Another set of painted tail lights for you
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From: Portland, Oregon
Another set of painted tail lights for you
OK yes this is yet another "I am too cheap to buy Evo VII tails so I rattle can painted my stock altezzas from the outside without breaking them open the ghetto way" thread.
But...I think they turned out really well, especially for a rattle can job with no clear.
Steps (some arent necessary but this is just what I did...YMMV):
1) Removed tails and gently wiped them with Toluene.
2) Masked the turn signal area with thin electrical tape to follow the line of the signal area border with a nice solid line, then put regular masking tape around the rest.
3) Put 2 coats of Testors candy red clear paint on them, waiting ~20 minutes between coats. It took ~1.5 cans (they are small, the paint is for models).
4) Reinstalled the tails and drove around with them like that for a couple days.
5) Wiped the tails clean with McGuire's quick detailer.
6) Wet sanded the lights with 2,000 grit waterproof sandpaper and the McGuire's detailer instead of water for more lubrication. Removed most of the orange peel but some still remained. I didn't want to sand too deep.
7) Cleaned everything off with McGuires quick detailer and a clean cloth.
8) rough hand-buffed them with Turtle Wax rubbing compound and a rag.
9) Cleaned everything off with the quick detailer again.
10) Buffed them with a random orbital buffer and Zymol wax and hand-removed with a clean terry cloth.
11) Put another coat of Zymol wax on by hand.
12) Finished with that good-for-not-much ICE space age wax stuff.
All-in-all, it took about 3 actual working hours. Most of that work went to sanding/polishing.
Before all the extra work, you could tell they were rattle-canned from like 5 feet away. Now you can't tell unless you are looking directly at them really close.
Crappy camera phone pic:
But...I think they turned out really well, especially for a rattle can job with no clear.
Steps (some arent necessary but this is just what I did...YMMV):
1) Removed tails and gently wiped them with Toluene.
2) Masked the turn signal area with thin electrical tape to follow the line of the signal area border with a nice solid line, then put regular masking tape around the rest.
3) Put 2 coats of Testors candy red clear paint on them, waiting ~20 minutes between coats. It took ~1.5 cans (they are small, the paint is for models).
4) Reinstalled the tails and drove around with them like that for a couple days.
5) Wiped the tails clean with McGuire's quick detailer.
6) Wet sanded the lights with 2,000 grit waterproof sandpaper and the McGuire's detailer instead of water for more lubrication. Removed most of the orange peel but some still remained. I didn't want to sand too deep.
7) Cleaned everything off with McGuires quick detailer and a clean cloth.
8) rough hand-buffed them with Turtle Wax rubbing compound and a rag.
9) Cleaned everything off with the quick detailer again.
10) Buffed them with a random orbital buffer and Zymol wax and hand-removed with a clean terry cloth.
11) Put another coat of Zymol wax on by hand.
12) Finished with that good-for-not-much ICE space age wax stuff.
All-in-all, it took about 3 actual working hours. Most of that work went to sanding/polishing.
Before all the extra work, you could tell they were rattle-canned from like 5 feet away. Now you can't tell unless you are looking directly at them really close.
Crappy camera phone pic:
Last edited by machron1; Jul 7, 2006 at 02:09 AM.
Originally Posted by machron1
u suck at teh spraying paints.
mine are painted all red
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