I already did a search and so it seems to be (I'm making mine black):

-flat or satin black is the original color for the boxes. Correct?

-lightly sand then clean off with thinner. makes sense.

But I still have a few questions,

--Is there a better way to mask the front bumper? I mean are their special tapes besides normal masking tape made specifically for painting? Then use thick plastic or garbage bags to cover the paint?

--Any useful links right off hand that deal with painting/masking? I know prep is the majority of the work.

--I haven't seen any original black headlight boxes up close. Could someone post a close-up picture please? That would be excellent. I'd like to know exactly where the black ends and body color starts (i.e. right at the edge , 0.5mm before the edge, etc).

My car is bright red, probably torch red or something so I think it could look a lot better with black boxes.

I like to analogize it with eye shadow on hot girls. makes the eyes look brighter...anyway...

thanks for the help!!

i actually just did mine this summer, I have an iroc vert which was repainted by the previous owner but went with body color headlight buckets. My process was fairly easy, here's what I did:

First i just removed the headlights simply because i'm lazy and didn't feel like taping them off heh

Then i just took some 1000 grit sandpaper or you could even use like a 000 steel wool or something thats pretty fine just to scuff up the surface so that the paint will adhere better to the surface. Oh I did that as a wetsand btw just so cleanup was a little easier.

I used my air compressor to dry off the area but you could use a towel or whatnot, just makes it completely dry and clean before you start to paint.

Tape off the surrounding area of the bucket, and cover the rest of the car with trash bags (I used my car cover)

Right before you paint use something kinda sticky like a swiffer pad just to make sure theres no dirt particles left on the area

I used rattle can satin black to do my buckets but you can use whatever you like. Just position the can about 12" away from the bucket and move it side to side letting the little particles gently fall onto the surface. Try not to get to close or hold it in one position too long otherwise some areas will have more black than others and it'll look strange in the light. Its hard to explain but the best i can explain is that you need to just let the paint particles float onto the area rather than being sprayed directly onto it.

do one coat, wait, do another coat and boom you're done.

if you want to be more **** about it, like i was, just take some 2000 grit sandpaper and lightly wetsand the bucket just to get it nice and smooth and you're good to go.

thanks that's what I planned on doing but I didn't know what sandpaper grits there were.

I'll probably use some duct tape pull up the rest of the dust before I start painting.

careful with the duct tape in that it can just rip up the paint thats already there especially if its already chipping, you don't want that because it'll make the whole painting a process a royal pain.

oh and also regular masking tape will work just fine and you can use newspaper to cover up the areas from overspray.

wont thinner melt the plastic?

My boyfriend is an autobody tech. When we installed my ground effects we used contact paper (any 99cent store or walmart) to mark where the holes needed to be drilled. (sticky side out, line up the gfx to car & stick, too easy! but it takes 2 people).
So after we put the nose\gfx on, it was a different color. So I sanded\primed & masked off with contact paper, then painted (rattle can, until the real paint jog can be done) my car.
It works great! And peals right off without hurting the paint or leaving a sticky residue.

masking tape is just that... its MADE to mask off the surface...


because of the tight curve around the light though, i would grab 2 rolls... one really thin roll, (like 1/4" wide).... this tape will be easier to "bend" around the edge to make the edge of the light.



after that, just use the regular masking tape overlapping the first tape to widen the mask, then tape your plastic/newspaper down.