Blackout Headlights

[dahmeion]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into baking my headlights and painting the housing black, but I'm kinda gun shy about it since I've never baked headlights before.

Has anyone here bought these? I've seen some posts about smoked headlights from different sites and they weren't dark enough for my taste. I haven't seen a thread about this site's headlights yet.

Thanks!

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[Triple_peaz]

I like the look of it. Can't wait to see how it comes out.

 

[NHCivicGuy]

Refreshed look.

This guy painted his, looks really nice. It's what I'll be doing with mine, minus the yellow high beam. I would use Nokya bulbs for that, that would give off the yellow or blue hue without painting. Am also doing the MH1 projector retrofit at the same time.

 

[Nitroturtle]

Smoked lenses significantly impact your headlight output. Sure it looks cool, but is the safety risk of reduced visibility worth it?

Stick with your original plan to open the lights and paint the bezels. If you don't want to risk it with your OEM headlights, buy an aftermarket set and open those. Though don't expect equal output from the aftermarket set, they are typically lower quality than OEM.

Best bet would be to buy aftermarket housings, open them and do whatever painting you want, then mount some real HID projectors like Mini H1 or Mini D2S from theretrofitsource.com. This will get you the cool blacked out look as well as output that's superior to OEM.

 

[ocbooger]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into baking my headlights and painting the housing black, but I'm kinda gun shy about it since I've never baked headlights before.

Has anyone here bought these? I've seen some posts about smoked headlights from different sites and they weren't dark enough for my taste. I haven't seen a thread about this site's headlights yet.

Thanks!

I did mine with smoked tint. Light loss is minimal.
VViViD Air-Tint Smoke Black Gloss Vinyl Headlight Foglight Transparent Tint Wrap Self-Adhesive (16" x 48", 2-roll Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1KRMQZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gptICb1ZZWBFW

 

[hobby-man]

I did mine with smoked tint. Light loss is minimal.
VViViD Air-Tint Smoke Black Gloss Vinyl Headlight Foglight Transparent Tint Wrap Self-Adhesive (16" x 48", 2-roll Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1KRMQZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gptICb1ZZWBFW

Can we see a photo(s) at night? Ideally from inside the cabin with the lights on.

 

[Nitroturtle]

I did mine with smoked tint. Light loss is minimal.
VViViD Air-Tint Smoke Black Gloss Vinyl Headlight Foglight Transparent Tint Wrap Self-Adhesive (16" x 48", 2-roll Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1KRMQZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gptICb1ZZWBFW

The tint you linked is listed as 20% VLT. So either that measurement is wrong, or you are wrong about the amount of light loss.

OP, if you do this, please take output pictures first (20' from flat surface) so at least others can learn from the mistake.

If you only drive in the city, you may find that it's acceptable due to all the excess lighting available. But if you truely drive in the dark, you're going to miss the additional output.

 

[SangreRaven]

They have aftermarket full headlight replacements on eBay that already come with the blacked out housings but the lenses are clear so no light loss. You might look at those and maybe even look into upgrading the projector if you want one better than it comes with. Just an idea

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/382548216108

-R

 

[Nitroturtle]

Here's a video with actual measured output differences with and without tint.

 

[ocbooger]

Can we see a photo(s) at night? Ideally from inside the cabin with the lights on.

 

[ocbooger]

The tint you linked is listed as 20% VLT. So either that measurement is wrong, or you are wrong about the amount of light loss.

OP, if you do this, please take output pictures first (20' from flat surface) so at least others can learn from the mistake.

If you only drive in the city, you may find that it's acceptable due to all the excess lighting available. But if you truely drive in the dark, you're going to miss the additional output.

It costs $20. The amazing thing about it is you can remove it if you don't like it.

 

[hobby-man]

Brighter than I would have guessed. It helps the touring LEDs are so stupid bright lol.

 

[xaviersayys]

They have aftermarket full headlight replacements on eBay that already come with the blacked out housings but the lenses are clear so no light loss. You might look at those and maybe even look into upgrading the projector if you want one better than it comes with. Just an idea

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/382548216108

-R

I've been considering buying these and using them for a retrofit project. We shall seeeeee ~

 

[alishaperry11]

I did mine with smoked tint. Light loss is minimal.
VViViD Air-Tint Smoke Black Gloss Vinyl Headlight Foglight Transparent Tint Wrap Self-Adhesive (16" x 48", 2-roll Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M1KRMQZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gptICb1ZZWBFW

Question, I took my car to a tint place to have my lights done and they couldn’t do it due to the dimension in the headlight (there are a few different dimensions). How did you get around the the areas that stick out? I see you were able to tint them... how?

 

[ocbooger]

Question, I took my car to a tint place to have my lights done and they couldn’t do it due to the dimension in the headlight (there are a few different dimensions). How did you get around the the areas that stick out? I see you were able to tint them... how?

Pre-strech the tint before you go over the 2 spots that stick out. Then as you lay into the bumps you heat the tint with a heat gun so it shrinks back over them. Took me a couple tries to get it right.

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