FTO AUSTRALIA

Has anyone tried getting the black surronds on your front lights dipped in crome?

I was looking at one of those nasty ford Ka things and had a thought if you could take the light apart it should not be too hard to crome the black piece and then put it back together.

I have a 95 silver/steel FTO so I want to remove as much "black parts" as possible.

I have already painted the wiper arms & blades
I even had the plastic drain that sits below the windscreen (where the wiper arms are connected) painted that same colour.

If you have every pulled the front lights apart let me know.

more precisely if you have ever managed to get your front lights off let me know, I had a quick try the other day and could not find that last screw that lets them loose. Bugger.

Marty Thygesen
FTO Queenslander

i guess you're talking bout something like this, i've thought bout doing this too but just havent had the chance, i think it would look pretty good on a silver car, let me know how you get on with it

jc133480,

For your info I have removed a headlight assembly and it is a bigger job than you would expect. You have to remove the side guard and loosen of the front skirt, even then it is a bit of a strggle to remove. I am not sure if you can remove the headlight cover, but it looks as if it could be disasembled.

Yeah I've seen it done before on the FTO where the black surround of the headlights were painted. So it's definately do-able.

I think it would look good too.

To get the headlight cover off you have to heat the light--in an oven or maybe with a heat gun etc.This will loosen the glue/silicon and allow the cover to come off.Just remember to re-seal/attach prperly again or you could loose your lens or have water getting in...

say if you got the black parts chromed, whould it reflect the light in weird angles and not light up the road in front as well as they should??

when i was talking to the supplier of the altezza lights i mentioned this to him. he gave me a very strong warning not to do this as it will ruin your headlights. he said that due to the high temperature your lights run at it will suck in moisture. i asked him about using a product like sikaflex (duck sh*t to sailors) and he said even this will let in moisture.

he mentioned that when the lights are built they are vacumm sealed and this is the only way to prevent them from going brown (not sure where).

the picture was a set that were most likely professionally done and he said if i was interested he'd get me a price (so i said ok) probably won't be cheap as it will have to be a complete headlight enclosure but i'll get a price and let you guys know.

ahhh ok.... thanks for the valuable info!
professionally done hey....... who could do i do u reckon?

i haven't got the faintest idea sorry.

I don't follow the "vacuumed sealed" bit, because as soon as you replace one of the globes, any vacuum that was there is now gone.

Excellent point!!
Might have to take them to a chromer soon!!

I reckon they look hot and would love to do it, along with the altezza's at the rear.

Anyone know how to contact the owner of the car whose picture is above, maybe they can shed some more light on how to do it, cost and durability.

found him!!
Japanese Auto Extravaganza 2001
http://www.mitsubishi-fto.org/gallery/jae2001/
4th row down, 5 across
His name is Ifty Ali, he won the best FTO in attendance held by the FTO Owners Club, should be able to find him through there

I emailed Ifty about his lights and this is what he had to say:

"Hello.

thats my car from a good few years ago...U need to heat up the lights in an
oven (gas mark 2) for 3-4 mins...this allows the sealing bond to become
soft and pliable....this will allow u to split the light apart (not easy,
just a bit fiddly) u will need to prise the light s apart...if the bond
cools, just pop back in the oven again...remove inside plastic and paint
and reseal by putting back in oven and pushing both parts 2gether
again...you can use a clear seal on the outside to be sure it seals....no
problems with beam of light afterwoods...
Thanks Ifty"

woo hoo, sounds good.

Did you ask him what paint he used and did it peel?