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YOUR RESEARCHI changed my headlights
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Use paint/smoked technique
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It looks a lot darker in the garage than it does outside, but I used paint/smoked technique.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Black cars should use a smoke Color Tint in my opinion
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Suggestion
If you were looking for a solid color wrap and wanted to keep them, there's no reason you couldn't use smoked laminex on the fogs and do two cutouts in the wrap.
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Suggestion
If you were looking for a solid color wrap and wanted to keep them, there's no reason you couldn't use smoked laminex on the fogs and do two cutouts in the wrap.
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[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:]
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6Z62Wq90vY8/UkbZhbYKIwI/AAAAAAAABc4/wxqPAMNTKZw/s1008-Ut/13+-+1
There is a picture floating around the web of an Arctic Silver 986 with an opaque silver tint that looks very close.
There are many shades of silver/grey tint with varying levels of transparency.
yes, more details on the tint! My new to me Turbo is Basalt Black Metallic, wonder how it would look with that? Assume the turns and fogs can still shine through?
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
I used a midnight static cling and had the tint shop apply and cut out the oval
It is actually a midnight blue!
Black cars should use a smoke Color Tint in my opinion
It is actually translucent - so it does show 996 headlight form - just makes the ends less jarring
Wow.
I fail(ed) to see the need or reason to do this, but I might be seriously rethinking this. On a black car it does look great. Kudos to you roadsessions!
Looks great, now I am more than intrigued. I will be waiting for more info in this thread.
This has got me thinking too. On a silver car perhaps doing a tint that matches the smoked side markers would be the way to go. Being as it's totally reversible what's to lose?
nice job! Looking fine. Where did you get the film, and did you hire it out or DIY? Oh, and did you paint the headlight squirter covers?
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
Here is a pic from outside today.. in direct sunlight.. in the shade or normal light, it is hard to see the tint on a black car or when it is coming down the road. But compared to the before picture above, I like it. A LOT better.
It was done with tinted clear, (we use PPG paint products) , or 'smoked' as it it called. Can make it any shade, or darkness you want.
Long story, but my car doesn't have the headlight squirters anymore...
I thought about going around the turn signals, but it didn't look right. Was too much of an oval shape if that makes sense.
I don't like the wrap style. At least with tint or smoked your fogs are still functional and those are completely reversible also. There are a few places (like Tech Art) to get the plastic covers like the red ones on the race car in the earlier pic, but they just don't look right to me either..
Yes, agreed on the wrap style loss of functionality. I do like the Lamix stuff. Their films are pretty heavy duty so I wonder how difficult to cut these my self ? Ive email them and asked for a custom cutout to be made on the oval opening for the headlight/turn signal.
In talking to my tint guy, he only had interior tint on hand. He suggested I get something like this headlight tint material and he would install.
I'm the guy that did the wraps posted above- from what all the owners have told me when I did theirs, those fogs are darn near useless anyways. If you were looking for a solid color wrap and wanted to keep them, there's no reason you couldn't use smoked laminex on the fogs and do two cutouts in the wrap.
To answer the questions a bunch of you have asked:
It ONLY works on black, unless you're not really picky on color matches. There may be other colors that have good matches; this is really a one off thing for me, not a core business product. With it being such a small part of what I do, I don't have time to catalog every factory color.
It's custom done by hand with a product called knifeless tape, not a precut kit.
We call it "the Savenor" around the shop, after a local racer... There's a funny story behind it too, but I'm not gonna hijack the OP's post
I'm not looking to get into having headlights shipped out to me, but I appreciate you asking. Any half decent wrap shop in your area should be able to do it, but if they don't mention knifeless tape, RUN. It can't be done right without it.
Thanks!
Kevin
We Wrap Boston
This is the best I've seen yet. And at $200 and only 45 minutes away it may be on my to do list. My only concern would be how close a match to Seal Grey can I get?
So I decided to try the headlight tint myself. Ordered the film from Amazon. Enough for 2 headlights 3 times. 16" X 48" Dark Smoked Tail Lights Film Overlay Cover Smoke Tint Sheet. Youtube videos aplenty so why not. Results are 7/10. The hardest part is the curves and edges. The lights are flat and easy. 2 hours. I had trouble getting a symmetrical oval. New xacto blades and glass foam cleaner are a must. The film has 3 parts. Bottom is adhesive, The top protect sheet peels off after final install leaving a pristine shiny surface.
I'm too much a perfectionist so I will take to my tint guy for a 10/10 job. But I had fun.
looks pretty good, can't see any imperfections. Is the car black or Basalt black metallic? Wonder if spraying pop up headlight washers black would look better? Plastidip perhaps, in case the need to go back. Looks like you have the silvered blinker bulbs.
2002 Turbo - Basalt Black Metallic / 2003 Carrera 4S - Speed Yellow / 1955 356 Continental 1500 - Rust Red
I gave Plastidip a try this weekend. I went this route so I could peel it off if I didn't like the results. I taped the openings and around the outside, and gave it two coats. The problem with Plastidip is that you can't just peel up the tape, you have to cut it out with a razor so it is hard to get it perfect. I was thinking if I liked it I would then cover them with clear luminex, but the black Plastidip doesn't match the black paint, so I don't know how that would look. I'll give it some time, but I'll probably peek it off and try the dark smoked tint. I can always do it again, as it was just the cost of a can of Plastidip and some time!
Knife less tape is the way to go for these kinds of jobs as mentioned by Kevin.
This allows you to follow the factory lines on the lense more clearly instead of looking through the tint, correct and reposition the line multiple times until its to your standards, and not have to worry about knife marks on the lense. If you have a steady hand, cut tape is the other alternative.
You can look up both of these techniques on youtube.
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