There are a number of these guides on the forums. I blacked out my headlights today in 35 degree weather in my garage for the "Street Edition" look, after Rob informed me that I just needed to use oven cleaner on the chrome and that I wouldn't need to paint anything.
Remove the headlight bulbs and use a #30 Torx to remove the 4 screws per headlight. Next I mounted my heat gun in my vise (so it was stationary) and turned it on as hot as it would go. I hand spun the headlights around letting the heat gun shoot right onto the seam. For me it was easier to start "prying" from the back of the headlight instead of the front due to the mounting tabs placement. Once the seam was hot I use a screw driver to start the pry and then simply ripped it apart with brute force (and more heating as I was prying) using the mounting tabs as leverage. It took quite awhile for me to get it apart, it's possible that the oven trick would have been faster but....that's not what I did. Once you have the housing in two pieces you unscrew the 4 phillips screws that attach the chrome inner from the clear outer. Now the headlight will be in 3 pieces. I repeated the prior steps on the other headlight. I then put both chrome inner pieces that I wanted to black out on a cardboard box in my garage and liberally covered both surfaces with Heavy Duty Easy Off Oven Cleaner (not the fume free variety). Others said they left it on for 5 minutes then wiped it off. I tried wiping after 5 min and it took too much effort to remove the chrome so I let it sit for 15 min while I drove to Harbor Frieght (closest store to my house) and bought a tube of clear silicone sealant. When I got back home I wiped off as much as I could and then recoated both lights with oven cleaner. I did this 3 times. Once they were chrome free I ran them under my kitchen sink to remove the last bits of cleaner that I hadn't wiped off. I dried them off with a new microfiber towel and used my air compressor with a nozzle to blast and last water off (I didn't have the patience to let them sit and dry). I noticed that using the brand new microfiber towel it created tiny scratches in the shiny plastic....in retrospect I wonder if you shouldn't wipe them at any point, and instead spray the oven cleaner then use a pressure washer to shoot off the chrome, I really don't know. Additionally I used another brand new microfiber towel to wipe the inside of my clear lens clean and it too scratched the lens, I guess they are made to never be touched? After this I screwed the newly black piece of plastic back into the clear lens. I put the base headlight housing in my vise and ran a bead of clear silicone around the seam. I removed the headlight base from the vise and put the heat gun back in the vise and turned it on. I would heat a small section, vise grip it closed, then moved on to the next section after I let it cool down. I did this all the way around until it was completed then did the other headlight, and installed them both. I also bought new headlight bulbs and fog light bulbs ($20 total off ebay) with the "cool white/blue" look to them instead of the yellow look the halogens produced. Overall I've very happy and impressed. It took me 4 hours-ish but I was simply taking my time. I'm hoping that they are sealed and that I won't have "moisture" issues but we shall see....
Thank you Rob for pointing out that I didn't need to take to a painter, once I found this information out I did the lights within just a few days. I love the look! Thanks for the other people who posted on the forum how-to guides, it's because of the knowledge that you shared that made me do mine! Heres a "few" pictures, enjoy!
Sorry for sideways pics!
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
Remove the headlight bulbs and use a #30 Torx to remove the 4 screws per headlight. Next I mounted my heat gun in my vise (so it was stationary) and turned it on as hot as it would go. I hand spun the headlights around letting the heat gun shoot right onto the seam. For me it was easier to start "prying" from the back of the headlight instead of the front due to the mounting tabs placement. Once the seam was hot I use a screw driver to start the pry and then simply ripped it apart with brute force (and more heating as I was prying) using the mounting tabs as leverage. It took quite awhile for me to get it apart, it's possible that the oven trick would have been faster but....that's not what I did. Once you have the housing in two pieces you unscrew the 4 phillips screws that attach the chrome inner from the clear outer. Now the headlight will be in 3 pieces. I repeated the prior steps on the other headlight. I then put both chrome inner pieces that I wanted to black out on a cardboard box in my garage and liberally covered both surfaces with Heavy Duty Easy Off Oven Cleaner (not the fume free variety). Others said they left it on for 5 minutes then wiped it off. I tried wiping after 5 min and it took too much effort to remove the chrome so I let it sit for 15 min while I drove to Harbor Frieght (closest store to my house) and bought a tube of clear silicone sealant. When I got back home I wiped off as much as I could and then recoated both lights with oven cleaner. I did this 3 times. Once they were chrome free I ran them under my kitchen sink to remove the last bits of cleaner that I hadn't wiped off. I dried them off with a new microfiber towel and used my air compressor with a nozzle to blast and last water off (I didn't have the patience to let them sit and dry). I noticed that using the brand new microfiber towel it created tiny scratches in the shiny plastic....in retrospect I wonder if you shouldn't wipe them at any point, and instead spray the oven cleaner then use a pressure washer to shoot off the chrome, I really don't know. Additionally I used another brand new microfiber towel to wipe the inside of my clear lens clean and it too scratched the lens, I guess they are made to never be touched? After this I screwed the newly black piece of plastic back into the clear lens. I put the base headlight housing in my vise and ran a bead of clear silicone around the seam. I removed the headlight base from the vise and put the heat gun back in the vise and turned it on. I would heat a small section, vise grip it closed, then moved on to the next section after I let it cool down. I did this all the way around until it was completed then did the other headlight, and installed them both. I also bought new headlight bulbs and fog light bulbs ($20 total off ebay) with the "cool white/blue" look to them instead of the yellow look the halogens produced. Overall I've very happy and impressed. It took me 4 hours-ish but I was simply taking my time. I'm hoping that they are sealed and that I won't have "moisture" issues but we shall see....
Thank you Rob for pointing out that I didn't need to take to a painter, once I found this information out I did the lights within just a few days. I love the look! Thanks for the other people who posted on the forum how-to guides, it's because of the knowledge that you shared that made me do mine! Heres a "few" pictures, enjoy!
Sorry for sideways pics!
