ok i cleared these lights a couple of days ago. what do you guys think?

http://images.cardomain.com/installs...9/208947_3.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/installs...9/208947_4.jpg

 

very nice ... did you run into any problems?

 

no problems, no cracks. they came out perfect. the hardest part was opening it up. and as far as the light cover i had to cut, it`s amazing what a dremel could do.

 

excellent .... glad to hear everything went a-ok

 

Looks good!!! Did you use the oven or heat gun?

 

I tryed heat gun, dident work. Ill try the oven this weekend.

 

Looks good!

Unfortunately I didn't have good luck when i tried them the 1st time. I used the oven, came apart like butter but the lens actually melted out of shape, although not very noticeable, I'm the kind of person that has to have everything perfect lol.. so i bought a second taillight and got them done pretty much flawless...

here are some pics:





yours look awesome, great job.

 

I am thinking about doin that this weekend to my tails. I just have a couple of questions. What would you all say is the hardest part about the job? What is a dremel? & How hard do you have to push for the tails to pop out? Your help is appreciated.

 

a dremel is the tool used to cut the flourecent light cover to make the clear pieces for the tail lights. you can get one at home depot. people say the hardest part is cutting the clear piece to perfectly fit into the tail light.

 

Thanks....do you have to buy this flourecent light cover or what? sorry i am new at this.

 

yes you got to buy it and i recommond using a new hair dryer to melt the glue.

 

the white piece u see in the cleared taillight is a flourescent light cover.... it is the same thing that is used on big ceiling lights in buildings.. they sell them in sheets, places like Home Depot sell them, and they are cheap as hell... like 5-10 bucks for a humongous piece, i did 2 pairs of tails with one piece, messed up like 6 times trying to cut out a perfect cover and still have some material left over You have to cut out a piece that is identical in dimensions to the turn signal that is being cleared out, then you fit it on the inside of the taillight where the orange piece used to be and reseal them...

The hardest part is definately opening the tail and cutting a perfect size cover (thats actually all there is to the process lol). Most people mess up when opening... they crack the lens when seperating it from the black plastic housing, because the lens is so frail, you gotta be careful with it..... It takes like 15 minutes for every taillight of constant, even heating of the edges with a heatgun and slightly pulling it on every side, after a while all of it seperates...

once the taillight is open, you just pop the orange piece right out, and then take out 1 screw that holds the little red piece in the very corner of the taillight, (if u want to take it out... some people rather leave it there. its up to you).
Then you gotta draw an outline on the flourescent light cover and use a dremmel, a light saw or whatever else you find works better... this is why the cutting process is so hard, because it is just so frail and cracks easily.... then u take that piece and put it where the orange used to be... seal the taillight and u are done.
sounds like a lot, but if u put some time in it and be patient it isn't hard at all.

 

Thank you for your thorough write up of the procedure on how to clear out the tails. I have checked this board, but haven't found the answers to a few questions I still have.

1. How do you keep the flourescent light inserts in there? are they scewed in or just pressed in there or held in with another plastic piece?

2. do you heat the flourescent lense insert to bend it to fit the contour, or do you just force it in there?

3. this is my biggest question...how do you put the lenses back together? do you just use super glue or are they sticky enough that they just stick to each other (which I don't think is the case), or what?

4. Will the clear inserts fade over time, or which inserts are the best.

5. lastly, if an oven is used, what temp should be enough. approximately what kind of time intervals are we looking at?

Thanks in advance for your time. any others, please feel free to respond...not just nyce max.
mahalo,
kanaka

 

i used the oven method, worked great. i would recomend this method. i actually cut a coule of pieces of the light cover. to actually get that perfect fit. nycemaxima your looks perfect.

 

Do you have a 96 or 97-99?!?

Erik

 

To get the taillights out, you should do it on a very warm day. That way the black goo will be nice and soft. Push firmly and evenly. I would wear medical gloves, because when that black goo gets on your hands, say hello to a new tattoo.

 

Hello Maxima owners...
I am new to this Maxima stuff..
Anyway I saw everyone is interested on Clear/Red taillights..

I own 2001 Samsung SM520.
Which is same car as 95 ~ 99?
model of Nissan Maxima. Interior is same / Exterior is little
different and we also have Nissan SR engine as option.
SR 1.8L - 4 cylinder
SR 2.0L - 4 cylinder
VQ 2.0 - V6
VQ 2.5 - V6
VQ 3.0 - V6 (Same engine as USDM version) only two are made so far ... for SM530 Limusine version.

Anyway. As I checked the pictures of the taillights and it look almost same as my SM520 taillights. Yup.. We have Regular red/clear taillight for 98 - 2001 model and starting from 2002 Clear.. Clear red / clear taillights .. also for the headlights too.. (Which means.. you see throu the lenses..)

Here is some pictures..




If anyone have more questions... You can contact me by e-mail or AOL..
Have a very nice day...

 

I tried the oven method once and my right taillight melted really bad and I just spent most of my money for wheels and tires so I was driving around for 5 months with a busted up taillight (reallly bad).

I finally ordered one fron ebay and used the heatgun method and it worked like a charm. :=)

The oven method works, but 1-2 minutes can destroy your tails. I say heatgun is safer.

 

i have a 96, but i want to convert the front and rear to a 97-99. those samsung lights look pretty good, i wonder how much a set of those would cost.

 

According to Samsung Motors 2001 Samsung SM520 is 96 Nissan Maxima..
My car has the square driver side airbag. Not like other one that have rounder driver side airbag.. (2002 Samsung Model has rounder one.) Thats what far as I know. Interior is 100% same as 96 Nissan Maxima.. I have wood grain interior without VQ extended switch..

Inner Tailights = about $20 x 2 = $40
Out Taillights = about $25 x 2 = $50
Headlights = about $90 x 2 = $180
It apply to 2002 Samsung SM5..

 

1. The flourescent light cover will just stay in there... if you cut it out the right size, meaning it won't be a 1/2 inch smaller on all sides, it will just stay in there.. and will stay in there better then glue lol.. the light lense is bent, and the flourescent light cover is plastic as well and is flexible.. it will stay in there in a flexed position, naturally it will just "un-flex" as far as it can, and will just get stuck.. when you seal the taillight it will not have room to go anywhere, there is very limited space there.

2. you do not heat it, it is flexible already, just cut it out to the right shape and slowly stick it in there.. it will stay...

3. good ques, i think people always fail to mention this part.. which is pretty important. You will need to put the heatgun or oven to use again probably.. There is silicone holding the lens and the housing together, when you heat the housing at the edges where it attaches, it becomes really soft and allows u to pull it apart. You'll need to fold them together and start to heat the edges again and pushing the housing and the lense together once again.. finally you'll see it's there pretty tight and it will be good.... If you want you can buy some silicone and ad some yourself and stick them together that way.

4. Another good question... because i think my left side is kind of faded compared to my right side i dont know why, maybe it's just the angle and lighting the way it stands in my driveway, but usually it should not fade, i'm guessing ... dont know.. havent heard people complain. the light cover is not painted it is a compound plastic, so it should not fade..

5. this i do not know for sure... i did not have any luck using the oven,.... just do not put it at 250 for 15 minutes because the lense will be flexible enough to bend... I think like 200 for 7-9 minutes should be good... then take it out and try to pull it apart reaaaaally slowly, do not force it, because the lense is more frail then it looks.

 

hmm
WOW


If those outer taillights as displayed, are an exact fit for the Maximas in US as the car it is in Korea... then that would be a SWEET *** deal, you'd sell out in a day.. If there is someone who is willing to put up 50$ + shipping to try these out, or maybe ship a lens to you so you can compare them... then hmm....

BTW,
how about the dash pieces? How much would a full set like that cost in US dollars????

thanks

 

If they're a direct fit with our Maximas that would be cool. Judging by the picture they look like they would go good with the diamond cut clears corners. What's the won to dollar rate these days? Hehehe.

 

One more question about the tails.....what would happen if you did not insert a flourscent covers into the tails? Thanks for all the help.

 

I doubt they'll work for the '95-96 Maximas, because there is no trunk crease (which is carried through on the shapes of the lights). They might work for the '97-99 Maximas. You should get out a measuring tape and get exact dimensions all around, including positions of the mounting screws. If the mounting screws are in different places, that could kill the whole idea.

 

I noticed the same thing. These may be a bit difficult to make fit on or 95-96 Max due to the lack of the crease in the Samsung tail units. To me these just wont look right on our cars due to that fact. But if anyone does and works great, I am all ears. I really love the look of these tails!

If anyone does this mod, or attempts it, plese keep us posted!

Thanks

Now I will go outdoors and silicone the crappy quality Altezzas that I installed on my car. I like the look ok (better than our 95-96 stocks, but not better than the 97-99 stocks) but eww the overall quality is just crap.

 

I agree, the red on top is also another indicator that they would fit the '97-'99 over '95-'96. However if you look closely, it looks as though the red portion is a little larger than those of US-Spec. And make sure the bulbs are the same as well...
-Cyrus

 

Sure, you can just leave them out and it would really look "clear", kind of see-thru. But they would not match the white reverse lights on the trunk. People have taken the orange peice out without replacing it with a flourescent light cover, you can do that but it's not really as good looking as it is with the light cover in there.

 

Man, 95-96 people ALWAYS get screwed on the lighting accesories.

 

02SM520 -->

Please check your e-mail. If you'd like, you can contact me via AOL/AIM at NRB1225 by instant message. I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Thanks,
-Nick

 

Im going to attempt this proceedure next weekend on my 97 I30. Maximadriver.com has some pretty good instructions for doing this, as well as other mods.

PS. I hope that mine turn out as good as yours, they look great!

 

Woodgrain kit (Manual Transmission): $125
Woodgrain kit (Automatic): $130
Metal grain kit (Automatic): $175
VQ Extended Switch: $80

Estimated price...

 

chestons site has instructions

 

hey 02SM520... if you can, can you keep us informed about any new developements in these tail lights as direct bolt on's for the 97-99 maxima's... i'd be VERY interested in this if these fit perfectly... thanks for givin us the head's up on these!

much respect,
mike

 

i got my heat gun from home depot as well as the flourescent light piece, and then returned the heat gun as soon as i was done so this thing doesnt cost much...hardest part can be at first taking them, i got in my trunk and pushed with my leg while my friend pulled from outside, im 6'1 by the way and this was hard as hell...heating the first one was hard as i cracked a TINY lil corner piece of the lens, and then CUTTING!! oh man cutting that lens is ever so hard, lucky bastards with the dremels, do u wanna kno wut i did?? i used a soldering iron and just melt/cut it around into the shape, and in spot i let the iron sit kinda a half sec long and it indents a bit, and u can see it on my tails if u look close, but i was TOO lazy to try and cut another one cuz that was my 8th one already and it perfect except for that lil thing, and i actually used my heat gun to flex the new lens into the curved shape on the housing and it fit real sweet, and then the rest from then on is so simple u'll wonder to yourself why did this take me so long

 

i tried doing this but the lights were so frail so i cracked my tailights and i couldnt cut out the exact shape of the fluorescent light out. i gave up and bought mine from custommaxima.

 

how do you clear out the taillights on a 95 Maxima Se?? I would really appreciate any help + what materials will I be needing?? Thanks

 

Anybody want to clear my tails for me?

 

i`ll do it check your pm`s

 

the only way to get red/clears on a 95/96 is to buy an all clear outer lens, and paint the bottom part red...the amber is part of the plastic in the 95/96, so it can't be cleared...the clears are pretty rare to come by, so you might be able to find some people selling them here on the for-sale forum, or David L might be running another group deal