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I pulled my old Toytoa Supras’ headlights apart to give them a clean and polish over the weekend so I decided to give them a spray to update them to late model spec.

Also decided since the lights were out to pull the front bar off and install some a Grill behind the front bar seeing as how they didnt have one (or mine was missing) and I mounted my license plate to the new grill.

Here’s a DIY Guide:

What you will need:

Several different sized flat head screwdrivers.
1x Wax & Grease Remover $5
1x Can of Primer (I used PowerPlus, the same brand as the paint) $7
1x Can of PowerPlus “Spray & Brush” System (it’s a normal paint can) the colour is “SNB 150 DESERT ROSE MET” The only other thing on the cap is “PJ9184″. $7
1x Roll of good masking tape (to tape up the chrome rings around the lights) $2
1x Mothers Plastic Polish, Mequirs Plastix, 3M Plastic Cleaner, etc. (I used Mothers) $8
1x Tube of AutoSilicon (Black) $8
Some clean lint free rags

Optional:
Some Methylated spirits (heaps clean up the lenses and remove any AutoSilicone that may get on your lenses)
Various Grades of Wet & Dry if you’re going to sand your lenses.

I got it all from SuperCheap.

Headlight removal: 30mins

You can find all the info for headlight removal in this excellent post by SupraBoy:

http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/…ad.php?t=18217

Separate headlight covers: 2 hours

This is the trickiest part, you don’t want to over cook your headlights and you don’t want to crack your covers or any of the plastics clips, etc so take your time. Dont be afraid to take the headlights out of the oven early and try to pull them apart, if the silicon is still too strong whack them back in. Less is more, dont over cook your lights.

Here’s another excellent guide, this one by SupraMario for getting your headlights apart:

http://www.fluffyduck.com.au/supraheadlights/

I started at 80degrees for 5minutes but I found 90degrees for about 5-6mins was the sweet spot for my oven. I put the lights in the oven “backwards” with the clear plastic facing out so the heat lamps were hitting the back of black plastic support. Figured it’d be better to over cook the back rather then the front lens just in case.

I removed all the globes before cooking but I know most people seem to leave them in. Also when I put them back together I had some of the globes in for the final cooking and all my lights still work so globes in or out is up to you.

As a rough guide I found mine came apart the best when the black plastic support was quite warm – not too hot to touch but uncomfortable to touch if you left your hand on it for a few seconds.

Polishing and cleaning: 1 hour
I gave the lenses a quick polish with some Mineral Turpentine to remove any heavy road grime. I then used Mothers Plastic Polish on the inside and outside of the lenses, worked a charm cleans them up after about 5-10mins of polishing with a clean rag but I polished them for about 45mins each to be sure.

Paint application:
I hit the supports with some wax & grease remover, taped up the chrome rings around the lights, another hit with the W&G remover then gave the headlights a total of 5 coats including primer with at least 4 hours drying time between coats. I gave them light coats as the plastic is quite heavily textured and this can cause the paint to pool along edges causing runs.

The paint brand I used was PowerPlus “Spray & brush” system, its a paint can.. the colour is “SNB 150 DESERT ROSE MET”
The only other thing on the cap is “PJ9184″.
I got it from good old SuperCheap $7 or $8 one can is enough to do bothe headlights.

Putting the headlights back together: 30mins

This went more smoothly then I anticipated. To put them back together I:

Put the black plastic headlight backings back in the oven to soften the residual silicon then scraped as much of the old stuff off it as I could. I then applied the fresh AutoSilicon (It was about $9.00 at SuperCheap). I then returned the whole headlight assembly back to oven for about 5minutes on 90 degrees to soften the last of the existing silicon, and put it all back together, then back in the oven for 2 minutes to heat the silicon for a final time and let it form a complete seal (hopefully). Reinstall the lights and enjoy.

Results:

Sorry for the low quality pics, I took them on my camera phone thingy, they look much better in person.

It has been pissing down in Sydney the past 2 days and I’ve had no moisture, fogging or any other ill affects in my headlights so they *seem* to have sealed up as well as I could hope for.

All up the project took me from about 1:00 in the afternoon until midnight and then another hour or two the next day but that included removing the front bar and installing a new grill, fitting the license plate and re-installing the front bar on top of the headlight update.