FINALLY joined the red tail light crew (my project inside)

[suaveflooder]

I've been wanting to do this for awhile. LOVE how the red looks and I fully agree that this is how it should have come from the factory. Anyway, I can't get them on until tomorrow as they are still wet, but here you go.....

My day
The paint:

The test of color



The "work shop":


The project:



All painted. They look pretty damn good even without a gloss.


Time for clear. I went a little different rout. I learned this "trick" a couple years ago for headlights. What I like about it is that it can be built up and it buffs out REALLY well. Mix 50% gloss wood clear with 50% mineral spirits to thin it out. It basically self levels. You have to "work" it more than a traditional spray paint clear, but I am happy with the results.

Clear prep



"applicator" (the light in the background is finished. I was getting ready for the second)


You can see the difference between "cleared" and "uncleared"


And DONE!!!!



Gonna let everything dry overnight and install the lights at some point tomorrow. I will do my best to get pictures soon. I won't buff them for a couple weeks so the clear is good and hard.

Edit: Found out that I can buff after 24 hours! Thank goodness!! Gonna buff in the next couple days as I get time

[JDMenrique]

great job.

glad to see someone take another route vs the VHT

[JDMSushi]

Damn man that looks epic. Going to do this now.

Would be awesome to blank out a section for the reflectors... get a similar effect to the Grazio's

[Wes]

Looks nice!! I'm going to do mine soon when I have the time, did you wet sand the red at all?

[Fast_Freddy]

Funny how tuners used to buy clear lenses to replace the oem red lenses and now that they give us clear lenses, we paint them red! LOL

[spitfire481]

realllllly should have sanded those lights prior. the chemical bond is very poor, really needs a mechanical bite for proper adhesion

[Lverasky]

good job...they looks awesome.

[BoxRZ_86]

Great job, i used metal cast on mine as well. i was very pleased. how many coats did you put on there?

[nab335]

Originally Posted by Fast_Freddy

Funny how tuners used to buy clear lenses to replace the oem red lenses and now that they give us clear lenses, we paint them red! LOL

hahahaha always gotta change something

[Enraged21]

looks great man!

[suaveflooder]

Thanks for all the compliments! It turned out okay! I'm a huge perfectionist, so I see a little room for improvement. I'm hoping it clears up a little more with a buff, but in all honesty, Metal Cast with a professionally done clear would be ideal, I think. Oh well, you live, you learn. It is just slightly off from being completely clear because of the texture of the clear.

@Sanka86, I used 4 coats. Unfortunately, the big chrome piece at the top almost makes the top looks pink, so I was trying to darken it up a bit more.

@spitfire481, I thought about sanding, but the directions on the paint said nothing about it. The paint is designed to adhere to chrome, so I figured I would be fine. Worse case, I just sand it, repaint and re-clear....this time, I will do a professional clear to get it perfect.

All in all, I'm happy. I took these pictures, quickly so sorry for the quality (tilt). I tried to show the "texture" I was talking about as well as getting






FINAL PICS IN POST #29

[86WRX]

Great look awesome way to stand out the whiteness!!

[suaveflooder]

Thanks! I'm happy with the color! The thing I was worried about was whether it would be dark enough or not. It is PERFECT!

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by Wes

Looks nice!! I'm going to do mine soon when I have the time, did you wet sand the red at all?

I did not wet sand. I'm going to wet sand and buff the final clear in a week or so. It's ROUGH right now, but that should smooth it out nicely.