Painting headlight bezels
I wanted to give my car's front a more aggressive
look but I was not sure if I liked the plastic "eyebrows"
that are sold in Europe.
I saw a photo of someone's car who had painted
his headlight bezels to match his car. I thought this was
a perfect way to make the front of the car more aggressive
but in a subtle way that would not involve pieces of plastic
attached with velcro. Also this does not affect the light
beam output or pattern if done correctly.
I started by removing
the headlights. You will need to remove the grill first, then
the corner lamps. then you will have exposed the screws that
hold the headlamps in place. Next you can remove the headlamps
by removing the three screws that hold them in place. Use
a flathead screwdriver or similar tool to pop the metal clips
off that hold that glass onto the headlamp. Now is a great
opportunity to clean the inside and outside of the headlamp
glass thoroughly.
DO NOT TOUCH OR ATTEMPT TO CLEAN THE
CHROME SURFACE INSIDE YOUR HEADLAMP. That
could affect your light output, the chrome rubs off extremely
easily!
Next you will need to use a low-tack painting
tape to CAREFULLY mask off the areas you don't want painted.
Use newspaper or plastic shopping bags to protect the inner
chrome surface that reflects the light.
I used some adhesion promoter on the chrome,
then followed with a few light even coats of high temperature
enamel paint. Carefully remove the mask when everything is
thoroughly dry and re-assemble your headlamps.
I have seen this on a few black
cars but this would be a great way to add some color-coding
on other cars. It would look especially aggressive on a red
car, with the bezels painted red to match or even black for
a really aggressive look!
