As far as I know, I'm the first to do something of the sort 8) :

While waiting for my rear tail light tint to dry, I decided to pull the front lights and do the infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod. Well that didn't come out too well. So my brother suggested we throw them in the oven and get what is left of the reflector out of the headlight.

When we had them apart, we came up with a great idea. My brother (the rattle can paint job genious) masked parts of the lense and painted them satin black. Then reassembled and I threw some Silverstar bulbs to get rid of the egg yolk look. I think they look great...very subtle yet gives the front a more aggressive/sophisticated look.

Big thanks to my brother for doing all of the paint and assembly work after I took them off the car. If you guys want, I am able to write up a nice How-To article with some progress pictures to put in the tech forum. I would just need someone to host the pictures as the site that hosts the pictures below won't keep them up infinitely.

Old:
http://www.tamparacing.com/gallery/data/500/8867P5210167.jpg


New:
http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1678782

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1678783

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1678772

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1678773

Cool mod. How did you do that colored wheel cover? Or is that dirt? :lol: :lol: Just Playin.

nice

Cool mod. How did you do that colored wheel cover? Or is that dirt? :lol: :lol: Just Playin.

For the colored wheel covers we used either Plasticote or Duplicolor wheel paint (whichever one is found at Advance/Discount Auto). Just pop the Scion emblem out, scuff up the wheel cover with some 1500 grit sand paper, wipe it down with a tack towel or some sort of prep wipes, go at it with the charcoal paint, then follow with the clearcoat as directed on the can. Turned out great!

BTW...the headlight mod is VERY easy to do. The hardest part is doing a thorough job masking the lights. Just takes a little time and patience.

I guess great minds think alike! I did this a while ago, except with gloss black paint. I made a thread, but only a few people responded. Link here:

Max2k's Headlight and Taillight Modifications (http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22172&highlight=light).

I got the idea for it from some japanese website with a badass VIP bB.

Looks really nice -- pretty common mod - but looks nice all the same and nice to see someone figured out how to do it all on their own without a 'how-to' guide and a million pics.

congrats - keep it up

Huh....didn't realize others had done this. It was the first I had seen. Definately cool to know I'm not the only crackhead out there who thinks this looks nice. ;)

Check here for a japanese version (what I copied): http://www.impression-cba.com/my_bb/process2.htm

I wouldn't say it's a "common mod." 18s are a common mod, a CF hood is a common mod. An exhaust is a common mod. Tail lights are a common mod. Lowering the car is a common mod. Almost everyone here is on rims and a drop. That's a common mod. There are 3 people on this board with this done to their headlights (Alan, myself, and my brother). A common mod? I think not.

Check here for a japanese version (what I copied): http://www.impression-cba.com/my_bb/process2.htm

Nice. I almost went with the older bB lights, but I couldn't get past the fact they weren't crystal clear. Those faceted lenses make the car look about 10-years older. Not to toot our own horns, but I definately think the black treatment to the US headlamp is the best out there so far...well next to the new JDM HID lights, which for all practical and monetary purposes are unatainable to most. ;)

Alan? Is that you, from Tampa?

Just kiddin.. wierd the smallness of the world though.

Maite, I kinda know her (IM'd with her twice..)

Anyway, nice headlights.

Huh....didn't realize others had done this.

--dont take it like I was trying to bust yer bubble. Yours looks really good. - and by "common" I mean on the internet where 100,000 car geeks gather and maybe 2000 of them do the mod (a whole whopping 2%.... "common"... lol).

Huh....didn't realize others had done this.

--dont take it like I was trying to bust yer bubble. Yours looks really good. - and by "common" I mean on the internet where 100,000 car geeks gather and maybe 2000 of them do the mod (a whole whopping 2%.... "common"... lol).

I didn't think you were trying to bust my bubble. I've just been scouring the Intraweb for random bB/xB stuff and hadn't seen it. So I was kind of suprised to know others are doing it as well. Must be one of those special underground type mods where everyone has a special handshake/codeword...or something. ;)



superjeer...are you on TR or something? How did you meet her, and how do you know me? Just curious.

There are 3 people on this board with this done to their headlights (Alan, myself, and my brother). A common mod? I think not.

I meant 'common' in the overall custom car universe scheme -- not just HERE. Honda's, Toyota's etc... But yeah, your list of other stuff is A LOT MORE 'common'.

There are only three that have spoken here up about doing it.... but there are a few more.

Anyway who cares? Everyone can feel free to copy me as much as they want, I'll just take it as a compliment.

I like the satin finish in your lights, it makes them look a bit more BMW than the gloss in mine. The one thing I'm concerned about is the turn signals, but assuming your sidemarkers aren't shaved I'm sure everyone will know which way you intend to go.

Yeah, I have people in tampa. "Clint" is on the tampa racing forum and linked me. to your thread there.

Anyway who cares? Everyone can feel free to copy me as much as they want, I'll just take it as a compliment.

I like the satin finish in your lights, it makes them look a bit more BMW than the gloss in mine. The one thing I'm concerned about is the turn signals, but assuming your sidemarkers aren't shaved I'm sure everyone will know which way you intend to go.

The front signal/parking lamp bulbs light up amber, but look bluish/silver when they aren't on. They are made by Sylvania Silverstar and are direct replacements for the stock bulbs. Unfortunately they price at $24 at PepBoys for the pair. :shock:

I just didn't like the way the amber bulbs looked in there without the reflector. My only other option were a set of mirrored silver bulbs by APC for $5/each. Figured they'd suck and/or have a short life span due to APC's reputation, so I opted for the Silverstars. :)

I'm probably going to cop some chromed ones. Anyone know of any good manufacturers/websites? I checked out www.autolumination.com and it looks legit, anyone bought from there?

Hey that looks pretty good!! Always good to see scionlife members doing there own work, keep up the mods. :D

wow, crazyness :D

As far as I know, I'm the first to do something of the sort 8) :

While waiting for my rear tail light tint to dry, I decided to pull the front lights and do the infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod. Well that didn't come out too well.

Can I ask the dumb question: What is the" infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod"?

Or are you saying that you broke the reflector when you removed the light, and decided to do something creative with it?

I know, I know...it's a dumb question, but it's 0300 and my brain is gone, so forgive the stupid question.

As far as I know, I'm the first to do something of the sort 8) :

While waiting for my rear tail light tint to dry, I decided to pull the front lights and do the infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod. Well that didn't come out too well.

Can I ask the dumb question: What is the" infamous ghetto "break the reflector with a hammer and screwdriver" mod"?

Or are you saying that you broke the reflector when you removed the light, and decided to do something creative with it?

I know, I know...it's a dumb question, but it's 0300 and my brain is gone, so forgive the stupid question.

There is a tech article on here regarding the removal of the reflector utilizing a screwdriver and a hammer...you don't even need to separate the lense from the housing to do this. I couldn't get all of the reflector out no matter how hard we tried so we ended up baking the light, separating it, removing the final portions of the reflectors, and finally painting portions of the lense.

To anyone who wants to take their headlights or tail lights apart, the best way to get the lenses off is to slap them in your oven at 250 degrees for about 5 minutes for the tails and 6-7 minutes for the headlights. After they're good and hot (so the glue melts) you can pry the lenses off with a flathead screwdriver.

When you're done you can put them back in the oven to melt the glue back together and seal the lights against water leakage.

To anyone who wants to take their headlights or tail lights apart, the best way to get the lenses off is to slap them in your oven at 250 degrees for about 5 minutes for the tails and 6-7 minutes for the headlights. After they're good and hot (so the glue melts) you can pry the lenses off with a flathead screwdriver.

When you're done you can put them back in the oven to melt the glue back together and seal the lights against water leakage.

Just to be safe, we did about 10-minutes at 200 degrees for each light during disassembly and reassembly. My oven is probably older than I am, so I was uber paranoid about possibly melting my lights due to a faulty thermostat.

Out of curiosity, have you experienced any fogging issues? Did you add any RTV or Hondabond to the outside of the light to seal the seam? So far mine are doing well without an additional sealing...and we have had some nice temp changes which would normally cause condensation in an improperly sealed light.

i just bought a whole lot autolumination. theyre cool , fair prices nice guys

I just stuck them back together without any addtional glue and haven't had any problems with water getting in them.

I just stuck them back together without any addtional glue and haven't had any problems with water getting in them.
Looks great!
I did my truck headlights the same way. Threw em in the oven and took em apart. Then seal em up with some silicone. I've done about 3 or 4 pair this way and never had any problems. Prolly do my xB the same way.

Huzzah for the Joey Mod (fellow dubbers should know what I'm talking about). I plan to do this but to a set of aftermarket lights.

That looks nice, I wouldn't mind doing that to mine but I have TCM so I don't know how it would look. The black on black looks really nice though! Anyone got pics of TCM with this done to it?

I got you covered!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/max2k/DSCN0691.jpg

I got you covered!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/max2k/DSCN0691.jpg

Nice! :mrgreen:

I have to cop some chrome 1157s for real, the amber bulbs look hurtin'.

dammit i love the black housing. i would do it <but im tooo chicken> lol :oops:

nice joey mod

I have to cop some chrome 1157s for real, the amber bulbs look hurtin'.
I have silverstar ones and they look awesome! Gives it a totally different look.

I'm waaay too cheap to spend the money on those silverstar bulbs.