Smoked Head Lights


reiningblood

Reiningblood
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
14
Right I thought I'd make my first official DIY post, this is only because I was looking at buying some "Smoked" headlights with some form of day runner lights... After hours on e B a Y, I found a set costing £156! Ridiculous! :shocked: So I thought, How Hard Can It Be??!

To start you will need:

-10mm spanner or socket set
-Scissor jack (only if your front end is lowered 40mm or more)
-Halfords Ford Mercury Grey £7
-EL Wire (Colour of your choice/not necessary) You will only need 2x1metre (£2.29 each)
-Heat Gun/Hair Dryer (whichever you prefer)
-Hot Soapy Water
-Lint Free Cloth
-Paper Towels
-Phillips screwdriver
-Flat head screwdriver
-Electrical Tape
-Superglue

(I only have a picture of it when it was done (sorry) but its so easy to follow)

Okay so, here we go!

Step 1: Remove the 4x10mm bolts that hold the light in place, 2x above the light when you open the bonnet, 1 in front of the radiator (you need to remove the grill and its tucked in there) and last one is by the bumper near the front wheel (its the only bolt that is horizontal not vertical that will remove the bumper!). Once all the bolts are out put them aside in a SAFE place!

Step 2: Disconnect all the wiring that goes to the lights, DO NOT (I REPEAT DO NOT TOUCH THE BULBS! the grease on your fingers will cause them to blow!) Once the wiring is disconnected pull the light out (I found this extremely difficult and ended up loosening the fenders ever so slightly to allow some room to wiggle out).

Step 3: Once the lights have been removed (DO BOTH TOGETHER TO COMPARE THE SHADES OF PAINT). Get your hairdryer or heat gun and start heating the silicone around the clear plastic and greyish plastic, don't heat one spot, keep going around until it is "tacky". Once "tacky" use the flat head screwdriver to pry the two apart, avoiding breaking the clips (if you do break any its not the end of the world). once apart remove the lights.

Step 4: The chrome piece is the part we want to paint, not the chrome piece where the main beam is. There is 2-4 little screws that hold the piece in, remove those and remove the chrome piece.

Step 5: With hot soapy water wash the chrome piece and then leave to dry, once dry using paper towels wipe of any residue left from the soapy water. Then use a lint free cloth and wipe everything down.

Step 6: Using several light coats of the Halfords Mercury Grey paint (gloss finish) spray the chrome piece until you are happy with the result.

Step 7: Repeat steps 1->6 on the other headlight until they match.

Step 8: Once they are completely dry (around 30mins/1hr) do the complete opposite (steps 6->1) and fit the head light back into the car.

Optional: If you do decide to go ahead with the "Halo" look, once you get to step 7 follow the next step!

Optional 2: Superglue the desired placement of the EL Wire and make sure that you have an exit for the wiring!

Now do steps 6->1 and re-assemble the light and fit it. Once it is fitted connect all the lights up to the wiring harnesses and then cut the molex connecter off. You are left with a Red and black wire, you can do it properly or the way I did it for a temporary fix, put your sidelights on (whilst it is disconnected and get someone to hold the EL Wire under a towel and slide the black and red wires into the sidelight connector until it lights up. Then with it still slid in connect the side light to the connector.

Again with a friend get them to place the towel over the headlight and turn the sidelights on and off a few times so that they can see if it is working properly or not. Once your happy, repeat on the other side.

And there you have it! Thats a £20 or less DIY job, 1hr 30mins as opposed to £150+ and 2-3days waiting.

Here is my light that I did when I finished it:

IMG_0115.jpg


IMG_0115.jpg


IMG_0117.jpg


Not a bad end result for the price, and people have always asked me if I bought them like that, and are shocked:shocked: when I say I did it!

Let me know what you think and if you decide to do this show some pictures!!

AND THIS IS PERFECTLY LEGAL!

WARNING: DO NOT TOUCH THE CLEAR PLASTIC WHEN REASSEMBLING IT FINGER PRINTS ARENT COOL!!! AND YOU DONT WANT TO RE-DO YOUR WORK JUST TO REMOVE A FINGERPRINT!!!
 
Do you have any issues with moisture? It always worrys me when doing something like this to a headlight. Along with finger prints there is nothing cool about having goldfish swimming about in your headlights.
 
looks good but RED side lights are completley ILLEGAL! its illegal to have any red light showing at the front of a vehicle. in the uk at least.

can be very confusing for other drivers aswell you should sort it out :nice:
 
you can use any colour you want!

Will be doing this myself soon, not happy super glue'n them together though, sure there is a 3m product thats just like the stuff thats used on OEM that needs heating up to seal again, might try that..... a night on Google for me i take it :nice:
 
you can use any colour you want!

Will be doing this myself soon, not happy super glue'n them together though, sure there is a 3m product thats just like the stuff thats used on OEM that needs heating up to seal again, might try that..... a night on Google for me i take it :nice:

If you find any other product keith that would work better could you send me a PM :p I fancy doing this just not keen on superglue either dont want my lights getting water/condensation in them
 
If you find any other product keith that would work better could you send me a PM :p I fancy doing this just not keen on superglue either dont want my lights getting water/condensation in them

Use a silicone sealant not super glue and you will be fine,clear silicone seems to give an overall better look.

Done 4 or so sets back in the day for people and never had any bother with condensation,just take your time when sealing them up,also a heat gun with a plastic scraper is good way to split the headlights if you dont trust putting them into oven like some people do :nice:
 
Use a silicone sealant not super glue and you will be fine,clear silicone seems to give an overall better look.

Done 4 or so sets back in the day for people and never had any bother with condensation,just take your time when sealing them up,also a heat gun with a plastic scraper is good way to split the headlights if you dont trust putting them into oven like some people do :nice:

Thanks :D Going to try this soon but will be buying other headlights as spares incase it goes wrong :p
 
i just bought myself some "nissan sealer":

oemsealer4wq.jpg


£30 from nissan dealer, but its meant to be the best stuff for sealing headlights as it never goes solid, but holds and seals brilliantly!!! The fact its on a roll means you get an even amount all round.

Will be giving it a go in the near future, will post info on the stuff i am using :nice:
 
i just bought myself some "nissan sealer":

oemsealer4wq.jpg


£30 from nissan dealer, but its meant to be the best stuff for sealing headlights as it never goes solid, but holds and seals brilliantly!!! The fact its on a roll means you get an even amount all round.

Will be giving it a go in the near future, will post info on the stuff i am using :nice:

Nissan sealer sounds good! Might hang off till youve tried this stuff see how it works out :)
 
when i googled "resealing headlights" and after 3 days of research most people recommended either the nissan sealer or "hondabond" but that comes in a tube.....so not as easy to get an even coverage!

Maybe get onto this at weekend, and see if my "smoke" technique works to replicate EK9 ones :p
 
when i googled "resealing headlights" and after 3 days of research most people recommended either the nissan sealer or "hondabond" but that comes in a tube.....so not as easy to get an even coverage!

Maybe get onto this at weekend, and see if my "smoke" technique works to replicate EK9 ones :p

Let me know how it goes if you go for it and how easy it is :p
 
Did you ever do this Keith?

I have a spare set of ek9 headlights which I have taken apart, sprayed the inners black and just need to reseal them so was wondering how you got on with the Nissan stuff?

The lights I have on my car just now are oem ek9 lights and their is condensation in them so if I can get the black ones sealed and working I'll repeat the same for the oem ones I have and see if it fixes the condensation issue on them and can have two sets with two different looks :D
 
Does this work for taillights as well? I mean the process of heating the silicone and taking the cover off
 
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