rear lenses: to spray or not to spray?

[timatsorted 0]

Hi guys

I'm thinking a bout a temporary face-lift for my rear lights until I can afford a new replacement set and I'm interested (and scared) by spraying. I'd appreciate some feedback/advice:

How do you get an exact match to the brake lights' red tint? Anybody know the exact paint type? Or do you need to spray upper and lower lenses?

Do you need to prime first (sounds dumb but then I'm a novice so humour me..._

Can they be sprayed while still on the car, as long as it's well masked?

Do they look any good when sprayed or will it just look naff?!

Any other top tips on this topic?

Thanks!

[chris CORRADO 0]

yes i want to do this too.... also i want to "wet 'n' dry" the horid extruded letter all over them.... is this a good idea or will it lok scratched when done ?

[Roger Blassberg 0]

What's the view taken by 1) MOT testers, and 2) insurance companies to messing about with the colour and transparency of lenses and reflectors? The testers get all shirty if you have cracked or obscured lights, or those without the mandatory E-marks, and an astute assessor might take a similar line if you have a rear ender (!!) and it can be shown that your set up is non-compliant or modified without a declaration.

 

I don't want to spoil your fun, but, " better safe than sorry".

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I got pulled over by the police for having all read rear lenses and the MOT testers etc will have an equally dim view of it, no pun intended!

 

It's a game of chance. I took it, got rumbled and had to wipe the red laquer off.

 

I've done them again but this time a very dark orange. Not ideal but looks better than the *bright* orange they were before.

 

K

[Sandy 0]

I've never had any problems with mine being tinted

[badlad1888 0]

i have given up trying to get my red tinted lenses to flash orange, trying green bulbs works but you cant see them in bright light. it looks the biz though. i am open to offers for the tinted lights!

[pablo_vr6 0]

my 106 gti lenses are red as std so I cant see what the prob is as long as they are orange lit up

[badlad1888 0]

if you look at your pug lenses i am sure that they are not all red but have clear strips to allow the orange light through

[pablo_vr6 0]

you could well be right lol!

[Bournemouth James 0]

yes i want to do this too.... also i want to "wet 'n' dry" the horid extruded letter all over them.... is this a good idea or will it lok scratched when done ?

 

I rubbed the lettering off mine, with wet and dry, the lense wont look scratched when sprayed, fore more info look here:

 

http://www.corrado-club.ca/mods/tailtints.html

[badlad1888 0]

i thought you could buy all red tail lights about a year ago, i think it was hella too!

[Supercharged 2]

i thought you could buy all red tail lights about a year ago, i think it was hella too!

 

Nah, these are just ones people painted that there trying to pass off as original...

[timatsorted 0]

So the overall view seems to be that spraying is dodgy MOT and insurance wise. Fair enough - I'll save the pennies and get replacement lenses in a while. Gotta say, though, that looking around, there do seem to be plenty of moderm rear light set-ups with just red and white lenses visible. Counted about five in twenty minutes taking my little girl to school this morning! Worst offender was a brand new Audi A4 Cabriolet which had pretty much exactly the same kind of red/white lay-out that a sprayed C's back end would have! Not a hint of orange anywhere - from the outside anyway. One rule for one...

Thanks guys!

[Eug 0]

I see most people just tint the orange part.

 

Is it easier to get away with it, or do you have to leave some red in them ?

[Roger Blassberg 0]

The red/clear set-up stays legal by having an amber bulb in a clear lens for the indicator - resulting in amber light. I understood timatsorted to mean that he was intending to tint his amber lens red - resulting in red light which is the problem.

 

Just as a matter of interest, what's the problem with amber lenses anyway? We have yellow number plates.

 

I'll get my coat then...

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[Henny 0]

remember that if you spray all of your lights a darker colour, the reflector MUST still be reflective (and red! ;) ) else you run the risk of being pulled or failing an MOT... Oh, and if someone drives into the back of your parked car at night, it's seen to be your fault! :|

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Amber looks dated, very 80s and kitsch. It spoils the overall look because it draws attention to itself too much.

 

Nothing can be done about the yellow plates or the orange plastic due to the Nanny state we live in. Too many imbociles can't differeniate between a flashing red light and a stable red light. The Americans seem to cope with it :roll:

[Roger Blassberg 0]

Time to stop when personal taste starts creeping in.

 

Best wishes

 

RB

[ben16v 0]

has anyone ever tried only spraying half the lens red? :?:

 

i mean by laying down thin bits of tape on the lens (like bike sprayers do on gas tanks) so youd have

 

couple of mm red

couple of mm orange

couple of mm red

couple of mm orange......... all the way down after peeling them off after spraying

 

would this then still look red but allow orange light to pass through?? :)

and more importantly would it look pants? :oops:

 

hope you understand what i mean, no real idea on this but just wondered!

[Andy Brookes 0]

Asim has, see pic, very nice job

[ben16v 0]

that does look good

 

any pictures from further away?

[randal 0]

That does look pretty good, I'm impressed. Almost looks OE. Mmmm, got me thinking now.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I tried that too and it's difficult to do properly due to the graduations in the paint levels, i.e. steps where red meets orange.

 

If you want to try that route, first give the orange layer a liberal coat of red first, then do the strips. The steps won't be so thick then and it will look even redder, whilst still shining through orange.

 

I also recommend you go to a hobby shop and pick up rolls of Tamiya 3 and 5mm masking tape. 5mm is perfect for masking the black partition strip and use 3mm tape for the stripes.

 

Might have another bash at it myself actually :lol:

[ben16v 0]

i suppose to do it properly it would be best to wait till its all dried then mask the red bits and fill in the orange with clear laquer

 

then laquer the whole lot afterwards????

 

long winded i reckon but d`ya think it`d work???

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Too much red laquer and then clear laquer = orange peel effect. Ideally you need a spare set to experiment with.

 

But as with all painting, preperation is 90% of the finished product.