DIY: VIDEO!! Baking 370z Headlights for Paint, LED's etc

Ramcham370z

I did mines like two weeks ago. I don't like halos so I added a switch back led strip.





Night time video showing the LED strip

Below


http://vid292.photobucket.com/albums...psquj9wxvx.mp4

Mike785

First post here...so I hope I don't screw this up.
I did my halos last weekend. Small oven so I used the cardboard box & heat gun. Temp ramped up to 210F over 20 minutes and no problem pulling the lights apart. I was dreading this part, put it was a piece of cake. I'm an old fart, so I like chrome. I left my housings chrome, but painted the shrouds black. I used Morimoto 90 mm XB halos. I also used a dremel tool to machine out the shrouds so the halos would sit flat inside the groove and not on top. Not sure if this was worth it in the end, but they do sit nicely inside the groove. I have a 2013 Z and in Canada, the DRL's are the vertical LED strip lights in the bumper. I wired the halos to these, so that they also run as DRL's. When the HID's come on at night, the DRL's shut off. You can't see the halos around the HID's anyhow, so no biggy.
I have seven pics attached, but can't figure out how to imbed them in the post, so you'll have to click on them.
Please let me know if this post is OK, as I would like to post more!
Toodles from Canada!
Mike

Attached Images

	Preinstall.JPG (261.7 KB, 69 views)
	Dremel.JPG (223.5 KB, 66 views)
	Post Dremel.JPG (215.5 KB, 56 views)
	Black Shroud.JPG (175.7 KB, 73 views)
	Night Side.JPG (199.3 KB, 71 views)
	One Eye.JPG (203.3 KB, 69 views)
	Night shot.JPG (192.6 KB, 84 views)

The Wizrad

To be honest, like a lot of other members, I'm terrified of baking these things even though I see the successful posts.

I am going with a gunmetal finish instead of black, but Krylon fusion does not have a gunmetal option so I plan on going with some sanding, primer, and paint.

I do see a lot of varying temperatures and times, but it seems 250 degrees F at 10 minutes or 225 degrees F at 15 minutes is the most common. Has anyone seen any negative repercussions i.e. scratches on top of headlight from the lens being soft, moisture getting through...etc. Does the microfiber towel make sure the lens gets no scratches once you have to pry it apart?

Also, is it worth getting the extra butyl rubber to reseal the lights or is the stock amount of sealant really good enough to effectively seal the light?

///maestro

Where did you get that LED strip? Anymore pics? This looks awesome!

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The Wizrad

Used this thread to do my headlights. Did a couple of things differently.
-225 F for 15 minutes in the oven
-sanded housing with 1000 grit and primed using rustoleum primer for plastic
-used dupli-color gun metal
-installed 5% smoked clear boomerang reflectors from Klearz

Overall the process was pretty straight forward, just getting the guts to do it is the hard part. I'm really happy with the turnout.

Nizmo.Man

Wanted some feedback on the ones I painted. Not sure if I should keep them like this or paint all black. What y'all think?

Attached Images

IMG_1577.jpg (809.2 KB, 95 views)

///maestro

I hate amber, so I would paint the ambers a different color (black or silver) and then take a look at it. I like the idea though.

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Face

I finally got around to doing this to mine. Love the look. Thanks to all who contributed to this DIY, it really made this easy.

I went with satin black with color matched accents and CF on the boomerang reflector.

Fren_Z

I'm thinking about doing my headlights. I was told to not mess with the factory ones but to buy a cheaper set and then do those reasoning because of the cost and they have a chance of leaking or fogging once you take it apart? Does/Has anyone had that experience yet of their lights letting or leaking in water/fogging?

This is my car:


I want it to look like this but match the grey:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../370z/orb4.jpg

Fren_Z

Good thread btw!

Fhjkalfhu

So I’m starting my second pair of headlights. The first didn’t go well with krylon, if anything touches the paint it pulls it off and leaves a little exposed chrome dot. Originally I said I was using rustoleum american accents, but it wasn't drying properly...so I'm just using primer black now and a matte clear.

Jayhovah

Did you use regular Krylon or Krylon Fusion?

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DIY Gamma V3 TT Install * Jayhovah's Gamma V3 TT Install Pic'Z and Vid'Z * DIY: Washer Reservoir for the Boosted

Fhjkalfhu

It wasn’t fusion, I don’t remember exactly but fusion wasn’t available in any store in my area