jonUF02

I like the look of red/smoke tail lights, so I decided to make my own.

I bought some raw film from Lamin-x.com, a 12x24 piece of their lightest smoke color. My buddy had this on his tails to make them all red, and it has held up well. It's a heavy mil plastic film with adhesive back. It's very flexible, and you only need a hair dryer and water to apply it.

I cut the pieces to rough size, and put the film on the tails like this:



Then trim neatly with a razor knife. They actually included a cheap one, small water spray bottle, and squeegee with the order. I used a thin piece of cardboard to guide me as a straight-edge while cutting.

Here is the comparison shot with right side done:



Here is the finished look. I'm very happy with the results.

MBSebas87

wow that actually looks pretty good!

DBHawkins

Looks great, I may have to try this

jahquan3

Subtle but nice. Good job.

sljacks

Yea, this looks really good. I'm a fan of the subtle changes to a vehicle that make it its own. This would probably look great on a black vehicle like mine also . Might have to look into this.

Thanks for the pics and tutorial.

beejAMG

great work Jon! ive been meaning to do this. How hard was it to apply the tint on the indented part? (corner where the lens curves)

BlownS4

very nice. I'm debating on picking up the eBay LED's though. It gives our car a more modern look I think

jonUF02

The Lamin-x is very pliable. This was not hard at all. I softened it at the corners just a little with a hair dryer, which is how they tell you to do it in the instructions. Apply a spray of water on the lens, lay the adhesive film, spray water on top, and squeegee the bubbles out. Apply heat to mold around the bump on the corner of the tail light. You can actually peel it up and down a few times without ruining the film.

beejAMG

Thanks mate! Ive tried tinting my 211 headlights before with good results, but its more flat so it was easier. I tinted the eyelids of my 212 sedan and again, its easier coz of the flat surface. Ill try your tips when i get the chance on my tail lights, ill just see if i have enough tint left...

jonUF02

Tinted eyelids (front turn signals) look nice with the gray or black paint. I want to find some film to match my silver paint and do the eyelids body color.

Your bumper looks a little different. I guess where you are, there are no side marker lights. The orange ones are really ugly, but the tinted ones are too dark. I might use this same tint on some clear markers, or just paint over them body color. Looks much better like yours without any markers on the sides of the bumper.

beejAMG

i like the idea of body color eyelids too, did it to my 63 but i took it off after a while as its a bit too common here.

i reckon it looks cleaner without the side marker. does that side marker on US versions come with a bulb or is it just a reflector. ive seen members here paint it body color and looks cleaner.

my front bumper is the avant version, sports bumper is popular down here but not as much there i guess.

jonUF02

The side marker has a bulb in it. If I paint, then I'll just tie the bulb up inside the fender to avoid any error. Maybe I'll start by painting the original orange ones, if I don't like it I can try the clear with or without the custom light tint. The smoked ones that are for sale I don't like on a silver car, too dark.

beejAMG

from where i buy the tints, there are 3 choices of colors, from light to dark.