Ancient thread, but I can answer
Quote:
Originally Posted by sero901
did you open them and spray tint the inside? I love the look. did you notice any reduced light during the night?
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FR-S has a projector low-beam, so it's fine and dandy to paint the chrome trim around it - it's just cosmetic, not part of the optics - those are all behind the round glass lens.
In fact, you can even go so far as painting a certain component within the projector itself. Essentially, a projector contains a chrome "bowl", and part of the bowl is covered by a metal shield called a cutoff shield, which is usually painted gray. If you paint it another color, the projector lens will look that color with the lights off, and still function properly with the lights on.
However, the high beam is a reflector, so it's not possible to paint that chrome while still retaining your high beams.
Simply blacking out the cosmetic chrome shroud (and even the forward-facing side of the cutoff shield, if you're up for doing that much disassembly) won't affect output at all. Only drawbacks are risk of damage and of leaks leading to fogging/condensation.
Tinting the entire housing is just lazy and stupid.