Painting a portion of parking light amber. Help needed.

[sino]

Im interested in buying new oem headlights and painting the selected section of the picture below amber.
I know everybody either leaves them stock or buys clear, black, halo etc lights but im not a big fan of them.
And not to mention i'd like to be a little different.

I've searched the forum and always endlessly come across the spray tint for the tail lights.
I dont really want to paint the exterior of my lights but that looks like the only option for the tail lights.
But as per the parking light is there any way to get inside them to make this happen? or is it inevitable to spray the exterior?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[corkey]

i have heard there is a way to heat them in an oven and get them apart , but never have tried it ,
i would say it is possible, but you can't use a bunch of heat or the plastic will either fog or warp,,
i have a broken one around somewhere, hmm i should look at it,

 

[sino]

so i should try it out first on an old one then i guess.
i'll do a quick search on that oven method. thanks.

 

[coppe]

Problem, theory, junk yard parking lights, experiment, if success decide if the junk yard ones are a keeper, or redo it to your stock ones. Get several JY pieces, bake some, dremel some, etc etc.

I´ve seen some like window paint that is clear, kindda the one to simulate a leaded window (like the ones in churchs), it might work, the problem might be to get the exact color tone you want.

 

[coppe]

so i should try it out first on an old one then i guess.
i'll do a quick search on that oven method. thanks.

you just beat me to post my answer.

Lots of post with the baking specs and tips.

 

[sino]

thanks for the speedy replies fellas.
will do some experimenting in the next couple of days or so and post my end results.

 

[sino]

Well after some more research i decided not to bother with baking the light to get inside it.
I did see the thread where a member cut an opening in the rear of the light to get the amber reflector out.
I'll probably do that along with just painting the exterior of the housing with Tamiya TS73 Clear Orange paint.
Seen some end products that with a few coats get about the result that im looking for. Which is a dark amber.

So whenever i get to actually doing this little project i'll post pics.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

you should be able to heat them without any problems. i know i did it to my head lights when i did a projector mod. you just have to keep a eye on them so they don't totally melt on you.

 

[Bill Kemp]

About ten years ago I melted a cornor light in the oven and it still didnt come apart.
Just thought you should know.

 

[sino]

you should be able to heat them without any problems. i know i did it to my head lights when i did a projector mod. you just have to keep a eye on them so they don't totally melt on you.

Thanks boom. For some reason though I feel nervous about doing it. I dont know why.
Its possible that I might try it in the future, but this time around I think im going to take the easier route.
If it looks horrible, then thats when I'll attempt the bake. :scratch:

About ten years ago I melted a cornor light in the oven and it still didnt come apart.
Just thought you should know.

Thanks Bill. Now I'm kinda hoping that it'll look how i envisioned without having to go the bakers route. We'll see though.

 

[Anime]

You could just use amber bulbs...

 

[sino]

quick photoshop..

I could, but im looking for more of a look like this :

Compared to the stock look:

Some may question why i would do this, but again, its just a matter of trying to make mine stand apart just a bit.
even if its something as small as the parking lights. (that wont be the end of the customization though)

I think it'll turn out looking real nice.

 

[toypaseo]

I'll probably do that along with just painting the exterior of the housing with Tamiya TS73 Clear Orange paint.
Seen some end products that with a few coats get about the result that im looking for. Which is a dark amber.

One problem with that idea is that it will chip off from bugs, road debris, etc.

One "out there" idea would be to cut the back off that area, complete internal modification (maybe spray the inside of the light...?), and use Plastic Welder to put it back together. This stuff works great.

 

[sino]

would that still be a problem with some clear coat?

 

[BrianDye]

When I had my 4th gen Taurus, I did the "Centennial" headlight mod which meant taking the headlights apart, to paint them black, and the lenses were clear as day, with minor scratches, and knicks from being 8 years old, but you couldnt really tell.

I put them in the oven at I dont even remember what temp, but for 10 minutes, cut hands so bad, broke a few tools, sweat my ass off, and finally got them open, and the lenses looked so ****ty ('Scuse the language) after I epoxied them shut, it was horrid looking, the lenses looked like they were put through 10 years of sun baking, every knick and scratch stuck out SO bad, and I will never for any ammount of money try to open another pair of headlights, nor taillights....

I do like your idea though, that would be pretty cool looking, Ive also wondered what it would look like to tint the top portion of the blinkers, (The top blinker, and the corner light) but leave the headlight and bottom side blinker stock....


endless possibilities haha

 

[sino]

When I had my 4th gen Taurus, I did the "Centennial" headlight mod which meant taking the headlights apart, to paint them black, and the lenses were clear as day, with minor scratches, and knicks from being 8 years old, but you couldnt really tell.

I put them in the oven at I dont even remember what temp, but for 10 minutes, cut hands so bad, broke a few tools, sweat my ass off, and finally got them open, and the lenses looked so ****ty ('Scuse the language) after I epoxied them shut, it was horrid looking, the lenses looked like they were put through 10 years of sun baking, every knick and scratch stuck out SO bad, and I will never for any ammount of money try to open another pair of headlights, nor taillights....

I do like your idea though, that would be pretty cool looking, Ive also wondered what it would look like to tint the top portion of the blinkers, (The top blinker, and the corner light) but leave the headlight and bottom side blinker stock....


endless possibilities haha

damn, that sucks. (about the taurus lights)
i've read and seen a few vids about baking them and people make it seem so easy.
then i see stories like yours and i start to second guess the project.

but yeah, the possibilities are endless. your idea will probably look really good.
there's a guy on the boards(forgot his username) with a red sport who has a black cover on the top portion of the blinkers which looks great.
now if only i could find out where he got them.

 

[BrianDye]

I think I know who your talking about, I seen the pic ONE time, but yea baking for me wasnt as easy as most people made it sound haha.

I know I am retarted about alot of things, but I followed that step by step, same temp, same times, same pre/post steps, and got HORRIBLE results lol.


If you are trying it, I would highly suggest getting a scrap blinker to practice on!

 

[sino]

yea, i called the junkyard to get a scrap one
but he wanted 25 for it which might not seem much
but i found new ones for 35, so if i do decide to try the oven method i'll just use my stock ones after i get the news one in.

 

[slammed98z]

damn, that sucks. (about the taurus lights)
i've read and seen a few vids about baking them and people make it seem so easy.
then i see stories like yours and i start to second guess the project.

but yeah, the possibilities are endless. your idea will probably look really good.
there's a guy on the boards(forgot his username) with a red sport who has a black cover on the top portion of the blinkers which looks great.
now if only i could find out where he got them.

ME? :

I just took my marker lights off, hit them with some 1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper and sprayed the outside of the lends with some VHT night shades

 

[BrianDye]

Shoot I totally forgot about yours, I remember seeing that one too, looks great, but the original one I seen was a black explorer I believe, and the VHT was glossy as all hell lol