If you dont know what I mean by headlight designs, I am talking about when people use masking tape or custom made vinyl shapes from a car graphics store and put them on the headlights. For example, you could use two perfectly cut vinyl circles about 7 cm apart from each other on each headlight. After they put the masking tape or vinyl on the headlights, they paint the headlight and once the paint is dry, pull off the vinyl or masking tape revealing the non painted areas where the vinyl or masking tape was. The rest of the headlight is painted leaving only the spots open where you placed the vinyl or masking tape. If you used two perfectly cut vinyl circles, you will have a headlight that looks like a bmw headlight with two beams coming through each open space where the vinyl or masking tape was. The rest will be the painted part where no light comes through. I have tried this using krylon paint for plastic but this ended up bubbling because of the heat. I am not sure if it was because of the headlight heat or the heat from the sun beating down on them. It bubbled at the top area above the design, but i am not sure what caused it (either the sun or the heat in the headlight rising up). Maybe you guys have ideas on why that happened.

My second point is , i am going to be painting a design on my signal lights which are separate from my headlights so i have a totally clean slate to work with. I need some good paints that are high heat so they can withstand heat from the lights and also the blazing heat from the sun (also my car is black so i will be using black paint and black is known to get a lot hotter than other colours because it absorbs the sun unlike white which reflects it). It needs to be able to stick well to plastic and not flake off from extreme hots (from the sun [it gets very hot in the summer]) or colds from the temperature in the winter here in canada or for any other reason..

Please give me some answers.. thanks :)

You could try barbecue grill paint, it is meant to withstand sustained high temps. However, I thought the headlight mask kits were vinyl decals that covered the portion of the headlight that you wanted blocked. There would be at least two benefits to this: 1) It would block the light uniformly, it wouldn't have light spots where dim light could shine through, and 2) it would be removable so when you get tired of getting pulled over by the cops, or when you sell the car, you can easily remove the decal and use some adhesive remover and have the headlights back to legal.

-Rod

You could try barbecue grill paint, it is meant to withstand sustained high temps. However, I thought the headlight mask kits were vinyl decals that covered the portion of the headlight that you wanted blocked. There would be at least two benefits to this: 1) It would block the light uniformly, it wouldn't have light spots where dim light could shine through, and 2) it would be removable so when you get tired of getting pulled over by the cops, or when you sell the car, you can easily remove the decal and use some adhesive remover and have the headlights back to legal.

-Rod

hmm, yeah i talked to my vinyl guy who sells me my decals, he said it would be too hard because of the curves in the light, ill talk to him again tho.. but i dont think that paint you suggested would work, it would need some primer or something to stick to plastic. do you havee any other ideaz?

There are primers that are intended for promoting adhesion to plastic, you could try them. Headlights also tend to acquire a lot of road grime and other environmental contaminants. I'm sure you've seen the cloudy, yellow headlight lenses. No paint or primer will stick well to that. Maybe what you need to do is completely clean the lens area to be painted by wet sanding with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then clean it very well with a final wipe down with isopropyl alcohol. Now go to a hobby store and purchase paint that is intended either for polycarbonate model bodies or, maybe better, paint for R/C car lexan bodies. The lexan R/C car paint holds up to some pretty tough abuse. I'm not sure how well it will do with heat, but it sure holds to lexan well, it's not likely to bubble if you are starting with a clean surface. Before removing the mask dots, be sure to turn the headlights on to see if the coverage is sufficient. You will likely need to apply several light coats. Like most paint, the paint will adhere better if you follow the directions and apply several light coats rather than a couple of heavy coats.

Your other option would be to use automotive touch up paint in a can. This stuff is very durable and can withstand pretty high temperatures. The more modern stuff doesn't even require a flex agent for the bumper covers so it's quite flexible as well. Coverage is good, and if covered with an automotive clear coat, it is very durable.

Which ever way you go, be sure to cover the body panels within several feet of the area you're working. The overspray, especially clear coat overspray, travels a long way and is difficult to remove once it's dry.

-Rod

There are primers that are intended for promoting adhesion to plastic, you could try them. Headlights also tend to acquire a lot of road grime and other environmental contaminants. I'm sure you've seen the cloudy, yellow headlight lenses. No paint or primer will stick well to that. Maybe what you need to do is completely clean the lens area to be painted by wet sanding with 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Then clean it very well with a final wipe down with isopropyl alcohol. Now go to a hobby store and purchase paint that is intended either for polycarbonate model bodies or, maybe better, paint for R/C car lexan bodies. The lexan R/C car paint holds up to some pretty tough abuse. I'm not sure how well it will do with heat, but it sure holds to lexan well, it's not likely to bubble if you are starting with a clean surface. Before removing the mask dots, be sure to turn the headlights on to see if the coverage is sufficient. You will likely need to apply several light coats. Like most paint, the paint will adhere better if you follow the directions and apply several light coats rather than a couple of heavy coats.

Your other option would be to use automotive touch up paint in a can. This stuff is very durable and can withstand pretty high temperatures. The more modern stuff doesn't even require a flex agent for the bumper covers so it's quite flexible as well. Coverage is good, and if covered with an automotive clear coat, it is very durable.

Which ever way you go, be sure to cover the body panels within several feet of the area you're working. The overspray, especially clear coat overspray, travels a long way and is difficult to remove once it's dry.

-Rod

does the touch up in a can require primer?

also, i found VHT caliper paint with a very high heat range in a few colours. This might work. i also found Flame proof primer. both have high heat ranges. Do you think this might work?

I can't even say that "personally I'd try..." because this is purely a cosmetic modification that limits the night-driving safety. With that being stated, if I were trying to create a daytime cruiser on the cheap and wanted to do this mod, I'd go the route of sanding the headlight lenses with the 400 grit wet paper, then apply automotive black basecoat followed by automotive clearcoat. I don't think I'd bother with a primer for this application.

-Rod

I can't even say that "personally I'd try..." because this is purely a cosmetic modification that limits the night-driving safety. With that being stated, if I were trying to create a daytime cruiser on the cheap and wanted to do this mod, I'd go the route of sanding the headlight lenses with the 400 grit wet paper, then apply automotive black basecoat followed by automotive clearcoat. I don't think I'd bother with a primer for this application.

-Rod

do you know what the heat range on krylon primer is ?? or any other primers that are high heat and black

also when you said touch up paint in a can and automotive base coat.. are these two the same thing?

do you know what the heat range on krylon primer is ?? or any other primers that are high heat and black

also when you said touch up paint in a can and automotive base coat.. are these two the same thing?

I have no idea on the heat ranges of the primers.

As for the touch up paint in a can versus auto base coat, yes, they are the same thing. Many of the modern paints, even non-metallic blacks, are basecoat - clearcoat systems. The clearcoat provides the protection, gloss, and longevity for the color basecoat.

-Rod

I have no idea on the heat ranges of the primers.

As for the touch up paint in a can versus auto base coat, yes, they are the same thing. Many of the modern paints, even non-metallic blacks, are basecoat - clearcoat systems. The clearcoat provides the protection, gloss, and longevity for the color basecoat.

-Rod

i have one more question, do you know if the product VHT Nightshades could be used as a primer? i could put that on first then use some caliper paint or something for the rest because it would stick to the nightshades paint.

Also what would be the sanding procedure if indeed i could use this as primer? sand the bare plastic and sand again when the primer is on? or just the bare plastic?

and what is the sanding procedure for most painting tasks? just one sanding operation? or two?

Here is the link http://www.vhtpaint.com/niteshades.html

Also do you know of any black high heat primers at all? if i use grey primer, i will have to do it very light coats because otherwise rings of grey will appear when i peel of the vinyl circles