Painting Inside OEM Tails
 

This was my approach to painting the guts of my oem tail lights. I didn't plan on making a diy when I did it so some steps are not documented thoroughly. But with a little common sense you will nail it, I have faith in you. Overall this DIY was a 6/10 difficulty. The most important part is patience. Note that this pertains to the painting process only, the thread I used as a guide to getting them open is here

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12489

BEFORE

Attachment 96103

I did not have a soldering iron handy, so I opted to heat a utility knife with a propane torch to do my cutting. I heated the blade red hot, cut about an inch, reheated, etc. It took about 40 minutes per side to open them, but I was happy with how clean the cuts turned out.

Attachment 96104

I replaced the orange lamps with these. Be warned they had to be slightly trimmed on the bottom to fit, but not altogether difficult to do

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/120599815957?lpid=82

Attachment 96105

No fancy paint here, rusto for the housing and vht nightshade for the reflective bits. Very light dustings and a lot of time recommended. HINDSIGHT: I ended up painting the border a seperate color (white). If you opt to do this, paint the border color on first, then block it off and black out the rest. I did it backwards and it caused a lot of extra time taping. Also, the little reflective cove the blinker sits in is where most of the blinker light comes from. I only sprayed 1 light coat over this and blocked it off for the rest of the spraying to keep it somewhat reflective.

To achieve a border, paint it the color of your choosing then block it off with this tape before spraying the rest of the housing. It worked perfectly.

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/3m-v...FcLtMgodYX0Ajg

Attachment 96106

Pennies fit the recessed brake light circles perfectly, I like the effect it gave in the end.

Attachment 96107

3M carbon fiber vinyl wrap laid on top. I experimented wrapping different sections but in the end just kept the top. I wanted to stay subtle.

Attachment 96108

Comparison, note rustoleum gloss white paint was used for the outline. Again, the best way to achieve this is to cover the outline with your chosen color, let it completely dry, lay a line of tape over the outline, spray the rest back.

Attachment 96115

I screwed them back together and used this to keep the water out as recommended in previous posts. Dont worry, you cant see it with the trunk open!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271515501709?lpid=82

Attachment 96109

Only one side installed currently, I'll add better day and night pics once completely finished.

Attachment 96110

The cf vinyl can only be seen up close, wrap it or don't!

Attachment 96111

Total cost: about $30
Total time: 1 weekend to 1 week. Don't tape on uncured paint! I learned this lesson about 3 times during this project.

GOOD LUCK :party0030:

wow! it looks great! but i dont have gut to do this project

Oh its really not that bad!

looks so sick bro!

You could make some good money offering to do this for people. I wouldn't have the guts to do this myself either...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

very very nice, and on a white car, it really does make a huge difference! now as stated above, if I only had the cojones to actually pull the trigger

I would totally be willing to do this for other people. Send me your tails and I'd be glad to paint them to your taste! I could color match the housing trim to basically anything. Turnaround would be a few days. And of course I would ask a small fee for my time.

Need to do this. Already have an extra set of tails.

Give it a go man, you have nothing to lose! I'd say that the most important material is the tape. Masking tape or even "painter's tape" do not cut it for doing the housing outline...I had a couple of re-do's before I was satisfied. I really recommend purchasing the tape in the link. If you pull the trigger on this be sure to post up some photos!

Did you really just use dimes to cover up those LEDs when painting your brake lights?

No, pennies

They are a perfect fit?

Perfect fit. When the paint dries, flip the light over, the pennies fall out and you have perfect red circles in their place.

Woo-hoo! I've been waiting for someone to offer this service for a while now. I tried to do the mod myself and failed miserably once my impatience kicked in.

I'd basically want something similar to yours
-Keep chrome edge
-Light tint on red led circle/side marker (use pennies)
-Black everywhere else (except - see below)

-Retain the chrome around/behind turn reflectors stopping 1/2 way from back (back,side,top,bottom chrome) back half, black in front of that all around
-Paint the CF top portion black


Can you post what rate you would charge for a cut/paint/assemble/ship job? :thumbup: