So have the Sonar projectors, which are great but prone to fogging after washing the car. Had the stock ones lying around, which are cleared with strobes and some nice eyelids (which wouldn't work on the Sonars, so made some vinyl lids for those.) So I decided to try something that I've wanted to do for awhile, painting the stock lights black. (this part is sort of a tutorial...)

Bake in oven @ 250 for 15 minutes, a little careful prying and viola! Used testors gloss back enamel and a steady hand, only painting the vertical and horizontal surfaces, no the curved parts that reflect the light forward. One light at a time!



Drying outside, maybe an hour or so-



Here's the trick I learned in getting them resealed: put the lexan cover back on, push it down as far as it will go... it still won't be seated all the way because the sealant has cooled down and isn't permeable anymore. THEN put em back in the oven for the same amount of time, then carefully push the covers until the clips on the top and bottom snap back into place, Take the vent plugs off the back and let em cool upside down.

Repeat w/other light.

Here's the end result (of course had to throw em on the car to see how they look...)-









Pretty sweet IMO.

SO. (here's the poll part)... which are better, the Sonars or these? For reference here's what my projectors look like on there-





I'm leaning towards the stockers because of lack of fogging, the eyelids and because they just look meaner. What do you guys think?

 

looks nice keep up the good work

 

black stock

 

I like the dark stock too. Looks awesome.

 

I like the stock ones myself. if there was a way to make the plastic cover not so shinny, more of a matte finish, that would be super sweet.

 

Damn youz... i have been planing a black out for months! o well ya beat me too it and now i know it wont look like **** ahah lookin good in those stockies.....
I always wondered if you have foging issues why not get the sealant used on the stock light and put a little extra on the projectors... i dont know if this kinda glue is avaliable anywhere but it seems logical to me ...

o well the both look good but i would go with the oems and sell the others and do another mod!!

 

Bill- do you mean the part of the housing I painted or the lexan cover?
I have matt black paint also, but after trying both I liked the gloss better, more "blingy". It's kinda hard to see in the photos with all the reflections (that reminds me, I need to def take out the recycling bin this week!)

BTW everyone, these are Bill/violentB's old lights, he did the cop stobes in there... we still need to hook those babies up!

 

I'm talkng about the lexan. if it was less shinny the black would pop alot more.

Dono, let me know when you are free s we can get the strobes in. I'll need to check out the rear tail lights to see where we can mount the strobes.

 

i have the projectors and i would rather have the blackouts stockhead lights myself.
but i have some custom fiberglass eyelids so it looks good but. black outs are sweet, the beam patter is brighter too w/ the blk outs...

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, stockers it is. Anyone want a set of Sonars cheap?

Final note- With the black inside there was a haziness to the lexan cover that was made more obvious than when they were all chrome. HeathenBrewing here on SL suggested I try Meguairs PlastX to make em shiny and clear again. He was right, the stuff is AMAZING. Better than new.

 

I've always been a fan of the painted OEM lights. We did it to my '04 back in the day, and again on my '06. We used a satin black misted with a bit of flat black to give it more of a low-gloss look. Instead of painting one at a time, I highly suggest you paint both lights at the same time to better your chances of a more consistent job between the two sides.

My vote goes to the painted OEM lights.

 

I'm such a goober, I even re-polished them at night so I can have the headlights on to see imperfections better

These are definitely keepers.

 

I was going to order some black projectors for my xB, but I have got to try that!!!

Love it!

 

Looks killa bro!! If I ever get the time and the NRG, im gonna try that myself...

 

how cheap are we talkin for the head lights?

 

how bout $80 shipped...

 

I would love to try this, but I have just one question.

I do a lot of rural driving at night. Does this effect the brightness of the lights at all, or do the rounded reflectors do all the work?

 

It's a litle dimmer, but mostly just on the sides of the beam pattern. High beams are def bright enough for rural driving after blacking them out I would imagine...

 

Thanks for the info. I'm off to buy paint!

 

I just bought my paint wish me luck!