360 Headlight Repaint Issue

Hi all,

Has anyone in the UK had their headlights on a 360 repainted by a paint shop if so could you share who did it for you please? Had mine done twice now by an italian restoration shop (I wont name them) and in both cases the paint has blistered on the first drive despite a different undercoat being used. If you have had Xeon headlights all the better.

Really frustrating

And better still if you have done this and know the exact undercoat, paint and gloss coat make/manufacturer that would be awesome.

Thanks in advance.

 

FWIW my paint shop refused to paint them for me for this exact issue.

 

I had mine repainted and had the same issue. Apparently the inside of the headlight gets obscenely hot. I'm curious as to how Ferrari did it, as many people have this problem after repainting. Even stranger is the headlight surface wasn't scuffed from the factory before painting it which would typically give it poor adhesion, but somehow doesn't.

 

I'll be tacking this in the fall I think. Just purchased a new set of lenses and a quart of matching base. Since Mine have not been disassembled yet, I'm unsure, but did Ferrari even use paint or was it some sort of color film? Looking at a few pictures from others, many show the color peeling off around the edge in an odd way when they separated the lenses from the housing. It didn't look like it peeled in a way regular paint would. or maybe it was just very poor factory adhesion. I'll admit I haven't done a ton of research just yet on that, but this seems relevant.

 

Parts of mine flaked off when I separated the lenses. I was pretty careful but the old stuff gets brittle and also bubbles due to the heat.

I wondered if it was a film of some kind. I also wondered if you could get a matching ppf and use that instead of paint. I have ppf on the inside of my headlights that I used to fix swirl and it is still in decent shape. It would be hard to apply to the bases tho bc the shape is so curved and it’s tight in the sockets for the bulbs.

 

I think any PPF on the painted/ curved area would stick out like a sore thumb and is not really what its designed for. Its meant to protect from abrasion, where there is absolutely none in there. This is one of those things you really want to get right the first time.

My plan was to completely remove the factory headlight finish, either chemically or media blast, sand for adhesion, hit with a high quality epoxy primer/sealer (I like SPI), then base and clear. A quality epoxy/BC/CC that was prepped appropriately (this is key) will hold up just fine on engine components and even brake calipers. I don't see how a headlight housing could get hotter than either of those...

 

yeah i dont disagree. curious what you find out and if it holds up. i touched mine up and hit it with a 2000 degree clear coat but it's not perfect, so i have it to do again in the future at some point.

 

Someone smarter than me will have to figure this out...

But...

I wonder if it's the UV radiation coming from the xenon that is destroying and causing the paint to blister.

Some clearcoats that are high quality might have a block/filter on the range of this radiation.

I guess what I'm trying to say is it might not have anything to do with heat... It may not have anything to do with the bond to the headlight bucket... And it has everything to do with chemistry that is occuring in a very very small place.


Also... Guys ...

Factory paint is BAKED in high heat and factory paint has much much harsher chemicals in it that are not commercially available in common sprayable paints

 

You're probably right.. this is straight from Google:

"Yes, xenon HID (High-Intensity Discharge) headlights do emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This UV radiation can cause damage to the headlight components and other materials over time. To mitigate this, most HID lamps are designed with UV-blocking filters or coated with UV-resistant materials.
Here's a more detailed explanation:

• UV Emission:
  Xenon HID lamps produce a spectrum of light that includes UV radiation, which is a component of the electromagnetic spectrum with shorter wavelengths than visible light.
• UV-Blocking:
  To prevent damage, HID lamps often incorporate UV-blocking filters or use materials like UV-resistant quartz glass in their construction.
• Potential Damage:
  Without proper UV protection, UV radiation can cause:
  • Fading of colored materials, such as plastic headlight lenses.
  • Degradation of reflective surfaces within the headlight housing.
  • Potential damage to the human eye and skin, though this is less of a concern with properly shielded lamps. "

Sounds ALOT like the issues many report. I wonder if our components have that coating or not? HID's were pretty new technology at the time. It appears the first production cars to use them was the 92 BMW 7 series.

I believe this has more to do with speeding up the outgassing process for production purposes, not necessarily for quality. Given enough time, those solvents will outgas on their own, as long as they stay above whatever their specific temperature requirements are. I have some infrared headers I use when painting to speed that process up myself whenever I paint.

 

I wonder if any of it has to do with how quickly the lens is applied to the light after it's painted. Perhaps it's not curing properly in either the primer or the paint stage leaving a less than ideal moisture level before everything is sealed up despite the lights being slightly vented.

 

Could be that too. The outgassing whole not being able to vent enough.

I figured since people report that they fail when they use the car it's because the headlights came on. They seem to be fine sitting on a shelf from their stories.

 

Yes. Some of it has to do with outgassing.

It also has to do with "etching" and increased hardness.

Circling back to the headlights... If you think about it... Most HID style lights were not covered painted buckets. They were an entire plastic and reflector assembly. Could. Have been for this exact reason I suppose

 

The F430 is painted as well, although not a glossy finish, but I don't recall anybody having issues with those.

If it were me, I'd leave them out in the sun for a week before assembly just to be on the safe side.

 

Not to get overly specific... But 430 headlights are not body color/paint matched.

And yes leaving the headlights outside uncovered for a week plus would be smart.