I've read before on the ORG that members have painted the orange part of the 2k2+ tails red to match the upper lense. If i'm correct the best way to do it is spray paint through the bulb socket into the housing??? I just dont see how that is easy. To me it leaves way to much room for error. Also...how can it match? Could someone direct me to a write up or help in any way. Sorry if I missed something obvious but I just cant seem to get the info I need.

 

yes, all you got to do is spray into the back of the tailights in the lightbulb housing....
don't spray to much and try to spread it even...

i sprayed to much at one time and the bottom of my tailight has some paint in the front...

so be careful and go slowly

 

Not sure if you've already seen his site, but Nate did this successfully: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/351821/5

I think it look pretty slick!

 

How do you paint them when I heard you can't open the tail lights?

 

Yes this is exactly what I want to do.





From what I've heard you can't open the housings because 90% of the time they crack? I guess I'm going to have to just give it a try. Thanks for the link the pics did help.

 

hamy you dont open anything but the carpeting to expose the light and the bulb covering the hole--you spray the paint IN THE HOLE.....

its hard because the hole is small and the angle where it's at and also the spray paint doesnt spray straight-it fans out

i would try this with the tails OFF the car lying FLAT down so it doesnt drip down

 

yeah i was lazy to take it off....so i had to pay with one of my tails with a little, i mean little paint inside of the bottom of the tail....oh, you can see it from the outside by only really close up...not really noticable though...

 

I'm still sitting here trying to decide if I like this better. I think so, but I may need a side by side comparo to confirm.

Time for Photoshop...

 

I would personally , get those clear ones on Ebay, and spray the top of them RED, then you would have the same thing we have, but with a lower clear lense !

 

Yeah kloog, I was considering that - but I'm concerned about the quality of those tails. If it's anything like the quality of my clear sidemarkers compared to my OEM then I wouldn't consider them. I'd have to see some up close shots to get a feel for fit and finish. Also, it would be pretty difficult to make it look red enough with just spray paint inside the housing. I'm betting the clear layer that would be above the paint would just make it look a horrid pinkish hue...

 

Hamy, nt2shbby had a good idea, take the tails off and pay em down and spray. I did them while they were on the car. the key is patience.

its simple as pie. just take the translucent paint and spray the inside of the hole. I sprayed in different directions so it sprayed even. the red and the amber both came out with the same shade of red so dont worry. Be sure not to spray too much and let it dry between coats. I sprayed 6-7 coats. I used the 30 dollar VANS paint from napi's website....kinda expensive...

heres a pic, sorry about the res guys...

 

killer-looks like you spent some real time on that.....musta been hours....im not patient like that so I will be removing em

 

hahaha, not at all, took maybe an hour and a half. Only because I would spray a coat for a few seconds and let it dry for 15 min. surf the org in the mean time..

 

thanks for the ideas yall. i have the black tails from SWA and i will paint the top half red and take pics. as long as the weather stays good in beantwon i will do it

 

they will look just like 2k-2k1 SE tails...I dont get the point of buying them in the first place

 

no ur missing my point. the ones i got are completely clear with the black background so how will the lights look like the 2k's if everything else is clear and i just paint the brake lense??

 

Cause if you paint the brake lens and not the turn signal they will look just like the 2k-2k1 SE tails see sig.

 

ur sig isn't working but last time i checked the 2k-2k1 lenses have no clear lenses. look at killerse's post. see how both of his are red, the ones i have, have a clear turn signal lense. and instead of the chromw background its black. go to www.southwestautoworks.com and go to exterior under 2k2 maxima. you will see exactly what i mean. if your sig shows this my fault. carry on org

 

My sig is working fine.

 

chigga the 2k-2k1 SE lens is a black CF lookin material and the top part is red and bottom is CLEAR.....you can put ANY bulb in there and it will light whatever color the bulb is....IT IS CLEAR

here look:

 

hes talking about these tails. At least i think he is..... those dont look like SE tails if painted red.

http://store.yahoo.com/southwestauto...cheutanew.html


EDIT:nevermind, i didnt read the post about himhaving the black background

 

i guess it does look similar. heres the pic of the ones i have:
http://store4.yimg.com/I/southwestau...e_1777_1294815

 

The one from southwest autoworks is different. Think of a 2k2 2k3 rear tail light and think of the chrome as black or think of the anniversary edition headlight style thats done on 2k2 2k3 tail lights. Thats the one southwest autoworks is selling. SE tail lights are made of some type of carbon fiber looking plastic or glass.

 

ive got the all clear tails from ebay, same ones as SWA. When i get time, i think im gonna paint the brake light area red and leave the rest clear.

The only question i have is what is the best paint and where did you get it and price?????
(im hoping not to spend $30 like above but if it makes a big diff then i def will)

 

What kind of an install are we looking at to replace the whole stock tail light with a clear one?

I"m also interested in buying the clears and painting the top portion red.

 

whats the point to buying the tails and sprayed the top half? i just dont get it. if you want to do that and have the black surrounding....just get some 2k/2k1 se tails.......

 

is no one paying attention to details?? the reason why we want to paint the tails is because now we have found out that regular bulbs are shining pink, so by painting them red, u get the point. i will try and find some red leds and see how they work without painting the lens

 

Piece of cake
Trust me, even if ur a noob, if u cant do this one, u dont deserve ur maxima lol

Is anyone gonna answer me, what the best kind of paint is, where u bought it, and does the $30 paint really make a difference???

 

cool man thanks, i don't know about which paint ot get.

 

I would just like to inject something at this point. Now since this thread started I've painted my stock 2k2 tails and here are my reactions. One TAKE THE THINGS OFF THE CAR! My god...its really not a good idea to paint them while on the car heres why. One of my lights leaked red paint all over the bottom chrome part. There is a hole at the very bottom of the orange lense. If you spray that area the paint will just go right through on to the clear/chrome. I'll post pics to show it better. Anyhow this leads me to believe that painting the top part of the clear lights isn't as easy as it seems. To make it look good and stay out of the other section you really would need to open the housings up.

 

Dave, if you are going to paint your 2k2 tails, heres some advice.

You shouldn't have any problems painting them while there on the car. If you don't want any paint to end up at the bottom of the housing, tape off the round whole below the reverse signal socket. This is where the red paint (overspray) is seeping through and ending up at the bottom. After that, spray light coats, wait 15-30 minutes between sprays. With Testors candy apple paint and the above technique, this should yeild the best results.

 

hey alli found some links to red led bublbs for us. i will be the test pig if you all want and will order a pair. tell me which ones you like better for us:
#1 rotating red leds

#2