DIY - All Red Taillights

[SimplyDope]

Probably gonna do this myself pretty soon. Lots of good finished products in this thread. Inspiration!

[joonsup]

i got mine done late last week. After the coats of metalcast red I took it to a bodyshop where i normally take my cars to and he happened to be clear coating some wheels so he sprayed mine for free. They came out pretty nice. If I had more time he would have let the clear dry, clean it a bit, and spray another layer of clearcoat. Regadless they came out pretty good especially since it was free clear. Pics will be up when I get my car back from the shop (hood/sideskirt paint)

[dashboardmonkey]

paint is drying now


haha that looks weird

[ck_taft325is]

You didn't tape off the black edges? Did you tape off/around the turn signal and give it 1-3 coats to color match the existing red before you sprayed the whole thing?

Agreed. It looks a bit funky in those pictures.

[dashboardmonkey]

the black areas were so faded, yes taped, sprayed them all sprayed

They look really good on the car

[jintermont]

here she is when i got her




and now after all red tails using the metalcast red technique

[dnova89]

not saying your new lights look bad but... i think it's a little too dark of a red, if only there was a way to do it while still keeping the same shade of OEM red... I think I may go with the tinting method if my the red on my tails gets too dark after it's done.

edit: iono.. the more i look at your pics jintermont, the more i can't decide. one second i don't like it the next second i kind of like it. haha. maybe it's just because the whole car is red that i noticed the difference. probably won't be an issue on my light blue car then.

[Holland]

Holland, your car looks nice! Needs a drop, but i'm sure you may know that. Did you get those wheels off of Jean?

Lol I haven't looked at this thread in a while. They were Jean's but I bought them off of Lof8.

[jintermont]

they are a bit dark but its also the way the pic was taken they aren't that dark in person.
i still need to do a good clear coat and polish them

[noE30]

When you guys clear your lights make sure you use the right kind of clear, like enamel paint with enamel clear or lacquer paint with lacquer clear. When I painted mine I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed the clear coat and used the wrong kind and fucked up the paint. I redid them but they still look weird, Im thinking about wetsanding all the paint off and going back to stock.

[ck_taft325is]

not saying your new lights look bad but... i think it's a little too dark of a red, if only there was a way to do it while still keeping the same shade of OEM red... I think I may go with the tinting method if my the red on my tails gets too dark after it's done.

edit: iono.. the more i look at your pics jintermont, the more i can't decide. one second i don't like it the next second i kind of like it. haha. maybe it's just because the whole car is red that i noticed the difference. probably won't be an issue on my light blue car then.

I prefer the slightly darker red. You can do less coats and only one semi-wet coat for the final to keep it a more "stock" red shade. I almost always put 2-4 on the amber, 2-3 on the entire light.

[dnova89]

When you guys clear your lights make sure you use the right kind of clear, like enamel paint with enamel clear or lacquer paint with lacquer clear. When I painted mine I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed the clear coat and used the wrong kind and fucked up the paint. I redid them but they still look weird, Im thinking about wetsanding all the paint off and going back to stock.

What about Spraymax 2-part urethane clear coat? Would that work with the enamel Duplicolor Metalcast red? Everyone who used that combo seemed to come out with a very nice product.

[ck_taft325is]

You'll be fine.

noE30, not sure what happend with your tails or painting. Perhaps a crappy clear? td325ic (who makes AMAZING finished product) uses Duplicolor Metalcast and a 2-stage urethane clear coat with no problems. Take a look at his handy work a few pages back. He's who inspired me to really work on my process. I'm still not at the same caliber of him or Levent and Turk, but valiantly trying ;)

[noE30]

Yeah i used the metalcast enamel with lacquer clear, they dont mix well. It really sucks because mine looked just like td325ic's when I had just sprayed them red and polished them, then a few days later I cleared it and wrecked them.

[dnova89]

Wait, you polish them before you clear them? I'm a bit confused again. Can someone take a look at my list of directions and fill in the blanks? I want to know EXACTLY what I'm supposed to do so that I can do it right the first time. I only have 1 set of tails, the ones on my car! D:

1) Mask off light instead except amber part
2) Duplicolor Metalcast Red 3x light coats on the amber
3) ______________ How long should I wait in between steps 2 and 4?
4) ______________ Any wetsanding required here?
5) Unmask light except for reverse light and 2x medium coats of Metalcast Red on entire light.
-Then unmask reverse light after 2x medium coats
6) ______________ Any wetsanding required here?
7) Let the light cure for ___ days.
Spray entire light with SprayMax 2-part Urethane Clear Coat Aerosol
-How many coats?
9) Let cure for a couple days and wetsand with 1500-2000 grit
10) I don't have any machines so can someone describe to me in detail the buffing/polishing process by hand and which products to use?

Thanks, if any of the step orders are incorrect, please let me know! I want to get this down the first time, and I'll take pictures and share my experience when I'm done for the benefit of those who are in my boat and want to do their own all-red tails.