Custom Headlights by VetteSthetics - (Many Photos)
05-26-2014, 12:13 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Custom Headlights by VetteSthetics - (Many Photos)
I recently had the opportunity to work with Mike Brown from VetteSthetics on customizing my headlights. He was an awesome vendor and extremely personable, stand-up guy. I've documented the process and will explain how it all went down in case you're interested. Otherwise, there's a lot of photos showing my car and the totally unique headlights that Mike made for me.
I began discussing the project with Mike right around New Years. His company makes the awesome Hammerhead LED headlight enhancers for the C6. I was also interested in Halos on my headlight projectors and so the conversation began. Mike can basically do whatever you want to your headlights. After talking through a multitude of options I decided on the following: I would have the Main Bezels painted black, the Projector rings (normally chrome color) painted Monterey Red (body Color), The Hammerheads would be paint matched to my car as well with White LED's to run at Daytime Running Lights. I would install Plasma Halos on both headlight projects in white also running as DRL's. I would have my stock (yellow) DRL lenses smoked and I would install new outer lenses to make things all look brand new when complete.
As Mike's company is in AZ and I'm in NY, I became his first "long distance" customer and I undertook removal of my headlights. Mike has some good instructions and was always available by phone to help. Here's the basics of the removal process (without) removing the bumper:
Remove all the Torx Screw holding the fenders on under the hood except the one closest to the windshield.
Remove the 7mm screws in front of your intake holding on the top of the bumper.
Pop the end of the bumper off the fender. Held on by clips. Then carefully pry the fender out on top of the bumper.
Remove (*or loosen) the front fender liner. On installation, I found it much easier to remove the front wheel, but these photos show it in place.
You need to pop out the side markers so that you canremove three bolts under the fender liner that hold the fender to the bumper and the fender to the frame. These were difficult to photograph.
Now you can reach underneath the fender liner and get to the three 10mm nuts that hold the headlight in place. They are directly below the headlight (facing upwards). It's a tight fit and I found that a socket thumb drive ratchet was the best tool for this job. Then, while prying the fender upwards (a second set of hands is helpful) you can remove the headlights and unplug the connector.
Pack them up really nice and ship them off to Mike!
Now, the car will be "blind" for a few weeks. The modifications would now begin. First the lights were baked and disassembled. The Bezels were painted black.
The Hammerheads were painted monterey Red.
They were color matched to my existing bezels before the painter painted the bezels black and they look spot on.
Next Mike mounted the Halos and did some testing of the switching, etc.
Then we had to work out the stock DRL's.. They were smoked (nightshades) and we decided to use some brighter Amber Halos inside the lights to make them as visible as possible. This is a test shot of the Halos inside the DRL lens.
When things were all done, Mike put together this before and after shot
And On / Off comparison
This is where things got interesting. Mike had hoped to get things painted, parts installed, etc in about two weeks. Of course, various things take longer and through most it, no fault of Mike's the process dragged on. Anyway, about 3-4 weeks later they were on their way back to me.... Of course, you can always count on UPS (or Fedex for that matter) to hook you up, and when the very well packed box arrived, one of the new Lenses had some major scuffs on it!... ahhhh.. I was on the phone with Mike in minutes and after discussing the damage and forwarding a few cell phone photos, he totally took charge and said things would be repaired promptly and at his expense. he would order a new Lens right away and I would ship back the damaged light.
Now the story get's more interesting. After having no trouble ordering new lenses from RLSEBRING (forum member) and having them arrive in two days in AZ, there was now a world-wide shortage of C6 Driver's side lenses!... We ended up having to wait about 10 days to get the replacement lens and for mike to get things opened up, cleaned up and packaged back up to return ship.
I did get my lights back and I was totally thrilled to get them installed. The weather in the NE made it difficult to get out in March/April to get any nice photos, but I've had a chance to assemble a few nice photos of the finished install, so now I'm finally making this post. Mike is an excellent vendor... totally willing to go the extra mile. DO NOT hesitate to have him work on your car. You will end up with something very unique and "show stopping"... I get comments every time I stop with other vettes and everybody wants to know who did my headlights.
Headlights on Car:
Now some photos in the sunlight!
And a shot from our friendly "Pro" at a recent Cars and Coffee event..
And finally, one of my buddies shot this very nice photo last week..
If you want to do something to make your car unique and really stand out, I suggest contacting Mike Brown at VetteSthetics.. You will not be sorry!
I began discussing the project with Mike right around New Years. His company makes the awesome Hammerhead LED headlight enhancers for the C6. I was also interested in Halos on my headlight projectors and so the conversation began. Mike can basically do whatever you want to your headlights. After talking through a multitude of options I decided on the following: I would have the Main Bezels painted black, the Projector rings (normally chrome color) painted Monterey Red (body Color), The Hammerheads would be paint matched to my car as well with White LED's to run at Daytime Running Lights. I would install Plasma Halos on both headlight projects in white also running as DRL's. I would have my stock (yellow) DRL lenses smoked and I would install new outer lenses to make things all look brand new when complete.
As Mike's company is in AZ and I'm in NY, I became his first "long distance" customer and I undertook removal of my headlights. Mike has some good instructions and was always available by phone to help. Here's the basics of the removal process (without) removing the bumper:
Remove all the Torx Screw holding the fenders on under the hood except the one closest to the windshield.
Remove the 7mm screws in front of your intake holding on the top of the bumper.
Pop the end of the bumper off the fender. Held on by clips. Then carefully pry the fender out on top of the bumper.
Remove (*or loosen) the front fender liner. On installation, I found it much easier to remove the front wheel, but these photos show it in place.
You need to pop out the side markers so that you canremove three bolts under the fender liner that hold the fender to the bumper and the fender to the frame. These were difficult to photograph.
Now you can reach underneath the fender liner and get to the three 10mm nuts that hold the headlight in place. They are directly below the headlight (facing upwards). It's a tight fit and I found that a socket thumb drive ratchet was the best tool for this job. Then, while prying the fender upwards (a second set of hands is helpful) you can remove the headlights and unplug the connector.
Pack them up really nice and ship them off to Mike!
Now, the car will be "blind" for a few weeks. The modifications would now begin. First the lights were baked and disassembled. The Bezels were painted black.
The Hammerheads were painted monterey Red.
They were color matched to my existing bezels before the painter painted the bezels black and they look spot on.
Next Mike mounted the Halos and did some testing of the switching, etc.
Then we had to work out the stock DRL's.. They were smoked (nightshades) and we decided to use some brighter Amber Halos inside the lights to make them as visible as possible. This is a test shot of the Halos inside the DRL lens.
When things were all done, Mike put together this before and after shot
And On / Off comparison
This is where things got interesting. Mike had hoped to get things painted, parts installed, etc in about two weeks. Of course, various things take longer and through most it, no fault of Mike's the process dragged on. Anyway, about 3-4 weeks later they were on their way back to me.... Of course, you can always count on UPS (or Fedex for that matter) to hook you up, and when the very well packed box arrived, one of the new Lenses had some major scuffs on it!... ahhhh.. I was on the phone with Mike in minutes and after discussing the damage and forwarding a few cell phone photos, he totally took charge and said things would be repaired promptly and at his expense. he would order a new Lens right away and I would ship back the damaged light.
Now the story get's more interesting. After having no trouble ordering new lenses from RLSEBRING (forum member) and having them arrive in two days in AZ, there was now a world-wide shortage of C6 Driver's side lenses!... We ended up having to wait about 10 days to get the replacement lens and for mike to get things opened up, cleaned up and packaged back up to return ship.
I did get my lights back and I was totally thrilled to get them installed. The weather in the NE made it difficult to get out in March/April to get any nice photos, but I've had a chance to assemble a few nice photos of the finished install, so now I'm finally making this post. Mike is an excellent vendor... totally willing to go the extra mile. DO NOT hesitate to have him work on your car. You will end up with something very unique and "show stopping"... I get comments every time I stop with other vettes and everybody wants to know who did my headlights.
Headlights on Car:
Now some photos in the sunlight!
And a shot from our friendly "Pro" at a recent Cars and Coffee event..
And finally, one of my buddies shot this very nice photo last week..
If you want to do something to make your car unique and really stand out, I suggest contacting Mike Brown at VetteSthetics.. You will not be sorry!
05-26-2014, 12:48 AM
#2
Burning Brakes
Dude, that is just SICK!
How long did it take for him to do them? And How much did all that cost? I know Flowryder wants an arm and a leg and his work does not appear as nice as your lights came out!
SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM
How long did it take for him to do them? And How much did all that cost? I know Flowryder wants an arm and a leg and his work does not appear as nice as your lights came out!
SPEED SAFE, AIR RAM
05-26-2014, 04:50 AM
#5
Le Mans Master
Gosh that looks great and I have toyed with the idea of doing something like that myself. However the price is just a bit more than I can justify as I doubt I could do the lens surgery myself and I don't want the car to be out of service for a month either. My only suggestion would be considering triple halos which I think I read on a post here are now available.
05-26-2014, 07:21 AM
#6
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
It wasn't cheap, but when I look at a lot of cosmetic mods out there, I thought it was fair. Also, it added 44HP on the Dyno!! (I do track my car... need to know what type of gains I was getting from this)..
Nicely done on the headlight mods
Looks great! 
05-27-2014, 09:23 AM
#9
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
I'm pretty sure I'm the first car on the east coast with these mods... I really love having an appearance mod that is completely unique.... Did my engine bay with a local paint shop for a unique appearance as well... Don't see many cars with the TSW wheels either... making it "your own" is (more than) half the fun!
05-27-2014, 10:43 AM
#10
Heel & Toe
We have also been able to aquire several full sets of C6 headlights. This has allowed us to offer a core exchange program for customers looking to order full builds with hammerhead, paint, new lenses etc.. This will help keep the lead time down on the builds. Another thing that will help lead times is that we are getting busy enough to schedule builds. When a customer orders a set the materials are ordered and when they are ready or close to it, we request the lights from the customer to build. This again saves us on the lead time and gets your lights into the customers car faster. As you know you are getting basicly a brand new set of modified headlights that are plug and play back into your Vette!
I am so excited everytime I see these lights. The MRM hammerhead was def the right choice! Thank you so much for your business and trusting in Vettesthetics to deliver you something that has your Vette standing out from the crowd!
Thanks again! Mike-Vettesthetics
Last edited by VetteSthetics; 05-27-2014 at 10:46 AM.
02-08-2016, 04:27 PM
#11
1st Gear
Member Since: Feb 2016
Posts: 1
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How do I reach Mike at Vetteethics
I recently had the opportunity to work with Mike Brown from VetteSthetics on customizing my headlights. He was an awesome vendor and extremely personable, stand-up guy. I've documented the process and will explain how it all went down in case you're interested. Otherwise, there's a lot of photos showing my car and the totally unique headlights that Mike made for me.
I began discussing the project with Mike right around New Years. His company makes the awesome Hammerhead LED headlight enhancers for the C6. I was also interested in Halos on my headlight projectors and so the conversation began. Mike can basically do whatever you want to your headlights. After talking through a multitude of options I decided on the following: I would have the Main Bezels painted black, the Projector rings (normally chrome color) painted Monterey Red (body Color), The Hammerheads would be paint matched to my car as well with White LED's to run at Daytime Running Lights. I would install Plasma Halos on both headlight projects in white also running as DRL's. I would have my stock (yellow) DRL lenses smoked and I would install new outer lenses to make things all look brand new when complete.
As Mike's company is in AZ and I'm in NY, I became his first "long distance" customer and I undertook removal of my headlights. Mike has some good instructions and was always available by phone to help. Here's the basics of the removal process (without) removing the bumper:
Remove all the Torx Screw holding the fenders on under the hood except the one closest to the windshield.
Remove the 7mm screws in front of your intake holding on the top of the bumper.
Pop the end of the bumper off the fender. Held on by clips. Then carefully pry the fender out on top of the bumper.
Remove (*or loosen) the front fender liner. On installation, I found it much easier to remove the front wheel, but these photos show it in place.
You need to pop out the side markers so that you canremove three bolts under the fender liner that hold the fender to the bumper and the fender to the frame. These were difficult to photograph.
Now you can reach underneath the fender liner and get to the three 10mm nuts that hold the headlight in place. They are directly below the headlight (facing upwards). It's a tight fit and I found that a socket thumb drive ratchet was the best tool for this job. Then, while prying the fender upwards (a second set of hands is helpful) you can remove the headlights and unplug the connector.
Pack them up really nice and ship them off to Mike!
Now, the car will be "blind" for a few weeks. The modifications would now begin. First the lights were baked and disassembled. The Bezels were painted black.
The Hammerheads were painted monterey Red.
They were color matched to my existing bezels before the painter painted the bezels black and they look spot on.
Next Mike mounted the Halos and did some testing of the switching, etc.
Then we had to work out the stock DRL's.. They were smoked (nightshades) and we decided to use some brighter Amber Halos inside the lights to make them as visible as possible. This is a test shot of the Halos inside the DRL lens.
When things were all done, Mike put together this before and after shot
And On / Off comparison
This is where things got interesting. Mike had hoped to get things painted, parts installed, etc in about two weeks. Of course, various things take longer and through most it, no fault of Mike's the process dragged on. Anyway, about 3-4 weeks later they were on their way back to me.... Of course, you can always count on UPS (or Fedex for that matter) to hook you up, and when the very well packed box arrived, one of the new Lenses had some major scuffs on it!... ahhhh.. I was on the phone with Mike in minutes and after discussing the damage and forwarding a few cell phone photos, he totally took charge and said things would be repaired promptly and at his expense. he would order a new Lens right away and I would ship back the damaged light.
Now the story get's more interesting. After having no trouble ordering new lenses from RLSEBRING (forum member) and having them arrive in two days in AZ, there was now a world-wide shortage of C6 Driver's side lenses!... We ended up having to wait about 10 days to get the replacement lens and for mike to get things opened up, cleaned up and packaged back up to return ship.
I did get my lights back and I was totally thrilled to get them installed. The weather in the NE made it difficult to get out in March/April to get any nice photos, but I've had a chance to assemble a few nice photos of the finished install, so now I'm finally making this post. Mike is an excellent vendor... totally willing to go the extra mile. DO NOT hesitate to have him work on your car. You will end up with something very unique and "show stopping"... I get comments every time I stop with other vettes and everybody wants to know who did my headlights.
Headlights on Car:
Now some photos in the sunlight!
And a shot from our friendly "Pro" at a recent Cars and Coffee event..
And finally, one of my buddies shot this very nice photo last week..
If you want to do something to make your car unique and really stand out, I suggest contacting Mike Brown at VetteSthetics.. You will not be sorry!
I began discussing the project with Mike right around New Years. His company makes the awesome Hammerhead LED headlight enhancers for the C6. I was also interested in Halos on my headlight projectors and so the conversation began. Mike can basically do whatever you want to your headlights. After talking through a multitude of options I decided on the following: I would have the Main Bezels painted black, the Projector rings (normally chrome color) painted Monterey Red (body Color), The Hammerheads would be paint matched to my car as well with White LED's to run at Daytime Running Lights. I would install Plasma Halos on both headlight projects in white also running as DRL's. I would have my stock (yellow) DRL lenses smoked and I would install new outer lenses to make things all look brand new when complete.
As Mike's company is in AZ and I'm in NY, I became his first "long distance" customer and I undertook removal of my headlights. Mike has some good instructions and was always available by phone to help. Here's the basics of the removal process (without) removing the bumper:
Remove all the Torx Screw holding the fenders on under the hood except the one closest to the windshield.
Remove the 7mm screws in front of your intake holding on the top of the bumper.
Pop the end of the bumper off the fender. Held on by clips. Then carefully pry the fender out on top of the bumper.
Remove (*or loosen) the front fender liner. On installation, I found it much easier to remove the front wheel, but these photos show it in place.
You need to pop out the side markers so that you canremove three bolts under the fender liner that hold the fender to the bumper and the fender to the frame. These were difficult to photograph.
Now you can reach underneath the fender liner and get to the three 10mm nuts that hold the headlight in place. They are directly below the headlight (facing upwards). It's a tight fit and I found that a socket thumb drive ratchet was the best tool for this job. Then, while prying the fender upwards (a second set of hands is helpful) you can remove the headlights and unplug the connector.
Pack them up really nice and ship them off to Mike!
Now, the car will be "blind" for a few weeks. The modifications would now begin. First the lights were baked and disassembled. The Bezels were painted black.
The Hammerheads were painted monterey Red.
They were color matched to my existing bezels before the painter painted the bezels black and they look spot on.
Next Mike mounted the Halos and did some testing of the switching, etc.
Then we had to work out the stock DRL's.. They were smoked (nightshades) and we decided to use some brighter Amber Halos inside the lights to make them as visible as possible. This is a test shot of the Halos inside the DRL lens.
When things were all done, Mike put together this before and after shot
And On / Off comparison
This is where things got interesting. Mike had hoped to get things painted, parts installed, etc in about two weeks. Of course, various things take longer and through most it, no fault of Mike's the process dragged on. Anyway, about 3-4 weeks later they were on their way back to me.... Of course, you can always count on UPS (or Fedex for that matter) to hook you up, and when the very well packed box arrived, one of the new Lenses had some major scuffs on it!... ahhhh.. I was on the phone with Mike in minutes and after discussing the damage and forwarding a few cell phone photos, he totally took charge and said things would be repaired promptly and at his expense. he would order a new Lens right away and I would ship back the damaged light.
Now the story get's more interesting. After having no trouble ordering new lenses from RLSEBRING (forum member) and having them arrive in two days in AZ, there was now a world-wide shortage of C6 Driver's side lenses!... We ended up having to wait about 10 days to get the replacement lens and for mike to get things opened up, cleaned up and packaged back up to return ship.
I did get my lights back and I was totally thrilled to get them installed. The weather in the NE made it difficult to get out in March/April to get any nice photos, but I've had a chance to assemble a few nice photos of the finished install, so now I'm finally making this post. Mike is an excellent vendor... totally willing to go the extra mile. DO NOT hesitate to have him work on your car. You will end up with something very unique and "show stopping"... I get comments every time I stop with other vettes and everybody wants to know who did my headlights.
Headlights on Car:
Now some photos in the sunlight!
And a shot from our friendly "Pro" at a recent Cars and Coffee event..
And finally, one of my buddies shot this very nice photo last week..
If you want to do something to make your car unique and really stand out, I suggest contacting Mike Brown at VetteSthetics.. You will not be sorry!
02-09-2016, 12:41 PM
#12
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Mike is a forum vendor. His website is vettesthetics.com.
Email: Vettestheticsinfo@gmail.com
Just do it!!
Email: Vettestheticsinfo@gmail.com
Just do it!!