ben_r_

Okay for those who have Obsidian ISX50's or any other color (though Im not sure it would look that great on any other color) and are annoyed by the pointless little red reflectors on the rear bumper but dont want to take the bumper off to have them painted here is an alternative:

Items needed:
- Sheet of glossy black vinyl
- Scissors
- Spray bottle
- Regular liquid hand soap
- Credit cards (several)
- Towel
- Blow dryer
- About an hour or two free time

1) First off I found a local dealer that sold vinyl sheets by the foot. I ended up locating some from a company here call Tap Plastics and bought a piece of scrap of 3mm thick glossy black vinyl that was about 3 feet by 2 feet for $1.50.

2) I took that sheet home and after laying out a template trace of the rear bumper reflectors using paper I traced out and cut the same shap out of the sheet of vinyl. I cut out a retangular section first as that was easier to work with rather than trying to cut the shape out of the whole sheet I had.

3) After getting my two pieces cut out I got a spray bottle from the dollar store and fill it about 30oz of water litterally put a squirt and a half from my hand soap in the bathroom into the bottle and shook the hell out of it. This mixture makes it possible to manipulate the vinyl on the reflectors to help you position it better.

4) Spray the first reflector with the soapy water and peel the vinyl off the sheet to expose the sticky part. Spray the sticky part of the vinyl too. Yes I know that seems like it would make it not stick anymore, but for some reason it ends up sticking in the end. Really well actually.

5) Place the vinyl onto the reflector and slideit around a bit to see if it moves. If it gets stuck right away take it off and spray both the reflectorand the sticky part of the vinyl more with the soapy water.

6) Now the only "tricky" part. Get that vinyl positioned right and dont worry about overlapping and small wrinkles.

7) Once the vinyl looks like its as flat as its going to get start going along the edges of the reflector with a credit card. At first it will seem like the credit card wont fitin some areas, but press hard and trust me it will. Use this method to tuck the excess vinyl behind the reflector. Keep in mind that the vinyl needs to start dying at this point so that it will become more sticky again and start staying stuck to the corners after your press on it.

8) Now is where the blow dryer comes in. Use one that has a low setting as you dont want to cook the vinyl or your paint. Start heating up the whole area and continue to both work out wrinkles and folding the edges behind the relfector. Now, the heat will not shrink the vinyl, in fact it kinda loosens it. Specifically this will come in handy toward the bottom of the reflectors to get the lettering to show through. Heat the vinyl up and push really hard with your thumb on the raise letters and they will show through.

9) I also left some cards stuck in the edges all around the reflector for a while as it all dried to make sure it stayed stuck after drying. If you have any places where its not sticking to the reflectos like youd like, heat it up a little and press hard on it with your thumb. I mean hard!

10) Done, now do the same to the other side. Or PM me if you have any questions. Oh and yes... red outs on my tail lights are next, just ordered the pre-cut ones from rvinyl.com.

ben_r_

The vinyl cut out.

ben_r_

Using the credit cards....

ben_r_

One side done...

ben_r_

The finished product.

Lexusman44

Damn!!!! That looks awsome!! Nice work man!

nabisco

I think it looks good on black cars only.

LuxLivinIS

I have mixed feelings about it. You should do the blackout tails to make everything uniform

jim350

Very nice!

ben_r_

I was thinking about it, then considering tinting them really dark, but then started thinking two other things... One, like you I also at first thought I should make all the lights looks the same, like the one in the picture I attahced. But then I started think, the only reason some of us think this look needs to be more uniform on the back of the car and that all the lights need to match is because we have all spent hours staring at our own and others on these sites and in pictures. To the average person on the street who probably didnt even know those reflectors were there because they dont pay attention, have never seen the car before, or just didnt notice, these blacked out reflectors look like they are part of the car and look like they should be there.

The other thing Im worried about is that I heard tinted tail lights are illegal here in CA... Now Im still waiting for confirmation on that, and of course like half the crap thats illegal here I dont understand why since you can still see all the lights through the tint, but on the other side of the same coin I really dont want any fix-it tickets. Also if they catch me with one itll be a whole bunch of things, like the tinted front windows or the no front license plate, or something else dumb. See what I mean?

kattanh3

don't think so... IMO your avg non-IS owner will say "he should've gotten the reflectors option"... the same kind of feeling I get when i stare at the rear bumper of a diesel X5 and think that the owner should've gotten the normal exhaust system so that the tips would replace those oval plastic fillings

that's just my opinion, if you like it then stick to it good luck

GianniG60

Nice job, man. I really like it. Thank you for the how to instructions, too.
- GM

MIAMIGS3

iTrader: (2)

looks really clean

puredreamz

When I decide to black out my reflectors... I'll be sure to thank you.

Koz

I would never darken the tail lights, especially the turn signals. Safety reasons! If I were to cover the bottom lenses I would use black reflective tape. It looks black but reflects really well.

Koz