Spraying me rear lights

[RevBillyG]

I've just won meself a set of rear lights from Ebay with the intention of spraying them black (I'll be darned if I'm gonna spend Ԛ£240 on a 'proper' set!)
I've seen how it's done to turn them red but that'll look a bit dodgy on my dark red motor ;)

Anyone got any advice on what to use? Ideally I'd like not to have to move the indicators if possible. Are there any guides out there?

Cheers

[amit325i]

look in the styling section of the articles menu above, its best done with the lights removed, you could do it with the light on the vehicle but gravity may give you some runs in the paint before it dries. Plus masking as if its a bit breezy you get paint everywhere!

some red tinting spray, i used the foliatec i think from halfords!

[RevBillyG]

Funnily enough I've just got back from Halfords and saw the black tint for Ԛ£15.

I'm a bit worried about the legality of it though. The can says only for use on off-road vehicles.

[nav786]

i would take the lights off, clean them properly, and mask them. then spray evenly onto the lights. apply in coats to get the darknes you want. look in articles section, it will tell you how to tint the indicator red, but its the same principle.

personally i think the all red look looks excellent on red cars. just my opinion though

[Zayyan]

I'm a bit worried about the legality of it though. The can says only for use on off-road vehicles.

I've got the red tint that's used in E30Adam's guide for tinting the rear lights, Savage Tint Spray.

It does say "off-road use only" on the tin but you can spray the indicators to the same colour red as the brake/tail lights and with orange bulbs the indicators flash quite red but still amber 'enough'.

There was a discussion about doing the indicator/reverse light swapover a coupla weeks ago and the general opinion was that the indicators flash orange enough to not get you stopped generally, but if you do get stopped for it then you should consider the indicator mod.

Hope that helps

[Zayyan]

Oh and it was a tenner for a 400ml can.

Used the whole can to do my indicators, there was just about enough in there

[panesar_e30]

i used savage 2, its much better than the folia tec stuff, by the way zyann what size are your wheels on your car?

[Zayyan]

They're 16", did you think they were bigger or something?

[panesar_e30]

they do look bigger, what happen to your center caps?

[Zayyan]

Hmm, a lot of people think they look bigger

I do have the centre caps but I didn't get the bolts for them

Have found one in the toolbox that's the right width but too long, so just a matter of getting down to B&Q and finding one's that'll fit.

Not quite sure the original bolts were like the ones I'll find in B&Q though!

[ajay31]

the legal standing is that lights must light appropriate colour and for th main problem point, it must have a reflector or a reflector strip of red must be placed on rear of vehicle.

my lights are very.. very black.