OK, I finally got a few pics taken and scanned in:

http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...page_id=192156

I shaved off the emblems in between takes; seems to be a nice clean look, although I'm toying with the idea of adding an alternative emblem (courtesy of SyCefiro).

The side markers have red LEDs in them. They look really great at night. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture without a tripod using my 35mm. Otherwise you need to use a flash and the whole effect gets washed out. Have to get a digital camera one of these days.

 

Looks hot! ... what did you use to paint the tails??

 

Looks great. Much, much better than the chromed versions. I'd bet though, that it doesn't look as good on a light colored Max thoug.

 

Thanks...

I bought a spray can of paint from Tower Paint, that matches my paint code. My only regret is that I bought just one can... I couldn't do more than 4 coats. If you look closely, you will see that they aren't as "shiny" as the rest of the paint. I may have to give them another few coats of ClearCoat... either that or find a really good paste wax.

 

They give you such a limited bandwidth per hour. Really bites!!

So, I went to CarDomain, which seems to work.... for now.

http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...page_id=192156

 

data transfer has reached its limits... damn Geocities

 

They look better than the unpainted ones, but I'm just not jiving with that round taillamp look.

Also, AMG is a tuner exclusive to Mercedes-Benz. It's just plain rice to have their badge on your trunk.

 

Get that AMG badge off your trunk.

Why didn't you just put Alpina?

 

Lose the AMG badge. I'm sure many people already laughed at you, if that was your goal. It's like putting an M3 badge on my car...no actually it's worse.

 

Ewww! Why would you do that to a Max?

 

Thank you! You have helped me finally decide what to do with my altezzas. Your car looks awesome man, but they're right about the AMG thing =] . It looks good having some kind of badge there, just not AMG. Try SE?

btw: what's the red strip on the side of the lights? is it an actual side marker/reflector? or a strip of some kind of tape... ? It looks good too whatever it is =)

 

Funny how many people actually spotted that and focused on it more than anything else. I just thought it would be fun to confuse Mercedes owners. Anyway, received enough flak to replace the image.

Yeah, I know there are a lot of people out there who don't like Altezzas no matter WHAT you do to them. I posted this thread for those who are OK with Altezzas and might be interested in seeing this variation. It's completely legal too--side markers and reflectors are in place.

 

It's actually reflective material I got at PepBoys. Looks even better in person. It's extremely reflective while being only "index card" thick. It came in a pack with sheets of both red and white material. I used white in the front, partly on the fogs and on the clear sides (they don't have any reflective properties, so this helps).

 

I was just gonna say "What AMG badge??"

To be honest I don't like Altezza's at all, but there is something about your lights that I like. They seem to fit the car better than those chrome/carbon ones. It looks like you did a great job. Good work.

 

Only the image? Aren't you going to get rid of the badge? If yes, you can send it to me

 

I have been having an epiphany about something like this, but with a little twist. I'll not divulge my idea quite yet. But much kudos on the design!!!

BTW, is the side marker on the inside or the outside?

 

Ah, don't keep us hanging. Can't we get a little hint? Thanks for the positive feedback.

The side reflector is attached to the outside, close to the edge of the housing. The side marker is a red LED (clear when off) on the inside that fits in a socket that comes with the taillight.

 

And just what do YOU plan on doing with it?

Hey Andy, are you sure that 330ci is gonna be big enough for you? That car holds an XL at best.

 

I'll put it on my mountain bike

hehe yeah 330ci has a lot of legroom, just what I need.
330i (sedan) is not comfortable at all though.

 

Yep, I agree. Somehow the 2 door version affords the front seats a little more leg room. It's too bad the 330i sedan just doesn't get extended a couple of inches.

So, you still gonna post here after Thursday?

 

Maybe because 330ci and 330i do not share a sigle body panel. Coupe is even a little longer than sedan.
Yeah, I'll keep posting here just because I like this place too much I'm also going to NJ Maxima meet on June 9th.

 

Weird... I'd expect at least the fenders to be the same.

I would have seen you on the 9th, but unfortunately I can't go. I'm going to be in Europe for most of June!

Maybe next year I'll get to go to one of these meets...

 

Thats awesome. Its EXACTLY what i've been wanting to do. My altezzas are on there way now and I plan on doing the same thing. 2 questions though.

First- I know that little red stripe is reflective tape, but is there any reason besides looks that you put it on there? Also, why did you leave that little space at the bottom right hand corner of the tailight clear?

Second- Could you e-mail me some quick directions on what you did? IE: Paint Used, How Many Coats, What you would do different if you were painting them again, etc. Thanks a lot. My e-mail is ijk84@aol.com

-Ian

 

Hey, thanks for the comments.

The red reflective tape is for safety and DOT compliance. The Altezzas have no side reflectiveness to them. I think it doesn't look bad, though I had tossed around the idea of just putting real red reflectors in the bumper cover.

The "little space" is an opening for the side marker lights. It's not obvious, because there aren't red bulbs in there--I put red LEDs instead. Some people just painted over them, but again, it's not DOT compliant because it cuts out visibility from the side.

I did write up the work I did and posted it. You should be able to find it if you do a search on painting altezzas. I won't be at the computer where I have them written up for a few days...

The paint came from Tower Paint, and it is very close to the original paint. What would I do differently? Buy an extra can of paint, don't spray on thick coats each time (it doesn't have to look perfect with each coating), and do a few more coverings of clear coat.

Overall, I'm happy with the result. If you want people to notice you, it works. I have to admit, I'm still on the fence between these and clear/red tails. But then, it's nice to be a little distinctive. Haven't seen another blue Maxima with painted Altezzas!

 

very interesting... cant decide if i like them or not. but more to the like side

 

Have fun in Europe.

 

One last question. What did you use to cover the brake light and the little bit of clear around it so no paint got on it? thanks.

-Ian

 

Simple, Ian: masking tape.

I applied painter's masking tape over the surfaces I wanted to leave unpainted, used pre-cut paper templates (made earlier) to outline the shapes, then used a small sharp knife to cut along the lines and remove the excess tape. I did all of the body color painting with the masking tape in place. Once that was done, I removed them and applied clear coat over the whole thing.

 

you care enough about regulations that you'd actually stick a reflector on the side like that.

I noticed a Chevy truck with Altezzas on it yesterday, the reflector was built on the side of the lamp. It looks like the manufacturers are stepping up.

 

gary, email me plz....i need to talk to you about this kthx
jamsan920@aol.com

 

I just did the same on my 97 but i painted over the side marker.

I just used auto masking tape and freehanded it. That tape is very flexible and no tracing was required...

pics soon...

 

i dontn like altezzas, but maybe just maybe in your case it might look bearable =/

 

Thas a pretty clean look and im not that big of a fan of altezzas except on the altezza LOL.

But im afraid my future for tailight conversions holds this

 

If you're interested in knowing how I went about doing this:

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=113452