ARE ALWAYS welcomed
Old 06-20-2017, 09:39 PM
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No problem at all Chrifff, thanks for the good info!
Old 06-20-2017, 10:44 PM
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Great write up.

But I would 100% not suggest cutting off the piece Chriff cut off. You will change the cut off pattern of the headlights if you do. People everywhere us acura projectors because of their crisp cut off. Instead you could paint it red for the demon eye look. Makes the projectors look red when not lit.
Old 06-20-2017, 11:51 PM
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Originally Posted by usdmJON
Great write up.

But I would 100% not suggest cutting off the piece Chriff cut off. You will change the cut off pattern of the headlights if you do. People everywhere us acura projectors because of their crisp cut off. Instead you could paint it red for the demon eye look. Makes the projectors look red when not lit.
Hmmm... that's funny because I have found on my 2013 ILX the projector lights were sub-par. Unlike the original generation TSX now those were decent. The project lenses in the ILX have almost an orange peel effect to the glass softening the light. The cut shield line is slightly fuzzy with mine, most other Hondas I have found them to be more crisp. I also have found the light output to be a little less satisfactory. If you look at the pictures above looking through the headlight you will notice on the bottom there is a metal piece that has a line and that about half way this line zigs upwards. This is the actual cut shield the purpose of which is to ensure that you do not blind on coming motorist (the upward zig is for opposing lanes of traffic to block it off a bit more), this would be hard to remove and I definitely would not recommend do so. The top portion in the pictures only effects the actual viewable light output, which is seen below (reversed image through the glass projector). I am unaware of any negative result by removing this piece, and I have not seen this in other projector kits. One of my concerns prior to cutting that portion off was that it would wash out my amber HID fog lights, however this is clearly not the issue for me (probably because these are HID).

The end result for me was a marked increase in forward light output. Now do what you think is best for you, and if you remove this piece you definitely would not be able to paint it for the demon eye effect that Jon mentions. I have tons of respect for Jon (he has been on the ILX forum from I believe almost the beginning) and he may know of something I don't, but for me I want more function over looks when it comes to light output.
Old 06-21-2017, 12:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Chrifff
Hmmm... that's funny because I have found on my 2013 ILX the projector lights were sub-par. Unlike the original generation TSX now those were decent. The project lenses in the ILX have almost an orange peel effect to the glass softening the light. The cut shield line is slightly fuzzy with mine, most other Hondas I have found them to be more crisp. I also have found the light output to be a little less satisfactory. If you look at the pictures above looking through the headlight you will notice on the bottom there is a metal piece that has a line and that about half way this line zigs upwards. This is the actual cut shield the purpose of which is to ensure that you do not blind on coming motorist (the upward zig is for opposing lanes of traffic to block it off a bit more), this would be hard to remove and I definitely would not recommend do so. The top portion in the pictures only effects the actual viewable light output, which is seen below (reversed image through the glass projector). I am unaware of any negative result by removing this piece, and I have not seen this in other projector kits. One of my concerns prior to cutting that portion off was that it would wash out my amber HID fog lights, however this is clearly not the issue for me (probably because these are HID).

The end result for me was a marked increase in forward light output. Now do what you think is best for you, and if you remove this piece you definitely would not be able to paint it for the demon eye effect that Jon mentions. I have tons of respect for Jon (he has been on the ILX forum from I believe almost the beginning) and he may know of something I don't, but for me I want more function over looks when it comes to light output.
No no my bad. I thought you were cutting out the entire cutoff shield. I was going to say that is going to eliminate any sort of cut off at all. Ive only seen people without Acuras take TL projectors and apply them to their car. I have no seen someone take our porjectors and mod the shield. Normally people are modding their shield to cut off like ours.
Old 06-24-2017, 09:10 AM
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Looks great, thanks for sharing.




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