t_urbo_C_harged

Is it possible to bake taillights? I was looking to do this to maybe paint the inside of the tail light... does anyone have pictures of this???

How many people have baked the headlights and painting the brow?? I saw it done at a car show yesterday and I like it a lot, I think it is a lot better alternative than an overlay because I don't want any bubbles in the overlay or don't want it to get chipped, etc.

If anyone has pictures of any of these done feel free to post em up!

RodC

Baking is a little bit sketchy. I baked my headlights and I thought everything was fine, but after it started raining, I noticed water was somehow getting into one of them. I think it's just luck if you reseal them correctly because I did one right and one wrong it seems. And once the water gets in, it doesn't leave until you bake it open again. Gonna have to do that sometime this week.

captainlaziness

Baking the tail lights would be a bad idea, they will most likely be ruined by the heat. If you wanna get inside the tails, you need to cut them open.

Baking the head lights is easier than it sounds like it would be. Mine sealed up without any issues.

RodC

Is there a technique to resealing them correctly? I did both of mine in the same way, but one worked and one failed.

captainlaziness

You can see in these pics what I did to the side marker:





And here you can see that the "eye brow" has been painted:



As for the tail lights, I started this project a while ago and have yet to finish it:





This is where you cut the tail lights apart:




There is a great write up on head light baking in the tech articles. I followed that guide when I did mine.

captainlaziness

I dunno. I didn't use any extra sealant when I put mine back together, just what was there from the factory.

I put the pieces back together and then stuck the assembly in the oven for a few minutes and then squeezed the parts together. Then back into the oven, and then squeezed again. I also waited to tighten the screws down 'till the sealant was nice and hot.

RodC

Hmm, so it sounds like you did two rounds of heat and squeeze. When I did mine, I just placed them together cold, put them in the oven, then pressed them together when they were hot, and that was it. I felt like the two parts were not as close to each other as when I started.

captainlaziness

Actually I probably did 3-4 rounds of heating and squeezing to each head light. I was trying my best to get the tabs back together.

RodC

That sounds like a good strategy. I'll do it that way next time. For how long did you put it in the oven each time when you were resealing?

captainlaziness

7-10 minutes.

t_urbo_C_harged

great pics, what paint did you use? I was wanting to match factory paint so as long as it can survive the heat then thats great!

captainlaziness

I used Duplicolor engine enamel and spray tint. The headlights probably don't get hot enough to require that paint, but it's what I had on hand.

I believe there are few members on SL that have color matched their head lights with factory paint without any problems.

t_urbo_C_harged

does trdsparks sell factory paint or would I have to get something like that from the dealer?

captainlaziness

I don't know if Sparks has paint, and I think you can only get those little touch up paint pens at the dealership. If you're going to DIY, this site sells rattle cans of factory paint. Or if you're having a shop do the work they will take care of obtaining factory paint for you.

t_urbo_C_harged

thanks for the info! looking forward to my project now! :D

rhino74s

I did my taillights but like captainlaziness said.... you have to cut them open. There is no adhesive sealant around them so baking doesn't do any good.

I taped off the necessary reflective parts and painted the rest black. Then put the stock red lens back on. It's extremely subtle but for people that know what stock looks like, you can tell.

taped off:


painted:


sealed:


on the car:

ADRdesignCo

damn laziness those lights look hot... finsh them! :D hahahahaha

t_urbo_C_harged

I think they look awesome rhino! I definately want to do that when I have some time... do you have any stock pictures I could compare it to? I think they look very different!

t_urbo_C_harged

compared to mine there is a huge difference I think... something like that would definately set off your car compared to others!

rhino74s

yeah.... here are some comparison shots.