Upgrade to Headlight body opening

[ronmanfredi]

I've always liked the look of the 2001-2003 Firebird based cars where they had painted the headlight openings black.  I decided to do the same to my 2006 model by using vinyl wrap instead of paint.  The openings aren't true circles on the front or back side, so I made a template using 3 sheets of paper to get a general idea of what the wrap pattern should look like, then added about 1" to all 4 sides.  To me, the best way to do this was to remove the lights, so off come the front wheels, the front inner fender liners and then the lights themselves.  Here are a few photos of the job starting with the stock look, we really like the new look!

[aardvark]

Yeah, that adds a err of simple improvement.  Ya Done a Good'n !....  I  Like! 

I've got some work to do as well... I just cant do a thing until the temps rise (This morning it's 5 deg's).

I notice You don't have a Hood Vent (which are a style point... non functional). Mine the paint peeled off and left me with a rusted surface. It needs painted, so I'm going black instead of it's original green.

Likewise the Bumper is a mess and needs re-painted. There is a clear plastic film on it and it deteriorated. Also considering blackening it out.

Since my headlights are already blacked out, I consider my changes will be good matching items. After all, there are other blacked out items like the plastics around the windshield and black convertible top, (as well as other items).

Some might argue the things You/I are doing are changes from original and agains the flow in that respect..... And they are correct.  That said, the items are minor yet vast improvements in our eyes. ...I'm ''On Board" with them

Edited February 21 by aardvark

[ronmanfredi]

On 2/20/2025 at 11:37 PM, aardvark said:

Yeah, that adds a err of simple improvement.  Ya Done a Good'n !....  I  Like! 

I've got some work to do as well... I just cant do a thing until the temps rise (This morning it's 5 deg's).

I notice You don't have a Hood Vent (which are a style point... non functional). Mine the paint peeled off and left me with a rusted surface. It needs painted, so I'm going black instead of it's original green.

Likewise the Bumper is a mess and needs re-painted. There is a clear plastic film on it and it deteriorated. Also considering blackening it out.

Since my headlights are already blacked out, I consider my changes will be good matching items. After all, there are other blacked out items like the plastics around the windshield and black convertible top, (as well as other items).

Some might argue the things You/I are doing are changes from original and agains the flow in that respect..... And they are correct.  That said, the items are minor yet vast improvements in our eyes. ...I'm ''On Board" with them

On the ford models, they raised that part of the hood in an attempt to look more like the original car.  The 01-07's are no where near close to the original designed Avanti, so I don't see anything wrong with customizing ours.  In fact, some of the changes look better and at the car shows I've attended with mine, the attendees really like what I've done.  So go for it!

[aardvark]

Will do !... just wont go too radical.

The only Studie show I've been to is in Maggie Valley NC. Been to 2 more shows where Ours is stared down in disbelief and questions.

Our cars really stand out ''as is''... The rarity is unusual.

 

[Randy Atkin]

Ron - I'm curious - what are the four round plugs(?) or fasteners(?) spaced along the face of your Avanti's front bumper? I have never seen these on any 2001 thru 2007 Avanti.  

Nice job on the headlight openings. I have seen some 2001 - 2005 with and some without this area blacked out.

[ronmanfredi]

On 2/24/2025 at 8:42 AM, Randy Atkin said:

Ron - I'm curious - what are the four round plugs(?) or fasteners(?) spaced along the face of your Avanti's front bumper? I have never seen these on any 2001 thru 2007 Avanti.  

Nice job on the headlight openings. I have seen some 2001 - 2005 with and some without this area blacked out.

The original owner had perimeter sensors installed front and back to warn him of getting too close to parked cars or when backing up.  There's a warning display on the steering column just below the center gauge cluster on top of the steering column.  It's about the size of a column mounted PRND21 display. It works really good too.

[aardvark]

That's a very interesting aftermarket option, Ron. .... A good ''keeper''.