playing around with the tail light

[Guest tb3]

prior to purchasing the car my tail light already had 3 cracks in it.  Two of them where probably fixable.

I bought a used one that needed to be taken apart and cleaned up, so I thought I'd change the look.

I don't care for the full length light.  reminds me of the 80's buick century's. 

I especially don't care for the look of the chrome buick letters.

 

I color matched the center section of the lens, although its hard to tell because of the lighting.  Its 20 degrees outside today and I don't feel like starting it to back it out of the garage, and the car is filthy from a freezing rain when I last drove it a week or so ago.

I also painted the inside so no light would bleed through at night. 

So far I like it, but won't know for sure till I see it outside in the sunlight and the car is washed. 

 

pros:

I figure thats about a foot and half less area I'll have to polish every year.

I like the look of the buick recessed letters much better than chrome.  It now reminds me of the 90's park avenues and centurys where they did the same thing on the rear bumpers.

I also removed the 4 center bulbs and just reinstalled the light sockets.  I figure thats 4 less bulbs to worry about, lol.

 

cons:

cant really think of any unless I end up not liking how it looks after I get a chance to get a good look at it from a distance.

worst case, I can sand off the paint and re-polish the plastic and put the bulbs back in.

 

I'll take some more pics when the weather warms up and I wash the car.

 

[89REATTAJIM]

  I think I like it....What did you use to remove the glue from the recessed letters?

  My P O painted the chrome letters with something that looks like nail polish.  Doesn't look terrible, but if I knew the chrome was still good underneath, might try to clean the polish off.

[Guest tb3]

the spare light already had the letters removed.  My chrome letters on my old light are fine, but I haven't removed them and wasn't going to unless I get rid of the rest of the lens. 

To get the old glue out of the new tail light, I used a small #1 flat screw driver and just carefully scraped it out.  Quite easy actually.

I wan't worried about light scratches with the screwdriver since I prepped the whole area I painted with some course red scotch brite.

The pic of the lens off the car was right after I scotch brighted it.   All that was left before primer was spray it with some isopropyl alcohol and scrub the letters with a tooth brush

[Guest Corvanti]

i like it ok. my problem would be the brightness of the remaining bulbs that drivers could see clearly behind you when necessary.

 

perhaps get some LED's (cheap on e-bay and other places) - that should brighten it up some, and look cooler.

[Guest tb3]

I figure with 4 each side still having those 1154's that I would still be just as noticeable as anything else out there,  but I'll give it a look this week at night and see what it looks like.

[Guest HuevosRanchero]

I LIKE it VERY much! ...Might even attempt it myself when it warms up.

[jonlabree]

How about this one?

[ol' yeller]

I personally like and prefer the whole taillight but everyone is entitled to their opinion and how they express it in their own car.  It reminds me of my 1st car, a 1965 Skylark convertible.  I am considering doing the sequential turn signal mod if it is still available and not too expensive.

[Guest tb3]

How about this one?

hey now that's pretty neat. I don't think I would go that route on my car, but I do think it's pretty cool

[DAVES89]

I personally like and prefer the whole taillight but everyone is entitled to their opinion and how they express it in their own car.  It reminds me of my 1st car, a 1965 Skylark convertible.  I am considering doing the sequential turn signal mod if it is still available and not too expensive.

Last I checked the light kit is still available. The "How to" is on Ronnie's site. Both the Red and the 'vert are set up with them. But not the Black...

[ol' yeller]

Thanks Dave. I'll check it out.

[Guest tb3]

Wouldn't I be able to just install these?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201025537305?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D201025537305%26_rdc%3D1

[Guest tb3]

I LIKE it VERY much! ...Might even attempt it myself when it warms up.

 

I'll take some pics outside Wednesday

[Guest Corvanti]

Wouldn't I be able to just install these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/201025537305?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D201025537305%26_rdc%3D1

 

i think you would have to pick up some resistors to go with these particular lights to prevent "hyperflash" when using the turn signals. that's what i did when i used LED's in my C-5 Corvette around 5 years ago. the resistors are cheap and easy to install.

 

i believe that now some LED's have built in resistors for use with turn signals.  

[jonlabree]

At $10.00 a pop it kinda pricey don't you think?

[DAVES89]

I think you missed where it says $10.00 for 4 of them...

[jonlabree]

Dave, You are correct. But it's not just a simple plug and play job.

[Guest tb3]

 

Wouldn't I be able to just install these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/201025537305?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D201025537305%26_rdc%3D1

 

i think you would have to pick up some resistors to go with these particular lights to prevent "hyperflash" when using the turn signals. that's what i did when i used LED's in my C-5 Corvette around 5 years ago. the resistors are cheap and easy to install.

 

i believe that now some LED's have built in resistors for use with turn signals.  

 

 

aha!  makes sense.   I remember I had to install resistors on my mc rear lights to get them to blink.

I think I may convert in the future, but I'm in no hurry.  I would be curious to see the light they put out.  The only thing I don't like about alot of cars I see that have converted the tail lights is they seem to have a sort of pinkish white-ish tint to them.

 

It looks like only 3 each side are park and turn lights, the other 6 (2 now in my case) are just park lights, plus the 2 small side lamps.

 

I took some pics today.  I like it, but honestly I could take it or leave it.  What I like most is how the "BUICK" letters look

I will leave it as-is for now.  

I almost wonder if I'd like it better if I eliminated another 2 bulbs each side, and came out with the paint some more, painting the reflectors the same length also.

It would make the tail lights even smaller and maybe tie the back end together a little more with the color.

 

Oh well.  Its always neat to share stuff like this on-line with folks and see the feedback

If anybody was to want to do this, you literally would not need to remove anything from the car.  It could be easily masked off and painted right there.  

 

[DAVES89]

You did a good job. I guess I would have to see it in person, however it reminds me of the Buick Century of about that same vintage. 

[Ronnie]

Painting the center of the taillight is a unique idea for sure. I'm not sure that it is for me but I kinda like it. I would like to see it with the chrome letters installed. It might look good with the indentions for the letters filled before painting too. Did you paint the rest of the taillight with a tint like Nightshades before installing it? Maybe it was just the lighting when the photo was taken but it appears to be darker than normal.

[Guest HuevosRanchero]

I think it updates the look of the rearend.  If I had a low mile car obviously I wouldnt do it but on my high miles driver .....I may pull the trigger. Not sure it will look as good with red as it does in that gunmetal color. 

[jonlabree]

Here are two different tail lights.

Edited February 26, 2016 by 63viking (see edit history)