Blacked out headlights on C5 A6

[novster]

Wow OP, that make me wish i never sold my silver A6! I'd buy it back just so I could do this mod. Super sweet!

Do I have to completely clean all the old silicone out of the groove of the back piece before I can put new stuff in? Does it matter?

[Aye6]

Do I have to completely clean all the old silicone out of the groove of the back piece before I can put new stuff in? Does it matter?

That's what I did. It actually comes out really easily. Heat the silicone up with a hairdryer or heat gun and take a flat head screwdriver and scrape it out.

[green a6]

do you guy think headlight film is too rice for the c5
lightest dark film

[Aye6]

I have a tint film on my current headlights. It's the lightest one by lamin-x, I believe it's just called "tint". You can see the tint on my headlights in my album.

[novster]

That's what I did. It actually comes out really easily. Heat the silicone up with a hairdryer or heat gun and take a flat head screwdriver and scrape it out.

Thanks for the info. Can I paint the whole inside black, or just the middle headlight? If I did would it mess up how bright my lights are because their is no reflectors to help the light?

[Hambone101]

Thanks for the info. Can I paint the whole inside black, or just the middle headlight? If I did would it mess up how bright my lights are because their is no reflectors to help the light?

I would not paint inside the high beam area, you will want those reflectors if you want to use your high beams efficiently. I painted everything except the high beam area because of that reason. I just have to clean out the old silicone, and piece them back together.

[redneck truck]

How about re-engineering the high beam reflector? Maybe a bulb that has the same connection but protrudes slightly more, then some sort of small parabolic reflector behind it that catches all the light? Kinda like what's done from the factory, but small, round, and removable so you don't have to jack with masking?

I'm surprised you guys who painted the reflectors don't have problems with heat.

[Aye6]

Yeah I didn't paint inside the high beam reflector or the turn signal either. You definetly want those lights reflecting off of something.

The paint I used is high temp engine enamel. Here's how it turned out

[novster]

I taped off the parts that I wanted to keep the reflector, and when I took the tape off so did parts of the deflector. Now there are beige marks and it doesn't look good, and it defeats the purpose of the reflector. Is there any way I can repair it?

[redneck truck]

Derracuda installed a second projector in the high beam bucket. The flaky chrome is why I never went through with the black headlight mod.

[Scotty@Advanced]

I taped off the parts that I wanted to keep the reflector, and when I took the tape off so did parts of the deflector. Now there are beige marks and it doesn't look good, and it defeats the purpose of the reflector. Is there any way I can repair it?

there is some chrome paint available, it's horrendously expensive though.. Other than that your screwed.

[coppertop4646]

there is some chrome paint available, it's horrendously expensive though.. Other than that your screwed.

Horrendously expensive?
http://www.amazon.com/Duplicolor-Dup...7920190&sr=1-1
All you need is a metallic silver spray paint that can withstand high temperatures. Other than that just make sure you sand the surface really well and use either a primer or adhesion promoter to go with the metallic spray.

[Aye6]

Horrendously expensive?
http://www.amazon.com/Duplicolor-Dup...7920190&sr=1-1

That's exactly the stuff I used to cover up some scratches on my reflectors! My god does it look nothing like chrome. I don't recommend it, but you can give it a whirl. Although all I did was spray it in a cup and paintbrush it over the scratches, so a direct application in addition to other chroming techniques might result in a better outcome.

[Hambone101]

^Don't bother with that stuff, I ended up ordering another set of headlight inserts because of this. Taped off the headlight, sprayed the black then pulled tape along with the chrome. Then prepped the high beam side, taped that off, put down a base/primer then the "chrome" paint and it looked nothing like it was supposed to. Apparently there are shops out there that can rechrome the headlights, found a couple of threads from other forums but all the ones I kept seeing were in europe.

[Scotty@Advanced]

Horrendously expensive?
http://www.amazon.com/Duplicolor-Dup...7920190&sr=1-1
All you need is a metallic silver spray paint that can withstand high temperatures. Other than that just make sure you sand the surface really well and use either a primer or adhesion promoter to go with the metallic spray.

Yeah go ahead and used that crap. That paint it shit.

The stuff I was talking about is MirraChrome. IIRC it's about $300 per pint.

[redneck truck]

I wonder how many reflectors or projector buckets you could do with a pint. anyone want to go in on a group buy? I've got several projector buckets I'd like to redo, and if I go black on the headlights, I'll probably need to redo the reflectors as well.

[redneck truck]

auto painter supply sells it for $210 a pint and says a pint will cover 200 square feet. They also include the following disclaimer:

PLEASE! Don't Buy This Item If You Are Not Willing To Take Responsibility For your Own Actions...SOME PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO SUCCEED! We Don't Make It, But We Do Sell It. Saying The Product Is No Good Because You Failed Or Giving Us A "NEGATIVE" Because YOU FAILED Is An Insult To The Thousands Who DID SUCCEED! Judge Us For Accuracy And Speed Of Order Fullfillment, Not on Your Abilility (Or LACK Of Ability) To Succeed In the Application Of This Product!

[redneck truck]

Oh, and the gun/cup recommended to spray it sells for $300 on eBay. Anyone feel a group buy? Roughly 200 headlight buckets or 800 projectors, barring any mistakes.

[Scotty@Advanced]

Used to reflectors were plated using vapor deposition, however most now a days are simply painted with a coating similar to the chrome stuff. Arabs also like to paint their Bentleys and Lamborghinis with it.

[redneck truck]

You've probably never even seen a chrome Lamborghini drifting at 150mph and jumping over sand dunes, so don't knock it till you try it!

[Scotty@Advanced]

You've probably never even seen a chrome Lamborghini drifting at 150mph and jumping over sand dunes, so don't knock it till you try it!

Neither have you, but I'm not knocking the stuff, I've tried it and it works pretty good and price is way less than a plating shop.

[ride slow]

i have the dark smoke lamin-x on my headlights. let me take a quick pic. it doesnt look ricey at all..