Black headlight housing

Absath · Post by **Absath** » July 4th, 2005, 2:10 pm

So my car is in the shop getting body work and paint. I've got some extra headlights here, and I just baked and opened up a passenger side headlight.

I'm going to polish up the lense, and do some fiberglass reenforcement on the housing (cracked it in a couple of places) and then paint the exterior housing black.

What I'm thinking about doing is painting the inside of the housing black as well. Like, scuff up the chrome with some sandpaper, and paint it black inside. Like those MS Miata headlights:

Has anyone done this before? How did it turn out? Will the brightness of the light be dampened without the reflective material? Is there a reflective black paint I can get?

I'd just like some opinions/info before I do this.

-Tim

mxstockade · Post by **mxstockade** » July 4th, 2005, 2:17 pm

ohhhh I know what happends, the black absorbs all the white light and all u get is a dim light, not to mention a look of a mx3 w/ a black eye. I did this before after trying a blue housing wich made it look sad. funny to see really, but don't do it, unless u can make parts of it crome or reflective. Just a thought.
-John

Absath · Post by **Absath** » July 4th, 2005, 2:42 pm

Hmm, that's what I was afraid of. There has to be a reflective black paint out there somewhere...

MX3-Freak · Post by **MX3-Freak** » July 4th, 2005, 8:11 pm

Huh? how do you expect to get light out of a headlight that works by reflection when you make the reflector unreflective? We don't have projectors like the miata . . .until you add them yourself. That is your only option unless all you do is drive during the day.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » July 4th, 2005, 8:28 pm

Like MX3 Freak said, trying to copy the Miata's black-out area will not work. You have reflective not projector lenses. What's the obsession with making it black....LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE. Unless some of that reflective material is defective or is in need of repair...repair with a reasonably high heat highly reflective silver/chrome paint. Don't even think about black.....it's bling anyway and serves no usefull purpose....IMO

If you really want serious lighting and want black surrounding than start carving up your shells and sourcing some very small projector halogen and/or Xenon light units and install them in your housings. There's more info regarding this specific topic via search funtion.

Absath · Post by **Absath** » July 5th, 2005, 4:31 am

Yeah I was trying to avoid any major fabrication.

And it's not bling, it's called a theme. My entire car is silver and black. I have black altezzas, and black headlight housings would tie it all together.

On top of that, the reflective coating inside the headlight is all dulled and cracked, so it has to be redone anyway, so I was looking for alternatives.

I know that our lights are reflection base. I was thinking there might be a black paint with a topcoat or other element that might reflect the light enough to function for the interior headlight housing.

Don't act like it's entirely out of the realm of sanity to ask if something like that exists, when we have paints that change colors, fight fire and have textures.

Sam Baker · Post by **Sam Baker** » July 6th, 2005, 4:34 am

u could always swap in some civic projector headlights off ebay for like $100. not hard to put in i've heard, and that would get u the black look. OR paint the sides of the stock headlights black, keeping the center reflective.

Absath · Post by **Absath** » July 6th, 2005, 4:10 pm

Yeah, I broke down and ordered some civic projectors. We're going to do the swap.

Better to do it now while the fenders and front bumper are off the car, so we can get it fitted and everything before we paint.

solo_ryder · Post by **solo_ryder** » July 6th, 2005, 4:45 pm

sounds rad man, u should take pics of the progress. Here is a link to a pic that I tought was a really kool black headlight. Near the bottom

http://community.webshots.com/album/110138062awpPIr/1

MX3-Freak · Post by **MX3-Freak** » July 6th, 2005, 8:44 pm

Actually, finding any black surface that is reflective is not just hard, its practically an oxymoron. Black surfaces like to absorb the visible light spectrum; not reflect. Whether or not we can make things change color doesn't change the laws of the electromagnetic spectrum

. So I wish you luck in finding anything that is both black and reflective enough to serve as a reflector.

After saying that; smart choice with the projector upgrades. Will be both more functional and match the look you wanted better then any magical paint.

Dominicanchu_Nmbr1 · Post by **Dominicanchu_Nmbr1** » July 7th, 2005, 12:55 am

MX3-Freak wrote: After saying that; smart choice with the projector upgrades. Will be both more functional and match the look you wanted better then any magical paint.

Magical paint...lol!

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » July 9th, 2005, 9:44 am

actually it isn't impossible... i've seen it done on a 2nd gen protege hatch back in europe somewhere... they used a translucent black paint on top of a chrome paint to give an amazing looking black chrome headlight... i'll see if i can find the pic again

Dominicanchu_Nmbr1 · Post by **Dominicanchu_Nmbr1** » July 10th, 2005, 9:53 pm

I've seen it b4 at a carshow. but i have no idea how it'd light up a dark road. might not work good. just look good.