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Trying to find a New headlight look...

9K views 45 replies 14 participants last post by  Tlorenzen 
#1 ·
Alright, so I did a couple poor photoshops of some changes to headlings/fogs/turn signals but I don't really like the headlights in either...The edges of my headlights look horrible so I wan't do do somthing, but I can't afford $500 for a new set of headlights.. I'll try to get a pic of headlights so yall know. Anyways heres what I colored...I'm unimpressed..Any better Ideas?





Note - I also have a chrome grille now, so the black should flow a little bit better..But still don't like it.
 
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#2 ·
Hmm how about coloring the headlight's top part as well and for experimentation's sake consider coloring all of that body color, might turn out better....

And of course I'm refering to the top pic, which wouldn't look bad at all. As for the second rendering I think it looks bad...that goes without saying really.

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I'd add that if you do the headlight frame only in matte black I think then it would look very good actually.

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The best starting point would be to give the matte black idea a shot with plasti dip to see if you would actually like it like that, that's what I did as it would be easy to change your mind and return it to stock look, it's a good starting point.

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After doing gthe frame with plasti dip if the matte black doesn't work ouy for you, you can do something out of the box, like painting the plastidipped part carefully with a body color regular automotive spray, it would workfor this application I'm sure
 
#4 ·
Agreed. I like the fog and marker black, as I'm planning on getting glossy black rims down the road..But just don't know about the headlights...

Is this what you were going for ctsm? I think the top looks a little better.. Honestly, I would just leave the lights alone if they didn't look so bad right now..



Heres' the red..I tried to blend in the shadows...amatures..haha I just left the fogs/markers black, not that they'd match if headlights were red..



I have enough color match paint (bottle the shop gave me when painted bumper) to do both headlights if so.

I'm trying to match these so they'd go with a black set of wheels and my chrome grill, which if everything else turns black I may also turn black..I liked the look of this V

 
#7 ·
I was told "stress fractures" I've tried some other stuff, but maybe it wasn't so good. I can try the 3M stuff, just get it at autozone or somewhere more specific?

Agreed the black headlights look like crap. I like the black fogs/markers but don't think it'd match the red headlights haha.
 
#9 ·
Tlorenzen said:
I was told "stress fractures" I've tried some other stuff, but maybe it wasn't so good. I can try the 3M stuff, just get it at autozone or somewhere more specific?

Agreed the black headlights look like crap. I like the black fogs/markers but don't think it'd match the red headlights haha.
Not too sure in the U.S. I live in Canada but fit is available at a lot of places here. The 3M comes with an attachment for a drill. 3 different coarseness sandpaper and some polishing compound. YouTube it. Very easy to do and makes the crystal clear after.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_t1RBw0IGXA
 
#15 ·
have a paint shop mix the paint with clear and stt if it will make a matched red tint for them. it would look kinda awesome.

also, all this isnt really a new look...its been done on here a lot over the years.
 
#16 ·
Are you saying the whole headlight red? or just the edges still. Was gonna take a pic of headlights today, but it rained all day. Gotta love hurricane weather haha.

And I know, but if he/she would've taken the time to convert to 6 lug, none of us would've been able to tell from just that pic..
 
#17 ·
Converting to six lug is way beyond throwing some V badges on. I was interested in a six lug conversion back when I was seriously considering but then the spindle hubs and brakes had to be swapped as well, plus paying for the overpriced six lug v wheels... I said screw it.

And I wish our bolt pattern and offset requirements weren't so bad either, it's hard to find good quality wheels for the base CTS :|
 
#22 ·
Tlorenzen said:
It's crossed my mind..did you mean for the lip to be polished still? excluding the peeling. but it looks good. is that just red caliper paint or covers?

Better than I was imaging it looking.
The peeling is just cuz that was the first wheel I tried it on and I messed up the process. You mask off the silver lip with masking tape, spray it on, and let it dry enough so it's not dripping but while its STILL damp, you remove the tape to create a fine edge. On that wheel I removed the tape when the plast-dip had completely hardened...creating that peeling look. The other wheels are clean edges and that wheel I trimmed up after taking that picture so it looks better now.

But yes I think it turned out great and I would suggest making the silver trim. That is just caliper paint. I used the brush on stuff after sanding the caliper and using a paint thinner type thing to clean it. 2-3 coats were enough for me, just make sure it's well sanded and smooth.
 
#23 ·
Ah that makes sense, I'd prolly make it all black though. Did you clearcoat the plasti dip? or is that even possible? I was thinkin plastidip with clearcoat on top to give it a slight gloss..I'd assume it would still peel off fine if need be right?

Ill be doing this around thanksgiving as I get almost a week off school.
 
#24 ·
I would assume it would peel off all the same even after a clearcoat. As long as the dip was completely between the clearcoat and the wheel. Then again the plasti-dip has a flexible, rubbery composition that makes it so easy to peel off, so if the clearcoat hardened it then it may become more difficult.
And I never thought of clearcoating it. It might look amazing but I would never feel like doing all that. The glory of plasti-dip is how easy and simple it is to apply, remove, touch up and re-do, and if you're gonna clearcoat it then you might as well go with paint (powdercoat them?) unless you're really really on the fence about whether you want your wheels silver or black.
 
#29 ·
That's rough, man. I would probably start scouring CL looking to score some headlights from a wrecked CTS, or save up for eBay. If I didn't need my OEM headlights to pass inspection I'd offer them to you. If nothing else it may be time to start looking into serious sanding and polishing, before I worried about painting them.

Use something like this: http://www.craigslistcrawler.com/ to search CLs everywhere, make people offers that you can afford, maybe?
 
#31 ·
Im with KOT; chances are that is a V and he swapped to 5 lug to get those really nice wheels...If he can afford to put a V bumper, upper and lower mesh grille, the sport appearance/CTS-V rockers, tint, and those wheels and tires he clearly has more than enough money to have just bought a CTS-V
 
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