Headlights and reflective paint

Last fall i pulled my headlights appart to clean the lenses and to reseal em to try and prevent moisture build up in hopes of brightening my very dim headlights. I didnt have a whole lot of time, but i noticed alot of the reflective paint had burnt/worn off but didnt have time to pick up some paint and fix it. Well now i have a little bit of time i thought i’d pick up some reflective silver paint and fix that, but looking at the info on the can, it says not to use near temp’s greater than 200 degrees f. I imagine it gets pretty hot near the bulbs, but question is, will this paint work for what i am intending? figure a rustoleum reflective silver, thanks.

It’s probably hotter in the lens housing. I think that the reflective coating is metallic, not a polymer as the pain you want to use is. Maybe you should replace the lens housings.

i’d have to replace the whole headlight. was hoping there was a way to get around that :P. thought maybe there was a special coating if the paint wouldnt be sufficient. at worse…i may try lining it with aluminum foil before replacing the headlight :P:P

Try this spray paint: http://www.krylon.com/products/looking_glass_mirror_like_paint/
If it doesn’t work, there’s always the shiny side of aluminum foil.

With some careful work with a Dremel Tool, why not modify the plastic (junk) buckets and mount a Halogen Sealed Beam glass headlight bulb in your custom opening. Enjoy seeing at night again. FORGET paint or tin foil…

Repainting your headlamps? Tin foil in your headlamps? I like that you are thinking outside the box but you are beating a dead horse.

Buy either used, new aftermarket, reman (go to rpw headlamps on the net) or oem, but get some lamps.

Since we’re talking about home made repairs, I like metal tape a lot. It should shine well enough.

Get new headlight assemblies! Try Ebay, you might be pleasantly surprised.

That stuff is intended for use on second surface mirrors. You look through the glass at the applied surface. They make a series of first surface reflective paints like these- http://www.krylon.com/products/premium_metallic/ that might work better. However, most of these paints are only intended for indoor use, most are really aluminum and surface preparation will be paramount to getting a glossy, smooth finish. I’ve used these paints on all sorts of underhood automotive parts with mixed results. It takes a lot of coats and sanding between them to get the best finish. The biggest mistake is applying one or two coats and being disappointed with the results and not continuing. My 2c.