How-To: Paint Headlight Housing - SRT Forums

rcshaggy169 · 09-22-2008, 06:30 PM

So i had the day off so i decided to try painting the housings on my '04.
what you'll need:
8mm socket and wrench
your choice of paint color(i chose black)
sandpaper
black rtv sealant
rubbing alcohol
butter knife
patience...lots and lots of patience!!

Start by removing your headlights. this is very straight forward, 2 8mm bolts hold the headlights themselves then take the 8mm bolts that hold the top of the front facsia.

once the headlights are out this is what you'll see. be careful not to touch the bulbs with your bare hands

While you were pulling the lights have your oven preheating to 250* put a cookie sheet on the lowest rack with a small towel on it. toss in one of the headlights and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes,pull it out and check it. pry GENTLY at the corners with the butter knife. the headlights will need to be in there about 25-30 minutes. check them often!! this will take the most time.
once it comes apart the surround will come off with the lens,the surround looks like so

i thought mine had mold on them before i pulled them apart...turns out the chrome was coming off. i wiped it down with rubbing alcohol and most of it came off easy

i lightly saned the rest of it with 320 grit sandpaper. clean it off again and paint your life away, the finished paint looked like so.

clean the housing and break out the rtv, run a bead along the edge of the housing and after you put the surround back in the lens put the two together and press firmly. i tossed it back in the oven for about 5 minutes to help it cure.
once everything is nice and dry put the rubber gasket back around the headlight and reinstall. the finished product looks like this, of course now that the housing is so shiny my lens show the 80k miles of road rash so ill have to polish them next. step back and enjoy your new lights and raise a brew to yourself!

total time was about 3 hours for both headlights. i chose to cook them apart but you can cut them with a dremel. that may be the easiest. but take your time! the finished product looks 100x better than the chrome.

kbsrt04 · 10-13-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by rcshaggy169

So i had the day off so i decided to try painting the housings on my '04.
what you'll need:
8mm socket and wrench
your choice of paint color(i chose black)
sandpaper
black rtv sealant
rubbing alcohol
butter knife
patience...lots and lots of patience!!

Start by removing your headlights. this is very straight forward, 2 8mm bolts hold the headlights themselves then take the 8mm bolts that hold the top of the front facsia.

once the headlights are out this is what you'll see. be careful not to touch the bulbs with your bare hands

While you were pulling the lights have your oven preheating to 250* put a cookie sheet on the lowest rack with a small towel on it. toss in one of the headlights and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes,pull it out and check it. pry GENTLY at the corners with the butter knife. the headlights will need to be in there about 25-30 minutes. check them often!! this will take the most time.
once it comes apart the surround will come off with the lens,the surround looks like so

i thought mine had mold on them before i pulled them apart...turns out the chrome was coming off. i wiped it down with rubbing alcohol and most of it came off easy

i lightly saned the rest of it with 320 grit sandpaper. clean it off again and paint your life away, the finished paint looked like so.

clean the housing and break out the rtv, run a bead along the edge of the housing and after you put the surround back in the lens put the two together and press firmly. i tossed it back in the oven for about 5 minutes to help it cure.
once everything is nice and dry put the rubber gasket back around the headlight and reinstall. the finished product looks like this, of course now that the housing is so shiny my lens show the 80k miles of road rash so ill have to polish them next. step back and enjoy your new lights and raise a brew to yourself!

total time was about 3 hours for both headlights. i chose to cook them apart but you can cut them with a dremel. that may be the easiest. but take your time! the finished product looks 100x better than the chrome.

what about the rubber seal around the headlight?
does that just come off?

SkittlePower · 10-18-2008, 04:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kbsrt04

what about the rubber seal around the headlight?
does that just come off?

yes, theres little tits on the headlight that it hangs onto

kbsrt04 · 10-19-2008, 01:36 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SkittlePower

yes, theres little tits on the headlight that it hangs onto

tits?
was that sarcasim?

SkittlePower · 10-19-2008, 04:20 PM

no, theres small pertrusions of plastic on the headlight housing that the rubber seal has slots in it that slip over said pertrusions.....better?

rcshaggy169 · 10-20-2008, 10:09 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by SkittlePower

no, theres small pertrusions of plastic on the headlight housing that the rubber seal has slots in it that slip over said pertrusions.....better?

tits! lol! yea, hes got it right, there are small tabs that come off towards the rear of the light.the rubber gasket just wrap around the perimeter of the light itself.

SkittlePower · 10-20-2008, 06:03 PM

told you

Adionik · 10-21-2008, 12:27 AM

I tried opening them up with a heatgun and ended up ruining them....lol

SkittlePower · 10-21-2008, 06:15 PM

yea definitely dont do that. either cut them with a dremel, or if you do want to get excited and use heat, bake them in the oven at 200* for 20 minutes. but i STRONGLY recommend cutting them, you can repair a cut much easier than a wrinkled piece of plastic.

rcshaggy169 · 10-27-2008, 12:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SkittlePower

yea definitely dont do that. either cut them with a dremel, or if you do want to get excited and use heat, bake them in the oven at 200* for 20 minutes. but i STRONGLY recommend cutting them, you can repair a cut much easier than a wrinkled piece of plastic.

if i do this again id cut them open too...my lights were pretty rough to start with so i didnt mind it. but some people have good luck with using the oven, just got to check it often so you dont melt it!

neonXonXsteroids · 12-23-2008, 02:22 AM

subscribed

SRToad4 · 01-30-2009, 04:52 PM

doing mine now, baked the first headlight for 14 minutes @ 250 and it came apart like butter...i have an 2005 as well (supposed to be impossible

)

rcshaggy169 · 02-06-2009, 10:08 PM

post up some pics when your done with them, my headlights are real rough from all the highway miles so the lens are all pitted and cracked, the heat didnt seem to bother them to get them apart....seems to be hit or miss

srt4luis209 · 02-10-2009, 09:06 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by SkittlePower

yea definitely dont do that. either cut them with a dremel, or if you do want to get excited and use heat, bake them in the oven at 200* for 20 minutes. but i STRONGLY recommend cutting them, you can repair a cut much easier than a wrinkled piece of plastic.

Hey just wondering if you have cut ur headlight and where do you cut if u can send pic to specify where to cut thanks it's for 05 iwas able to heat up one that I had for 04 n it workedbut not on 05 so I have to go with cutting method

SRToad4 · 02-10-2009, 09:28 AM

Here is my 2005, did them myself, no cutting