DTM'ng and all the possibilities
 

I'm in the process of DTM'ng my red/clear tailights. They're apart and ready for paint. I've read the writeup on vqpower.com and mindlessly started masking off the tailights. I'm PM'd Kevlo for clarification on some things and started mindlessly masking some more. (Thanks Kevlo!!) Then I got to thinking and started searching and reading old DTM threads...

It seems that the majority of people go with option I. (see below) A few people have tried something different and veared off the beaten path. Below is a list of all the options I read about,and (I think) some of my own ideas.

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I. Classic DTM-paint the housing flat or gloss black, pull out reflector
Ia. Paint housing black, but leave reflector in.

II. Only paint the reflector black (using transparent paint of course)
IIa. Paint the housing flat or gloss black, and paint the face of the reflector with transparent black paint

III. Paint inside of lense with transparent black paint, leave reflector intact.
IIIa. Paint inside of lense with transparent black paint, pull reflector out.

************************************************** ******

It appears that once you paint the housing black and remove the reflector, the turn signal sucks during the day, and at night, the turn signal is bright and focused, but not spread out any more.

The problem with option 1 is that you can clearly look into the tailight and see the bulb, and the turn signal is pretty much useless during the day.

Can any provide the pros/cons of the other alternatives? One pro with option II that if I don't like it, I can remove it and go with another option. Once you paint the housing, you have a lot of work to get it back to silver. Once you paint the lense, I don't think there's any going back.

Also, if some of you guys have closeups of your DTM'd tailights, I would aprreciate it. I would really like to see closeups of ALL the DTM options I have listed above so we can compare. Closeups with the turn signals on and closeups with the turn signals off.

I'm really torn here. I trying to get the best of all worlds>>>looks good, turn signals work during the day, and don't see the chrome bulb (bulb blinks amber)

Thanks in advance for your input and pics. :)

Edit: Added Option IIa. :)

Any option removing the reflector will greatly reduce daytime output.

I think if I ever mess with tailights again I may try the DTM in red (a variation of all reds) I think it would look pretty nice and I miss my red tails because they were different although they could have been better.

What about painting the regular DTM part body color (on lighter cars I suppose?) I have always thought of this for the AE mod but my car is already black so it would be no different for me.

I removed the reflector when I painted then re-installed. I will try to fine a close picture.

This was my red/red/clear

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...y/CJF00002.jpg

A red/clear I did for a friend.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...omsRide004.jpg

Half-DTM

http://x2d.xanga.com/2d0c31314113375.../z35680102.jpg

You could always rewire the tails so that the upper outer light signals and then do what you will with the rest. this is what I did, please dont mind the shatty vinyl job I'm fixing it this weekend.
http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...673_4_full.jpg

This is the closest one I have of my DTM's you can see the red reflector.

http://xba.xanga.com/54ac50223163575.../b36183293.jpg

Would that not be in the position of the parking/brake lights?

The only downfall of doing this is that, yes, you lose your outer tail brake lights, unless you get a 3 intensity light bulb lol. but your inner and spoiler (if you got it) brake lights still function, it looks decent actually.

I'm going to try not to sound like a jerk.

Look at your lights, and look at the four I have posted.

BTW do post what you come up with this weekend.

If possible get illumination shots. They are very helpful for people.

Here's a n00b question for you all. te he Why do the reflectors need to be removed again? :shy:

lol I meant the brake lights look decent, I am fully aware that the vinyl work looks pretty shytty, I'm not happy with the outcome. I'll be changing the headlights this weekend for sure so I'll post those, and I still havent come up with a good idea for the tails, other than covering them completely and putting a reverse light somewhere else, or doing the dam DTM style. I just hate not being original so I'm playing with some options.
:run:

reflectors get removed for looks

they're removed because you can't see the DTM if you don't remove them, because the paint is on the housing BEHIND the reflector. The idea of painting the reflector with transparent black paint seems like a good idea though, i might wanna try this with my DTM's. I actually have red/orange bulbs in my turn signals with my DTM's and they're visible during the day, i think they look really good when blinking actually because its just a dot blinking, like an LED.

This has been done IIRC by a member named Hector.

I think he called it HTM.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...38_15_full.jpg

In everyone's face!

It doesn't I did it for a clean look and weight reduction.:rollsmile

That brings us to 6 different types of OEM tails in this thread.

Is that the DTM's with the reflector painted & put back in?

That looks great, i want to do that to my DTM's, but im wondering if the reflector will still work because my housing is already painted...any ideas?

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...max5206004.jpg
These are done painting the reflective housing gloss black and transparent black on the stock reflectors. They're still visible during the day and I havent ran into any legal issues with them done like this. Had these for 2+ years now. I call them JTM. Even though I'm from Dallas, I dont care for the visible bulbs in the DTM. On my wifes white 98 she now has gunmetal DTM after experimenting with body colr DTM. I still cant stand being able to see the bulbs.

^^^ Awesome work. I don't want to get rid of the reflectors either when i do it.

Thanks for all the pics Freeway! Can you label your pics as Option I, Ia, II, etc etc? Thanks. Much appreciated. I thought about going body color, but like you said, it would be best on lighter color cars. Mine is lakeshore blue. Wouldn't work too good for me.

Thanks for the pics JNCOracer!! I saw that one in an older thread. :doublethu

I was afraid I was going to have to spend $17 on ebay for VHT nite shade transparent black paint since no local stores carry it. Not anymore! I bought some Testor's transparent black today for $1.99 at a local store!! Hope the end result is the same.

I think this is what I'm going to do..... Paint the face of the reflector transparent black, put in in its place, prop the lense cover over it and see how it looks. On the other light, I will cut out some black construction paper (or use electrical tape) and put in on the housing. Then put painted reflector and lense temporarily on and see how they look and compare side by side. Then I'll decide and go for the finished product.