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| 01-15-2013, 11:38 PM | #1 |
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Id rather be boating...
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My Headlight DIY Modification and the Journey
Well, work is finally slowing down enough for me to enjoy some hobbies again. On the chopping block right now are the ugly stock and chromed out headlights. I should have taken more pics of the headlight and bumper removal, but its fairly straight forward.
Well here's the first of the headlights. The outer shroud is actually vinyl wrapped in the vinyl I'm wrapping the car with. For those of you that hate the matte colors, heres one for ya. Its a matte charcoal metallic! Its as close to a frozen color as I've seen It looks amazing. Anyway. I'm slow, but will update with pics as often as time allows. I'll also give some explanation of the work thats been done. In this pic its just the new AE's are laid on top of the OEM ones and the outer shroud is vinyl wrapped. Nothing super complicated yet. Enjoy! Last edited by the_road_less_traveled; 01-19-2013 at 09:39 PM. |
| 01-15-2013, 11:40 PM | #2 |
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Id rather be boating...
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And I know someone is going to compliment on the fact that the vinyl doesnt conform to the pleats in the shroud. I was testing tonight to see if I could get vinyl to wrap right. Amazingly it does. This stuff if very workable.
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| 01-16-2013, 12:09 AM | #3 |
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Mr. Nice Says Hello
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very nice!
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| 01-16-2013, 12:21 AM | #4 |
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looking forward for this, using vinyl is a great idea
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| 01-16-2013, 01:18 AM | #5 |
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Aren't you worried that the heat inside the headlight will cause the vinyl to come loose?
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| 01-16-2013, 10:42 AM | #6 |
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Looks good. Any reason you didn't paint it? I have to agree with the above that vinyl may not have been the best choice.
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| 01-16-2013, 12:12 PM | #7 |
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Vinyl may "unwrap" itself under the heat of the headlights. I would just paint it. Great project.
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| 01-16-2013, 02:19 PM | #8 |
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Ya def just spray paint it
And FYI most people remove the OEM glass tube from the OEM angel ayes If you want to get really crazy I know someone who can do some awesome stuff sithnLES angel eyes http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13316339 |
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| 01-16-2013, 03:25 PM | #9 |
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+1 with heat concern. Isn't it going to bubble?
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| 01-16-2013, 09:07 PM | #11 |
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Id rather be boating...
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As most suspect, it is risky on the outer shroud. I dont expect that the shroud gets that hot because it is made of plastic. How hot does a cars hood get in the middle of the summer? Tons of cars are wrapped and bare the elements year round.
I chose the vinyl because its what I'm wrapping the car with therefore will match perfectly. Painting may be difficult to match exactly since its metallic yet matte. Only time will tell how the outcome will be. I plan to put a battery charger on the car in the garage and turn the high beams on for a few mins, then check the temp on the shrouds. The rings are Luce Produkt Dual Orbs. Paint will be Rustoleum Satin Black and primer, both made for plastic. Also adding white led running lights in place of the amber running light. The lenses were rock chipped so I sanded them with 220 up to 2000. Will post some more pics up as I progress, but again Im slow due to working so much. |
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| 01-18-2013, 07:21 PM | #12 |
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Heres an updated pics of the shrouds fully wrapped. Should be making some progress this weekend. Will post new ones up as I progress.
Also, as it turns out finding paint to march this finish is difficult. I called a ton of body shops as well as automotive paint stores and they all seemed pessimistic about being able to match it. I suppose I'll be the test mouse on this! |
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| 01-18-2013, 07:59 PM | #14 | |
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| 01-18-2013, 08:11 PM | #15 | |
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| 01-18-2013, 09:39 PM | #16 | |
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When I have wet sanded other lights, you can tell when you go through the coating because the when you spray them with water, the water beads differently on the coating than it does on the raw plastic. edit: I have 57K and mine are pretty beat up so I've been toying with refinishing the lenses and throwing in some AEs while I am at it.
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| 01-19-2013, 09:42 PM | #17 |
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Id rather be boating...
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Latest pic. The black was supposed to be satin, but looks pretty glossy. I'm trying to decide if I like it or if I want matte on it. The car will me matte, so maybe its a good contract!?!?
Anyway, heres how they look now. |
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| 01-21-2013, 10:45 AM | #18 |
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Looks good.
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| 01-21-2013, 07:22 PM | #19 |
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Important text here
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Very cool project. Especially if you're a brave DIY'er!
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| 01-21-2013, 07:45 PM | #20 | |
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