Painting turn signal bulbs silver.

[RedGalant]

I found this on 325ci.com http://64.26.1.50/go/325ci/resources_diy.shtml Go there for pictures. And as always, do at your own risk.

"Materials
1.Rust-oleum Specialty High Heat #7716 Silver spray paint (at Home Depot, $5)
2.Masking Tape, 1" width ($1)
3.Disposable plastic or latex gloves (10 cents)
4.Cardboard box and plastic grocery bags
5.And of course, the amber bulbs from your OEM clear lens set

Preparation (See Photos #1, #2, #3)

1.You need to take out the old bulbs from the clears. If you installed them yourself, you know how to take them out...

2.With the cardboard box, cut off a flap of it to prepare a "Drying Tray" for your bulbs. This is where you will make little "holders" for your bulb to dry them. (In photos #1/#2, I used a little sheet of plastic from some product packaging, but same idea.)

3.To make the bulb holders, take masking tape, and then wrap it with the sticky side out around the base of the bulb, leaving a little slack and wrap around at least once. This is to get a rough diameter of the bulb base. You should be able to fold the bottom and have enough sticky stuff to have it stick to the cardboard holder. Do this for all bulbs, leaving enough space between each "holder" so the bulbs can't touch each other. (See Photo #1, #2)

4.Protect the base (metal) part of the bulbs by wrapping the masking tape around them, making sure to cover the bottom contact portion as well. (See Photo #1, #2)

5.Use the rest of the carboard to protect your garage wall or whatever behind the bulbs when spraying. Make sure there is enough ventilation. I did mine outside.

6.You can also use a piece of cardboard to cover your arms for spraying. Or you can take a plastic grocery bag and wrap your arms with it. (See Photo #3)

7.Put on the gloves on the hand holding the bulb. (See Photo #3)

Spraying

1.As per the instructions on the can, shake the spray can for about a minute

2.While holding the bulb by the masking tape / base with one hand, spray about 1-2 feet from the bulb in very short, light spurts to cover little portions of the bulbs at a time. You want a light, even coat of paint without being too thick. My suggestion is to spray into the air and then wave the bulb around in the cloud of mist.

3.It should take about 10 sprays to get everything covered. Don't worry too much if you didn't completely cover the entire bulb and if you can see some amber through the paint: That's enough for the amber not to reflect on your lens (which is what you want), and plus it'll make your bulb light a little brigher if the paint is not too thick.

4. The tricky part is to be careful and try to drop the bulb into the holder you made without touching the painted bulb. What I do is wait for a minute to let the paint dry a bit, and then carefully drop the bulb into the holder slowly using both hands. (See Photo #4) Alternatively, you could spray the bulbs while in the holders, but it'll probably make spraying them evenly harder.

Drying (See Photo #4)

1.As per the instructions on the spray can bottle, the bulbs must be dried for about 1-2 hours at around room temperature (65 degrees) with low humidity. Drying them overnight is best, of course.

2.Try to keep them in a dust-free place, since you don't want dust stuck to your bulbs and then smelling funny when they fry from the heat of the bulbs. "

[ipaintu]

i got pulled over tonight for my blue bulbs, then when the cop saw it was an older guy driving with his wife. He says aww hell dude im not gonna bust your balls. but you should change them.. Have a nice day ...

oh btw your car looks NICE!..

I know off topic but..



Oh and let me ask this... On painting the bulbs would this make fire when they got hot? I know they get really hot at times. and paint burns...


yeah?

[pinoyesv6]

if you are gonna paint the front turn signal bulbs. i suggest that instead of taking off the bulbs form the socket, to instead just disconnect the harness from the socket. use the socket itself to hold onto the bulb and just keep the bulb in the socket. then you'll never have to touch the bulb.

testors model paint works well too. if you want a mirror finish, they have this japanese spray that they make specifically just for making bulbs silver.

[RedGalant]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ipaintu)</div><div class='quotemain'>i got pulled over tonight for my blue bulbs, then when the cop saw it was an older guy driving with his wife. He says aww hell dude im not gonna bust your balls. but you should change them.. Have a nice day ...

oh btw your car looks NICE!..

I know off topic but..



Oh and let me ask this... On painting the bulbs would this make fire when they got hot? I know they get really hot at times. and paint burns...


yeah?</div>

I tried this today and used high temp paint rated at 1500F. I'll let you know if the paint melts, but I think I sprayed too much of the paint so the light wouldnt pass through it. I'm going to try and peel some of the paint off the side facing the reflector and see if that works well.

EDIT: Decided to redo them. Just applied one light coat and now it works fine.

[pinoyesv6]

i know a few people including myself adn bgr have used high temp engine enamel on bulbs. they work. over time, its like you get a coating of the paint all over the housing of the bulbs. its like hte paint slowly burns off and goes on the housing.

[hsinya]

there are these so called "titanium bulbs" out there. its just regular bulbs painted with a silver coating. i have a set by apc. (yes that ricer company) and surprisingly they've lasted me 4 years. theres also some spray stuff made by a bunch of japanese companies

http://www.eautoworks.com/html/ast-Auto~st...e-none-none.cfm

[SilverDragonGTZ]

yeah, alot of companies offer silver/chrome coated amber and hyper white bulbs....why not just get those instead of painting them?