Alan

As far as I know, I'm the first to do something of the sort :

While waiting for my rear tail light tint to dry, I decided to pull the front lights and do the infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod. Well that didn't come out too well. So my brother suggested we throw them in the oven and get what is left of the reflector out of the headlight.

When we had them apart, we came up with a great idea. My brother (the rattle can paint job genious) masked parts of the lense and painted them satin black. Then reassembled and I threw some Silverstar bulbs to get rid of the egg yolk look. I think they look great...very subtle yet gives the front a more aggressive/sophisticated look.

Big thanks to my brother for doing all of the paint and assembly work after I took them off the car. If you guys want, I am able to write up a nice How-To article with some progress pictures to put in the tech forum. I would just need someone to host the pictures as the site that hosts the pictures below won't keep them up infinitely.

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bBlover

Cool mod. How did you do that colored wheel cover? Or is that dirt? Just Playin.

Placebo

nice

Alan

For the colored wheel covers we used either Plasticote or Duplicolor wheel paint (whichever one is found at Advance/Discount Auto). Just pop the Scion emblem out, scuff up the wheel cover with some 1500 grit sand paper, wipe it down with a tack towel or some sort of prep wipes, go at it with the charcoal paint, then follow with the clearcoat as directed on the can. Turned out great!

Alan

BTW...the headlight mod is VERY easy to do. The hardest part is doing a thorough job masking the lights. Just takes a little time and patience.

Max2k

I guess great minds think alike! I did this a while ago, except with gloss black paint. I made a thread, but only a few people responded. Link here:

Max2k's Headlight and Taillight Modifications.

I got the idea for it from some japanese website with a badass VIP bB.

windowtint

Looks really nice -- pretty common mod - but looks nice all the same and nice to see someone figured out how to do it all on their own without a 'how-to' guide and a million pics.

congrats - keep it up

Alan

Huh....didn't realize others had done this. It was the first I had seen. Definately cool to know I'm not the only crackhead out there who thinks this looks nice. ;)

Max2k

Check here for a japanese version (what I copied): http://www.impression-cba.com/my_bb/process2.htm

Max2k

I wouldn't say it's a "common mod." 18s are a common mod, a CF hood is a common mod. An exhaust is a common mod. Tail lights are a common mod. Lowering the car is a common mod. Almost everyone here is on rims and a drop. That's a common mod. There are 3 people on this board with this done to their headlights (Alan, myself, and my brother). A common mod? I think not.

Alan

Nice. I almost went with the older bB lights, but I couldn't get past the fact they weren't crystal clear. Those faceted lenses make the car look about 10-years older. Not to toot our own horns, but I definately think the black treatment to the US headlamp is the best out there so far...well next to the new JDM HID lights, which for all practical and monetary purposes are unatainable to most. ;)

superjeer

Alan? Is that you, from Tampa?

Just kiddin.. wierd the smallness of the world though.

Maite, I kinda know her (IM'd with her twice..)

Anyway, nice headlights.

windowtint

--dont take it like I was trying to bust yer bubble. Yours looks really good. - and by "common" I mean on the internet where 100,000 car geeks gather and maybe 2000 of them do the mod (a whole whopping 2%.... "common"... lol).

Alan

I didn't think you were trying to bust my bubble. I've just been scouring the Intraweb for random bB/xB stuff and hadn't seen it. So I was kind of suprised to know others are doing it as well. Must be one of those special underground type mods where everyone has a special handshake/codeword...or something. ;)



superjeer...are you on TR or something? How did you meet her, and how do you know me? Just curious.

windowtint

I meant 'common' in the overall custom car universe scheme -- not just HERE. Honda's, Toyota's etc... But yeah, your list of other stuff is A LOT MORE 'common'.

There are only three that have spoken here up about doing it.... but there are a few more.

Max2k

Anyway who cares? Everyone can feel free to copy me as much as they want, I'll just take it as a compliment.

I like the satin finish in your lights, it makes them look a bit more BMW than the gloss in mine. The one thing I'm concerned about is the turn signals, but assuming your sidemarkers aren't shaved I'm sure everyone will know which way you intend to go.

superjeer

Yeah, I have people in tampa. "Clint" is on the tampa racing forum and linked me. to your thread there.

Alan

The front signal/parking lamp bulbs light up amber, but look bluish/silver when they aren't on. They are made by Sylvania Silverstar and are direct replacements for the stock bulbs. Unfortunately they price at $24 at PepBoys for the pair.

I just didn't like the way the amber bulbs looked in there without the reflector. My only other option were a set of mirrored silver bulbs by APC for $5/each. Figured they'd suck and/or have a short life span due to APC's reputation, so I opted for the Silverstars.

Max2k

I'm probably going to cop some chromed ones. Anyone know of any good manufacturers/websites? I checked out www.autolumination.com and it looks legit, anyone bought from there?

Guest

Hey that looks pretty good!! Always good to see scionlife members doing there own work, keep up the mods. :D