What ended up being the problem??

 

ok, so i did this headlight blackout this weekend - it took me 1 and a half days. 1 day from sun-up till sun-down, and 1/2 day sun-up till about noon.

this is a good example of how long it will take someone to do this who knows not-a-great-deal about cars. but take heart, you can still do it; it's not that hard, just time consuming.

a few things to keep in mind are:

1) be sure to WASH the insides of the headlight covers BEFORE you reattach them. i forgot to wash the first one and resealed it back on as soon as i was done painting the insides. this is mostly what set me back time-wise because i had to take it back apart to get rid of the fingerprints and whatnot that had gotten on the inside of the cover.

2) be sure to sand really well. i read the line that says something about not having to get rid of all the crome and used that as my guage of what the light should look like after being sanded. it turns out i didn't get rid of enough of it. you need to sand right down to the plastic in as many places as you can. and the places where you can't get it down to the plastic, at least sand as much as you can, as it will REALLY help.

3) be sure to really wash the light after you sand. not only did i not sand the first one well enough, but i didn't wash it well enough either.

basiclly, after i painted the first one, i found that i had shiny parts showing through and there were parts where the dust from the sanding had clumped under the paint. needless to say that i made ALL my mistakes on the first one and had learned my lesson by having to take it back apart to re-sand, re-paint and re-wash the whole thing. the second one was a breeze.

thanks for the write up

 

i read somewhere on here that you could also bake the taillights and take them apart (i believe it was in the "smoked tail lights" thread in the same "how-to" section). i tried and failed. they are really, really, really tough to take apart - the sealant is not nearly as soft as the headlights.

anyway, i broke the cover of the one i tried to take apart. sux.

i'm going to order a new cover and try again one day. i really really want the taillights to match the headlights.

i may actually order 2 covers and just break 'em both apart as i don't think i'll be patient enough to get them off unbroken.

 

what kind of sealant did u guys use?

 

Kinda bringing this up from the dead, but when I have done this too other cars, not an Evo, I used RTV Seal a gasket #2. If you use #1 it will harden and you will never get it apart. #2 will allow you to rebake it.

I always bake them at like 350 degrees for 5 minutes. When I reseal them, I put RTV all around it, then rebake. It will soften the original silicone, as well as heat up the RTV allowing it to fill ALL the cracks. I have NEVER had any fogging problems.

 

Did mine today, came out awsome. Took about 4 hours, man that bumper comes off easy.

Did one thig different, the light would not fit in my oven, so I had to improvise. Used a heat gun. Actually worked relly well becuse you can direct were the heat is going. Only pulled out the bulbs. Also used the heat gun while putting them back together to get a good seal (along with silicone).

Also used a plastic adheashion primer. Which worked out really well.

 

i want to do this, but i'm a bit scared on handling the HID bulbs. Any step by step methods on how did you guys handled it? thanks.

 

All I did was be careful not to touch bulb, very easy. Put it in a zip lock bag while out of car.

 

You don't need to remove HID bulbs if you use heat gun.
Make sure to apply ENOUGH heat... more the heat better the result

 

One note for the bulbs. If you touch them just use ispropyl alcohol to clean them of any fingerprints etc. Probably easiest to just poor it on and let it evaporate.

We used to just use brakeclean with halogens and never had a problem.

 

Can you use any silicone sealant? Im going to try this over the weekend.

 

i just blacked them out but they keep on fogging up can you tell me what i can do so that they will stop fogging up

 

If they are fogging, that means the seal is not good. I used a heat gun to really soften the glue when I put them back together. I also ran a bead of clear silicone around the crack and then smoothed it out. I have never had a fogging problem so far.

Good Luck!

 

If you handle the bulbs with Latex gloves will that be enought to keep from damaging them?

 

yeah the tails are very easy... though i haven't done the headlights... YET! but my recommendation is to use a heat gun as well. My experience left me with some cracks. I prolly just wasn't patient enough. Good luck to all who try, don't be scared! It'll all pay off in the end!