Hello everyone, I am in the process of refinishing my headlights on my 360. They were okay, but since I have the bumper off for repairs, repainting, and ppf, I figured I would remove the headlights and refinish the inside of the lenses. When I removed the first lens last night, I discovered two things: 1-the lens wasn't as bad as I thought; the issue really was that the paint at the top of the headlight was faded 2-some paint peeled off because it was attached to the old adhesive. I was a little frustrated with myself at first, but I can't see a way to prevent that since you cannot cut it off if the black paint is attached to the grey adhesive. I always though that the headlights were painted like the rest of the car, but they really just have this film on them to match the body color. Does anyone have any experience on fixing this? I was probably going to pull off all the black film and then take them to the body shop to repaint them (my bumper is there now), but I have not decided yet. Any guidance or help is appreciated. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd just have them painted...anything less will likely leave them imperfect and while no one else will notice, every time you walk up to the car you'll look right at that spot. Save your future self some pain
It wasn't too bad. It took me longer to remove them from the car than to cut them apart. I did an ~8 minute cycle in the oven three times at 300-375 (300, then 350, then 375) and cut on the seam with a serrated knife each time. What was hard was the knife has to go in at an angle since the light lens has a ~U shape to it. I cut the first outer edge free, then when I had room, I could wedge the knife in at an angle and cut deeper and just continuously cut the perimeter. The curved sections are tough, you just have to go slow so you don't crack the lens. It helps a little bit to have a micro flat screwdriver to stick in to pry it open to get the knife as deep as possible. The other thing I noticed is that if the actual paint wasn't bad inside the light, I probably could have cleaned them with a magnet and microfiber cloth. I stuck my finger inside the light in one of the haziest spots and I was able to rub off the haziness. It wasn't "perfect", but the people who are describing removal with a cloth/magnet tool are also correct, but it depends on condition. My car was a Miami car originally, so I am not surprised the paint inside the lights is trashed.
Yeah I tend to agree but not 100% sure. I may try a trial coat with plasti dip to practice coating them (the curves are going to be weird to paint) and then remove that and spray with 1250 nero paint.
I refinished the exterior of mine - repaired a couple chips, sanded, cleared. But the insides are a bit “foggy”. Looks like it’s pretty straight forward. Didn't think about using a magnet on the interior, wonder if a small acrylic aquarium cleaner would work.
I'd be careful with the magnetic aquarium cleaners, they are usually not made for surfaces that are as curved as the 360 headlight. I thought there was an actual kit out there somewhere made for this purpose that deals with the curves.
Here is what I am going to try. I figure 2000 degree will be high enough to not wrinkle with headlights on. My body shop said they would do the painting but they did not want to do it because of the risk of it failing immediately. I think that's a reasonable concern. I think with the primer, flat black, and gloss coat, I can get it pretty close to factory quality with a hand spray gun. TBC. If I ruin them, I can buy new ones....it is just money after all. Image Unavailable, Please Login
