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Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:51 pm
by SamE30
Am bored so am considering tinting my rear lights red.....
The article in the article section of E30Zone uses tinting spray like the stuff you see on ebay, Halfrauds etc.
Im sure I read somewhere on here that some people have used model paint or something and have created a better effect..
Any suggestions as whats best to use?
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:21 pm
by Rosc0PColtrane
idreambeer used tamiya model paint. Looks good with good transparency too.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:50 pm
by nickso
you wont go wrong with the spray stuff either though. the can i got said it was removable if you cocked it up....although it didnt say how...thinners perhaps.
it said to do 7 coats but i ended up doing more like 20
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:04 pm
by munky30
White spirit will get it off.
Its overpriced though which is probably why model paint is better.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:31 pm
by nickso
yeh i agree its not the cheapest but my can has done 3 sets of lights now and it still feels full. was only £7
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:40 pm
by munky30
not bad going... specially with 20 coats?! I did my old mazda with red tint on the back lights and only needed 4 coats to cover the orange and white parts of the lights.
Pink reversing lights rock... but confuse other drivers.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:08 pm
by nickso
it was only mine that needed 20ish coats....the other cars only needed 3-4.
i left the reversing lights lol
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:26 pm
by snoops
are the bulbs in the indicator red or clear? do you have to get orange bulbs if you tint them red?
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:28 pm
by gcorky
foliatec...halfrauds...around 15 quid....2 coats done mine
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:35 pm
by munky30
snoops wrote:are the bulbs in the indicator red or clear? do you have to get orange bulbs if you tint them red?
If you tint your indicators red, get orange bulbs if the car doesnt already have them... but if you want the lense to actually look red not orangey red, it wont make a blind bit of difference, they will flash red.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:06 pm
by sidewaysbm
will the orange definitely shine through with orange bulbs?
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 11:49 pm
by munky30
no.
It depends how red you want it. If you want a uniform red all the way over the light, you will have red indicators.
If you just put a coupleof coats on, the indicator part will still be orangey but a bit red.
I had deep red all the way across, the indicators flashed red but I never had any grief for it... mind you I didnt use them much lol.
It would have failed mot though.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:55 am
by sidewaysbm
Think ill look for a spare set and change them over at mot time
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:17 am
by munky30
Best way... although if you have a friendly mot tester they'll turn a blind eye.
I spent ages cleaning mine off and making them orange again. Had it tested and joked 'now I can put the red tint back on and make them illegal again' to him. He replied that they would have passed it anyway.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:54 am
by nickso
mine still flash orangeish....they dont look fully red but they arent orange either. i pretty much wanted them to look almost red but still flash orange. ive still got the original bulbs in and they do look better than they were.
Re: Best for red tinting rear lights?
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:55 pm
by choppa7
I had a dark tint on my corsa and fiesta, couldnt see the reverse light bit during the day or when it wasnt lit but stick it in reverse and they shone clear enough, both passed MOTS with no hassle, indicators looked dark but flashed orange with clear bulbs
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:10 pm
by forty
its probably worth laquring them after too as the stuff does come off after a while...thats what I done to mine anyway
Re:
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:49 pm
by munky30
If you want them to be totally legal and mot proof. Get 2mm plastic masking tape and lay it in stripes across the indicator, then spray them. Peel it off and there will be enough original orange lense to flash perfectly orange, but they will look red.
A few new cars use this trick.
Re:
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:27 pm
by chinchilla
someones mentions green bulbs!
Obs is making 2 pairs of preface-lift lights one for himself and one for me,
he messaged me yesturday:
OBs wrote:I done a set today buddy....
I will play with bulb colours tomorrow, But Red and Green does not make Yellow (I know its says so in that link?)
I tried at work every shade possible (I work as a sprayer) All turned out Brown!
If you think about it Yellow is a hell of a lot lighter then both Red and Green.
It needs to be yellow, but once you shine light through it it will appear almost white, unless its on to thick... But then not enough light will get through!
I will try all avenues and see what I can come up with!!
We have some "Transparent brown" so Im guessing that will do the job (Will shine through yellow hopefully)...
Re:
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:01 am
by SamE30
Got myself some Tamiya 'Clear Red' model paint yesterday.... I presume the 'clear' part of it will make it slightly more translucent... gonna give it a go today.. will let you know the results!!
Re:
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:13 am
by sidewaysbm
Re:
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:38 am
by SamE30
Yeah reckon thats it, got it from a model shop..... is a little can, there are a number of reds available but i went for clear as it is see through.
Hopefully will make it look red enough whilst letting orange shine through!