DIY Weekend

[BostonAndy]

So after months of researching and waiting for some nice weather I finally took a day to tint my tail lights and do the DIY black housing headlights.

I kept changing my mind from buying headlights to DIY. I thought that it would be very easy to fuck up one of the headlights. I am very happy that I did it myself for $4 rather than spend the $200 or so on new headlghts. Although it was time consuming, I found this to be a very easy project. Removing the bumper was the hardest part because of the learning curve,I am confident that I can take it off/on in half the time now.

Well, here are some pics.
BEFORE
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1322.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1322.jpg)
IN PROGRESS
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1330.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1330.jpg)
IN PROGRESS
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1325.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1325.jpg)
IN PROGRESS
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1329.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1329.jpg)
AFTER
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1334.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1334.jpg)
AFTER
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1333.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1333.jpg)

[Quicksilvercord]

Looks sweet on the black car...I want pics of your tail lights though

[AccordEx]

dark headlights make such a big difference on Accords

looks nice :thumbup:

[birdman]

Much better. Black on black. It seems like you used the oven? Don't forget to clean the lenses w/ plastic cleaner. :thumbup:

[BostonAndy]

In the winter I got bored and had some window tint film so I decided to put it on the two corner tail lights. I could only get it so flat, so it was never permenant. It looked good from far away, and i liked how it made the red lights blend into the black car until they lit up, so I go t a can of VHT Nightshades.

Before
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1328.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1328.jpg)
With Tint Film
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1326.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1326.jpg)
With Tint Film
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1326.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1326.jpg)
After
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1341.jpg (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b175/bostonandy/DSCN1341.jpg)

[BostonAndy]

Much better. Black on black. It seems like you used the oven? Don't forget to clean the lenses w/ plastic cleaner. :thumbup:

I tried using a hair dryer, that was uesless. The oven worked great.

What should I use to clean it?

Also, where is a good place to get LED's for the tails?

[Quicksilvercord]

I'm not 100% feeling the tails they look good but there just to much black IMO...It prob looks awesome at night though I always like mine when they were like that...I'm not sure if I want to do it now though...backing up at nights a bitch prob now though...all in all they look nice

[vabeachgirl]

the headlights look good :thumbup: to clean the lenses, rubbing alcohol works just fine

the tails are a little too dark for my taste, but looks good nonetheless

[insano]

hey bostonandy i wanna do the same but how hard was to remove the bumper also did u get a perfect fit when u install em back????

[BostonAndy]

hey bostonandy i wanna do the same but how hard was to remove the bumper also did u get a perfect fit when u install em back????

Deffinately go for it. Give yourself a full day to do it. I did it last saturday, just shut my phone off, no interuptions.
It took maybe an hour to get the bumper off for the first time.I used the oven to open up the lights, it worked great, they went back together fine, and I got the bumper re-installed in about half the time it took to remove it.

[BostonAndy]

the headlights look good :thumbup: to clean the lenses, rubbing alcohol works just fine

the tails are a little too dark for my taste, but looks good nonetheless

Thanks.

The state inspection test doesn't like how dark my tails are either. So I might have to lighten the tint. I guess it is my fault for tinting them the weekend before I had to get inspected.Oops!

[BIGBOTO]

nice head lights, tail lights a bit to dark IMO. if i wanted to do the head light thing for my 94, would i have to do what you did? and if so can you guys guide me in the right direction?

[Quicksilvercord]

BIGBOTO search for Reed's guide that he did for it...it's very helpful

[BIGBOTO]

thanks, but instead of an oven, is a heating gun alright?

[Quicksilvercord]

Hells yeah heat gun FTW thats what I used it turned out great just dont be stupid and burn yourself on it like me

[BIGBOTO]

BIGBOTO search for Reed's guide that he did for it...it's very helpful
having a bit of trouble finding REEDS guide bro, i'll still keep looking for it though. looked under tech for 98-02. best part is if i am able to keep my stocks and save me bou 250-350 dollas i can get my ECU tuned. does reed have a alias?

[BIGBOTO]

okay did a search here, found a few tips. kinda affraid of screwing up, down here it's not like i can just drive to the store and pick up a new set. what kinda paint is best, and silicone? sorry for jacking this thread man, just a bit jealous of the black housing. been wanting a set for my self for awhile.

[birdman]

okay did a search here, found a few tips. kinda affraid of screwing up, down here it's not like i can just drive to the store and pick up a new set. what kinda paint is best, and silicone? sorry for jacking this thread man, just a bit jealous of the black housing. been wanting a set for my self for awhile.

here's a 5th gen thread for you:
http://www.topendms.com/showthread.php?t=2972&page=3&highlight=headlights

[birdman]

Ah crap, sorry the thread didn't want to work, but here's another step-by-step
process:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2944845093

[BIGBOTO]

hey thanks alot bird, seen that good info there. well got a project for the weekend now. when i do do it i'll have the ol' computer on and hopefully some guys will be on-line if i run into trouble. MAHALOS

[what?!]

hey, what exactly did you use for the tails? i saw tint film, but it looked a lot cleaner in the finshed pic. did you do something to the tint film or did you spray it w/ something? i have a project coming up so please, lmk...

also, is that stuff hard to remove in case i ever wanted to get rid of it? paint or tint?

[BostonAndy]

For the Tails: At first I used the film to see how it would look. I never really got it applied perfectly, thats why I took it off and sprayed them with a can of VHT Nightshades. It is pretty dark, and I failed my inspection, so I am going to proably take it off of the corners, I will let you know how hard it is.

BOTO:
Use the oven. I was nervous about it at first, so I tried using a hair dryer. I know heat guns have more heat, but I found that it was going to take forever. I just put them in the oven at 275 degrees for a minute or two and took it out, and pried a corner, then put it back in for another minute then it came apart pretty easy.
The glue is so sticky, I didn't even seal them back up with silicone. Once I put them back together, they stuck, so I put them in the oven to heat them up and squezed them together just to be safe.

[Quicksilvercord]

No oven....heat gun is way easier its a lot more stable then an oven you can put the ehat were you want it to..it only takes like 5 mins for each head light. Sorry that I couldn't help you out last night bigboto I was pissed and didn't want to talk anybody sorry man.
I;m sorry It wasnt called Reed's guide(Accord4me) He wrote it. My abd I wasnt very clear on what it was. But Bird gave you something a lot better then what I had.

[vabeachgirl]

The glue is so sticky, I didn't even seal them back up with silicone. Once I put them back together, they stuck, so I put them in the oven to heat them up and squezed them together just to be safe.

yes, DON'T use silicone to reseal the lights. silicone releases fumes as it dries, and will eventually leave a yellowish fog on your lenses. just reheat the glue like he did to make it soft and sticky again

[what?!]

i siliconed mine...

...no probs and that was about 1.5yrs ago...it is a bitch to get off in case you ever wanna open them up again tho...

heat gun ftw!!