DIY: Tail Light Mod
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:23 pm
Had some more time on my hands this morning so decided it was tail light mod time 
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
) 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
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
) 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
and that’s with all the running gear on it, not those dodgy "take if off to pass the test"
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
Try this (Click here--->)
