blackened DRLs
 

Howdy y'all, today I tinted the DRLs on my '13 BRZ. My goal was to match as close as possible the tint on the smoked side markers. My final result was much darker, but I actually think it looks nice and blends in when the DRLs are off. So, with that said, onward with the pics and the DIY!

Tools needed:
10mm socket & 1/2" ratchet
flat head screw driver to pry off push latches
phillips bit for screw latches
2000 grit wet sand paper
blue painters tape
gloss clear coat spray paint
VHT Nite-Shades
wax
micro fiber applicator pads
microfiber cloth
dishwasher detergent
rubbing alcohol or paint thinner (I used rubbing alcohol)
Attachment 52166

So first thing I needed to do was to remove the DRLs from the front cover, which unfortunately means removing the front cover. To do this, I followed steps 1-9 from @DarrenDriven's DIY on blacking out the FR-S headlights @ http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8788

Once the cover is off, each DRL is attached to the cover via two nut/washers tightened on studs. You can see these studs on the DRLs pictured below.
Attachment 52165
Attachment 52163

Once the DRLs are detached, the fun begins.
Step 1: In order for paint to adhere to the DRLs it was necessary to rough up the DRLs with a light sanding. Using a little detergent on the wet sand paper, I sanded the DRLs until they were cloudy. *Clean with the rubbing alcohol or paint thinner to ensure surface is clean prior to painting!*

Step 2: Then I masked off the parts I was not interested in painting with painters tape; to exercise an overabundance of caution I also covered with painters tape the plugs and foglight bulb assembly that are attached to the DRLs and not detachable.
Attachment 52167

Step 3: I went to a well ventilated area with no wind, in my case my empty garage with the door up, and applied one coat of VHT Night-Shades. Maybe I was too heavy handed or else Night-Shades are dark as all get out, but one coat made the DRLs look black, not smoked. As it turns out, I actually like the look of them blacked out instead of smoked.

Step 4: I should have waited an hour and then done a light sanding before adding clear coat, but I didn't. I applied four coats of Rustoleum Ultra Cover Gloss Clear. Then I let them sit for an hour. Below is a picture after this step.
Attachment 52168

Step 5:*Before polishing, make sure to do a light sanding with little to no pressure with the 2000 grit wet sand paper until the entire surface is cloudy!* I applied a LIBERAL amount of polish on the applicator and went to town on those DRLs. After buffing out the polish they had a nice shine to them, if when you attempt this (at your own risk), if your DRLs are still cloudy after polishing, then just repeat this step until they have a nice shine.

Step 6: Reattach everything is reverse order to how you detached everything in the beginning.
Attachment 52171
Attachment 52172

And for SnG's here is a pic of C'thulhu running around naked.Attachment 52173

9/26/13 Edit: I forgot to mention a couple small, but crucial steps to make sure your DRL's come out smooth and shiny!

My final thoughts are:
1) I should have built with blocks a better holder for the DRLs while I was painting, the coats were not very even.
2) I think I also have a trigger finger that is about as heavy as my right foot, the coats seemed awfully thick.
3) I am glad I did this on my DRLs before attempting my tails. I would punch myself if the tails had noticeable imperfections.

How do they look when they are on? I like how it looks in your pictures.

- AdrianG

Looks cool. I'm also curious about how the DRLs look when lit up.

They look like they've lost about 10-20% brightness.

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Wow this looks awesome. Good work man. I'll definitely be doing this!

They look like they output a good amount of light after being blackout. nice work.

It looks nice from a distance, but don't look too closely. I guess that is the down side to knowing where you could have done better. Thanks for the compliments! :)

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Looks great! I've always felt the DRL's were a little too bright anyways.

Ia! ia! cthulhu fhtagn!

FYI, I forgot part of step 5, please see the red text before attempting this on your own! LOL and I just found another step I missed. All edits will be highlighted in red so you can see what I updated

:offtopic:

So I was curious if it would adversely affect the performance of the car to remove those two abnormal looking growths off the intake tube and just plug them? I presume they just act to silence the car?

The snorkel? Most just remove it... I don't think it hurts it. I could be wrong, but most aftermarket intakes dont connect back into that. They will restrict airflow a bit. Just my $0.02

I am planning to install the TRD intake which afaik connects to the oem snorkel. So that would be my reasoning for modding that.