Blacked out headlight how-to (With Pics!)

cgass · **Posted:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:36 pm

ReDkK wrote:

Just tried doing mine and now it looks like I'm gonna have to pay for a new headlight. I did exactly what the how to said and when I took it out of the oven the plastic lense had all little cracks on it. Really pissed right now.

Do you know if the thermostat is off on your oven? It may have gotten too hot without you realizing it.

cgass · **Posted:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 9:04 pm

tallblondeygirl wrote:

Looking good Cgass!!

Redkk, you may have put it to close to the top part of the oven. Post some pics, lets see how it looks.

Thanks tallblondeygirl!

ReDkK · **Joined:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:31 pm **Posts:** 91

cgass wrote:

ReDkK wrote:

Just tried doing mine and now it looks like I'm gonna have to pay for a new headlight. I did exactly what the how to said and when I took it out of the oven the plastic lense had all little cracks on it. Really pissed right now.

Do you know if the thermostat is off on your oven? It may have gotten too hot without you realizing it.

not that i know of

ReDkK · **Joined:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:31 pm **Posts:** 91

Im going to post pics in a couple of mins. I really need some help or advice, not really sure what i should do. I really wanted the look and I did exactly what the how to said so I'm not sure what went wrong. I only did one light so the other one is fine. Should I buy a new one and stick with the chrome or should I just buy the renegade lights even though its not cheap? Anyone know where I can get lights cheap? Now I'm nervous to do anything else to my truck. I wanted to tint the tail lights and signals and do the jk bar on the bumper with some fogs but I dont feel like screwing anything else up.

ReDkK · **Joined:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:31 pm **Posts:** 91

here it is

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

geene519 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:58 pm

Looks like the plastic melted. You could always try to bring it back to the dealer and be like "wtf happened to this headlight", see what they say. No harm in trying.

black and blue · **Posted:** Sun Oct 09, 2011 1:40 pm

i found out my oven was set 20 F high, so it'd be a good idea to start at the lower end of the temperature range if you dont have an oven thermometer

ReDkK · **Joined:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:31 pm **Posts:** 91

Well what should I do? I really want them blacked out but I'm not paying 400 for it. but I'm also not just gnna keep buying headlights and messing them up. The whole thing really brought me down and I don't know what to do anymore.

cgass · **Posted:** Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:58 pm

Where do you live ReDkK? If your in WA I'd be willing to help you out. You could also try a salvage yard and see if you can find a headlight assembly there. I agree that paying $400 isn't worth it. Did those cracks compromise the integrity of the plastic to the point that you absolutely need to replace it?

ReDkK · **Joined:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:31 pm **Posts:** 91

cgass wrote:

Where do you live ReDkK? If your in WA I'd be willing to help you out. You could also try a salvage yard and see if you can find a headlight assembly there. I agree that paying $400 isn't worth it. Did those cracks compromise the integrity of the plastic to the point that you absolutely need to replace it?

I live in long island. Thank you for offering tho. I'll try calling a few salvage yards but a lot of them don't have anything from kk's since there still pretty new. I'm not really in a rush to replace the headlight. Right now its holding up, it doesn't affect how the lights project and no water has gotten in it. I def know that I'm NOT spending 400 for the blacked out ones so now I'm just debating if I should keep the Chrome or when I do buy a new headlight should I try again. But if I do try again I would def want someone to help me who has done it before bc I can't afford to mess another one up and then have to buy a new headlight again.

DoubleK · **Posted:** Mon Oct 10, 2011 2:24 am

ReDkK wrote:

cgass wrote:

Where do you live ReDkK? If your in WA I'd be willing to help you out. You could also try a salvage yard and see if you can find a headlight assembly there. I agree that paying $400 isn't worth it. Did those cracks compromise the integrity of the plastic to the point that you absolutely need to replace it?

I live in long island. Thank you for offering tho. I'll try calling a few salvage yards but a lot of them don't have anything from kk's since there still pretty new. I'm not really in a rush to replace the headlight. Right now its holding up, it doesn't affect how the lights project and no water has gotten in it. I def know that I'm NOT spending 400 for the blacked out ones so now I'm just debating if I should keep the Chrome or when I do buy a new headlight should I try again. But if I do try again I would def want someone to help me who has done it before bc I can't afford to mess another one up and then have to buy a new headlight again.

Hey Jeff, I'm pretty sure John, Jeepin'_it_real, has blacked out headlights, im sure he can help you the next time you wanna give it another shot. lemme know, then the next time you wanna do it, we can all meet up. he lives in long island too along with myself.

MJDascoli · **Joined:** Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:23 pm **Posts:** 8

Is the Rolling Rock required or just suggested?

cgass · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2011 2:17 pm

MJDascoli wrote:

Is the Rolling Rock required or just suggested?

Strongly suggested. After fighting with the getting the cover off you'll need one

Maelrio1 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:36 pm **Posts:** 12

Woooot..

ive done this job yesterday evening. Takes @all 4 Hours to do it. First scary thing was the 300 degree which was given as Fahrenheit !! equal 150 degree Celsius. If someone from Europe read only the first post and dont convert to celsius you'll bake the headlights to fit on a Fiat 500 :twisted:

The opening of the glue was hard at the beginning, but works perfect. I clean all the old glue during the paint drys. Put them together and fix it with black Carbody glue which stays little elastic after drying and screw it on my car today morning. Looks great!!!
I bought the Liberty as a crash car with a low price and im near to finish the bodywork. When i see the bodywork of the liberty i often ask myself..are the engineers at Jeep thinking about to build a tank? Amazing how stiff the body is.
To finish the job im waiting for a fender flare opening which i pay from Germany and ship to a friend of my in Florida. He will change the packdimension and ship it to me in about a week. To give you an estimation what you could save on hard money if you buy parts in the US. These front fender flare cost 140$ + 59$ shipment. If i would buy it in Germany it will cost 432$ :shock:

When paintjob is done i'll post some pics of my Cherokee..excuse..Liberty and a big thank you that i've found these site. Helps me a lot, saves a lot of my money and will help me to drive my dream very soon.
Greetz from Germany
Mario

black and blue · **Posted:** Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:33 pm

Welcome Maelrio1!

i too thought this site would save me money at first... turns out it just fueled my urge to put more money in the Jeep! haha

I can't stop workin on it now, but it sure is fun

Sagerist · **Posted:** Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:30 pm

thinking about doing this Mod this weekend and i have a stupid question probably. But when you put the headlights in the oven, do you just lay the foil down on the rack and put the light on it? Or did you put the foil on the cookie sheet and then the light. Just want to make sure i dont melt anything. :shock:

tallblondeygirl · **Posted:** Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:42 pm

I didn't use foil, just a cookie sheet. Just make sure the top of the light isn't too close to the top burner inside the oven.

Sagerist · **Posted:** Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:19 am

Gotcha, just don't want to melt the bottom either!

crj36 · **Joined:** Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:04 pm **Posts:** 3

I was gonna tackle this myself in the next few weeks, but wanted to buy a new set of headlights on ebay, incase i mess up the ones i have. Pretty sure the ones without foglights are cheaper, but I have fogs. Are they interchangeable? For instance, if i bought the ones without fog lights in them, can i just put mine in there or are they not able to do that. Thanks.

z06boy · **Joined:** Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:57 pm **Posts:** 10

Definitely a mod I want to do in the future on my KK. I do wish there was someone in my area that had done this before that I could rely on for 'backup'. :ROTFL:

Humm I see a possible business opportunity for someone....go buy an extra set of KK headlights...perform the mod...box it up and then advertise to perform this procedure for $xx's...have customers send their's in for a core...naa....too much downtime for customer...plus you'd have to charge a big enough core charge in case a customer sent in a set of headlights in crap condition...oh well...it was a thought. :dizzy:

Blacked out headlight how-to (With Pics!)

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