chris.bachman

I painted my tail lights this weekend after doing tons of research into painting and tinting. I think it came out pretty good, didn't go totally black but dark enough that you can tell a difference.

I can do a write up if anyone is interested in how I did it. Took about 3 hours in all to get the last spray of clear coat on the lenses.

RLx02

can you give us the write up on taking the tails out?

I think if you spend some time with some good polishing compounds you can buff that into a factory gloss.

chris.bachman

I'll do a write up shortly.

It needs 48 hours to fully cure before you can polish it. I'll be doing that tonight.

RLx02

Ah, good to know you're gonna polish it. I hate it when I see dull looking tails.

loudandheard

Looks great! Good to see some one else that's not scared to get their hands dirty.

mikekuriger

you can paint the inside of the lenses too if you want them to look shiny.

chris.bachman

I saw that as an option but just didn't trust myself to take them apart and put the back together with a good seal.

moosejaw

Tailights are not that hard, however there are a lot of clips holding the trunk and carpet liner together

It no harder than putting together a bed from Ikea.

jturkel

looks good!

just wondering, did you (or anyone for that matter) ever consider tinting the clear portion of the lights as opposed to the red?

chris.bachman

I've never thought of doing it like that, I did almost give the clear part one coat at the end though to give them a smokey look but decided against it. I can go back and do it later if I choose to.

jturkel

gotcha. i was just wondering b/c i'm currently undecided on which portion of the tail light i want to tint lol.

FrankW

pop out those square looking tabs on the plastic trunk liner where the latch is and that piece will come off and next you'll need to remove a few push pin at the top of the trunk liner near the shelf.

take out the bulb holder plate, and remove the four 10mm bolt and you can pull the lights out.

takes 15min for me. lol

chris.bachman

Write up is done, let me know if I missed a step for those of you that have taken it out before.

chris.bachman

Also, I polished the tail lights last night with some rubbing compound followed by some polishing compound and they look great, I'll get a hi-res shot today.