I currently have the headlights out of my car, pulled apart, and replaced the lenses with smoked clear corners.

I like the look of painting the headlights from black to silverstone(match the car), but when I baked the headlight housing after painting the interior, following Rick's directions for putting the lights on a damp cloth, the humidity (My guess) in the oven causes the clearcoat (Dupont aerosol can super glossy) to turn a whitish color, and feel very rough, like it was almost gone.

Anyone have any good ideas on how to bake the headlights without adding humidity to the process? I figure a dry heat wouldn't cause my problems. Or do I just have to wait x amount of time before baking for the clearcoat to set fully?

I can probably provide pictures tomorrow, I just don't have a digicam.

 

Ok, the unbaked headlight is on top, the baked one is on the bottom.

Here's a closeup of the baked headlight insert.

 

Brainstorming here, I think I'll try to bake the gooed one using paper to sit it on, paper shouldn't burn until 350-400deg F, so 225deg should be safe, especially for only the 15 minutes or so I still have to bake. That should make it a dry bake and I'll see what happens.

 

Do the dry heat thing. I have done it without any issues.

 

Success, the dry heat worked better than with the damp cloth.

Brown paper bags, a-la old style grocery bags worked great to insulate the headlight assembly from the metal rack.

Here's the oven:

Here's the completed headlight: I appologise for the blurryness of some of the pics. Bad camera, no doughnut.

 

Here it is, on the car, still have to paint the left one.



I guess now I'm just showing off the work...so if an admin wants to edit the title, feel free.

 

BTW, if anyone wants any info on painting the headlights in their own home, just send me a PM. Personally, I think they look superb, especially since it only cost me about $60, and that's after having to buy a second sprayer after the first baking fiasco.

 

I had my body shop paint (and I assume cure) the headlight housings...no issues when I cleared the corners. Also watch out for the chrome ring...a few owners have had issues with this pitting due to improperly masking the chrome during painting.

 

Looks great!


BTW -- Paper burns at 451 degrees F. (Thanks Ray Bradbury! )

 

Oooh, good point, I love that book! As for the chrome rims, I just sanded and painted it as well. When I inspected the rings before starting to sand for painting, I found that the chrome was very weak and chipped under the weakest of tape. So I just painted them too.Anybody know any how-tos on the tail lamp access and disassembly? I'm not doing them yet, but since I have the paint mixed and just need a few consumables, I will be painting the tails like the fronts.