Tail light upgrade,,

[jeffw]

alright, just got back from walmart, went christmas shopping for my cubs, picked up some white spray paint, and some primer,gotta patch up my top notch paintjob you know,, any way I got this idea from another slickster who did it and thought i might have to copy him, I,m going to spray the tail light housing white, you know the dull aluminum that don't reflect light well, either that or stuff some tinfoil in their,,i'll get some pics of the finished job when I get done,, I don't recall who thought up of this
cheap genius ideerr,,,

[Greg D]

I upgraded my tail lights - put blue dots in em.

[Shawn F.]

People use the foil and poke holes through it to give it that LED look. I never have done it. I recently did a set of tail lights on my daily drive in translucent black with 7 coats of it. They look black until you put the brakes or running lights on. I think the blue dots though are awesome and I want some in the rear to match the blue dot in the tri bar headlights I am getting next.

[Red62Uni]

sorry for thread highjack but shawn which black did you use i been trying to find something that worked good but havent found anything that is not on backorder that i like.

[jeffw]

hey greg where do you get the blue dots from??

[Max]

Most hotrod shops should carry them like Summit and Jegs:

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch ... ults=false

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s ... 01&Ntk=all

[Comet]

My upgrade consists of chroming the tail light bucket. Big improvement. I need to put new lenses on there though.

[ICEMAN6166]

i have the fridge bed with round taillights.
got some clear parking light lenses from a 57 truck and put them over the taillights in place of the red ones. i also wired them so both elements come on at the same time.
then underneath those i put 4" round led stop/turn taillight and i use the top clear ones for backup lights.

[Greg D]

Got them at the local parts store, Mr Gasket Co. makes them, bout $7 for plastic, bout $9 for glass. They didn't stock them but were able to order them in.

[GDG]

I have used Duplicolor chrome spray paint to make tail and frt parking lights more reflective on several old cars and rods. Those small tail/brake lights need all the help they can get!!
Doug

[wyatt]

I sprayed my tail light lens with window tint. Then I put blue dots in to brighten them up when I hit the brakes. They look purple. When putting your blue dots in, make sure you get them in the center of the ridges on the inside of the lens so they are right over the bulb. Use the center circle and work from there.
I can't run my lens here in Pennsylvania. Dots are illegal. If it's fun, It's illegal here.
I still put them in for shows though.
I painted the housing shiney silver. The foil sounds like a great idea though. Careful not to touch the metal part of the bulb with the foil. I think that would cause problems down the road. Maybe not.
Wyatt

[Max]

No, foil can make things interesting for sure. I did that to the taillight housings on my 1974 F100 when I was in college and while cruising down the freeway at night, the entire electrical system turned my truck into a big disco ball.

It was real funny after I figured out why it did that.

[65TremecGT]

And if your in Cali, blue dots are illegal, prolly not a factor for most of you in this thread though. I never really thought about croming the taillight bucket, Ill put that on my list!

[Greg D]

There are lots of old laws still on the books dating to the 50s & before. Last I knew is was still legal to shoot a man for stealing your wife in Nebraska, lol.
Anyways lots of places have these laws it comes down to whether the cops know them and their ambition to enforce certain ordinances. I am pretty sure Blue dots are illegal here too, but my Uni isn't the only thing running around with them in.

[Shawn F.]

Go to www.coastairbrush.com Go to the paint section and look up Alsa Corporation. Get a 4oz bottle of translucent black. That is ALL you need because it will last forever. After that buy some automotive grade clear and reducer, add some drops of that 4oz bottle of translucent black into clear and spray away. 6 or 7 coats will be BLACK or should be. I had to redo mine because I didn't put enough drops into the clear and had to put 15 coats to make them black which was way too thick so I peeled it off and the second time I added way more drops (about 30-35) to about an ounce of clear.
Anyways just get that translucent black for 10 bucks and it is well worth it compaired to buying that spray can junk from Summit or Jegs.
I'd recommend Southern Polyurethanes clear. Universal.

[ghostflamed66]

I painted my housings with a bright white appliance paint. The lights are alot brighter now.
I also want blue dots. I already have the dots, but what do you use to drill the 15/16 hole with. I cant find a drill bit that size.
Wes

[Truckfarmer]

Use one of those Unibit drill bits. They are expensive (about $25) but excellent for drilling plastic and thin sheetmetal. Some have to have a pilot hole drilled to get them started while others can drill their own. I have used mine for well over 10 years.

[wyatt]

When I did my dots, I made a pilot hole and then used a cone shaped grind stone that inserted into the drill. Drilled alittle with it and checked it until I reached the right diameter. Very easy. A big bit might grab hold and crack the lense. You would also have to have the right size bit. The stone allows you to stop where it is best.
Wyatt

[GLindley]

...any way I got this idea from another slickster who did it and thought i might have to copy him...I don't recall who thought up of this
cheap genius ideerr,,,

You probably don't remember, cuz I'm mostly a "lurker"....

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[ivaf100]

I upgraded my '66 style side tail lights about 30 years ago. I got tail light housings from a '67 style side that have built in back up lights. I'm sure others have done this, but I haven't seen it mentioned here. I also installed blue dots about 20 years ago. The cops haven't said anything yet.