Does anyone know how to do the candy apple mod?

[jarededge]

It's for the OEM tail lights. When you're done, the amber isn't there, and the whole tail light has a bit of a smoked look. I know I have to use candy apple red testors paint, and vht night shades, but I don't know how much to apply, or how to really do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[celly]

Condensed instructions:
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Wet sand the entire tails with around 800 grit to promote adhesion. Wipe down tails with damp cloth to get rid of grit (don't worry if the tails appear cloudy). Mask off everything BUT the amber sections on your tails. Apply 2-3 thin, even coats of Testors (follow directions on can). Allow to dry completely. Remove the masking. Then mask off the reverse lights (assuming you won't tint them). Apply 2-3 thin coats of VHT, depending on the effect you're looking for (it doesn't take much, I used 2 coats). Follow directions on can closely. Allow to dry completely. Remove masking on reverse lights. Then apply numerous coats of clear coat (I think I applied 5-6), following directions on can. Allow to dry for a few days. Wet sand with 1000->1500->2000 grit paper to remove "orange peel". Then apply some rubbing compound followed by a coat of wax.

Enjoy:

Dead Link Removed

 

[jarededge]

thanks a lot!

 

[Makahveli]

so when its done it has a black out look?

 

[celly]

so when its done it has a black out look?

You be the judge. I tried to keep the layers of Night Shades thin. Some people go much darker. I was going much more for a "smoked" look, not unlike many OEM tails you'll see on other makes. I don't really care for the black out look. Not really safe, either. I did an earlier set and it was hard to see them lit up. Not a good idea. The way it was explained to me, 99% of the time, if you're hit from behind, it's the "hitter's" fault, unless your tails are modified to the point of being unsafe. Those blackout overlays you can buy are unsafe. So would be using excessive Night Shades.

 

[TJM623]

anyway somebody could photoshop celly's X to be a red xplorer i'm interested in what it would look like on mine before i do it. thanks

 

[TJM623]

neone?? or does someone have a red X and already has done this? thanks

 

[351wExplorer]

this isnt a great picture. I just used spray on window tint for mine, it isnt really dark, its just amber now instead of bright red... ill see if i have any better pics

 

[TJM623]

those are tinted?? when i meant like celly's i ment the candy apple mod + the tint sorry if i wasn't clear.

 

[celly]

He said he's got a light tint on his. I can sort of tell.

 

[TJM623]

i must be blind, i don't see it lol

 

[celly]

I used to have a 1st gen. I can just tell. Photos don't do these justice anyhow. Sometimes mine looks darker and other times it looks lighter. If you're so worried, score a pair of eBay or something (mine were around $40/pair) and experiment with them. I think they'd look great on just about any Ex. I was all ready to waste my money on Altezzas a while back even though I didn't really like them. I heard about tinting and was into the look the first time I saw Anabolic Frolic's (mind you, his Ex is the same colour). Nonetheless, you like the look of the tails. Chances are you'd like them on your Ex.

You don't make decisions very easily, do you?

 

[snowburns]

I did the same thing as Celly, only I used the asian taillight tint stuff instead of nightshades, turned out pretty good. I didn't however, wet sand and use rubbing compound, but I plan to smooth them out soon/make them shiny.

I too did mine when I saw Anabolic Frolic's....

 

[celly]

Put a coat of wax on them. You'd be surprised how good they can look even without wet sanding/rubbing compound (assuming you have them clearcoated).

 

[snowburns]

Alright, I'll give that a try. I put about 6 or 7 coats of clearcoat on them

 

[TJM623]

You don't make decisions very easily, do you?

well it depends , but on stuff that I have to spend a little change on I like to get it right, i'm not made of money ya kno . I woulda done it with or without the picture and still am going to once it gets nicer out, my plan was to get a spare set neways. I'm probably gonna end up using the asian stuff of ebay 2, how many bottles did you need snowburns?

 

[celly]

Nightshades works extremely well. Never heard of this Asian thing before. Testors transparent black is supposed to work well too.

 

[snowburns]

Stylin' Concepts used to carry the asian stuff, I don't know if they do still or not. My problem was I couldn't find the VHT stuff anywhere in town up here, and since I couldn't just get it shipped up (not cheaply anyway) I started going to ricer and various paint shops. I found this one ricer shop and the guy had about 1/4 of a bottle left over from a set of tail lights they were doing (it's a pretty small bottle) and he gave me that since it generally runs at about $35 dollars a can, he didn't see a need for me to pay that much only for two taillights.

I used 3 coats on each tail light, luckily there just a little bit over that in the can. I wanted to get my hands on Nightshades but I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[celly]

I ended up buying from an eBay seller in the US who had to ship surface because of the hazardous nature of the product. Took about 6 weeks to get it. A few days later I found it locally for a LOT less than I paid to bring it in. At least I know where to find it if I ever need some again.

 

[96limitedX]

i know this is alittle old....but i used testors transparent blue. to tint my dads tails lights. looks alot like the black. but when the sun its it it gives it a nice rasberry color. i can get pics if anyone wants.