First of all, I would like to say hello to all the fellow members, I'm a new member here...Today, I had some free time, so I decided to paint my tail lights, and finish painting my last rim. I painted 3 of my rims, but I did not have time for the 4th, so today is the day. I also had my camera phone, so I took plenty of pics. I hope you guys enjoy!





LOL
Took off the bumper in order to take of the tail lights (stupid technolohy though)



My VHT NightShades






Hung them up and sprayed them!
We thought it looked a little too matte, so we decided to get some clear coat:








This is what the autzone guy recommended to us. I would not recommend it, because it takes makes it even more matte, so we sprayed it with the Clear coat for Rims, we do not have it pictured though.



















While the tail lights dry, we took off the 4th rim we never got to. After that, we put tape and newspaper on it, and then sanded it off a bit, so the paint stays on better.





Sprayed it black, and then we used the clearcoat for rims, the same one we used on the tails, but we don't recomend it, it's just that it beat the enamel crap the autozone guys gave to us.

Few more pics of the car/rims:







And now we're off to the car wash, here it is after the car wash:























Sorry for crappy picture quality, i didn't bring my camera, and i had to use my phone.
Anyways, to those wondering, yes i made that grille myself, yes i painted the calipers red myself, and yes i painted all the rims myself. Right now i'm waiting for my TRD emblem to come in from ebay to put on the grille. Also waiting for blue LEDs to come in, to make my grille light up, and right now i'm working on my fog lights from white LEDs.

So what do you guys think?

edit. my trd emblem for the grill came in today, i put it on, but did not get a chance to take pictures because it's pretty dark right now (9:19PM) so yea....i'll put them up asap, along with the updated pics of smoked lights....

UPDATE!

edit here is the DVD Player, Tails with lacque, and my trd emblem
















Pics to come:

TRD emblem on grill
DVD Player fully installed
Smoked tails with lacque installed on the car
Subwoofer + Amp
Fog lights made by myself out of LEDs

 

nice, did you drill into the side of the front bumper for your license plate?

 

Yes, althought the holes in the middle are still there, i'm still thinking of what to do with those, looking for a way to cover them up.

 

Very cool paint design on the wheels!!!
As for the nightshades...Don't expect that to last for along time. Especially if they see alot of sun. I had done my truck taillights very very dark about 2 years ago. Now you can see the redish tint of the lens.

 

Good job =) Although you probably wanted a glossier look. Should have used Acrylic Lacquer (Gloss) Clear Coat if that's the case.

This link would have probably helped you get the non matte look.

 

Yea, I saw the tutorial, but i did not pay much attention to which clear coat they used, so when i went to AutoZone, i did not want to go back home and check....The guy said it will be fine...but i guess he doesn't know crap.

 

live and learn eh? you can always wet sand them down and do the lacquer gloss cc =)

 

maybe later...Just don't feel like redoing it right now...after all that work..besides i would need to buy more niteshades... they don't have them @ autozone, so i have to drive around 40 mins to get some...I think it looks pretty good, and i can't wait for my blue LEDs and my trd emblem.

 

nice im thinking about painting my rims too but worrying they will chip...anyways what material did you use for your grill and from where did you get it?

 

i used the stuff they use in gutters, not exactly sure what it's called...i got it at home depot...mesh is that what it's called? im not sure..just go to home depot, ussually at the end by the gutters, it's used for covering them...

 

is it the gutter guards that come in like packs of 5 - 5"x 24" strips [[or sumthing like that]]

 

yea they come in packs of 5 or 1....

 

good job on the tails. Yeap go reclear them cause they look off. Nice ride tho

 

As far as the holes in the bumper:

http://www.bumperplugs.com/BPindex.html

Just hit "skip intro" as soon as it starts to load 'cuz the music is cheezy, even by eighties standards.

 

do they have them in stores? cuz i hate waiting for stuff to ship.

 

you needed the lacquer

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=115733

 

never saw then anywhere other than on-line.

 

i just put on some lacquer on the tails today, and installed my DivX/XviD/DVD/MP3 player, that was used to be broken...i got it fixed....pics coming soon.

 

hey I know how to make the tails shine like a mirror...

wetsand them with 1000-1200 grit. Be careful because although this is light sand paper it still rubs the surface down. All wetsanding is is dipping the piece of sandpaper in water. Do this every once in a while, to make sure there is water on the sandpaper. The water acts as a lubricant. Use a circular pattern and watch out for the edges.

After you have done this get some rubbing compound. The one I like to use is Turtle wax rubbing compound. It comes in a circular tin which is about two inches high and 5 inches in diameter. Take a wet cloth and some compound and rub this over the taillight in a circular pattern...

After that use some Turtle Wax scratch remover. It comes in a bottle that looks like the green wax, with the only noticable difference being it has a red top. Use this in a circular motion.

Then just add on a coat of wax to protect it. It will give you a mirror shine and a silky smooth feel. That's pretty much how to finish it off. Get me some pics when you're done and let me know if you need any other painting info or any painting work done...

keep it up,
JOE

 

Nice job on the wheels and tails, but WHYYY on the drilling of new liscense plate holes..?