Painted My Headlight Housing

O

Omegared2

Member
Location
Hanover MD
Car
2011 BMW 550 GT
Name
Matthew
Painted my headlight housing over the weekend. Long and strenuous job for me... Took a year to take the bumper off :mad:... Other than that the process was smooth.... except one thing. I guess I braved it out and went through w/ taping the chrome... Took about 20 min or so but I thought it was worth it. But once I finished painting and the whole 9, I took the tape off. Along w/ the tape came the chrome in some areas. Not a good look!:embarrassed: The damage is noticeable by me... and anyone else who gives a crap u know.. But I just wanted to see how it would look on the car. I'll eventually paint them all black though. I also still have my smoke housings in excellent shape, so I'm good either way I go.:tup: But here are some pics guys...and girls. None of em on the car yet though. By the time I finished putting the bumper on it was 10 at night. For the headlights though...FYI... I baked at 220 for 8 min.... thats after ballast/bulbs/ and the 3 screws r taken out... And of course I cleaned it before I put it in the oven. Pry apart w/ a butter knife and change everything out. Then I reversed the process after baking again for another 8 min at the same temp. Pressed light back together and inserted the screws... Placed back in the oven for the third time... same temp and time... and pressed together one final time with the light completely put together. Question to u guys that have done this before.... What do u use to get those two headache bolts out the bumper? I had a 10mm wrench which was small, but def not small enough. It took forever taking off and putting back on. Need tips for when I got to all black!:tears:
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1173
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1174
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1175
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1177
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1179
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1178
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1180
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1181
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1183
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1184
 
some help...


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looks sharp!!
 
Omegared2 said:
Painted my headlight housing over the weekend. Long and strenuous job for me... Took a year to take the bumper off :mad:... Other than that the process was smooth.... except one thing. I guess I braved it out and went through w/ taping the chrome... Took about 20 min or so but I thought it was worth it. But once I finished painting and the whole 9, I took the tape off. Along w/ the tape came the chrome in some areas. Not a good look!:embarrassed: The damage is noticeable by me... and anyone else who gives a crap u know.. But I just wanted to see how it would look on the car. I'll eventually paint them all black though. I also still have my smoke housings in excellent shape, so I'm good either way I go.:tup: But here are some pics guys...and girls. None of em on the car yet though. By the time I finished putting the bumper on it was 10 at night. For the headlights though...FYI... I baked at 220 for 8 min.... thats after ballast/bulbs/ and the 3 screws r taken out... And of course I cleaned it before I put it in the oven. Pry apart w/ a butter knife and change everything out. Then I reversed the process after baking again for another 8 min at the same temp. Pressed light back together and inserted the screws... Placed back in the oven for the third time... same temp and time... and pressed together one final time with the light completely put together. Question to u guys that have done this before.... What do u use to get those two headache bolts out the bumper? I had a 10mm wrench which was small, but def not small enough. It took forever taking off and putting back on. Need tips for when I got to all black!:tears:
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1173
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1174
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1175
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1177
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1179
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1178
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1180
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1181
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1183
https://www.infinitiscene.com/search/1/?q=picture.php?albumid=105&pictureid=1184
Click to expand...

Some of the same pics
 
for the bumper screws, I used a 1/4 socket wrench and socket. Also I turn my wheel to the left or right so I can have a better reach, another tip is to fold the wheel liner back.
 
Last edited:
step 7?
///4590

a ratcheting box wrench might make it easier, I only have 1 of the 2 bolts put back for future ease.
 
That looks awesome omegared2 i wish i had the guts to try that with my car. What kind of paint did you use to paint it? Also did you sand it before you primed the headlight housing?
 
Good job. I wonder if the baking of the headlight caused the chrome to peel off with the tape, although I couldn't tell from your photos where it peeled off. Did you wait for it to cool down completely before taping off the chrome?
 
theMerchant said:
for the bumper screws, I used a 1/4 socket wrench and socket. Also I turn my wheel to the left or right so I can have a better reach, another tip is to fold the wheel liner back.
Click to expand...

Turned it to the left too! Still sucked.. I need a socket wrench then:tup:

---------- Post added at 04:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------
ocal21 said:
That looks awesome omegared2 i wish i had the guts to try that with my car. What kind of paint did you use to paint it? Also did you sand it before you primed the headlight housing?
Click to expand...


Primed it and sanded a lil bit with fine sand paper. Dont remember the number.. used plastic dip to paint.

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:04 PM ----------
twistedtahoe said:
Did you sand the crome off or just paint over it?
Click to expand...

Slight sand.. Didnt want to spend to much time sanding because the housing isnt exposed to the elements so I did a light sanding.

---------- Post added at 04:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 PM ----------
fxlr8 said:
step 7?
///4590

a ratcheting box wrench might make it easier, I only have 1 of the 2 bolts put back for future ease.
Click to expand...


Man I shoulda left one out... That s!@# was a pain:mad:
 
I use a swivel ratchet, the handle swivels right past the ratchet head, it makes it a piece of cake. another pointer is you do not have to take the 5 million 10mm bolts off all across the bottom, just take the 2 outer ones out to release the w/o moldings, then when you take all the rest of the upper bolts out you can hinge the bumper foward enough to remove the headlights without removing the whole bumper no problem, avoid the whole lower bolts & fogs thing all togeather.

the chrome is a nightmare, extremely difficult to not damage. I still haven't come up with a foolproof way of doing it & keeping perfect chrome & I've tried many times... extremely delicate finish
 
turbocad6 said:
I use a swivel ratchet, the handle swivels right past the ratchet head, it makes it a piece of cake. another pointer is you do not have to take the 5 million 10mm bolts off all across the bottom, just take the 2 outer ones out to release the w/o moldings, then when you take all the rest of the upper bolts out you can hinge the bumper foward enough to remove the headlights without removing the whole bumper no problem, avoid the whole lower bolts & fogs thing all togeather.

the chrome is a nightmare, extremely difficult to not damage. I still haven't come up with a foolproof way of doing it & keeping perfect chrome & I've tried many times... extremely delicate finish
Click to expand...

Ok yeah I see what ur saying... That makes sense to because I have no business with the bumper except to lower it to get the headlights out. And ill look for a swivel ratchet... And yes the chrome is delicate... I used the delicate blue paint tape... scotch tape or electircal would have probably still done damage...

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:17 PM ----------
IvoRoyfx35 said:
Good job. I wonder if the baking of the headlight caused the chrome to peel off with the tape, although I couldn't tell from your photos where it peeled off. Did you wait for it to cool down completely before taping off the chrome?
Click to expand...


No i have two extra sets of headlights that were already open. I just used another set that had been open for a couple of months now...I just think that its like that. The guys over at Infiniti probably dont expect that area to be touched at all so u know... besides I think all chrome is pretty sensitive.

---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------
IvoRoyfx35 said:
Good job. I wonder if the baking of the headlight caused the chrome to peel off with the tape, although I couldn't tell from your photos where it peeled off. Did you wait for it to cool down completely before taping off the chrome?
Click to expand...

Check the bottome pic w/the close up on the right light... W/the small ring u can see where it began to come off. Looks like a grey scuff mark
 
Hun... That looks better and fits snugg it seems... Where did u get it from? I have the OEM one. I usually don use it much but would like to have a nice one when I do.
 
Good to know about the sensitive chrome. I was thinking about doing mine later too, so I'll keep that in mind. I just thought about putting a latex glove or something like that over it and securing it with rubber band, since it is round. Food for thought.
 
IvoRoyfx35 said:
Good to know about the sensitive chrome. I was thinking about doing mine later too, so I'll keep that in mind. I just thought about putting a latex glove or something like that over it and securing it with rubber band, since it is round. Food for thought.
Click to expand...

That actually sounds like a good idea...
 
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