Painting headlight recesses

Simon · 03-10-04, 10:42 AM

I'm considering painting the headlight recesses (covered by the perspex) in a satin black paint. Has anyone else done this and if so do you have any before after pics?
Thanks
Simon

Mark Worthington · 03-10-04, 02:10 PM

I'm thinking about doing this also. I figured I'd paint the recesses the same color as the rest of the car and then mock up the flat black look with some felt or construction paper to see what it looks like before I commit to painting them. I am also a little concerned about how hot it might get inside the headlight covers if they are painted flat black and the car sits in direct sunlight.

**patbarry** · 03-10-04, 09:58 PM

I talked with the DuPont automotive paint guy about this last week. He said that flat black does not get as hot as normal gloss automotive black. Don't know why, but that's what he said. We got to talking about it after I saw Chuck's car that has the portion of the door inside the window painted flat black. I may do this on a couple of spots on mine, but since the green I am looking at is fairly dark metallic, I haven't decided yet.

charles · 03-11-04, 04:34 AM

Hi Simon.

My 40 has the matt black as you described - I think there's a picture on www.gtd40club.co.uk Look under the Spa photos.

I can't help with the "before" photo, I'm afraid, but I think Malcolm's car would do for comparison?

Hope this helps,
Charles

Julian West · 03-11-04, 04:40 AM

Hi Simon,

Yes, I painted the 'eyes' black & it improved the look of the car tremendously. (IMHO!)

I used Halfords Satin black aerosol with the correct primer. With careful preparation the results were really good.

My car is in for a re-paint at the moment & the sprayer remarked on how good the finish was. He was pretty suprised to hear it came from an aerosol!

Bill Musarra · 03-11-04, 06:16 AM

I probably will do something similar, but I was thinking more along the lines of eliminating glare from the reflection. I'm not sure if it is really a problem though. What I was thinking of doing is possibly painting the inside sills (windows)of the door in a matte finish of the same color as the car, or if I can't get the roll bar finished the way I want, to do the sills and roll bar/cage done in the same color.
Bill

mlevea · 03-11-04, 07:37 AM

Here's a picture of mine.

I painted mine in a black satin finish.

From what I've read the drivers complained of the reflection of the headlights off these surfaces mostly in the rain or fog at night. It basically created a halo that was hard to see through.

I block sanded my recesses, masked off the entire front clip and sprayed.

Mark

Simon · 03-11-04, 12:03 PM

I've decided to go ahead and do it, I'll post some before and after pics when I've finished.
Thanks for the advice and pictures.
Simon

snakeeyes · 03-15-04, 10:23 AM

I've been thinking about doing this for a while, too, and this topic finally got me off my arse this weekend. Here is a shot of my car with the left side recesses done:

snakeeyes · 03-15-04, 10:26 AM

And another of the left side. I also used satin black spray paint. After a bit of block sanding I taped off the lights, adjuster screws, etc. and then covered the rest of the car. It took about 90 minutes per side and I really like the way it looks--more sinister than before:

BuzzClarke · 03-15-04, 03:07 PM

snakeeys:

Great look Bob!!.

And sinister it is.

Dave Bilyk · 03-15-04, 03:08 PM

Bob, seeing the one half done, shows how much difference it can make. Have to compliment you on the whole colour scheme, looks really good.
Dave

snakeeyes · 03-15-04, 03:44 PM

Thank you, guys. As usual this website is a wellspring of ideas and also the motivation to carry them out. My wife was looking at the car the other night and said, "Looks great...like it's got eyeliner on." I told her that was not exactly the look I was going for...

BuzzClarke · 03-15-04, 03:55 PM

My new CAV is silver with a black stripe. Has Hersh or anyone with a silver car done their headlights in black.

Buzz

Howard Jones · 03-15-04, 05:17 PM

I think that the lighter the body color the bettter this works. A dark blue body might not welcome the effect as much. This blacked out "eye liner" really does match the look of the rest of your car. Nice job! Post some more pics of the whole car.

snakeeyes · 03-16-04, 10:57 AM

Thanks again. I will take some more shots of the car and post them--

MK -IV J6 · 03-16-04, 11:13 AM

Not a 40 but works for me.

Howard Jones · 03-17-04, 01:22 PM

Aargggg.............. the face of the enemy!!!! Just poking a little fun at ya. Really wonderful work that you are doing to that Ferrari.(sp?)

Simon · 03-23-04, 05:50 AM

OK, done them, this is what they look like.
Simon

Simon · 03-23-04, 05:51 AM

And this....