Who here has painted their taillights to resemble the 2000-01 models?
Are you happy with the results?
How long did it take you?
Did you encounter any problems?
What's the estimated cost of the mod (i.e. paint, etc.)?

Anyone who did the authentic taillight 1-for-1 swap, feel free to chime in...

thanks

 

Smoke the whole tail light like the Hella Jetta tails lights! Start something new!

 

i was gonna follow this how-to..
http://www.kevinfisher.net/web_serve...light-mod.html

i think it looks nice on grey lustre, i'd like to get some more info tho b4 i begin

 

PM soonerfan (aka Jason) he just did it and they look good.

 

i see you stumbled upon my how-to...i hope it works well for you.

i spend alot of time trying to figure this one out myself - before i attempted it. it was a good idea and turned out surprisingly well.

actually i prefer it to the stock black trim SE style tails. i never really cared for the high gloss on the stock black tail trim (where as the look i created is not as shinny and cheap plastic looking). plus...can't beat saving a few hundred $!!

answers to all of your other questions can be found in the into to my how-to. let me know if you ever have any other questions.

 

love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I did mine w/ night shades! AS you can see when it was extreemly sunny or a flash went off the gave a reddish/purpleish look. It is an easy process just take your time. I did mine with a lot of coats, I would suggest a few fewer coats of nightshades and a final "very lite" coat of black enamel for a glossier look then 2 coats clear!

Dan

 

I want to see the complete tail light blacked out, on a car. I have never seen that. Looks good tho maxima 2


brandon

 

do you also wanna see flashing lights behind you for having illegal lights??

 

FROM VHT NITES Dealer:

VHT Nite Shades is a transparent black tail light lens coating for creating a custom European styling. When applied to tail lights, fog lights or turn indicators, VHT Nite Shades appears black until they are lit, then the natural red colour appears. Recommended for off road use.
Warning: Once applied to plastic lens, SP999 is not able to be satisfactorily removed. Recommended for off-road use.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a question for the people who did it. In the sun...does the tinted part look red or purple or black or what?

Also, when you turn your lights on at night, can you see red through the black tint? or does the black tint totally hide the lights and only visible through that circular untinted section? PICS of your smoked taillights on at night will be HELPFUL! And pics with your lights on in the day aswell.

I am doing this mod within a week. Any extra suggestions would be helpful.

Somone mentioned putting a coat of black enamel add a gloss to the spray? can you tell me what its exactly called and where to get it?

THANKS PEOPLES!

 

What?!?! HELLA makes all smoked tails for Jettas and claims to be legal.

 

tail lights must REFLECT red.
and please use a thumbnail for your signature

 

in the sun you can only see a little red tint up close. it pretty much looks black all the time. at night, no light shines through the black part

 

here is a night pic i just took for you.
its not the best cause its with my phone and i had to cover up the light cause it was causing a glare.
but you can see that the light doesnt shine through

 

now i know why they call you sooner, because you replied alot sooner than I expected!

Thanks for the info bro, and thanks for the pictures.

still waiting on elaboration of what maxima - 2 said "and a final "very lite" coat of black enamel for a glossier look then 2 coats clear! "

more instruction plz. what where how? 2 coats clear? wtf

so you gotta put a light coat of black enamel gloss spray .."and then 2 coats clear" clear spray? eh?
enlighten me fella's!

 

Here, there's no reflected red only red bulbs and it's legal from HELLA.

 

im not going to argue. you think what you want.
TAIL LIGHTS MUST REFLECT RED

 

here you go
Disclaimer — All tail light / lamp sets are intended for off-road or show purposes only. All tail lights / lamps are not intended to be used for regular driving conditions. Users must follow the directions given. The manufacturer, distributor, and retailer are NOT responsible for any misuse of these custom tail lights. Any use of this item other than its intended purpose voids any warranty given.

 

i didnt use a clearcoat and you can see in the pics that they still have a shine.
i used 4 coats and allowed to dry between each one.

 

dude...click the link above! i have answered all these questions in my how-to!

not sure what someone is talking about BLACK gloss...you can/should apply several coats of CLEAR gloss - NOT BLACK GLOSS. again...all that is described in my how-to at the link above.

the darkness of the black depends on how many coats you apply and how thick. mine is on the thinner side. in bright sun you can see a bit of the red through the black tint. at night, the whole light is red...like it was before the tint. this stuff if called TRANSPARENT TINT for a reason! it is meant to let light through.

if you want total black or totally OPAQUE...you might want to use something besides Nite Shades. maybe a black lexan paint or something. or perhaps you could just apply a ton of coats...not sure it that would make it totally opaque or not.

CHECK OUT MY HOW TO...still got questions...post em.

 

i agree...every thing i've ever seen of those products that make lights totally black have an OFF ROAD USE ONLY disclaimer. got for it though...can't hurt to try...just don't b@itch if you get a ticket!

 

i looked it up
blacked out and all clear tailights are illegal because they violate Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108

"S5.8.1 Except as provided below, each lamp, reflective device, or item of associated equipment manufactured to replace any lamp, reflective device, or item of associated equipment on any vehicle to which this standard applies, shall be designed to conform to this standard."

here are the color they have to be

Side Marker (Red, per SAE J592e)
Side reflex reflector (Red, per SAE J594f)
Taillamp (Red, per SAE J585e)
Stoplamp (Red, per SAE J586)
Rear reflex reflector (Red, per SAE J594f)
Backup lamp (White, per SAE J593c)
Turn signal (Red or amber, per SAE J588)

Please note: Taillamps appear to be noncompliant with FMVSS No. 108 despite the "DOT" marking. Therefore the manufacturers has falsely certified these lamps.

 

Check out this site
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/166607/4
The owner smoked his tail lights and they look very nice on his white max
Here's a pic taken from his site

 

he only smoked the yellow and white portion of his tailiights...his original was already SE. mines are GLE/GXE..fully red..no black in my lights..thats the part i want to tint, red part.

fish states even his tinted portion turns red when his lights are lit.

soonerfan's picture clearly shows that there is no light's comming through the tint.

if both of you had 4 coats? the only variable is that fish had lighter coats?

so i can total black it out like soonerfan if i put heavy coats on , correct?

sooner..all you used is 4 heavy coats of vht night shades.it totally blacks it, like the picture right? because if that does the case, i'm gonna stick with nite shades and do heavy coats, instead of going with another type of paint.

 

irvine78 has his tailights tinted

 

i did do heavier coats. i did it until it was totally black. that happened to be 4 coats for me. as you do it, look at it in the sun. you will be able to tell when you cant see red anymore. and yes i did use the night shades

 

yea...my 4 coats where very light ones. i probably should of done 1 or 2 more to lighten it up...but good enough as is.

be carefull though....this stuff is kind of thin and runny. make sure your "heavy coats" are not to heavy so that it runs all over the place. allow ample drying time between coats and between the Nite Shades and the clear protectant gloss (if you decided to use it).

 

what he said. be careful that you dont use to much because it will run and dry with thicker "drops" you will see a line where it ran. my first coat did that but the later coats covered it up.

 

you can smoke them like this:

 

Soonerfan I am not arguing your point I am just asking a legit question because a lot of people seem interested in doing this. If all clear tails are illegal then how can Lexus get away with all clears on the RX 330



Again I am not arguing with you about this I am just asking incase I missed something.

 

because of the red reflectors on the bumper!

 

NO THE RX330 argument AGAIN!!!! LOOK AT THE PIC CLOSELY. what does it have that our car doesnt??
the BIG @SS reflectors on the bumper that covers the "red reflector" . if people wanna put those on their bumper then go ahead and clear them.
as far as the black...brakes lights must be RED!! red bulb light going through blacked out tails DOES NOT equal RED LIGHT!

 

here you go
NOW you can clear your tails!!

blacked out will NEVER be legal

 

You don't have to be such a d?ck about it. I was just asking a question, I never even said I liked the clear tail, which I dont by the way, but alot of people do. Thanks for your input.

 

im not being a d!ck
its just that once a week someone brings up the lexus argument "if they can do it, why cant we?"
its kinda obvious. and it took lexus months of fighting to be able to use those tails.

 

I also did 4 coats of nightshades. The reason I suggested a quick light coat of gloss black to reduce the reddis/purpleish hue it gives off in sunlight. and 2 caots of clear meant after you're happy with the darkness spray 2 coats of clear enamel paint to bring the gloss back up!
Dan

 

Oh my god, not the Lexus argument again!!!

How anyone could look at that picture and not notice the 2 huge red reflectors on the bumper sticking out like sore thumbs is beyond me.

 

THANK YOU!!!

 

yeah you can tint those taillights. never seen a 2k2/2k3 taillight tinted before? has anybody seen it or tried it?

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question...but what kind of rims are those?!?! ^^^