Black
Housing Headlights


Tools: Phillips
Screwdriver, Screwdriver, 10mm Wrench (socket), Exacto Knife, Patience.


Supplies:
Flat Black Spray Paint, Masking Tape, Clear Silicone Sealant.


 


Well, lets
get started shall we? Gather your tools and supplies and get ready to give your
Si a makeover. Pop your hood and find these clips holding the top of your bumper
on. To remove them, take our flat screwdriver and pry it under one of the sides,
then twist the screwdriver to popup the clip. Do this for all the clips on top.
There are 2 screws in each wheel well, and finally 8 more clips on the bottom
of the bumper along with 2 more screws.



Take the bumper off
carefully by pulling on the sides to remove it from the groove, then set it
somewhere safe where it will not get scratched, carpet, grass, and away from
traffic.



You now have to remove
the headlight, there are 4 10mm bolts holding the headlight in place, #1 and
#2 are on top, #3 is on the side and #4 is underneath the headlight.






With these bolts removed,
you should now notice the horizontal metal bar holding the headlight in at the
bottom, this will pull out and down allowing you to remove the headlight. Do
so carefully.



...There it is, very
large headlight is it not?



''Tonight on the Food
Network, how to make a gourmet headlight any chef can appreciate..."


First take a cooking
pan and set your headlight on it, no need to grease the pan :) Set your oven
to 250° and put the headlight in right away, no need to preheat. If your
oven has a preheat notifier, this is good, it will tell you when the oven has
reached 250°, when the oven temperature has risen to 250° you should
now remove your headlights. If you do not have a preheat notifier, the headlights
stayed in my oven for only 5 minutes then I removed them.



At this point, you
will need to pull the headlight apart quickly, all I used was a flat screwdriver
and popped up the tabs around the headlight then I got a grip on it and pulled
the pieces apart, it was easier than I thought. NOTICE: Once you've removed
the two pieces do not set them down so that any hot sealant will get on anything.



Remove this screw
from the headlight cover and take out your housing, this is what you will be
painting. Take the clear plastic cover and set this aside on a bed sheet, pillow
and far away from where you are working, if you scratch this, or get sealant
on it you will not be enjoying yourself too much.






Now its time to mask
the headlight, take your roll of tape and apply long straight lines to the edges
of the turnsignal. You can mask it anyway you want, I decided to go with the
Type-R look. The parking light is a little more difficult to mask but I found
a great method, apply alot of masking tape to the inside of the parking light
to the outside. Take an exacto knife and follow the groove around the outside
circle and peel away the excess, this leaves a nicely shaped circle. Before
your paint, make sure to press around all the edges, if the tape isn't adhesed
very well paint will spray underneath leaving a poor line.



Yes...painting this
part is really fun :) I used a can of Mr.Spray it dries really fast and looks
just as good as any other flat black, you can get it at almost any auto parts
depot. I have one thing to say though, make sure you inspect the headlight many
times look in all the cracks and make sure you touch up any light spots, there
is one spot that doesnt get sprayed you have to hold it up with your hand to
get it, its just under the main housing. So throughly inspect the housing. I
used many light coats of paint. After the housing is dry, you can remove your
masking tape and see how well it turned out.



Put the headlight
back together, replacing the screw and pushing the front and back pieces of
the headlight together, be sure to wipe the lens for fingerprints, dirt, dust,
grease, etc. Line both pieces up perfect so the clips line up, if they don't
line up your headlight will look funky when you re-install it. Now put the headlight back in the oven to soften the sealant and press it back together, at this point you can silicone
it, I used McKanica Auto Marine silicone because its automatic and has a throttle,
it makes for a cleaner job. Apply it around the edges.
NOTICE: Do
not apply silicone to the side of the headlight where the turnsignal is, this
part does not make contact with the seal, if you put silicone in the crease
you will see it outside the car, if you make this mistake quicky wipe it off
with a paper towel, thats the good thing about clear silicone, it dries a little
slower. Instead, you may want to apply silicone to the inside groove where you
will not see it. After
you're done applying, run your finger along the edges to make it smooth and
invisible.



Before putting your
headlight all the way back, put your bulbs back in, for H4 bulb seems to be
the hardest, just remember the bulb has 3 pins, the the side of the bulb with
1 pin points down. Re-bolt everything and remember the front support bar.


Repeat this process
for the second headlight (the second goes quicker).


Now you can re-install
your front bumper.



Not too shabby...