Painting headlight chrome?

Body kits, spoilers, lights, and anything on the exterior of the vehicle
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jjminch
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:40 pm

Painting headlight chrome?

Post by jjminch »

Has anyone painted the interior chrome and amber turns on the early vibe models? If so any pics or how-to's?

I'm getting ready to do this and a projector retrofit on my Nissan Titan. Would rather make my mistakes on the old grocery getter. http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-p ... -pics.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd like to see some pics of a headlight open so I can see how difficult it will be to do.
2005 Vibe- Auto, Moons/Toons, Pio HU, blacked out headlights, debadged,
2008 Nissan Titan CC - intake, b-pipes, projector retro, bunch of audio stuff
2005 Yamaha R1 - too many mods to list
jjminch
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:40 pm

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by jjminch »

I'm surprised nobody responded in 7 months, lol.

Ill pioneer it if someone can find me a how to on removing th bumpers and headlights. I've seen some retrofits around here so somebody has to have done that.
2005 Vibe- Auto, Moons/Toons, Pio HU, blacked out headlights, debadged,
2008 Nissan Titan CC - intake, b-pipes, projector retro, bunch of audio stuff
2005 Yamaha R1 - too many mods to list
keithvibe
Posts: 4953
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:52 am
Contact:

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by keithvibe »

sorry can't hold your hand threw the process. it's strait forward, remove bumper, unbolt headlights, bake open, retrofit projectors, seal the lights, mount and align, wire and put bumper back on.
I've retrofitted both the vibe and titan lights, ask a specific question about an issue you are having and I can answer but to give you a step by step isn't going to happen.
2010 Vibe & member of the yeargarage Email me if you need to talk to me, click my siggy and send the email threw the contact page.
jjminch
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:40 pm

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by jjminch »

Thanks Keith. I finished the Titan retrofit sometime ago and it came out great.

Only thing ill need help on is removing the bumper cover on the vibe in order to access the headlights. I'm trying to find a schematic or something. There was a how to but it has no pictures.
2005 Vibe- Auto, Moons/Toons, Pio HU, blacked out headlights, debadged,
2008 Nissan Titan CC - intake, b-pipes, projector retro, bunch of audio stuff
2005 Yamaha R1 - too many mods to list
KITT222
Posts: 2257
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 1:45 pm
Location: Flint, Michigan

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by KITT222 »

Removing the cover is simple, once you know how to do it.

-There are two screws connecting the fender liner to the lower edge of the cover per side.
-Then there are two pins holding the cover to the bumper bar. These will be in behind the lower grilles. You'll need to be on your back and under the bumper to get to them.
-The two hood stops (screws with the rubber "donuts" on them). They'll probably be on there tightly, so to avoid stripping them out, use LOTS of downward force when rotating the screwdriver.
-On the 03/04s there's a pin in the center top of the bumper holding the cover to the hood latch assembly. There's probably something similar on the 05-08 models.
-A simple screw goes from the bumper to the fender in the corner of the cover where it meets the fender. You'll need to pull the fender plastic out of the way to access them. Once those are out gently pull on the corners to pull them off the mounting brackets. Unplug the fog lamps if you want to totally remove the bumper cover.

Simple as that. One time I noticed my projectors weren't working, so I went home and had the cover off in two minutes. Once you're well versed with it, it's a cake walk.
jjminch
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:40 pm

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by jjminch »

Thanks. She is off, this car is easy to take apart. Time to prep the oven.

Since you've done a lot of retros here is the next question. Can I reuse the old sealant on the assembly or do I need to scrape it out and use some new stuff? I have a roll of windshield sealant silicon but its a pain to scrape out all the old junk.
2005 Vibe- Auto, Moons/Toons, Pio HU, blacked out headlights, debadged,
2008 Nissan Titan CC - intake, b-pipes, projector retro, bunch of audio stuff
2005 Yamaha R1 - too many mods to list
KITT222
Posts: 2257
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2010 1:45 pm
Location: Flint, Michigan

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by KITT222 »

I've only done my own, so Kieth may be the better one to answer, but I didn't scrape all of my sealant off, but I did add new sealant. Several months later, no water issues.
keithvibe
Posts: 4953
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 3:52 am
Contact:

Re: Painting headlight chrome?

Post by keithvibe »

depends on how old the lights are, how beat up they are, how dirty they are.
If there is a lot of dirt on the existing sealant, ditch it and use new.
Reusing existing sealant can be a hit or miss adventure. Better off adding new sealant to the exisiting sealant or replace it with all new.
2010 Vibe & member of the yeargarage Email me if you need to talk to me, click my siggy and send the email threw the contact page.
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