Spray the tails?

[lateralized]

I have always hated the stock tail light bar on my car. WAAAAY too much red. I have considered tinting it, but really I want it gone, or at least fully covered. Given that I have a couple friends who have gotten a lot of shizz from the fuzz because of their heavily smoked tails, I am considering just painting the parts that I hate most while also creating a unique look for my baby's rear end. Obviously the sample photo is a hasty photoshopped version and the final will look much nicer. And of course I will prep like crazy for this job to ensure a quality lasting finish. Here are the samples. I am pretty much set on doing this already, but its still nice to hear opinions.

CURRENTLY:

AFTER PAINT:

photo removed since I have already done it ... see next page for results.

 

[topdeeni]

that loox dope like that...

Totally blacked out who can give U crap about altering its color shading...."but officer I bought it like that.. its a new safety feature eliminating all the confusing red glare.." cough choke cough choke....

 

[Nate]

you could always paint it like that (which looks great! do it!) then lightly tint the rest.

 

[lateralized]

you could always paint it like that (which looks great! do it!) then lightly tint the rest.

I thought of that. that's whats keeping me from doing it anytime soon (that and the fact that it may never be sunny again in Maine). I think it would be best to spray on a light coat of Nightshades to the areas that will not be covered and THEN paint the remainder over it, finishing over the entire area with clear. I wouldnt want to paint it as shown and then later decide I want some tint to the exposed area, it seems like it would be hard to tint those little areas compared to doing it before I painted the rest.

Also, does anyone know if there is ANY WAY to get the amber plastic out of the tail lights? I know it wont be as easy as doing the headlights, but I want to clear the tails BADLY before doing this.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

forget about painting light bar...fix your transmission!

that reflective red panel across the back may well save your bacon if you are sitting on side of the road at night with a blown trans or flat tire or something. black car, dark night, big SUV coming up behind in the fog...you get the picture, right?

don't you realize that painting over the taillights' amber area is plain illegal = automatic inspection fail in ME. do you really dislike the color so much you're willing to deal with those kind of hassles

consider how much cosmetic mods like this will devalue the car come trade in time. I know if I were looking at this car, I'd think "hmmm, if owner did all this to the outside, what kind of monkeying around did he do mechanically?"

 

[lateralized]

forget about painting light bar...fix your transmission!

Heheheh. Well, I have an appointment next week to have the tranny looked at. I already have all the materials for this, so ... why not?

that reflective red panel across the back may well save your bacon if you are sitting on side of the road at night with a blown trans or flat tire or something. black car, dark night, big SUV coming up behind in the fog...you get the picture, right?

I beleive the reflectors are located in the tail light area that will be left uncovered. The red bar is just ugly red plastic ... useless. Just in case I am wrong (more than possible), I would add some reflectors in a different color and location that were much less of an eyesore. Something along the lines of this black reflective tape. I dont want to be unsafe. I am not going to comprimise functionality.

don't you realize that painting over the taillights' amber area is plain illegal = automatic inspection fail in ME. do you really dislike the color so much you're willing to deal with those kind of hassles

I am not painting over the amber area. I am painting AROUND it.

consider how much cosmetic mods like this will devalue the car come trade in time. I know if I were looking at this car, I'd think "hmmm, if owner did all this to the outside, what kind of monkeying around did he do mechanically?"

This is a very valid point. One that will probably go ignored in favor of the wants of the current owner.

And if by monkying you mean swapping out the engine with Lobstah at 4am after a case of beer, then they would be correct in their assumption.

 

[Nicklepage1010]

My tails are smoked, its relatively easy to do, you need patience, flat black paint, and some good clear.

a steady hand doesn't hurt either =P

if you were closer id do them for you

 

[GClark]

Go for it, I think it would look great all black, and if you do it right it'll look stock.

 

[Nigel Prodrive]

And if by monkying you mean swapping out the engine with Lobstah at 4am after a case of beer, then they would be correct in their assumption.

Like the black reflective idea. You have thought this thru pretty well so wtf, get out the masking tape and spray bombs.

LOLz, yes, I am aware of quite a few monkey-mobiles buzzing around MS, I know I sure got one!

They are in good company at least, and there's lots o help to support our various Scooby modding fetishes.

 

[lateralized]

I did it today. Black semi-gloss went on a little sketchy so I switched to flat, better but not great. Clear coat went on like ASS. Wet sanding is needed as the orange peel is WAY outta control. haven't unmasked it yet, letting it sit overnight. This whole thing was a nightmare and I can pretty much gaurantee its gonna be disappointing. Sigh ... Ill post pics tomorrow.

 

[ChadSRT]

i think it prob would have worked better for u if you would have nite shaded the part you u photoshoped black real dark then untape and go over the whole tail light section with another coat or too. nite shade looks good cause its still super glossy

 

[Nicklepage1010]

you scuffed it up with some high grit paper first right?

then went with light coats?

 

[lateralized]

you scuffed it up with some high grit paper first right?then went with light coats?

I did.

In fact I taped, sanded, primed twice, black 4 times and it was looking decent up to this point. However, the clear coat came out REALLY fast and went on SUPER thick. I had decided not to wet sand the black because it was looking pretty good. Once that clear got on there though it looked like ASS. From far away it looks MEAN, up close it looks like I stuck a peice of alligator skin on it. Super runny as well from the ridiculous clear coat. Even a quick fogging from about 12-14 inches away and it was dripping and running all over the place. I only hope that if I let that clear sit for a week or so that I can go back and wet sand it for a better finish. Overall I am not upset with it, it looks ghetto but still a VAST improvement over the awful red scar on my car.

 

[ruggedman]

Actually you can remove the amber from the rear of the car. Maine state law requires turn signals in the rear to be either amber or red. The front of the car however has to be amber. Many cars just use an amber bulb nowadays and got rid of the amber lens clear bulb combo (thankfully).

 

[lateralized]

OK, so here are the pics. You may want to remove small children from the room when viewing the closeups as they are quite frightening.

From a distance it looks pretty f-ing sweet in IMHO. Examples:

However, as stated above, not all the coats went on as well as the first few and well ... this is what happened ...

So, I now you are all about to lay into me with "you should have put on thinner coats" and "you should have wet sanded before clear coating" but, ya know, I didnt and now I have to deal with it. I personally think that even with its leathery texture its still a serious improvement over stock, so I am happy. But I would be happier if I could get some advice on whether or not wet sanding the final coat of clear and polishing it is going to help this or not. I thank you all for your comments and advice in advance. Be gentle ...

 

[GClark]

Looks sick! Very clean. Even from up close, it doesn't look that bad. Too really set it off though, get some tint from jun. Black everything out

 

[inski]

Yup, looks good way back. WAY Better than the giant school bus reflector. Up close, eh. Yah yah you know, too thick, too soon equals explosion of wrinkles. However even with the wrinkles its betterer than the giant reflector. Good job. Dont sweat the small stuff, it does look good.

 

[04wrx]

Yeap, looks really good from a distance, it still doesn't look that bad up close.

 

[hockysk8]

you done good!