Custom Painted Taillights

Custom body work on a car will make your car stand out from another car. Today's project shows a method to do some custom work to get custom painted taillights.

I bought an extra set of 94-97 Integra taillights (with the orange turn signal) for $25, in order to try and make something unique. Here is what it looks like:

First step I wanted to do in making it custom was removing the orange turn signal and making it look more like the 98+ integra taillights. Here is what the 98+ taillights look like:

The process to red out your taillights can be done either using paint or vinyl. My first attempt was using the Krylon Stained Glass red paint. I masked off everything so only the orange was exposed. I don't have a picture of this but the idea is to put masking tape and newspaper surrounding the orange so you only paint over the orange.

This was the final product of the tail light red out process:




Now, from this part I was going to proceed to painting a green trim on the taillights, but decided to try using vinyl on the taillight to see what difference that would make in the look of the red out taillight. I used acetone paint stripper to remove the krylon paint from my taillights to reexpose the orange blinker. I then got a transparent red vinyl sheet and cut out the vinyl to match the shape of the orange blinker. I have no pictures of this process, but u basically wet the taillight slightly where you will apply the vinyl to give you some leeway in putting it down and then put the vinyl on and squeegee the excess water out making sure you get it all out completely. I also used a hair dryer to make the vinyl stick better and form around the corner of the taillight.

At this point I was satisfied with the way the vinyl red out looked on the taillights and proceeded to set up to paint my taillights with a green trim.

I masked all the parts that were to light up with newspaper and masking tape. Once the taillight was masked, I sprayed three thin coats of green paint onto the taillight, leaving about 5 mins between coats. After my last coat, I left it to dry for about 20 minutes and then proceeded with the clear coat on the taillights. Here are some pictures with the taillight masked and the green painted on top of it:





In this picture I highlight the parts I masked:



Once I was done spraying the lights, I let them dry and then removed the masked newspaper and tape to reveal my newly complete Green Custom Painted Taillights. I then installed them onto the car and here are the results:








I was quite happy with the paint match and how it gave a unique look to the car. Hope my adventure into creating my custom painted taillights will make you think about how you can customize your ride and its taillights!

Regards, MK
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