Headlight de-chroming

[mrwall]

(pulling this from a few posts on one thread so may look a bit odd)
want the ATR look headlights?

we all know the front devider looks pooh in the chrome stuff, so I thought i'd crack them open and spray them.
here's how.

You will need:
nail varnish remover.
heat gun
hot oven
old cloths
lots of time and patience
clear silicone

1st we have to get the front lens off,
pre heat oven hot as it will go.
use a cold baking tray to rest the lights on (if you put them straight on the shelf they will melt!!)
leave them in for about 2 minutes (mine will not fit in my oven so I left the door open and turned them round half way through)

once they are heated you have to gently pry them open. ( dont forget to unso the 3 secrews at the indicator end) I used a large headed flet blade screwdriver, be careful the plastic id very doft now

the industrial strength silicone will come away but it's ultra sticky!

take your time as not to snap the little plastic tags off, it they will not move, use the heat gun and bend them a bit

once open

take out the shiny front bit

now the tedious task of rubbing the chrome finish off, underneath it's mid gloss black (why Honda painted them i'll nver know?) this takes ages but it is worth it as they look brilliant done properly.

here's mine half done after about an hour and half a bottle nail polish remover, (believe meths works well too.)

think it's a personal choice but I'm leaving the indicator bit chrome as not to get attention from the old bill, I reckon the indicator will be too dull with black surround

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first one done

all I have to now is polish the plastic lens.....any ideas?

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these Accords are so well put together!, half the front end had to come off just to change the lights, the resonator just "fell out" while I had the bumper off!

post finished pics tomorrow after it's washed!



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[mrwall]

Completely wet sand the lenses with 2000 then 3000 grit wet and dry

a tub of cutting compound or T-CUT will do the job

get one of these if you do not have a polishing Machine. mine was £5.00 off EBAY.

sand them down thoroughly using 2000 then 3000, make sure you keep the lenses wet all the time.

then using a very wet polishing buffer thingy polish them back to new state, (very very messy bit, cover the engine bay with a dust sheet).

the easier way to do this is find a "sport" model in a scrappy, I have facelift lights in a prefacelift car so any will fit, can imagine finding a complete pair will be difficult, and this way you can stand back and admire YOUR handywork

 

[luvmyaccord]

Thanks for putting that up dude!!!

P.S I deleted your double post. B)

 

[exec]

Bump. This would look good in the DIY or Mod sub section, even if the images are gone, might come in handy for people.

 

[mrwall]

I will have the pictures somewhere if someone wants to put them all back in the thread?