Hey everyone.

Ever tire of not having fogs because you didn't want to dish out for SSL? Well, I bring you a solution.

This How To is broken down as follows:

1) Materials
2) Removal
3) Opening
4) Making the Incision
5) Sealing the deal

Also shown but not covered was turning them into JDM VIII replicas. I liked the matte finish over the IX's gloss finish, so I figured I'd knock this all out at once.

Guides I used and ones you could find useful for this.

How to Black out Headlights (detail)

Helping paint headlights JDM

1) Materials

Lights:
2x Foglight projectors
(For these you will need to shop around for whatever color you want, I chose yellow.)

Tools:
Drill
Dremel (recommend plug in type)
Flathead (for opening headlights)
Heatgun
Automotive goop (for sealing the inside, and not bolting down if you choose to.)
Gasket/Windshield Sealant (black)

2) Removal

This is covered by the "Blackout headlight" link. Follow his steps for the steps 2 and 3.

3) Opening

See step 2.

4) Making the Incision.

Here's the nitty gritty. This will take some skill with handheld tools, and patience. Lots of it. Do not try and rush this, or you WILL screw up the opening and ruin the project.

I chose the sort of redneck path for doing this, I did not take measurements, but kept opening small holes in the back with the grinding tool of the dremel until the housing fit enough outside to where the connector hooks up and creates a seal.

A) Take your drill and make your first cut into the housing itself.

The red circle is where I made my incision. A good place to start if you do not have a hole drill bit (like myself) is in between the two pointed knobs.

B) Once you are happy with your pilot hole take your projector apart so that the actual connector is separated from the housing. After this, measure up the size of the projector compared to the pilot hole. Either draw with marker, or go by what you see and being to dremel away.

C) Your finished project should look something like this.
From the front

From the rear


Note that the way I had this was so that the housing and it's wiring system (the back part) met so that there was barely any visible light between the two.

5) Sealing the Deal
This is where you can deviate or follow how I worked it. Instead of drilling more holes into the housing to bolt them, leaving more room for possible leaks, I decided to adhere them. This is where the Automotive Goop I talked about earlier comes into play.

A) This product is literally one of the best adhesives I've ever used. I use it from car body parts, to metal bonding, to broken...I'm digressing. Anyway I used this product to adhere and seal the projector to the housing. Filling in the gap where the projector sits as seen in this picture.



See that the adhesive is literally gooped on. This creates an amazing seal, and this product will literally not budge after an hour of curing.

B) After this step, I sealed the rear part of the connector to the housing with gasket sealing, thus preventing anymore leaks in the unit. I let this cure for a few more hours and it was golden. Would not move. While installing the wiring today, the guy at the shop literally could not move them.

C) Seal the headlight back together after you have completed your work. It's basically the opposite of what you did prior. If you have any other areas that look like they have leaks or aren't sealed well after heating the silicone and placing back...just apply some of the gasket sealant to the areas.

In Review

Here are shots of the finished product.

Not quite sealed yet, testing placement


On car but bumper not fully installed:





Also to note, after doing this project, we got hit with freezing fog. I woke up to see my headlights completely cloudy...with frost. Removed and they were perfect. Been humid and steamy for the last few days and no clouding on the inside. Job well done!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks to the folks for the posts I referenced, and to legacydestroyer for giving me the inspiration.

See ya!

 

Excellent guide...

 

So did you just dremel out the fake fog light in the chrome piece?

 

Yes I did. I started with a medium sized pilot hole and finished with a dremel. You could also use a circular drill bit to save time.

 

My attempt. Turned out pretty well actually. Apologies for the crumby cell phone photos.

 

Great job man, real clean finish!

 

looks good

 

Not bad

 

im curious to how you know where the light is pointing? and how you adjust that

 

Nice!

 

I had a 12v that I connected to the fog and aligned it against a wall like you would adjusting the headlights normally.