Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Body/Appearance/Interior => Topic started by: Red_LX on December 26, 2006, 12:11:41 AM

Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Red_LX on December 26, 2006, 12:11:41 AM
Ok, so I was pulling the header panel and front bumper off my car today (planning an intercooler upgrade), and while removing the header panel, I noticed the lens was falling off one of my headlights for whatever reason, so I pulled it off.

I was looking at the headlight "bucket" itself and I noticed that the flat top and bottom of the inside of the headlight are white, not chromed like the reflector part.

So, my question is, could you paint the top & bottom of the inside of the light black to give the car a "smoked" headlight look, kinda like what they did with the Marauder? Or would that mess up the light output?
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: jncocowboyx on December 26, 2006, 01:33:40 AM
there's sprays out there for that. how good they are, i have no clue.
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Thunder Chicken on December 26, 2006, 08:57:43 AM
Zach (CougarCragar) did it with his MN12 Cougar. I don't think light output was affected - the reflector is what throws the light, and obviously Ford didn't think that part reflected enough to bother chroming it
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Red_LX on December 26, 2006, 11:55:21 AM
I know they have the tint sprays, but I still can't find any real info about how much light they block or how well they work...so I'm undecided on those.

I might have to end up using those, though, as I don't know if I'll be able to get the lens off my other headlight without breaking it.
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Tbird232ci on December 26, 2006, 03:20:39 PM
Ive done it, and it didnt effect the light output much, but it didnt really look all that good either.
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Red_LX on December 26, 2006, 08:07:20 PM
Ok, that's what I was wanting to know (you are talking about painting the buckets right?)
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: jncocowboyx on December 28, 2006, 01:15:50 AM
oh... i thought you meant the lenses.
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Tbird232ci on December 28, 2006, 06:15:33 PM
Quote from: Red_LX;120154
Ok, that's what I was wanting to know (you are talking about painting the buckets right?)


yes, from some angles, it looked good, from others it looked like ass
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: cougarcragar on December 28, 2006, 07:24:21 PM
Don't use the tint spray (Nite Shades) on the lenses. The spray has a very high propensity to 'fish-eye', which would be painfully obvious on a clear/reflective surface.
What if you did a test on your light while it's apart? Maybe you could lay some black fabric or paper in there and put the lense back on.
Title: Possibly dumb idea
Post by: Red_LX on December 28, 2006, 09:02:03 PM
Yeah I might try that.

I bought some VHT spray tint stuff the other night, that is supposed to be a little lighter than nite-shades so I may try it on the headlights. Not sure how well it'll work, guess I'll find out.