JDM Headlight Modification

[Psychobroker]

Thanks goes out to Zach @ http://www.matrixowners.com for the write-up on a Matrix!BEFORE...notice the chrome paint behind the reflector and surrounding the main bulb, etc:AFTER w/ flash:AFTER w/o flash:Front night shot w/ flash:BEFORE front night shot w/o flash and w/ Sylvania Cool Blue fogs (not very blue )AFTER Front night shot w/o flash and w/ eBay blue Xenon fogs:-- notice the definition the JDM mod gives the light housing..subtle, but clean and noticeable at the same time IMHO .Front day shot (overcast/bad lighting):Driver side HL BEFORE:Driver side HL AFTER:Side-by-Side (JDM'd on right):Side-by-Side 2 (JDM'd on right):Again, big thanks MO.com, especially Zach for his Matrix JDM write up (I can't thank you enough). It's a slightly different process on the Vibe, but the concept and bumper mounting bolts are the same (I think). I actually think it was easier due to the single high/low bulb. I didn't even need to mask anything; just removed the side marker and painted the entire interior housing.I chose to use American Tradition primer (3 coats) w/ deep black (gloss - 4 coats) instead of flat black, as well as 60 second epoxy to make sure the housings sealed up properly. Let me know what you guys think I'd love to help anyone remove/paint their HL's at the MI meet, but we'll need access to an oven for best results, or at least a heatgun (have not tried this, so I don't know how well it will work).

[Mr. Poopypants]

Nice!!!

[savedbyzero]

you beat me to it! i've had this planned for several months now! just waiting for a nice day to do it! good job! looks good! I'm going with flat black, though...the true jdm look! How long did it take you to do? Was bumper removal a pain? Did the housing come apart easily after heated?

[Psychobroker]

How long did it take you to do?>> all in all, about 6 hours, not including curing time.Was bumper removal a pain? >> Not really, just about 10 bolts total (of varying size, thread, length...thank you GM ) and a few snap clips hold it on.Did the housing come apart easily after heated?>> It takes a little bit of prying, but you have to be careful not to warp the housing itself. Be sure to lay a couple rags on the oven grilles and turn it OFF before placing the HL's inside. Do not leave them in there for longer than 15 minutes or the housing will begin to warp. It was a little nerve-wracking when putting it all back together, but just be patient, make sure the housing seals properly, so buy some extra epoxy.

[Psychobroker]

A couple more shots...I love the way the silverstar turn signals look in this pic...

[Mavrik]

Those look really good. Guess the time spent was worth it.

[AKLGT]

i like the chrome look myself.... just wish there was a way to "clear" the amber lens part.... and i thot i saw a way to do it somewhere on someone's car domain page. thre was a link on a cougar...

[Psychobroker]

You can probably ask Ryan to work up an overlay, do what I did to separate the housing, but just overlay the amber from the inside. Just a thought

[JoeVibe]

What's the latest word on this? I am looking for a set done in this style, but I cannot trust my own hands to do it Is anyone willing to make and sell a set? (Preferably with the orange vinyled over to darken it but still be effective.)Joe in Bamberg, Germany

[Psychobroker]

I'd be able to do at least the inner housing, but I'd have to buy another pair of headlights first.

[joatmon]

found this pic, if you're going to bake your headlights, be sure to set the oven to bake and not to broil http://justin.strzelecki.ca/Images/headlight3.jpg

[JoeVibe]

How much would that cost, Psycho?

[Psychobroker]

Quote »found this pic, if you're going to bake your headlights, be sure to set the oven to bake and not to broil http://justin.strzelecki.ca/Images/headlight3.jpg Holy crap! That guy must have a) left his oven on (you just preheat it to 300F, then turn it off - direct flames = bad) or b) didn't use rags on the racks to absorb some of the remaining heat.As far as what it would cost, these headlight housings list for up to $300 USD each from the dealer. I'm sure they're a lot cheaper from gmpartsdirect.com, but I'd just try to buy another couple off eBay first (wrecked vibes stripped for parts). $200-$300 is way too much.I'll let you know if I find anything, Joe. Alternatively, keep a lookout yourself and let me know. I don't know what I'd charge at this point, but I'd factor in materials expense and a bit more for time spent.EDIT: Found a couple already...only two though, and one has a repaired mounting tab:RH (driver's side) = http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW - this one's good, nothing broken according to the sellerLH (psgr side) = http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW - broken mounting tab, JUST like one of the ones I bought. After putting it in the oven, the repaired tab fell off, but I think that's because the other guy used super glue. I don't want to send you two modd'd housings with one busted tab. Alternatively, I could just send you the inner painted housing, but then you'd still need to remove yours and pop them in the oven, re-seal, etc. it does get tricky.

[Pablo1669]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »I would assume doing this modification voids the warranty on your Headlights if you are ever to have a problem.Yeah, no more warranty on your headlights for sure, and kiss your bulb lifespan goodbye. And to think, the Silverstars are already a crappy short-life bulb to begin with.

[JoeVibe]

Hey pablo,Hoe would that shorten bulb life? Assuming you use a strong epoxy on your housings, no real change should occur other than ambient air being present in the housing at the time of re-assembly. Joe

[Psychobroker]

Quote »I would assume doing this modification voids the warranty on your Headlights if you are ever to have a problem.Howso? The only "mod" is changing the paint from chrome to black...please explain.Quote »Yeah, no more warranty on your headlights for sure, and kiss your bulb lifespan goodbye. And to think, the Silverstars are already a crappy short-life bulb to begin with.Same deal here...how would different paint shorten the bulb's lifespan? It's not like I cooked the headlights, or left the bulbs in them when they went in the oven. I'm curious as to what makes you think this.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Well, you cracked open the seal from the factory, put them in the oven like a pizza and took them apart and resealed them again after you were done painting them. I know a guy who designs the headlights and tailights in cars and they have to be tested over and over and have to be DOT Approved. By you painting the reflectors/refractors (can not remember what they are called) they are not even DOT Approved anymore and legally they are only for Off Road use. With that post that Joatmon posted earlier about illegal vehicles not passing inspections in Cali, I hope they stop with your emissions, because if they look at your headlights, you might be cited. he didn't paint over the amber lens and that's more or less what makes them legal or not. painting over the chrome is not illegal. just when you have your turn signals on, they must be amber so other motor vehicles will recognize what you are wanting to do. if you notice on most "off road or show use" only heads and tails, they are missing the amber lens. up here in AK, you can have either amber or red to be legal, anything else is illegal. I had my clear corners on my tundra and had blue signals. was told by a cop that i couldn't have blue signals, but could have amber or red and i'd be ok.Quote »Over time, the seal might not be as good and moisture can get trapped in there, I would be surprised if the heat will not dissapate either correctly and this will cause your SS to burn out faster. I think this was what Pablo and I were referring to. You totally changed the engineering that went into making the headlight. They are make to specific specs.Just making everyone aware that the warranty will be voided if they go along with thing mdoification. It can be a costly one at that. yes, i believe your right. the air pressure inside the headlight housing is very important to keep it dry and constant. otherwise you can get condensation in there and that will kill your bulbs very quickly! by altering that pressure inside the heads, you may have caused it to hold more or less heat inside thus causing a quicker burn out. but that's just mho. i could be wrong here and i haven't taken any recent physics, chem, or engineering classes to remember exactly.all in all, it still looks good. hopefully you won't have any probs w/ the seals to worry about voiding the warranty. worst case scenario is you have to get another set of headlights off ebay!

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »Same deal here...how would different paint shorten the bulb's lifespan? It's not like I cooked the headlights, or left the bulbs in them when they went in the oven. I'm curious as to what makes you think this.I doubt it would impact it...I agree with you Psychobroker..As to lifespan, these aren't special lights. The seal that covers the bulb socket is far from air-tight. I doubt this would cause any major problems. But then again, I'm no expert. I just can't imagine any foreseeable consequences.As to coloring the interior of the housing, the 05 models will have black housing from the factory anyway. You're just "retrofitting."

[Psychobroker]

IF some condensation develops (so far, so good), I'll just remove them and re-do the seals...no big deal. It's only epoxy, and the tolerances inside the housings are nothing special. They're also far from airtight.Also, I didn't paint a single reflector/refractor. They're all still chrome.Thanks for the concern.

[AKLGT]

sorry, there rob. not sure what you were talking about. but not going to argue with you since i'm not up to speed on DOT regs.if they are illegal, then i guess christian will just have to take that risk. just like my tinted windows are illegal and listening to my stereo too loud while opperating my vehicle. all risks i'll deal with if i get pulled over.

[Psychobroker]

I guess my Vibe's just a rolling ball of potential citations?

[Sub-Vibe-R]

IMHO, you have to be very unlucky to be pulled over by a cop because you did this... without knowing it it is very hard to tell you did this mod (unless you know very well the Vibe)

[Pablo1669]

The reason I say it will shorten your bulbs life span is because any changes to the inside of that light fixture changes things quickly. I am currently working in Validation, and I have a **** load of test documents that can prove that any alterations to the headlight housing warrants a new set of testing.A perfect example would be a current vehicle we are testing needed a "beauty cover" to stop light from shining back into the rear end of an SUV (similar to the plastic cover on our rear CHMSL (center, high mounted stop lamp). With this new "beauty cover" the heat generated inside the CHMSL caused more problems then anticipated. If you don't believe me, hey, thats your porogative, but I just thought I would give you a heads up because I see stuff like this every day at work. I think it looks pretty damn cool, but there is a lot more design and validation that goes into those headlights than one would think

[DopeVibeGT]

Cool. Nice mod. I also get to see what the billet grills look like on a Neptune Vibe. I may have to get me some now.

[Psychobroker]

update...diver's side has been perfect..no condensation.psgr side DID develop a bit a week after, but I remember having a little trouble lining up the seal tabs. so, i pulled it and re-did the seals in under 30 mins. no more condensation.If anyting, I sure got to know how my bumper is mounted

[northvibe]

psychobroker - how are those headlights holding up ??

[Psychobroker]

Just fine Although, I think the lower tab of the psgr-side lamp was a bit warped when going on, so it doesn't sit as flush as the driver side lamp. It's never given me problems, aside from aesthetics. I plan on buying another RH light and redoing it.

[Mrizzle05]

So how about we work on mine someday!!! I like the look! we need aftermarket JDM headlights

[badjepoy]

im wondering if you can post a step by step guide on removing the headlights(maybe from removing the bumper up to the Headlight removal). because i still got shards of glass from the popped bulb inside the fixture. the headlight is full of dust and it looks cloudy when lit

[northvibe]

I want to paint the inside the same color as the car, so they will sorta look like th vette headlights But I think if I ever do this I'll grab some extra headlights incase I mess up

[SuperSpeedWagon]

DAMN I had wanted to do that just never got around to it. It looks good man keep it up