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!!

[WiNgNuTz]

Might give this a go with my old lights when I get some new ones, then it won't matter if I cock it up!

Nice guide mate.

[Oil-burner]

Honestly mate, it's so easy!
I was shitting it when I put it in the oven but there's no need at all!

[nath_ski]

I knakered a pair of these trying to do it but used an aga whoops! Ended in over done valeos. Grew some balls and tried again in a proper oven at 100 degrees like you say was an absolute piece of cake. Dont know why i worried about. And it looks awesome!!

[Oil-burner]

Haha, yeah I imagine they were pretty well done! Lol
Like you said I really don't know what all the fuss is about, they are so easy to do.
The worst bit is getting the old glue out.

[nath_ski]

Haha, yeah I imagine they were pretty well done! Lol
Like you said I really don't know what all the fuss is about, they are so easy to do.
The worst bit is getting the old glue out.

Pretty well done aint the word i took em out after 5 mins and was like how hots this thing, only 400 degress haha DONT do them in an aga. They are easy once you get the courage.

[Oil-burner]

Haha, more black mess than black mask then I take it!
As long as you take your time and don't hack at them you can't go wrong really!

[WiNgNuTz]

What silicone did you use? I think it was cwspellowe that said he used automotive grade silicone, but would standard bathroom silicone do the same job?

[Ed Doe]

That's a great guide mate, properly tempted to give it a go myself now

[Matt]

Awesome guide mate, thought about giving it ago myself, but Unfortunatly my oven isn't big enough for the lights haha

[Just Sean]

Would a microwave work?

[Oil-burner]

@wingnutz tbh mate that's the only thing I wish I'd done different. My dad recommended something called pink grip because it dries quickly and I need my car back but as the name suggests, it's pink! You can't see it when the bonnet is shut but it doesn't look oem so I'd use something else if I did it again.

@ed doe cheers mate, wanted to get more pics of opening it up but obviously needed to be quick because it was cooling down.
Go on give it a bash, it's honestly that easy!

@matt cheers, my oven isn't quite big enough either, thats why i used my mums. although i dont reccomend that, to say she went mental would be a bit of an understatement! lol but it should still work
Might cost you a little more in electric but I can't see why not!
Just heat it up until you can only touch it for a second without burning your fingers!

---

Would a microwave work?

Why not ask these boys?

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=TSajGdydZ...dZ3E&gl=GB

[C.A.R.]

Brilliant. Now just need to source some decent condition Valeo's and some balls to stick the lights in the oven

....off to eBay...

Would a microwave work?

Don't do this!

[Oil-burner]

If you wanna try a set first, I believe pugmarshall is giving away a set of phase 2's!

[Chris_90]

Glad they was that easy mate, any pics on car??? tempted to have a bash my self now

[Just Sean]

Would a microwave work?

Don't do this!

Damn!!

[Oil-burner]

I'll post on car pics later!

[Just Sean]

Have justasked one of the chefs at work if hes ever in my him self!!

[Oil-burner]

Right they are on the car and I'm over the moon with them!

Pic as promised, its a bit shit because I was blocked on the drive but ill get a better one when I can

[Oil-burner]

Well they've been on 3 days now with two misty mornings, it's been washed and they haven't misted up at all.
I'm really happy with how they've turned out.

[C.A.R.]

They look sweet mate.

My Valeo's are in the post, just got to gather up the courage to put them in the oven when they arrive!

[Oil-burner]

Yeah I know mate, you've got them off Kent! Lol
Why don't you try your old ones first?
Seriously tho, there's nothing to it!
You need any advice or anything, drop me a pm

[C.A.R.]

Cos if I f*ck them up (highly likely) then I can't use the car lol, I currently use the car every day for work.

Plan is to have a go. If it goes wrong then I've lost money. If it goes right I'll do the other set and sell them on as Masks, making all my money back. Genius! Lol.

[Oil-burner]

That was my plan mate but when you've spent an hour getting all the old adhesive out of them you won't want to do it again! Lol
The only thing if suggest is to keep checking them when they are in the oven. I know some ovens will be different to mine and might warm up quicker or something and don't want you to melt them.
If I can do it anyone can, I'm usually pretty heavy handed, don't have a lot of patience with fiddly stuff and I didn't throw one tantrum! Lol

[StarBenn]

Am totally going to have a go at this when I find another set of lights!!

[gareth7]

Credit where credits due mate.....this guide is absolutely spot on. I've just finished taking apart a set of Valeo's and your instructions worked a treat. As you said, just take your time, don't try and rush it and re-heat them if needed.

It took me half an hour to do a pair and after following this guide I'm wondering what all the fuss is about when it comes to taking Valeo's apart.

Follow this and it's simple!

[Oil-burner]

Cheers Gareth, really is that easy isn't it?
Glad you found the guide useful mate!

Oh and get some pics up in here when your done.

[gareth7]

Will do mate, I already had a set of masks that were already painted so they're sat in the garage 'dry fitted' back together.....looking really good too. I've just got to clean the old adhesive out (razor sharp 5mm chisel is the perfect tool for this!) and re-glue them up.

They're going to go really well with the whole gold and black theme on my HDi......especially with the lightly tinted rear clusters I've got ready to fit too

[Oil-burner]

What you using Matt black or gloss?
Yeah mate, it's surprising how much of a difference they make, really pleased with mine.
What tint did you use on the lights?

[gareth7]

The masks are satin black mate, I used E-tech tint spray from Ebay...works well if you slowly build it up to the tint depth you want.