1st August 2024
Painting the headlights JDM RS StyleI had wanted to paint the headlights black for a while, like the JDM RS Fit, but I had been putting it off because I knew how much of a pain it was going to be to do (especially without an oven big enough). But I bought the paint and sealant, and gave it a go.
The whole process was a total pain in the arse to do, and I wouldn't recommend anyone do it unless being held at gunpoint 🤣!
Using the heat gun to soften the sealant was a long, tedious & messy ordeal. It took just over an hour to open the first headlight, and I wanted to rip out my own eyeballs from their sockets.
After some searching online trying to find an alternative method if you don't have an oven big enough to fit a headlight, I found a few videos where they made a make shift oven out of a cardboard box with a hole cut in the side and a heat gun on medium heat pushed through the hole for 10 minutes to uniformly soften the sealant. I was dubious, but I thought it was worth a try. I found a large sized cardboard box and made sure the headlight was at the opposite side of the hole, so the heat gun wouldn't be directly focussing its heat on to any single part of the plastic.
After 10 nervous minutes, I removed the headlight from the cardboard oven, and it was a lot easier to open, and only took about 20mins this time, as the whole light being warm meant the sealant stayed softer for longer, and I only had to use the heat gun again on a few areas.
With the headlights apart, I had to then do the laborious task of removing all the old factory sealant from the headlights, which took hours of heating it up and scooping it out. Eventually, I got enough of it out so that new butyl sealant could be installed after the lights were painted.
I used 600 grit sandpaper to roughen up the plastic, and 2 coats of primer.
I then sanded the primer down with 1200 grit sandpaper and then sprayed 4 light coats of Satin black spray paint on it. The finish wasn't perfect because I was spray painting outside, but it's good enough not to really notice once it's inside the light.
Once the paint was dry and left for 24 hours to harden, I had the fun task of putting it all back together again.
I installed the butyl sealant, and made use of the cardboard oven for 5mins to soften the butyl enough to put everything back together. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that I had used too much butyl, and the lights didn't go back together properly, and the sides were slightly bulging from the excess sealant. So I put the light back in the cardboard oven for 10mins to soften the sealant again, and I pushed all the excess sealant out the sides until it was the correct amount. On the second light I put less sealant on and it went together much better.
After that, I put the lights back on the car and gave the car a quick wash. I didn't notice any moisture in the lights, so the sealant appears to be a success, but I will wait for more rainy weather to be sure everything went to plan.
With the RS headlights going for around £600 for a second hand set, you might be tempted to DIY it, after all, it barely cost £20 in supplies to do. But for your own sanity, I implore you to reconsider 🤣!
Or if you have an oven big enough for the headlights, you should have a much easier time of it!
I used some Halfords grey primer, and some satin black spray paint off Amazon, though it was only 400ml, and I feel it could've done with another coat or 2, so would advise on buying a bigger can of paint than 400ml.
And I used some Butyl headlight sealer that comes in a tape like strip.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375417778707
