Re-painting Altezza Headlights

ReRe-painting Altezza Headlights
1. r e m o v e
f r o n t
b u m p e r
2. r e m o v e
h e a d l i g h t s
3. s e p a r a t e
h e a d l i g h t s
4. p a i n t
h e a d l i g h t s
5. r e - s e a l
h e a d l i g h t s
6. r e p l a c e
h e a d l i g h t s
7. r e p l a c e
f r o n t
b u m p e r
1. r e m o v e
f r o n t
b u m p e r
Start by removing the 8 screws under the
bumper. Turn the steering wheel full lock to
remove the plastic clips holding the wheel
arch liners on, and pry these back to gain
access to the bolts inside the wheel arches.
Remove the screw in the middle of the grille
and then the 2 plastic clips closest to the
headlights, right next to the grille.
Lay a
towel or sheet down under the bumper before
undoing the last 2 screws which hold the
grille to the bumper to the chassis as they
will release the bumper.
2. r e m o v e
h e a d l i g h t s
The headlights are held on in 5 places:
1)The plastic clip removed earlier,
2)This bolt here:
3&4) These two 10mm
nuts at the rear of
the light:
Accessing these 2 x 10mm nuts can be awkward,
especially on the right headlight. Use a ratchet
driver from inside the wheel arch for the left
headlight. Use a ratchet spanner from inside the
engine bay, behind the headlight itself for the
right headlight, as the air filter housing makes
it hard to access from inside the wheel arch.
5) There is a clip under the headlights holding
them to the car, about half way along. This can
be released with a flathead screwdriver, but this
is tricky. A short, sharp jerk of the headlight
unit towards the front of the car will also
release it.
Taking care not to touch any of the bulbs, remove
the 4 light bulbs from the housing:
1)Indicator 2)Park Light 3)High Beam 4)Low Beam
Once removed, carefully wrap the bulbs up and
place in a safe place for later…
3. s e p a r a t e
h e a d l i g h t s
It’s vital that no part of the headlight touches
the sides of the oven during the heating process.
Non-stick baking mats made of silicone are ideal.
Pre-Heat your oven to around 180ºC/200ºC for about
15 minutes.
Carefully place the headlight in the oven,
leaving it in there for about 4/5 minutes before
removing it to start “working” the glue holding
the headlight together.
There are Latches like this:
Here, here, here & here:
Open these latches using a flathead screwdriver,
starting at the bottom corner of the headlight:
Use the screwdriver to scrape away as much of the
melted glue as possible, reheating the headlight
along the way to keep the glue “liquid”:
Again starting at the bottom corner of the light
(closest to the grille), start prying it apart:
The headlight will eventually separate into two
parts; the grey housing, and the clear cover
which will still have the chrome insert inside:
The chrome insert is
easily removed from
the clear cover:
Leaving you with these
two parts:
Removing the orange indicator shield is easy:
The indicator “housing” can either be left in and
remain
chrome,
or
removed
and
painted
by
unscrewing this Phillips screw here:
Carefully set aside all parts which are to
remain unpainted and take the remaining bits ‘n’
pieces to the workbench…
4. p a i n t
h e a d l i g h t s
Prepare the headlights by wet-sanding using 800 /
1000 grit paper:
Adhesion promoter may be used to assist in
painting if desired, if this is to be used apply
it now, otherwise prepare the paint.
Paint may be applied using spray cans or an
airbrush. Follow manufacturers’ instructions for
how to apply the paint, but as a rule of thumb,
several light coats is more effective than one
thick coat.
Possible issues from incorrect spraying technique
might be paint runs or sags, caused by applying
the paint too thick, shown here sanded back:
Or a “dusty” finish, caused
paint from too far away:
by
spraying
the
The headlights may be hung to dry if the area in
which they are being painted is prone to dust:
Various finishes may be obtained by applying /
not applying clear cote. This with clear cote:
The finish may be buffed to a sheen by using
various plastic polishes or even car waxes.
The other parts of the headlight i.e. the clear
cover, chrome light reflectors, indicator shield
etc. may also be polished at this point.
5. r e - s e a l
h e a d l i g h t s
Once completely satisfied with the finish of all
parts of the headlight, anti-fog solution may be
applied to the inside of the clear cover. It is
recommended that silicone sealant is used to
substitute the glue removed earlier to minimise
condensation issues later on, but the anti-fog
solution will also assist with this.
Make sure the orange indicator shield has been
replaced if required, and the indicator housing
has been re-screwed to the main housing before
continuing.
Pre-heat the oven as before, and carefully place
the housing and the clear cover into the heat to
melt the remaining glue. After 4 or 5 minutes in
a prepre-heated oven (ovens take about 15 minutes to
pre-heat), the glue should be melted enough to
start re-joining the parts.
Replace the painted insert into the clear cover,
and apply the silicone sealant into the main
housing as per manufacturers’ instructions before
gently squeezing the clear cover back into the
main housing, reheating the whole unit if
required to melt the glue and bend the latches
back into place, ensuring a watertight seal and
no condensation.
Mounting brackets may melt and/or break during
the reheating process, and should be mended by
reheating,
adjusting
and
cooling
before
attempting to remount the headlight:
(This isn’t always possible)!
6. r e p l a c e
h e a d l i g h t s
Gently line up the two rods protruding from the
rear of the headlight with their holes (as shown
on steps 3&4 here), and firmly press the
headlight back into place.
The clip under the
headlight should click and will hold the units
in place while the bolts are tightened.
Replace this bolt shown on step 2 here, before
reconnecting the light bulbs to the unit.
7. r e p l a c e
f r o n t
b u m p e r
Carefully rest the bumper on it’s mounting posts
either side of the grille and by the wheel
arches
before
securing
the
bumper
to
the
headlight using these bolts here:
These bolts are the easiest to access and will
hold the bumper to the car while the other bolts
inside the wheel arches are tightened.
Replace the plastic clips on the wheel
liners and the 8 screws under the bumper.
arch
The grille is slotted into place before being
secured at each end and in the middle.
Hide all the leftover screws.
Marvel at your masterpieces.