Headlights colormatched on 2nd Gen.

[Oldsnut]

I'm not sure if anyone else has done this before, possibly someone painted them black. I spent the last 3 day modding the headlights on my '03. I color matched the headlights to the body color. I hope you like it as much as I do.

The only tools required were:
Hair Dyer
Flat head scredriver
Painter's masking tape
Silicone to re-seal headlights
Spray paint
Gloves
Patience on my part and that of my spouse for taking up most of her kitchen and the help of my daughters. ;D
It was truly a family project of sorts

The biggest issue I came across was the black silicone that GM used to seal the units at the factory, it gets very messy and you most definitely need a junk blanket to throw down while working on the headlights. Also I would spread vaseline on a good portion of the chromed area that is not being painted. I say this because GM put a really thin coating on and the masking tape almost wants to pull it off when removing tape if not careful.
Next project is to color match the 2 vents in the bumper and I will be done.
The headlight took about 15-20 minutes to seperate the acrylic lense from the backing and the masking was a real pain in the ass due to all the curves. A few hours of sanding, priming, painting and assembly and your done. Not a super hard project in my opinion.
Total cost for the project was $122. $100 for 2 used headlights on E-bay and $22 for paint, tape and silicone. Cheapest mod I have done to a car in a long time!!!!!

Pics #1
Seperate headlight lense from back part of unit

Pics #2
Mask off headlight for primer after sanding with scuff pad, removing all of chrome finish.

Pics #3
Paint with identical body color paint.

Pics #4, 5
Painted bezel finished without and with lense cover attached.


Pics #6
One headlight installed to see a side by side comparison.

Pics #7
Close-up of headlight installed.

Pics #8
Front view of finished headlights.

[budsang1]

way to be original...I like it!!

and

where do you get color matched spray paint from???

[Oldsnut]

budsang1 said:

way to be original...I like it!!

and

where do you get color matched spray paint from???

Carquest custom mixed it and put it into spray can.

[Mr. Javi]

oldsnut said:

Front view of finished headlights.

Very nice, excellent custom work, but I think you should of taken out that orange reflector for a much cleaner look,
the orange seem to get in the way of the whole appearance.

For the quarterlights, the Sylvania Silverstar Turn Signals would go nice.

[aaaauroraaaa]

Brutally honest I've never really liked 2nd gen headlights... but I like the and it looks better than stock.

Clear the corners(try to get the little orange one on the bumper too), paint the lower grilles black or body color or keep up on conditioning them and it will look 10x better.

Edit: I see your are already color matching :-)

ps. what did you do with the old headlights?

[Oldsnut]

The headlights are the one thing that I don't like about the 2nd gen's, too much chrome showing, that's why I painted them.

I am probably gonna take them out and remove the amber lense when I have more time.

Event I was going to was cancelled, stayed at home and removed the amber lenses.

[Custom88]

I like the look. I was thinking about doing that, only in black instead of body-color. Very interesting. Can you get a few pictures from further away? I'm curious what it looks like from farther away. (shots that show the entire car.)

I'm mostly curious in doing this because the chrome below the projector causes a glare from the headlamps with HID installed. I think painting this part of the headlight would eliminate this problem. (So I'd take it a step further from you and paint the rings around the reflectors as well on the bezel.)

[Oldsnut]

Here the shot you asked for Custom88, I am so glad I took out the amber lenses today.


For those who have never seen the guts of our headlights, here ya go.

[JimW]

Ok, at first I was a little leary, but with the amber gone it looks much more uniform.

Well done, I like it a lot more now.

[algonquin]

I love customized and personalized cars. Really makes a statement over the stock look. Very nice mod. If only Oldsmobile had done that a few years ago, maybe there would have been a 2008 Aurora.

[Mr. Javi]

Man, that looks super clean, nice work.

[Oldsnut]

Thanks Javi, Jim, aaaauroaa, algonquin, budsang1 and all others, I would only hope that you guys and gals can improve on this from here. Yeh Jim, it does look more uniform with the amber lense removed.

[95mushroom]

Always awesome with some one else doing the 'little thing' mods to their Aurora. I like, really brings the definitions in the hood out.

[Oldsnut]

95mushroom said:

Always awesome with some one else doing the 'little thing' mods to their Aurora. I like, really brings the definitions in the hood out.

WOW, I never looked at it from that perspective but it does enhance the lines of the hood. This is why I post, so many opinions and outlooks!

[Aurora40]

oldsnut said:

Here the shot you asked for Custom88, I am so glad I took out the amber lenses today.

I didn't particularly like them in the first photos you posted. Looked like those ricer projector kits for cars that came with reflector beams, or like those decal things that go over headlight assemblies and mask them off.

But it looks much nicer in that picture. I don't know that I'd do it to my car, but it looks well done.

[Poindexter]

I think it looks great, especially with the amber gone. I would love to see pics of the whole front end in the sun.

[unirok]

I love it with the amber gone. Very nice job man!

[RapMastaC1]

YOu know what you should do even further, if it's legal, as to if it is or not I have no idea, but you should tint the glass surrounding the lights, it would look great with your back lights.

[human]

I've never been particularly fond of 2nd generation Auroras and the look of the front end is a big part of that. There's just something about the headlights that made the front end look sort of unfinished, or at least inelegant, when compared to the '95-'99 models. When I was a kid, I had the same reaction when the '70 Toronado came out and Olds had deleted the signature hideaway headlights. Painting the bezels really helps that look, especially with the removal of the amber lenses. Did you just substitute amber bulbs? Have you noticed any difference in the way the headlights perform at night? GM should have done this to the cars at the factory, or at least offered it as a trim option.

[Oldsnut]

No difference in performance of lights, the only area I painted is not responsible for light reflection. Once I popped out the lense I used a Silverstar whick looks clear for the most part, but when on it is amber.