Had the chance to bake apart the headlights this weekend, and install a set of 12K HID's into the Non-HID Projectors. Not a bad cutoff, and they look awesome.

Some pics from today:












Just bought the car a week ago. Had a chance to polish up the intercooler, black housing headlights, new shift knob, 12k hids.

On order: UK Evo 8 Badge ( black), CF Vortex, CF Bumper Ducts, Re-Paint for Brembos, New Brembo Decals, ACT MD7-HDSS/Gruppe S Flywheel.

All the above will be installed by next weekend

 

Very nice mate, looks so much better with the blackened headlights.

What is the light output like at night with the headlights darkened???

I have HIDs in mine as well so hoping its just as good.

 

Light output is exactly the same, because it's a projector. Keep in mind, I did not "tint" the headlights. I baked them apart, and painted the inside shrouds glossy black, so the lens is still crystal clear.

 

Thats good to know about the light output.

I wouldnt mind having a go at doing the lights myself but its just to much hassle (or just to lazy) taking the bumper off then pulling the lights apart, painting the inserts waiting to dry then reassembling it all again.

It does look superb tho and makes the front of the car look a million times better.

 

I think most do matte black housings, take a close up of the housing and let us see the gloss for comparison. I'm doing mine matte black.

 

It's Duplicolor "universal black" with 2 layers of clear on it. It isn't "too" shiny, but it's definitely not matte.

Oh, and doing the headlights is WAY easier than I imagined. Some headlights barely come apart after a half hour of baking/prying, but these came apart like butter after 10 minutes @ 250 Farenheit in the oven.

Sealed perfectly as well, no condesation after a full night of raining either.

 

What goes through ppls minds to wanna put 12000K bulbs in their car..
Say hello to reduced visibility (Lumens)... Youre a danger on the road to yourself and other drivers.
I hope the cops defect you to teach you a valuable lesson..

On a side note:
headlights look better

 

What did you use to seal the lights back together???

 

Well, in my opinion, I would like my headlights to have the "exotic" look, rather than the "my car comes factory with HID's" look. I did not install the HID's for greater visibility, although they do help a lot. I installed the HID's because they look awesome, and I love the color of 12k (blue violet). The light is projected, with a nice cutoff, so I am not "blinding" anybody on the road. Besides, technically, 4300k would be brighter and more "blinding" than 12000k because of the higher lumens, correct?

Thanks for the compliment on the headlights though

I noticed when taking the headlights apart that whatever Mitsubishi used to seal the headlights was used with great abundance, so I did not add any extra sealant to the headlights. However, for previous headlight housing projects I've done, I would use a squeeze tube of Black Silicone Sealant, found in any Home Depot or Car Part Stores.

 

Nice lookin car. Where did u get ur badge?

 

those look good!

i wont ever black out the headlights completely anymore though. I did that to my old 8 and i regretted it a week later. Just kinda makes them look like e-bay headlights a bit.

 

headlights look nice, i think i'll be doing that soon

 

UK Evo 8 badge in black was purchased on Ebay, they have chrome available too.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

 

I kindled around the headlight threads on this forum, and out of all the styles that everybody has done, the all black is my favorite. There is no orange on this car, so keeping any orange bits/pieces would be out of the question. My theme with this car will be silver/black/carbon fiber, so no need for orange

 

Nice! Those headlights look good, I was thinking of doing the same; however, not a big fan of the palm trees in the background at this time of year! haha