DIY: Tail Light Mod

Do It Yourself. Feeling game try some of the mods outlined in here. Some of these can be peformed by novices others require a substantial amount of knowledge before attempting them

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kazbah
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DIY: Tail Light Mod

Post by kazbah »

Had some more time on my hands this morning so decided it was tail light mod time :wink:

First step is to remove the tail lights. This is quite easy. Just lift up the flaps in the boot of the car where the tail lights are. You will see four nuts. Just undo them and ease the tail light out. Disconnect the bulbs, they are push and turn but be gentle.. and there you go. HINT: Line the bulbs up the way the came out of the lights - save a lot of mucking about making sure you put the right bulb into the right hole.

Next I cut out circles from a cover of a display binder, its made from thin plastic. The dimentions I used were

2 x 4 cm circles for reverse lights
1 x 9 cm for the light next to the reverse
1 x 8 cm for the next light along and
1 x 3.5 cm for the blinker

I found using a compass to draw the circles on the plastic is the best way to get the sizes right. Also when you cut them out, use sand paper to smooth off any uneven edges to make them as circular as possible.

Next I cleaned the lights with metho. HINT: make sure before you start spraying that there are no finger prints on the surface of the lights cos the paint wont adhere, which is what happened to me. I had to use the metho to take off the paint from that area and very carefully respray it to the same depth as the rest of the light.

Using selastic (is that how u spell it??) put a small dot on the centre of the plastic cut outs. Selastic is good cos u can move the circle around without too much effort to make sure both lights are lined up the same.

Now start spraying. I used Nite-Shades from SuperCheap. Its a black tail light lens paint. Do a number of light coats and let it dry between coats or it will run. Keep painting until you get the depth you want.

For the indicators, I found the best way to get them out was by using a precision flat screwdriver and a cloth. Put the cloth on the car under the indicator so as not to scratch the paint. At the bottom of the indicator there is a small opening. Insert the screwdriver into this opening and the indicator should pop out. Take a bit of care with this cos the clip from my indicator fell inside the panel. It was a bitch to get it back out. Also make sure when you remove the indicators you secure the wiring or else it will fall inside the panel (dont ask how I found this out :roll: ) Same deal with cleaning and spraying as with the tail lights.

When I removed the plastic circles the selastic should be easy to get off. If not just scrape off as much as you can with your nail and use metho to clean off the rest. DONT USE THE METHO ON THE PARTS YOU HAVE PAINTED OR YOU'RE BACK TO SQUARE ONE!!!

Here are the photos of the finished product.

http://server2.uploadit.org/files/kazba ... linker.jpg
http://server2.uploadit.org/files/kazba ... 8tail1.jpg
http://server2.uploadit.org/files/kazba ... 9tail2.jpg

It only took a couple of hours
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Post by Supplanter »

It might be a good idea to check with the RTA to see if it is legal for the side indicators to be tinted like that.

Other than that, they look really cool 8)
LED ALL the things.
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Slither
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Post by Slither »

Those indicators are very illegal. Maybe the pics are a little dull but basically any darker than standard and your in trouble
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Post by Black_FTOGPX »

Slither wrote:Those indicators are very illegal. Maybe the pics are a little dull but basically any darker than standard and your in trouble
Everything is illegal in Australia these days. Maybe there is a way you could use a brighter globe. So when your not indicating its darker, but when you indicate it is the same if not brighter?

Just a thought?


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Post by afterburner »

Unlike most taillight mods like this, I actually think that looks pretty cool. I think its because you didn't make it white, and left the shape of the tail lights as a contrast to the rest of the car, which I think is better...
[url=http://www.atom.net.nz/afterburner/fto/index.htm][img]http://www.atom.net.nz/afterburner/ftologos.jpg[/img][/url]

It's gone :( - now carless...
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kazbah
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Post by kazbah »

Find a car on this site that is truely legal :wink: The blinker actually is brighter than what is shown in the photo. I'm going to take more shot tonight for better effect. Look if the blinkers do become a problem it would take five mins to get the stuff off!!
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HiRAEdd
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Post by HiRAEdd »

Well done kazbah, that looks really effective, especially on a white FTO.
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Post by FTO338 »

kazbah wrote:Find a car on this site that is truely legal :wink: The blinker actually is brighter than what is shown in the photo. I'm going to take more shot tonight for better effect. Look if the blinkers do become a problem it would take five mins to get the stuff off!!
Everything in my car is legal, & passed Vic Road & numerous Cops’ random test :D and that’s with all the running gear on it, not those dodgy "take if off to pass the test"

Anyway i love what you done to the rear lights, & i doubt that its illegal, as it still show the original lights. :wink:
DISCLAIMER: The above text is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the indisputable truth. The author is not responsible for any deaths, injuries or mental illness caused by the above statments.
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Post by mrx »

Gee Kaz, now where have I seen that before.....

The two circles for the reverse lights are interesting, but I think I prefer mine better.

Still, good job and it does look good on the white car too.
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kazbah
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Post by kazbah »

mrx wrote:Gee Kaz, now where have I seen that before.....

The two circles for the reverse lights are interesting, but I think I prefer mine better.

Still, good job and it does look good on the white car too.
Ok, Ok plagerism is alive and well... COPIED MRX'S CAR EVERYONE!!
Yes I did like the look of your car and when I followed it on Sunday the tail lights stood out. I did the circles on the reverse for legal reasons. Its not exactly legal to do this anyway but I figured if I have a part of all lights showing I should be ok.

Thanks for the idea :wink: :wink:
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Post by HiRAEdd »

MRX, you got pics of your tail lights? Maybe we should have a vote to see who has the best tail light mod? :)
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Post by DVSJOHNNYB »

Um........ What's Selastic. Have never heard of it. Can someone explain what it is.


Cheers....
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kazbah
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Post by kazbah »

DVSJOHNNYB wrote:Um........ What's Selastic. Have never heard of it. Can someone explain what it is.


Cheers....
You know silicone gab sealer, that you put on with a chalking gun??
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Post by mrx »

Image

Image

Not that this is a competition or anything, but just if anyone is interested, a couple of pics of my mod.

They aren't the best pictures that I have as it was a bit too overcast on that day, but the problem is that my PC and *ist D are in Adelaide, and right now I am not! I've got a great pic of my car, AJ's and Robs from the last cruise. Looks like a magazine cover (IMO). Will upload when I get around to it (and more specifically when I get back to Adelaide, which will only be a couple of weeks).
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Post by kazbah »

Now everyone can see where I got my inspiration from. I think it looks great on mrx's car...... Neat job and with the right depth of colour to match his paint job. Well done! :wink:
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Post by HiRAEdd »

Nice, I like how you've maintained the gloss on the tail lights. I think I prefer it but it's also a silver FTO (the best kind ;) ) so that immediately makes it better ;)
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Post by AHJ »

cool~~so nice. i want to DIY , but i cant find that paint, is that paint specific for tail light? or can i use other paint that used for spraying the car body? thanks!
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Post by FTO338 »

Those paint are specially design for headlights & taillights, so even thought is dark/black, the lights can still shine through.

You should able to get them from Autobarn, SuperCheap, Repco.....etc.
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AHJ
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Post by AHJ »

FTO338 wrote:Those paint are specially design for headlights & taillights, so even thought is dark/black, the lights can still shine through.

You should able to get them from Autobarn, SuperCheap, Repco.....etc.
thanks! but where are those shop? i ve no idea abt anyone of them... :? in in sydney, where are those shops located? would you please give me the address of more deatil abt them, e.g. web site? thanks a lots
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FTO338
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Post by FTO338 »

Are your really from Sydney or you just been in Australia for like a week or something?? :roll: :twisted: Try this (Click here--->)http://www.whitepages.com.au & if you have no idea how to get out of you driveway try this (Click here--->) http://www.whereis.com.au :wink:
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