Valeo black mask guide!

[Oil-burner]

Right, before I start I wanna stress I've never done this before!!
I was almost put off by everyone saying valeos were a nightmare, but I got hold of a cheap set so thought I'd have a blast!



Right I'm sure I don't need to tell you how to remove them from the car, if you can't work that out by yourself then I wouldn't bother going any further!

Right,PREP: I took all the bulbs out of the unit before heating them up and put a towel down on your work surface so you don't scratch it etc.

TOOLS: I just used a flat head screw driver and a Stanley blade for opening the lights.

OVEN: put the light in the oven on a shelf, not on the bottom of the oven!!
Set the oven to 100oC (do not preheat) and leave for 20 minutes


That did say 20minutes but it flashes and I apparently took it at the wrong time!

Keep checking the light to make sure it's not going too soft!

Take it out of the oven, use oven gloves because it will be hot!!

Right time is of the essence as it will be cooling but don't rush, you can always put it back in the oven for a couple of minutes

Starting on the top, nearest the grill push the screw driver in as far as it will go and prise the lense up, don't try to do too much, you just want the lense to seperate from the adhesive, You'll see when it goes.
Then work your way around the lense.
Don't forget, you aren't trying to pull the lense out of the case yet, just lifting it off the glue!
When you've gone all the way around, start to pull the lense away from the casing. You need to pull it literally straight towards you, it might be a bit stiff but give it a wriggle and it'll go.

Right it should look a bit like this



Honestly it is as easy as that!!

As you can see the 'mask' clips onto the lense, not the case.
Carefully pop it out of the clips and remove the indicator lense

Right, there's 2 ways you can go from here, fine wet and dry sandpaper or a wet green scotch pad like I did. Might sound daft but this will give enough key for primer but won't leave deep scratches in the plastic.



Rub all the chrome off the mask, including the clips at the bottom (I'll tell you why later)

Give it a good wash and a wipe down

Right your ready for primer

Give it a good few coats of primer again including the clips at the bottom. wait for it to dry.
(This can be accelerated with a hair drier)
When it is fully dry and won't leave finger prints if you touch it (this is where your keyed and primed clips come in as they are out of sight if you make a mess!)

Now get a bucket of soapy water and some p1000 wet & dry paper and lightly rub over until it is totally smooth!

Again give it a good wash and dry.
Now your ready for paint.
I went with a graphite grey metallic colour but obviously it's up to you!
I like to warm the can up for a while first by leaving it in warm water for a while, until it doesn't feel cold when you shake it.
Shake the can for 1 minute!
Right start spraying!
Remember light, even coats!

Again leave it to fully dry
(Remember you've got your clips to test if its dry enough to touch)



I didn't lacquer mine as I wanted a Matte effect, but if you want to lacquer it repeat paint steps.

Right now the worst bit, you've got to get as much of the old adhesive off the lense/casing as possible!
This took me a while!!
I used a router bit on my dremel but be careful!
When that's done you want to polish the reflectors in the casing and the lense because you won't be able to get those finger prints off when it's glued!
At this point I put some latex gloves on so I didn't put any more marks on the light!
Put the indicator lense back in the mask and push it back onto the lense.
Run a thin bead of silicone around the casing and push the whole unit back together!
Now you wanna squeeze the lense fully back into position and duct tape it together so it stays in place



Leave inside until silicone has fully cured (usually between 24-48hrs)
Remove tape and get rid of sticky crap.



Refit onto car
Stand back, Admire you new valeo black masks and wonder what all the fuss was about on the forums!
Have fun!!