i just wanted to share something i doing custom on my xk8..its a 97 and i have always loved the newer black lights..while they are actually mostly black with the part in front of the turn signal chrome which is awsome i have always wondered what all black would look like..well when it comes to me wondering for too long something tends to become a reality..im the kinda guy that fabricates anything i can..so away i went pulling the lights to see if i could separate the glass lenses from the housing..


with a heat gun and a plastic wedge i started the 3 hour process of very carefully removing the glass





and its off (hardest part of the whole job)

 

the glass is in very good shape.i did this for 2 reasons.1 badass black lights and the chrome on my lights was getting faded and the seal has leaked and let moisture in along with dirt..didnt mean the seal was easy to separate!





both successfuly removed and some gray hair added

 

Yeah, yeah, keep going!

I've been thinking about the same work...watching you closely.



.

 

my cars the same color as yours so you will appreciate it most!!!!!!

 

You, sir, are my hero...Keep Walking!!!

 

Yes yes, bring it home! I gotta see the end result. I happen to have a friend with all of materials, so if it works I'm doing that!

 

Great thread! Has anyone considered doing this but painting the bezels to match the body color? I did so several years ago on my Magnum, made a huge difference!

 

On black cars, this same effect would be achieved with what he's doing.

 

after alot of scuffing to get any loose shiny stuff of and a good cleaning i mixed up some self etching primer made for plastic and went to town..heres a shot outside of step one



i ended up priming the whole thing front to back.that self etching primer is some seriously strong stuff..once dry it was very hard to scratch off.using top notch materials will make sure this mod looks good for a long time....tomorrow you will see black people!!!

 

I can't wait. This may be a very cheap alternative to buying the black headlight from the 03' + cars. I have to ask, will this affect nighttime visibility?

 

i cant wait too..this will not affect night visibility..on low beams the projector well projects and the high beam has its own reflector that will be untouched..really no light reflects off the part im painting..i did leave the reflector chrome behind the tunsignal lens..i want it all to work as stock...this mod will cost me nothing,well time i guess,i already have the primer and paint in my shop...

 

That sounds great! I didn't think all that chrome was there just for bling. I'm definitively going to be doing this mod eventually.

I almost forgot to ask, does the chrome wipe off?

 

The chrome is vapor deposited on the black plastic. It actually will wipe off. And reveal black plastic underneath. I think rubbing alcohol will really take off the chrome.
I can tell you that my headlights are a bit dimmer at night with my 2005 black lenses. I think the halogen bulbs did need the chrome but the HID bulbs didn't.

 

Is converting to the HID bulbs a simple swap?

 

Not really since there exists a later version of your car with these parts. Much harder if that was not the case.

 

Gents, I installed the exact one 6000K HID xenon conversion kit from Kensun as showed in the video above. I am driving 1999 XK8 and I had to undertake simple rewiring to fit it all in the factory headlight housings...15 mins of basic wire cutting/connecting per headlight.
Never had to use my high beams again . The projectors cut the light column off correctly before it'd blind upcoming vehicles (unlike some aftermarket insanity people do on pickups leaving you driving blind at night ).
Anyhow, if you'd like to see the difference between factory and Xenon plus look at my pdf rewiring document click the link below...


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...21/#post719889


Hope this helps, giandanielxk8.
Killergsxr1, can't wait to blackout once the you complete that masterpiece, mate!!!

 

It can be if you buy the slim, small ballast kits. They fit inside the light unit. Really a plug and play.
I didn't realize this when I ordered mine so the ballast needs to be mounted outside the unit and a hole drilled in the main beam outer cap to run the wiring.

 

You should add the led drl rings. They look awesome!! I wired mine to the small parking bulb.

 

where did you get the led rings?i already have hid lights installed..it was plug and play and everything was hidden inside the headlight housing

 

This is a great thread!
I'm going to paint mine black too as I think they will look better with the orange of the car :-)