Shaved tail lights

[Quicksilver300]

I know I'm not the first to do this, but I think it'll look good if I can match my body color. I bought another center light($15), so I'd have two, one to fuck with and one for inspections.

So today I laid down a coat of flat black, followed by two coats of mica red and scarlet red, and then three coats of clear. I hope it matches. As most of you know, I cannot pin point my exact color code, so this is an experiment. My cat as usual, got her self in the picture.

[bigbird]

nice man.

[BlueFusion6851]

Sweet! That looks almost as good as the stock center panel.

[Quicksilver300]

idk, I just like small tail lights, never was a big fan of the full width tail lights. I had made a nice fiberglass cover for the center, but one day when I went to work someone decided to pick at it. Figured painting is the best route. Still cannot believe I found a mint condition OEM center strip for $15. Like knowing if it's ugly, no big deal.

[blackhawk]

nice man x2

[LazyAccent]

^ looking nice I was going to do the same thing to my rear center panel but its been raining a lot so I dont have any time, that and work too.

[chuloloco]

Hey Quick! Where did you buy your center trunk piece? Ebay? Junk yard? I don't know if you will know the answer to this but I have a 92 DX Camry with a black center trunk piece. Do you know or think that the red center piece will fit on my car? I'm assuming it would. Also, how do you take off and put back on that center piece?

I'm hoping to one day turn this


Into this. With the clear tail lights of course.


What do you think?

[Venom_5]

^ clear looks ugly

OP: looks good - i thought about doin that with my current one, but i decided to leave the gen 3.5 lights, and just painted the rest black

[94CoupeV6]

Yeah I think clear taillights look hideous, ESPECIALLY on the Gen3. Ewww.

But for the OP, I hope it matches up well. Looks to be painted well though.

[Quicksilver300]

thx guys, the moment of truth is near, my car is filthy though and I'm suppose to get 6" of snow tonight, so maybe I'll just give her a rinse.
chuloloco- I got it at a junk yard, they only had one. He charged me $5 a foot roughly. Good deal considering they usually cost at least $50 on ebay.
I would assume my panel fits your car, the light has studs which go through the trunk lid and are fastened by 8-10 brass nuts. Last night it took me maybe 10minutes to swap out lights, it's pretty easy once you know where everything is.

I'll keep you guys posted.

[Quicksilver300]

Took about 5minutes to change out the light. I just kept the reverse lights hooked up, I'm gonna have to wire this light, so the dash light doesnt come on.
The color is pretty close, I think it needs a bit more of the scarlet red, but I am pleased for now.
p.s. I'm about 95% sure that this tail light would bolts right onto that 92'DX Guess they wanted to save 50 cents and put blacks ones on the DX.

[geoff5093]

I think it looks really good. I did a similar thing with my old car although it didn't come out nearly as clean as yours.

[Quicksilver300]

Thanks, I agree, as of now I like it better than the stock light setup.
I hadnt realized that now it's just a Toyota LE. Ah, one more car to piss off the police. Now to change to Lexus emblems, to complete the confusion.

[eyeball96]

Looks Good! Nice paint match! Ever thought of removing the pin stripe?

[Quicksilver300]

Originally Posted by eyeball96

Looks Good! Nice paint match! Ever thought of removing the pin stripe?

Thanks again Oh, I would love to remove that pin stripe, dont know how though, it isnt tape. Someone did it by hand. I know it had to be done by hand since this car was totaled yrs ago. I was thinking about painting over it with a darker pinstripe, but my hands aren't steady enough.

btw, this is what I woke up to, my poor camry and taurus are in there somewhere.