DIY: Black Housing Tail Lights
 

Hello,

***UPDATE: Housings are still intact - Silicone sealant worked perfectly
***UPDATE: No condensation/fogging at all after rain, fog and wash with pressurized water stream!

Here is a simple guide on how to black out your tail light housings.

It is not for a feint of heart as dremel'ing (cutting) up your tail light is some serious business. Hopefully it pays off in the end.

This is a 5-7 hr job depending on how good you are with a dremel and how comfortable you are with cutting up tail lights. I was very nervous and took things really slow especially on the first light. You also need to let the new sealant set over night so this is a long process.

You need:

1. screw driver
2. wrenches or metric sockets (deep sockets)
3. dremel with a cutting tool
4. paint (i used semi gloss black spray paint)
5. tint (optional - for those who want to make the red a darker red and to retain some functionality of the turn signals)
6. painters tape
7. sealant adhesive

(used some of Darrendriven's pics for the removal of tail lights - Darren let me know if you don't want me doing that for this guide and I will get my own pics)

1. Pop the plastic rivets out on either side of the trunk near the tail lights and fold the carpet back
http://i.imgur.com/MLan7.jpg

2. Using a small tool (like a pick, or even a nail) you can lift the plastic catch inside of the zip tie. Pull the harness out and remove that plastic piece from the stud.
http://i.imgur.com/ZbgOA.jpg

3. Remove 4 nuts from the studs. They are 8 mm or smaller (def not 10 mm)
http://i.imgur.com/hMpdQ.jpg

4. After cleaning the lights up with mineral spirits and towel, take your dremel and cut this piece off of the lights.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...99925611_n.jpghttps://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...27967506_n.jpg

5. It will look like this. You need to do this in order to get to the housing underneath it.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...86993793_n.jpg
see above

6. Start cutting around the housing. Cut the black plastic but never cut the clear plastic. It is really hard to describe where to cut so you have to look at it and see/imagine where the housing is fused with the clear lense. Cut "behind" where they are fused - so that when you are done cutting the two pieces fall apart and the clear lens has a border of black plastic. It is probably best to just look at the pics.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...08626872_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...90427374_n.jpg
7. More cutting
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...07234061_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...90296945_n.jpg
8. More
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...12964451_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...70580314_n.jpg
9. And more
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...07829705_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...40935498_n.jpg
10. Tada!!! The two halves separate and the chrome garbage falls out
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...09887802_n.jpghttps://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...46948639_n.jpg


http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...32040526_n.jpg

12. Mask off the side marker (Looks like it is glued in so I didn't want to risk breaking something by prying it out)
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...03520668_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...94189643_n.jpg

13. Optional: mask off the turn signal area where the yellow bulb sits. You may want to keep this chrome so that it stays max reflective. I, however, sprayed Lense Tint in there AFTER I painted the housing black.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...20060394_n.jpg
(you can see that area is lighter than the rest - still retaining some semblance of reflectivity)

14. Paint the chrome bezel now. I used 3 coats with at least 20 mins in between coats. Here is what it looks like after painting with Black paint. Let it dry for a few hours.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...01610995_n.jpg
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...37845892_n.jpg

15. Install the bezel back into the housing when paint is dry.
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...96347430_n.jpghttps://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...50103751_n.jpg

16. Before installing the bezel I decided I wanted the red pieces to be darker so I sprayed them with a layer of Lens Tint.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...00899778_n.jpg

17. Install the lense and apply the silicone sealant to the interface between the two halves. Let it sit overnight.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...92589658_n.jpghttps://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...28897271_n.jpg

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...16239709_n.jpg
Final result as it sits today:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...52047146_n.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...58072855_n.jpg

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...02410883_n.jpg



Cheerz

seems a lil scary but its gonna look awesome. mad props to you!

ON THE CAR!!!!!!! lol

This is what I've been looking for. Thanx a million cant wait to see

awesome!!! considering my tails are cracked, and if toyota decides they won't replace them, I'll be doing this.

On car

Looks good. Not a fan of taking a dremel to my tail lights but thanks for the how-to for those that are willing to do so.

Pic #8 looks pretty scary. Looks like the plastic got really boogered up on that side. How did you get it sealed good with the silicone with gaps that big? I want to do this but I'm nervous about getting them sealed good afterwards. Everything else I'm comfortable with.

Do you have a close up on the seal from the clear lens to the housing? Is it ultrasonic sealed? did you try baking them? What made you go straight to cutting the housing?

thanks,

Mike

Cant wait for pics!

Thats what it should look like off the line! Great job!

You are awesome! I would be too chickensh__ to do this stuff to my taillights, but it looks significantly better than stock :w00t:

I went straight to dremel because I know what silicone sealed lights look like. THese are not silicone sealed. I also read that the tail light plastic is flimsy and people already have cracks. Did not want to bake them.

For the big gaps I just put a ton of sealant on them. :laughabove: Big goops. It sealed beautifully when I looked at in the morning! I think I wont have condensation issues!!! I was very liberal with sealant.

Looks amazing.