okay first of all
i have no knowledge of car-maintenance and painting or whatsoever.
so dont blame me for the quality of the work lol

i just painted my headlight cuz i really really really wanted it.
it took 6 hours but i think its worth it.
but i just noticed what a sloppy job ive done.
theres fingerprints and stains everywhere inside the headlight lol
i guess i have to take them off again and clean them.
but yeah one more thing
i used masking tape for the paint but when i took the tape off, the paint also came off.
am i supposed to sand before painting?

well yeah anyway i like how it looks.
i took off the toyota ist grill off and put the original one back.
i also took the turn-signal cover, the orange one.
and i tatooed on the side too lol

and thanks for those who gave me advice in another thread.

 

its looks real nice from the photos man KUDOS!

 

You should have sanded the areas you wanted to paint with a fine grit sand paper ( around 600 ) that will allow the paint to stick without much of a problem.

Has painting the housing effected your light output from the headlights at all? That is my only concern with doing something like this because I really like what this mod does for the appearence of the front end.

 

wow thats awesome ive been wantin to do the same but was wondering about the light output also. great job

 

I think that looks great man!

Personally, I would have sanded the area to be painted, as it allows more surface area for the paint to grip to.

Let us know how it works out concerning light output and durability.

 

dang i have to do it again then..
well yeah i should cuz i dont want my paint to start peeling


the light output looks okay,
i mean i dont even see the difference.
there was a part that i wasnt sure that i should paint or not
but i painted cuz i thought it would be weird looking if i dont


u might wanna leave that part if you worry about the light outcome, but i dont think it makes any diff.... lol

oh yeah there was a perfect size of rubber ball for the turn signal.
look how it fits lol so i painted over it lol

 

oh yeah one more thing that im worried about is the glue and caulking.
the glue metled way too much when i heated it in the oven.
im kinda worried water will go through when it rains

 

What is going on with the top of the grille?

 

top of the grille?
u mean the scion badge?
i have stock Toyota ist grille too but i wanted the scion one back so i just put that back to scion one.

 

looks good, love the xA on the turn signal, what is wrong with the hood in the second pic? Looks like you have paint issues there.

 

It's a reflection of a light bulb on the ceiling.

 

yeah its just the reflection of whatever it was there lol
but if you are talking about the 3rd pic,
i painted with my PC cuz there was my licence # showin

 

i did something similar about a month ago but i just painted the outer housing that holds the amber lense in place heres a pic

 

thats nice!
is your turn signal orange? im thinkin putting white or bluish bulb there.
but i dont know if its legal.

 

thanks umm i just replaced the bulbs with amber ones

 

on a side note, for anyone else attemting this, make sure you have a big oven that has plenty of space away from the heating elements, it could melt the lens if it is too close to one

 

I really like the look of that. good job

 

Hi all -

First off - killer job. Doing a mod because you really really really wanted to is how inventions get made and greatness is accomplished.

I was talking to the dudes at Sport City and they said cook the light bulb in the oven. I'm like - okay....so whats the procedure? Baste @ 350 and turn over when golden brown?

Seriously - I soo want to do this - but I didn't want to break my lights w/o having replacements in hand...
What temp did you use? How long? What would you do differently the next time?

As far as you and your headlight seals,etc., you said you were worried about water,, someone help me out here but you may try like RTV gasket maker or silicone sealer or some gorilla glue or something. No maybe not the glue, you maybe will never be able to take it apart ever again...

but - kick a$$ mod - that's going on the list of crap to do...
- Saylor

 

actually i did such a bad job lol i kinda messed up with sanding
you cant see in the pics but its really crappy

i preheated oven like 250 degrees.
the back of the headlight kinda melted cuz it was too close.(thank god it was the back)
i left it inside maybe like 5 to 10 or maybe less. take it out and check if it opends and if not then put it back.
and make sure you put your headlight on like cardboard or something else.

i tried everything before i did oven cuz i really didnt wanan use the oven.
i tried hot water(cuz somebody told me it might work too), like i soaked the headlight in to hot water but didnt work, nothing happened.
and i tired hair drier too. it kinda worked but the only problem was that you cant melt the whole glue all around the headlight at the same time. so i gave up.
and i tried oven and BAM it opened rihgt away.

and what would i do next time?
I WOULD DO CALUCKING when i put it back
since i opened twice(cuz first time i didnt sand the area i wanted)
it kinda had little gap between lens and headlight.
so now when it rains, water wont come inside but get fogged and sweat inside.
so i am going to do that in like few days. cuz i dont think thats good for the bulbs too.

and make sure you have all of the tools...
i ended up calling my friend to give me a ride right after i noticed i dont have sand paper and all of the bumper and headlight were taken off lol

oh yeah by the way i used electric oven, not gas oven....
i dont know how it works on gas oven tho...

 

^at least you melted a little of the back and not the front