Custom Tailights

[jimbo74]

well this is for my toyota, but some of the stuff should be the same in process anyways... been searching and cant find what im looking for.... i think what im looking for is making your own clear lights... like i swear i rember there is a way to take the color out of the light housings to turn them clear... how is this done?

if i end up painting it later, i will be using testors translucent candy apple red paint that im guessing is available @ a local hobby shop?

also if i want to smoke the lights what then do i put on top of that?

 

[celly]

no idea about taking out the colour, but you can tint over Testors with no problems.

 

[jimbo74]

what would i use for the smoking the lights afterwards? and what about making hte yellow go away? i can easily access the inside of the light housing

 

[celly]

what would i use for the smoking the lights afterwards?

"VHT Nightshades" or "Testors Transparent Black".

I've used Nightshades with great results. It works as advertised. Be careful about putting on too many coats unless you really want to black out your tails.

I used two coats:

Dead Link Removed

I had made a first attempt with three coats and they were too dark. Whatever you decide, make sure to cover the finished product with lots of clear-coat. It looks pretty flat without it. There are lots of threads on the net on how to do it. Google it.

 

[jimbo74]

ok got all that down... does anyone know the way to remove the amber from the lense?

 

[jimbo74]

if i just use the red paint over the yellow will it still look red? or appear orangeish?

 

[snowburns]

i used red testors on my tails and it looks red...about 4 coats on that. then i used three coats of that asian tint stuff, mine are a nice deep red

 

[X~FACTOR]

I've done this in the "old days" but for the life of me I can't remember this...
Do you need to cover the back up light when painting it with the red or dark shade?

 

[celly]

if i just use the red paint over the yellow will it still look red? or appear orangeish?

See my photo above. Looks red to me. Shines that way too.

 

[celly]

I've done this in the "old days" but for the life of me I can't remember this...
Do you need to cover the back up light when painting it with the red or dark shade?

It's "need" vs "want". I've seen people tint the reverse lights too. Personally, I don't like the look. Not only that, but it's probably illegal (but then again, tinting isn't street legal either).

 

[snowburns]

yeah but it looks cool

 

[Crankcase]

Hehe....The FINDmaster strikes again.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87602

 

[celly]

He's talking about tails though.

 

[Crankcase]

I know, but that IS the thread he is talking about, I guarantee it.

 

[jimbo74]

actually, the thread i think i was talking about was about using some type of solvent in the lense and it will get rid of the color? maybe i jsut have a vivid imagination as well?

 

[Crankcase]

I remember a thread on that also. But that only works on lights where there is a film put on clear plastic. The tails are molded in Red.

 

[jimbo74]

ah... good call ryan.... this mod is actually for my yota, and i can get to the inside of the lights.... but i guess that answers my question... jsut looks like i will be going the route of a few testors red translucent then some clear coats on top

how do i paint it? like testors, then 20 minutes later more testors, then 20 minutes later antoher coat then same process for the clear? or what? and also what clear should i use?