Well after 3 years of owning my car, i finally had the ***** to do a simple DIY project. I took my tails off and painted them red to match my car. I should have gone to a hobby shop like everyone else did but i just went ahead and bought ebay ones around 13bucks after shipping, figured that if i messed up or it looked bad i'd upgrade to 97s. I did nothing but to clean off my lens and prime it with alcohol pads. I wanted to sand them for more adhesion, but just skipped it. I must admit these came out really clean! They came out more shiny than the other SC's ive seen done, and I do have some spots on the lens, as they are old. But i honestly tried getting the most unbiased pics of how it turned out. The only problem is the top portion of the light is still orange, I didn't want to overspray, so I left it and it's barely noticable. Its weird how the pics show a little orange bit of glow with the light on, but I think its more of a camera illusion. Excuse the dirty car. I was afraid I would need clearcoat or buffing, but I am pleased as of now.

Steps:
1. clean lens with alcohol
2. sand with 1000grit for more adhesion (skipped)
3. mask off all black parts as well as the red underportion.
4. spray one light coat, let dry 15-30mins
5. spray second light coat for approx 20percent tint (same as OEM)
6. leave is masked for 24hrs until you take it off ( I waited 2-3 hours for unmasking as it takes 30mins for it to dry one coat)

Enuff talking, PICS:

Brake lights on


Brake light plus signal


Left tail


Backside


Top portion still a little orange, barely noticable


Right close up

 

Back close up (little cloudy outside)


Hazards on (weird yellow from camera)


Inside the garage


Another right


Only shot with flash

 

very clean, Good job

 

Looks great man!!!!

Clear coat it, soon! It will fade REAL quick otherwise and you'll have to repaint them very soon. mine looked exactly like that after I painted them, then I put clear coat on and they got a little hazy, but I think I didn't wait long enough before applying the clear, which is why it got hazy. They look great though!!

 

they look good... I think you need to wax the car though -- your tails have more shine to them!

 

looks good! very clean.

i wonder why no one has tried using a light coat of white or silver to get a clear look... i know one memeber attemped with silver, but im talking about a really light coat of paint to just cover the yellow... resulting in something kinda like this...

 

^^^ that looks amazing, is that a photoshop? I'd be interested in getting that look! The silver was not transparent enough to pass as clear, although it did look good too.

 

OK, look..... the tails look exceptionally good. However, it is too much red and no contrast IMO. That makes the car look nearly identical to a 240x.

I love the tails, and the car looks great too, but together I think it is too much, and no contrast.

 

no photoshop... i think they are the takakiara one in japan for like $1k.

 

yeah your right. i'll c wut i can do to change up the rear a bit, if i dont like i might get the 97 tails. it'll do for now

 

I think it looks all right. Good job of painting. Like you said, it'll do for now.

 

Nice job with the painting. I don't think it could have turned out any better. I think OLT is right
though, the car looks a little bland being tail lights blend in too well with the rest of the car.

97+ tails would really be much nicer for you. I'm sure you can probably sell your DIY tails
easily if you clear coat them.

 

That's looks good, but I would like to see them lightly smoked on top of the all-red treatment. It would look like the JDM Supra tails.

 

looks great. i like the all red.

 

hahhaa looks good man

i just did some clearance lights on one of my cars and I think I failed to clean them up enough and the paint came out hoooooorrrrriiiibbllleee thats how its supposed to be done!!!