qbnlykwhoa

iTrader: (1)

So I decided to start this little project on Friday. Taking off the back bumper is cake and the tails are pretty easy to remove too. It's about 20F where I am and It was very cold. So I used my heat gun and a small heater I had to heat up the pieces and the paint before I sprayed.

I left the reverse open and it looks sexy with the 1.5w leds I put in there.
I also bought some LED bulbs for the brake lights but when I had them in they blew my tail and stop fuses. Not sure why so if anyone has any idea please let me know. I even tried filpping the led around and still the same thing.

Let me know what you guys think. The paint is very glossy and has only slight orange peel. I also did my TBL.

mmmpshh

iTrader: (5)

Looks good... I tried it with mine and I didnt do a good job. lol Yours came out really nice

qbnlykwhoa

iTrader: (1)

Thanks man, yeah I was working on my only set so really didn't want to mess them up. I started Friday and just finished today.

shiroitc

Lookin' good. I'd love to do something like yours on my tail lights.

How's it done? What do you need to do this?

jayydm

iTrader: (2)

what did you use to paint them? Id like to do this to my TBL also

jkhoury

iTrader: (3)

nice

krazyliltc

iTrader: (4)

That looks really good! What kind of paint and clear coat did you use?

juzlookzfazt

Very interesting. What did you use to spray the tails? I don't think I've ever seen translucent red spray paint before.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

I wish you had left the entire upper chrome part unpainted. Having just the actual reverse light housing masked off comes off a bit awkward to me :-/

other than that I love the red tinting, haven't seen it done before on +08s :-)

JTAC

Very nice! I painted my 05-07 tails candy red as well. Looks much better than OEM.

Yay Jaw Knee

iTrader: (2)

Sick job!! Mind walking us through the process? What paint did you use? Prep work, clear coat?

JTAC

Here are some before and after pictures of the tails.

Before (personally I think the stock OEM red is too bright; almost looks orange):




After (darker red, makes the tail lights and TBL pop):

qbnlykwhoa

iTrader: (1)

The paint I used was krylon stained glass in the color red. This is just like any other paint and shades darker the more you spray. I bought it online, couldnt find it in any store. For the clear coat I used Krylon UV resistant paint since it will be sitting outside, was trying to stick with krylon.

As far as prep, I wet sanded the whole light with 1000 grit so it would have something to grab onto and then masked off the reverse light (This took a while getting them excatly the same on both lights). Laid down about 3 coats of red and let that sit over night. Wet sanded down those coats the best I could with 1000-1500 grit to get out whatever orange peel I could. Then laid down about 3 coats of clear and let that sit overnight. Next day I wet sanded them with 2000 and then hit them with 3m rubbing compound and some Plast-X. I can probably Sand them a bit more and polish them up but I didn't want to break through my clear so I stopped where I was.

I also had some sick 5050 LED bulbs for the stop/brake lights but when I put them in they blew my fuses. I think I figured out how to get them to work and will be testing them tonight with extra fuses in hand. Will put updated pics If they work.

Make sure you have a few days to get it all done. It would have came out flawless If I let it dry and sanded between every coat but I didnt have enough time for that so I only sanded after the paint and after the clear hence the slight orange peel. Still very happy with the results.

Joyride

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ExpresScion

iTrader: (2)

Not crazy about the top part, but you did a good job on them.

qbnlykwhoa

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the comments, I will be buying a buffer soon though, got a good workout at the end.

Well I was thinking about opening up the housing and switching around the light configuration to make the small circle the reverse light but this was my only set so didn't have the time to do that. With my tints I need that reverse light as much as I can get to see at night so leaving that area white was a must.

I love the way they came out, just not sure if it is the look I'm going for. I ordered a full TBL in red and will probably be selling the OEM tails and OEM TBL very soon. I'm weird like that. So this was more of an experimental weekend project.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

There is no reasonable way to open up taillights anyway. You cant bake them so, you have to cut them open and glue them back together, and its pretty much impossible to get is so the glue doesn't show. I would love if I could make my small circle my reverse light because I actually don't have a reverse light at all, its covered with an eyelid.
the reverse camera helps lol