Headlight Color Recommendation
 

Hello All,

I have a black cherry 370z and am considering having my headlights painted soon. I am torn between either getting the housings color matched to black cherry with black shrouds or with having them done flat black.

I've only been able to find photos of one other black cherry Z with modded headlights and they got flat black. It's hard for me to really tell from 2-3 photos if I like it or not. Part of me does since it gives some contrast with the car, but part of me doesn't because in direct sunlight it looks 'off' compared to the dynamic color of the car.

This color can be hugely frustrating at times, but it really is different. I still get asked about what color it is.

If anyone has a BC Z with modded headlights -- I'd love to see them!

Headlight recommendation....
 

I think pink would pop nicely on a BC.

:facepalm:

I have a magnetic black, and I feel the same way.

at first I really liked the look of the black housing and white or stock shrouds to pop out.

but with a darker color, the stock does make the lines of the headlight pop.

I was considering a flat white and dark grey shrouds, flat white for the housing should make it look very clean.

If I had black it would be much easier for me to decide. I like the blacked out look and would go flat black with gunmetal grey shrouds.

I have most of my car cherried out -- color matched handles, color matched powdercoated wheels, black cherry plastidipped emblems. However my fangs and rear valance are dipped black to have them stand out against the color of the car.

I suppose I could attempt some Photoshopping to get an idea

Go gloss black IMO.

OEM headlight housing that are black, on not flat black. 2015+ Nismo headlights are gloss black, and it looks sharp, reflects light well, and doesn't look like a job an 18yo did in their parents basement.

I have 2015 NISMO headlights on my '09 sport package, the gloss black is a nice look.

So really I could just buy the nismo set and not even worry about getting em painted. Clever clever!

Price it out, I think Nismos go for about $750 or $800 per headlight. And you have the peace of mind that they have never been opened and re-glued.

Believe it or not, the nismo ones are cheaper than the standards by like $50 per pair. Haha.

Do you have a BC Z?

BLACK CHERRY FTW what did you decide curious to see nismo on the BC

I haven't decided yet. I'm not sure how black headlights will look on the BC but color matching might look washed out.

I wish there were more examples of BC zs with modded headlights on here for some reference and guidance!

the bitter sweet of having a limited colorway, :rofl2:

why dont you try doing or requesting a photoshop moc up of the both to see which looks the best?

Yeah it's a bit frustrating!

I may do that. I'll have to track down the photoshop threads

Not exactly what you are looking for but here my black cherry with headlights I got painted.

I didn't take out the amber because I cant pass safety check so I covered the bottom portion with carbon vinyl. Ive done numerous headlights and usually ALWAYS do gloss black when I don't color match but you will come to find out that your paint will start peeling due to the heat of the projector. Mind you I am having it professionally painted and not spray can paint. Some headlights bubble some don't, theres even a thread with the factory nismo one starting to bubble.

This example has the bottom portion as high temp black, that's why its a bit flat compared to the sides.

Say you do color match black cherry paint in the headlight, it will always look black in photos and I feel it will only be visible up close in person. Ours cars practically look black at night but int he day with the purple hue its very nice.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...psji2pcz3u.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...pswgtmnc8b.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...psg28i39yc.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps71zkyesu.jpg

If you are doing your headlight mod yourself, I highly suggest you mod the projector. You can find threads I posted regarding it.

A few more in the sun. Hope this helps!

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...psfwnkvfrw.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps1xhvv486.jpg

I just got these done and they are exactly how you said here but my car is gunmetal.
I went with gray to color match my car. ask cooltoy to photoshop for you, he is very helpful
Imo you should make the shrouds black cherry

http://puu.sh/pfRYm.jpg

This is such a tough decision! Thanks for the pics! It's pretty hard to find BC owners who are doing any modding!

I was sold the car in overcast weather and was told it was black but got surprised the next day in the sun. Initially I hated it, but it's grown on me a lot. I still get compliments on the color. It's something different for sure.

Those look damn good on your car! So maybe get the housings flat black but the shrouds black cherry? That's an idea!

I think it could look amazing flat black and black cherry shrouds maybe the reflectors 2

Yeah, maybe. I would love to color match the reflectors as well, but hesitate since it's technically illegal.

Let's make it more difficult for you. I don't recommend doing black and cherry black on the shroud. Your whole headlight will then be black, it will have very little contrast. Look up some headlight work that is all black including the shroud, looks bad in my opinion.
It's like when people get their whole car painted and don't understand that things like chrome bumper strips, molding, etc shouldn't be color matched. The end product looks so cheap because they just had everything painted the same color. Again just my opinion....good luck.

Depends on if you want it to be blacked out, most people debadge/plasti dip and the last thing chrome on the car is the headlights and they stick out like a sore thumb stock.

His car is a good example the headlights are the only thing still chrome/shiny. I dont think he has many color options for the shrouds unless he adds a new color to his car

Black and black cherry are two different colors in daylight. My car is pretty much all color matched at the moment -- the headlights are just really distracting in their current color. I was thinking black housings and black cherry shrouds would add *some* contrast in high light situations.

Exactly. It looks goofy as is and would look even worse with a different color than my current scheme.

agree
i've never seen black cherry in person but im sure it would look great on the shrouds