For those Zenki lovers with bad headlights [Teaser PIC]

[Dopefish]

::Tutorial::

Cleaning and Tinting/Smoking your 'yellowed' Zenki 240sx headlamps. (The correct way)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/shiftfront.jpg

Many 95-96 240sx owners suffer from faded/aged headlamps, others just go Kouki and avoid the problem altogether. Others on a budget or that prefer the Zenki front-end are left with issues to resolve. I'll outline all the steps required to clean up your headlamps to be like new as well as smoke them without hindering their lightoutput.

:Outline:

-Tools and Other Prerequisites
-Removal
-Disassembly
-Cleaning and Clearing
-Smoking/Tinting
-Reassembly

:Tools and Other Prerequisites:

Ratchet 8mm socket
Phillips screwdriver (small)
Phillips screwdriver (large)
Flathead screwdriver (large)
6 cu.ft. oven OR heatgun
Dish soap
Sandpaper grits: 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500
Polishing compound (Novus 3 stage recommended)
Clean lint-free terry cloth
1/2" blue painter's tape
Razor blade
High-temp matte' or gloss black paint

:Removal:

Removing the headlamps and corner lamps is a rather easy task and only takes about 15 minutes to complete.

-Open hood
-Remove two 'plastic trees' from top of grill insert.
-Slide grill forward and out from three lower tabs attaching it to the re-bar
-Remove phillips screw from the top corner that connects the corner lamps to the headlamps
-Slide corner lamps out
-Remove two 8mm nuts securing each headlamp from the sides that are now exposed.
-Lamps should come out slightly now, remove high-beam and low-beam connections (remember to unscrew cuff around low-beam harness
-Once wiring is removed the lamp assemblies should slide out freely at this point.

Now you'll want to remove the bulbs and go ahead and wash the assembly with warm water and dish soap. Make sure that all sand and bugs, etc are clean from the lense face. From here you can either go straight to sanding and clearing the lense face or you can continue to the next steps of seperating the lense from the housing. Doing so is not required but makes clearing the sides of the lense easier. The main reason to seperate the housings is to prepare to 'smoke' or 'tint' the lenses.

:Disassembly:

Take the flathead screwdriver and pop off the four metal retainers holding the lense and housing together. I suggest going from the black housing side as it is possible to chip the lense if the screwdriver slips.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees (f) and remove everything except the lower rack. lay the headlamp assemblies into the over once heated; assuring that nothing touches the lense face or that the headlamps are against the wall of the oven. The bottom of the headlamps can be sat on the oven rack. At this temperature the plastics will not melt but direct contact could case scarring of the lense so it is better to be safe than sorry. This will soften the sealant holding the lense to the housing. After about 15 minutes the sealant will be soft enough that seperation with a flathead screwdriver will be easy.

Seperating the lense from the housing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised002.jpg

The other option if you do not have a large enough oven is to work around the breakline between the lense and housing with a heatgun to soften the sealant, as you work around use the flathead screwdriver to lightly pry the housings apart, dont be too forceful or the plastic may crack

Work evenly around the housings in a timely manner with the flathead screwdriver; the sealant will begin to reharden as it cools down. The sealant will be very gummy, be careful that it doesnt string out and sling back into the lense otherwise it may leave hard to remove black marks on the inside of the lense.

There will be a shield that covers part of the highbeam bulb, this is easily removed by the two small screws on the top reflector with a small phillips screwdriver. This is required in order smoke the lenses but can be reinsalled afterwards. I left mine out and have had no ill effects or angry oncomers.

:Cleaning and Clearing:

Take the lense and wash it with soap and warm water once more to assure you dont have anything on the surface that could scratch the plastic while sanding. Now fill a bowl with clean water and gather up your sandpaper, it is best to do this outside as it is very messy.

Take the 800 grit sand paper and dip it in the bowl of water; begin sanding the lense in a back/forth motion, try to stay on the same plane and not change directions. Redip the sandpaper every so often to assure it stays wet and clean, continue this for about 7-10 minutes. Repeat this process with each grit of sandpaper, AT LEAST to 2000 grit. Higher grits can be used and are recommended but nothing above 2500 is really required. Better results will obviously be given with higher grits.

Wash the entire lense once you have worked through all the grits, make sure all sides have consistant sanding and are clear of any yellowing or deep scratches. Now you can move on to the polishing compounds which are much cleaner and can be done in the comfort of your living room.

Take the heavy-cut polish and apply an even amount across the lense, do one side at a time and rub generously in a back/fourth motion with your terry cloth. Once the compund is a thin film you can move to a clean portion of your cloth and wipe away.

Now use the medium-cut polish and apply in the same fashion, this time generously rub in a circular motion until there is only a thin film. Moving to a clean portion of cloth wipe away.

The last step is a fine polish/cleaner that can be generously doused on. Wipe away in a back/fourth motion until dry using a clean portion of cloth. This is also good to apply to the inside of the lense as it cleans the inner sections of any small dust/dirt that may of gotten in.

Cleaned lense and polishes
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised008.jpg

:Smoking/Tinting:

Many people will and have taken VHT's Nightshades spray-on product and tinted their headlamps. It offers the desired effect but has the inwanted drawback of dimming the light output from the headlamp assembly; this is bad and will make nighttime driving more difficult. The proper way to smoke the headlamps is to take the unused reflector sections from the inside of the headlamp and paint them black. This effect has been used on many vehicles including the 00 Impala and 01 Mustangs. The reflector sections are needed to guide the light onto the road, however several portions are not used and they are obvious upon looking at them.

Take painters tape and mask off the primary reflectors. These are the shaped ones that curve around the bulb. The flat reflectors on the bottom and top as well as the center where the hi and low buckets meet are safe to paint. Once I had the tape over the entire primary reflector surface I used a razorblade to cut to shape and unvail the sections I wish to paint. I used additional tape around the joint for the lense to minimize overspray from the reflector insert.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER]

I recommend lightly sanding the sections to be painted to assist with paint adhesion, 800grit is fine just to rough it up a bit. I used high-temp flat black paint but gloss is fine, the important part is hi-temp as the bulbs get very hot and you dont want the paint to bubble off or melt.


Follow the instructions on the back of the paint can, shaking well for a few minutes, and spraying in a even side to side motion. I sprayed a thin coat from the top of the housing to assure good coverage on the bottom and sides, waited for the paint to flash (initially dry, glossyness fades away) then sprayed another thin coat from the bottom to get good top coverage. I suggest repeating this three to four times or until you have a solid and consistant layer of paint on all desired sections. Do not remove tape, leave the housing to dry overnight -- premature removal could cause the tape to take paint with it.

The finished housing should look like so:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised24.jpg

:Reassembly:

Reassembly is easy, I didnt even heat my headlamps up in order to assure a good seal but if you have leaks I'd try sticking the assemblies into the oven at 250 degrees (f) for 15 minutes if water leaks occur. I mearly pushed the lenses back into the housing and reinstalled the four metal clamps. The pressure from the retainers is usually enough to assure a good seal with the sealant already between the housing and lense.

Reassembled smoked housing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised26.jpg

Reinstalling the lights is the reverse of uninstallation, once complete assure your level guides are within spec; the bubble should be in the middle of the glass between the two bold lines.

Your headlights should look similar to this once done:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/frontend1.jpg

Before / After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/headlights1.jpg

MySpace Mirror Of The Tutorial (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=23997526&blogID=120285103&Mytoken=85B174DD-C185-488A-A3258FF84E1C7F39723435609)

[S13SilviaGirl]

looking good!

[projectRDM]

Much better.

[FinalDrive]

looks 100% better

[yudalicious]

great job.
1. what kind of rubbing compound did you use? I did something similar w/ 600 then 2000 sand paper + 3M finecut compound.
2. how did you "smoke" the headlight?

[bigteddyted]

very phat, post a pic wit the lights on the car

[s13pignose]

Yeah I have all the same questions. Mine are cleaner than any I've seen personally and its a 95. No where near yellow like that. But they have that plastic haze type look. However I can see where it look like it might start to yellow. Yeah I bought clear coat for my lights to for when I clean em. The can said crystal clear finish "non-yellowing".

Great idea though. You plan on brighter bulbs?

[aznpoopy]

looks good. mine was just as dramatic. there's a good write up on nico iirc that some girl wrote a couple years ago. steps are basically the same. wetsand and polish. if looks even better if you wax and rainx it after you polish it. the only bad thing imo is you have to keep up with it or it fogs over again pretty quickly.

i don't know if taking out the facets on the cover is a good idea. i believe they are necessary to aim the light. i.e., if you put final connexxion lenses on stock headlights the beam pattern gets fucked up.

[Jefferson]

Man that looks so good. Mine are starting to get yellow but not as bad as yours used to be, so I think I ma going to get on this before they haze up.

Sandpaper and rubbing compound right?

[DaPCWiz]

yeah I did hte same thing with aluminum polish. and then plastic polish. Aluminum polish cleans the headlights but leaves em cloudy. Then u take plastic polish and that kills the cloudiness.

[TougeRacing]

damn that looks good.

[Pank]

I did mine with 2k grit sandpaper and brasso, its clearer, but still a little yellow. I guess i'll have to sand it more? i really REALLY dont want to pull them again, but i guess i'll have to. what're the chances of the yellowing being on the inside of the cover?

[Dopefish]

This is going to be a general answer to all questions across a couple forums so please dont think I'm weird for additional stuff I've crammed into this post.

Will a write-up be available, or will this be a service provided to the online community?
Yes I will offer a write-up with images. I will also possibly be offering a service for cleaning, smoking and clearing the lights.

What tools are required?
Cleaning:
Sand paper: (grits) 220, 400, 800, 1000, 2000
High-speed drill
5" buffing wheel
buffing compounds (rough, medium, fine)

Blacking/Smoking:
High temp black paint (gloss or matte)
Painters tape/masking tape

Clearing:
Multispeed dremel
Multiple sanding bits of shapes and sizes
Patiance (lots of it)

What compounds were used to buff the housing?
The compound is a three stage buffing compound, not sure of the make, Novus three stage polish will also be used as a final process.

How did you smoke the headlights?
I blacked out non-important sections of the reflector housing to achieve the 'smoked' effect without inhibiting lighting ability. I'm currently testing with additional portions of the outer housing to gain more of a shaded effect.

Do you plan on brighter bulbs?
Only Silverstars but that is for later, the original bulbs will be fine for now.

Will the housings eventually yellow again?
In time, yes -- however it will be as if the housing was brand new so consider the same amount of time it took them to yellow from being a new car. This can be prevented with additional waxes added to your cleaning routine or a clearcoat could be added to the outer housing to prevent yellowing.

Were tools used in sanding or was it done by hand?
All sanding and polishing was done by hand, only the removal of faceting will be performed with a powertool.

I'm going to try finishing the other housing tonight but I'll be working the rest of the week so I need my car until Sunday. Once I have a process finalized I'll work on a write-up for those interested.

Thanks for the support guys,
~Kris

[punkz]

Wow, that's a nice improvement there.

[FaLKoN240]

Ooo, he had some a professional post too.

[95Blue240sx]

I would not advise you to start at 200grit. That scorches the plastic pretty deep. I have used 1000 and higher and it works fine. When you star at something so rough you have to put in a lot more time than what its worth.

[2iv0 sx]

Is that only the outside part of the lamp? Looks brand spankin new.

Heres another write up, but for Supras.. (http://www.luxurymods.com/tutorial1.htm)

[axiomatik]

wow, did those lights emit anything before? nice improvement.

[Azzazzyn]

I just recently did the same with my headlights sort of, you can't see real well, but they were ugly yellow, not as bad as the ones above, but here are pics
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/1969/picture1411kx.jpg

since I wanted to get the euro's anyway, I had an idea, I know, not brilliant, but hey. I painted the reflectors to colormatch my car, concord gray metallic.

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/8391/picture1485ns.jpg

I used a bunch of different cleanign solutions on the inside, spray 9 mainly, and I used superfine steel wool on the outside. then i used polish and claybar on the outside. they look sooo much better now.
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5117/picture1979dt.jpg

until I get my radiator back, i can't find out how they do on the road at night.
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/5168/picture1554qc.jpg

[Dopefish]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamps31.jpg

Passenger headlamp with cleaned outer housing and painted inner housing (reflectors). What is important about the painting is to utilize the UNUSED reflectors, otherwise lighting ability will be compromised. The top, bottom and intermediate areas of the reflector is alright to paint but the rear and sides are not okay. I only painted the bottoms and intermediate area and was quite happy with the results.

The drivers headlamp was only cleaned. I began testing some clearing techniques on the low-beam portion of the housing so only the high-beam portion is actually nice looking/clean. The rest has a haze from the inner sections being removed.

Azzazzyn,looks nice, although it looks like the side reflectors were painted as well which I feel will hinder lighting a bit. Nice choice in the color matching. I really like the Concord Gray, which mine were that color instead of purple (Rub Red M.)

~Kris

[Azzazzyn]

yeah, I lacked all knowledge of how to do it, and what better way to learn than diy. I searched here for a write up of some sort on baking the headlight and such, but to no avail. I doubt i searched hard enough either. The whole thing is painted :duh: but its ok, I have learnt the right way to do it now, and I thnak you for that.

[nistech]

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=92864&highlight=headlights

i started this thread a while ago, dont bump this thread^^ can u just awnser my question on how to pop them a part thx

[dued]

I don't understand your "clearing techniques." What are you doing to make your headlights so clear? And I also don't understand your painting technique. Are you opening up the headlight and painting the housing? Your clarification is much appreciated.:hyper:

[Azzazzyn]

I was scared to do it myself, but here's the way i did it. I took the bulbs out first(duh) I preheated my oven to 350. I put my headlight in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, I pulled it out, wedge a flathead where the housing meets the lens, twisted to get seperation and then I pried them apart with my hands. No damage whatsoever. when your done cleaning them or whatever your plans, press them back together, put them back in the oven, and when you pull them out, just press them back together nice and tight and let them sit and cool.

[Gnnr]

Good stuff, can't wait for the write up. I already tried to clear mines with no luck. I sanded 'till my arms felt like they where going to fall off, and still its yellow! *grrrr*

[dued]

Also, what brand/color of paint did you use on the inside?

[yudalicious]

Good stuff, can't wait for the write up. I already tried to clear mines with no luck. I sanded 'till my arms felt like they where going to fall off, and still its yellow! *grrrr*
what were you using to sand?
try a rougher grit while wetsanding, I used 600 grit then 1500 or 2000, it doesn't really matter. after that use a good rubbing compound (i use 3m fine cut, made just for 1500 grit and it has proven to be very good). Hand sanding the headlights works fine, after that use an eletric tool for the rubbing compound, that would result in a much better looking headlight. i use a household drill w/ an adapter (you can find it at wal mart) personally.

[Azzazzyn]

Also, what brand/color of paint did you use on the inside?
if this questin was to me, although I think it wasn't. I went to automotivetouchup.com and gave them my factory color code and I paid something like 24 bucks for a spray can. believe the color code was ln1. I want to take mine off again and wetsand them, I want that crystal clear look that the others have :( Mine are a helluva improvement over what they were though.

[andrewmp6]

i have used mothers mag and aluim polish on headlights before worked good just wax them or get a sealer so they dont go back the way they was

[dued]

Hey Dopefish, please don't let this thread die. Will you post pictures of your finished product on your car?

[95KA-Turbo]

I use another method (3 step method) that works really really good:

1 - Wash headlights with soap and water (I usually do this when I wash my car)

2 - Use 1200 or higher grit sand paper and wet sand the crap out of them, you'll when they are done you will not feel any resistance against your hands, it'll be nice a smooth when you move the sand paper across the headlight.

3 - Apply Miguires #4 show polish on the headlights AFTER they have been dried, allow that to dry for a few minutes and remove in a circuler motion.

Done - clear ass headlights. I am still planning on getting the Euro glass headlights though because you can actually SEE through them to make black housing have a point, and you don't have vision problems like you do with the final konnexion clear headlights.

[Johny5]

those things still look like crap, you can't save zenki lights. they're destined to be hazy, crappy, and lame. fk covers or go home.

[koukidough]

did you even clean the inside to make it look that new? Hard to imagine all that yellow and dirt was from the outside of the headlights only. I wouldn't know...

[axiomatik]

yeah, I lacked all knowledge of how to do it, and what better way to learn than diy. I searched here for a write up of some sort on baking the headlight and such, but to no avail. I doubt i searched hard enough either. The whole thing is painted :duh: but its ok, I have learnt the right way to do it now, and I thnak you for that.

Not to be a jackass, but did you really need a write-up to tell you to not paint the reflectors? They aren't exactly there just for decoration.

[Siizzzoooo]

those things still look like crap, you can't save zenki lights. they're destined to be hazy, crappy, and lame. fk covers or go home.

lol i agree:rawk:

[Dopefish]

Hey Dopefish, please don't let this thread die. Will you post pictures of your finished product on your car?

Two posts up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamps31.jpg

The passenger one is complete in my mind. The FK clears apparently ruin the lighting something awful so I'm going to forgoe that process. I'm need to get a passenger corner lamp and new lense for my drivers-side headlamp. Once I have those I can finish and do the corners to match, etc.

The car will be painted black and staying Zenki for awhile. Personally with the blacked out sections and cleaned lenses the Zenki looks 10x better. I still want to go Kouki eventually but my priorities lay elsewhere.

Once I get the new drivers lamp and corner lamp I'll take images with a complete front and have plenty of images for blacking out the lamps to help others do the same.

As far as paint, I used VHT high-temp gloss engine enamal. Although matte and gloss both work just as well for the end result.

~Kris

[SR20d2fourT]

Awesome lights dude, I love the way they look. My friends lights look the same on his Zenki and we heard that brake fluid was the thing to use on those yellow filmed lights. Guess not, I will definetly show him this thread, thanks for the informative thread.

[s13pignose]

Whats the best way to spray clear short bursts or continuous? Side to side or up and down?

Thanks

[usdm180sx]

Dopefish's lights look pretty good, except when you compare them to German Glass headlights.

[seiyess]

i use plastic cleaner from pepboys. the one with motorcycle with plastic windshield picture on it. works great. don't have to do many stage.. just rubb it and maybe wax it to protect lil better.

[khmerguy618]

man the light turned out awesome great job.

[Dopefish]

All cleaning was done on the outside only. The headlamps get burned on the outside by the sun and are pitted/hazed by other vehicles on the road kicking up sand and other light debri at high speeds.

Here is another image I took this afternoon of the smoked lamp, I still havent procured a new drivers-side headlamp or passenger corner lamp to complete the setup. :( I may paint more reflector sections, as there are still 4-6 more that are unused. Once I've found the best combo I'll do a write up on the smoking.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/light2.jpg

..and before anyone says it, yes the fender will get painted eventually. I'm looking at painting the entire car either black or more likely now Ford's Dark Shadow Gray Metallic. (03-04 Mustangs) I ave to assure everything is square with the front-end before i look to paint. Issues like the missing corner lamp and a bent bracket that runs underneath the headlamps and grill are bending the bumper out of shape and putting pressure on the grill and lights.

If anyone has these for sale I'm in need.

Thanks,
~Kris

[1mns13]

Those are some great options for plastic headlights. Hooray for ingenuity. Much cheaper than glass.

[Dopefish]

I got a bunch of stuff to fix up my front-end before paint as well as worked a potential deal for next week to get some S14 15" OE wheels in trade for my aftermarket three-spokes that I am not fond of in the least.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/newparts1.jpg

I got a new drivers headlamp that I'll clean up and use as the poster-child for my 'smoking' tutorial, an OE 'Zenki' grill to play with, an OE silver badge, and a replacement header panel since mine is bent.

~Kris

[Dopefish]

Double post.

~Kris

[Dopefish]

Alright, update, small one....

I cleaned up my new drivers headlamp tonight, used a new method to see how it'd work. I'll let you be the judge based on the pics but I think it came out well.

Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised002.jpg

After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised008.jpg

New attempt:
800 grit wetsand
1000 grit wetsand
2000 grit wetsand
Novus 3 cut
Novus 2 polish
Novus 1 clean and protect

Less work and time and the same results. I'll redo the passenger lamp this way to see if it has an improvement as I fell this one is actually clearer.

~Kris

[AllenRPS13]

look really nice! good job, man

[AzNCmB]

what auto stores sell novus products?

[Dopefish]

what auto stores sell novus products?

Not really sure, I picked it up at a local computer show as at the time I was big into computer case moddding (still am) and needed some good stuff to polish up my windows and other plexi parts.

~Kris

[Gnnr]

How do you get the headlights out?

[Dopefish]

How do you get the headlights out?

-Open hood
-Remove two 'plastic trees' from top of grill insert.
-Slide grill forward and out from three lower tabs attaching it to the re-bar
-Remove phillips screw from the top corner that connects the corner lamps to the headlamps
-Slide corner lamps out
-Remove two 8mm nuts securing each headlamp from the sides that are now exposed.
-Lamps should come out slightly now, remove high-beam and low-beam connections (remember to unscrew cuff around low-beam harness
-Once wiring is removed the lamp assemblies should slide out freely at this point.

Johnny5 is just biased to the Kouki, I am too but I have a new found love for the Zenki front with the lights, now if I could just find the two-tone turn-signal lenses like the S13's. Maybe I'll have to make them too. He could be nicer about it though.

~Kris

[Gnnr]

^Thanks.

0123456789101112

[Siizzzoooo]

i think im gonna put my FK covers on my Zenki today

[Dopefish]

I was sick but started feeling better later in the evening so I decided to use the time and finish the extra lamp, came out nicely... I'll mount it on the car tomorrow and see how it looks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised24.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/Headlamps/headlamprevised26.jpg

i think im gonna put my FK covers on my Zenki today

Can you post before and after images of the beam pattern? I tried to make my own clear lense and mangled it, I have another idea but the thought of a poor beam pattern makes me not want to bother.

~Kris

[Siizzzoooo]

yeah the beam pattern sucks, but Im pretty sure I'm gonna retrofit a projector in there

[Gnnr]

Man, this thread is inspring me to give my headlighs another shot. What did you apply the Novus stuff with? A regular rag? I need to find a carrier of that stuff.

[Dopefish]

Yep, in fact you can see the cloth I used in the pic. lol

~Kris

[Gnnr]

Found a seller.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Search?catalogId=10101&storeId=10101&sku=novus&searchbtn.x=0&searchbtn.y=0

[Dopefish]

Latest, also used an amber 194 bulb in the clear-corner. I'm quite happy with the results.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/DopefishLives/240sx/frontend1.jpg

~Kris

[DRIFTER-M]

Since this post is about zenki headlight mods, does anyone know how to make the lenses different colors? I have seen blue and yellow and red, stuff like that. I know its alittle off-topic, but has anyone on here done this succesfully, and can explain how to do it right? Thanks.

*also, dopefish, your light cleaning came out awesome, nice work.

[DaPCWiz]

Since this post is about zenki headlight mods, does anyone know how to make the lenses different colors? I have seen blue and yellow and red, stuff like that. I know its alittle off-topic, but has anyone on here done this succesfully, and can explain how to do it right? Thanks.

*also, dopefish, your light cleaning came out awesome, nice work.

yep... you get clear colored vinyl and put it over them... http://www.lamin-x.com/ carries awesome stuff.

[DRIFTER-M]

SWEET, thanks for the quick response.

[Dopefish]

Since this post is about zenki headlight mods, does anyone know how to make the lenses different colors? I have seen blue and yellow and red, stuff like that. I know its alittle off-topic, but has anyone on here done this succesfully, and can explain how to do it right? Thanks.

*also, dopefish, your light cleaning came out awesome, nice work.

The effect you are talking about is achieved with gels/vinyl. It is a clear plastic film that adhiers to the lense and changes it's color, imagine window tint. Many use yellow and I've seen one car that it looked pretty good on but it was black and the lights served as the ONLY contrast to that which looked nice. Otherwise I'd just avoid it, if you notice I used an amber bulb in my corners and I think it offers a nice contrast.

I am gonna do something with my lower turn-signals (which is why they are off right now) similar to those gels, possibly a mimic of the JDM 180sx turn signals but we'll see how cleaning makes them look first.

Beat to the punch by DaPCWiz, lol

~Kris

[Dopefish]

Is there any way this could possibly become a sticky or be added to a list of 'helpful posts'? I think it'd benifit a lot of those on a budget that wanna clean up their car.

Thanks,
~Kris

[sittinsideways]

^^ i second that

very good thread on how to do this. i'm going to be picking up a 95 and plan to do the same to it. i have seen a black kouki on jspec with black headlights. it looked real sick. i'm assuming it was the same vinyl technique mentioned above....correct?

just checked out teh lamin-x site and they dont have precuts for any year 240. so that would require diy. unless i'm wrong

[Dopefish]

I've edited the first post to have organized information on this modification. I will be uploading more images from my laptop tonight and add them in as well.

Thank you all again for your support, hopefully this will bring out a few more Zenki lovers. ;)

[Dopefish]

^^ i second that

very good thread on how to do this. i'm going to be picking up a 95 and plan to do the same to it. i have seen a black kouki on jspec with black headlights. it looked real sick. i'm assuming it was the same vinyl technique mentioned above....correct?

just checked out teh lamin-x site and they dont have precuts for any year 240. so that would require diy. unless i'm wrong

Read the first post in the thread now that I'd edited it. What he was refering to Lamin-x was for the yellow tinting on the lenses some people go for to get that 'JDM' look. Using a 'smoked' vinyl on your headlamps will still reduce light output; my method is designed to give the visual of a tinted housing without the loss of light output.

[westcoastpj]

sorry to bump an old thread,but i cant find that wax.what other wax can work?and just to clarify,i do the sanding and waxing on the inside rite?

[aznpoopy]

the outside is usually yellowed over the worst
so if you do anything at all, do the outside
you can do the inside in addition to the outside if you feel like it

[illvialuver]

you can actually clean them up really good without worrying about rippin them open.
just pop the hood.
supplies.
1000,1500,2000 grit
adn any plastic polish ( i used maguires)
and a power dril and the maguires polishing ball
get a bucket of soapy water and wash the lens, than use the higher grit sand paper and rub with a horizontal fashion, than clean
used the next sandpaper liek the 1500
same process, than the 2000
than rubb plastic polish and rub in circular motion, thaaaaann
put polishing ball on drill and buff the shit outta them.
it works and is very effective ad easy

[Prok0]

*delete*
msglngth

[fliprayzin240sx]

Brazzo works too to get most of that yellow doo-doo film off...

[Lordrandall]

Great write up. I must do this. :)

[lil240sx95]

so I CAN do this without taking it apart then? like illvialuver said? but would it look the same?

[fliprayzin240sx]

Do the outside first, if your still not happy, then go ahead and do the inside. The crappy part about doing the inside is that its hard to polish because of the flutes/lines. You wont really get in between that well. Your next best choice is getting some clear lenses...this is the only way for me, or else I would have already gone Kouki front end.

i tried polishing mine first but wasnt completely happy with the results, so i went clear lenses and TSX HID retrofit, blacked out most of the chrome shiet

Before:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/P7070058.jpg

Now:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/IMG_14233.jpg

[illvialuver]

so I CAN do this without taking it apart then? like illvialuver said? but would it look the same?

yes withouttaking them apart, the the power ball marks the biggest difference, is night and day.
for example the first time i did it without the powerball on my old 14 it went from liek a 9 to a 5-4
and with the power ball it looked as good as the ones that were takin apart, i had some guy walk up and say ow, nice you got the euro glass headlights?
and just knocked on them and said nooo plastic.:keke:

on the scale of 1-10 10 was ment to be the shittiest qulaity headlight ive ever seen and 1 is better than new.

[westcoastpj]

thanks guys.



ok heres where im at.i sanded them down with 800,1500,and 2000 grit papers.wet sanded..well,after i dried them off,they look really foggy.i dont have my wax yet,so i was wondering is this normal prior to waxing the lights?

[illvialuver]

yes that is normal, they shoul dbe foggy without the yellow color thougt, and when you put plastic polish on it and buffer it out with the maguires power ball or powerball mini youll see the big difference. keep going and dont get discouraged.

[JDMS1lv1a]

awesome writeup!! this is something im gonna do to my 14. mine arent that bad though...

I'll make it look like the euro's:naughty:

[s13pignose]

I did the same thing with sanding and they came out foggy..use like 800 to a 1000 to 2000. But I didn't use polishing compound. What I did was I use this optical lense kit I got from walmart. Should be in the automotive section with body repair and paint stuff, comes in a brown and black box with picture of an altezza tailight I think. I used that after sanding, and lights were shinny. Then I clear coated them. Still shinny and no yellow. Did this about 2 months ago.

Also I used dollar store nail polish remover to clean yellow gunk of best I could prior to all the stuff above

[DriftinAndy]

I cleaned a set of my light but i didnt use the whole sandpaper step...i used some 3m finishing compound and then i painted the outside of the lens to make them look like the jdm style...heres a pic of them
http://a417.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/113/l_6cdea35d574f1275bf27c1fce0aedf40.jpg
the top is the after and well you guessed the bottom is the before,..notice the paint on the top of the lense,..its kind of a bronze color..

i have this set for sale,..i eventually bought the jdm ones...

[Nskylinerb-25]

How often do you have to repeat this process or do they stay clear forever.

[JRas]

How often do you have to repeat this process or do they stay clear forever.

they won't stay clear forever

you will have to do this every ~6 months

if you wanted longer, you could clear coat them with a few coats

edit: or you could always go euro or lenses

[hellaflush]

fuck all this dicking around

im hanging for my supermade clear headlight covers :D

[fliprayzin240sx]

fuck all this dicking around

im hanging for my supermade clear headlight covers :D

This is better...:keke:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/fliprayzin240sx/Zenki%20S14/IMG_14155.jpg

[ByeByeSti]

awesome thread for the zenki lovers, headlights look 10000 times better. the yellow fading it absolutely hideous

[sb253]

not to hijack the OP's thread, but just wanted to show people the barebones option.

I did the baking/painting on my Subaru lights a few yrs back and it went super smooth. I would like to take my 240 lights apart and black the housing sometime, but not right now, so...

I just polished them with Mothers Aluminum polish! I kept them on the car, slathered it on, and used a drill/buffing wheel. Only worked on them 5 min or less per light

the lights wernt too bad, but still a bit dull. kind of a crap pic
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/sb25347/IMG_1571.jpg

so fresh and so clean clean
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/sb25347/IMG_1683.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/sb25347/IMG_1684.jpg

night time w/ flash
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/sb25347/IMG_1693.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff222/sb25347/IMG_1695.jpg

I may add a coat of wax to them just for an extra layer but I dont mind doing this every 6 months. And im sure they'll say cool through summer.

[wayneside]

nice nice! very helpful!!!

[slow40]

bump, good thread

[SuicidnS13]

Good work!

[Pacman]

What are you guys using for UV protectant? The factory lense have a protectant to keep it from turning yellow, over time, it does though. There's a kit that my job sells and it has a protectant, I don't know what it is, but I'm curious if anyone knows if there is one available?