Tint the rice lights??

Just a thought...

 

:no they'd still be rice

 

Tinted rice...yummy!

 

Yes they would..... Suggestions? Tips? Help?

 

Ewwww.You need a crowbar and some duck tape.

 

Sigh*

 

)How should I go about removing the scratches on the lenses?

2)How should I go about the paint?
a) Is it a realitivy easy to do it myself?
b) Should I get it done at a shop for about $60 or so?

no idea about the scratches, dont know how deep they are.
paint, put ur headlight in an oven (low temp) just to melt the glue and seal around the lens.
take the lens off and everything u dont want to be painted, the paint it..
get glue and seal it back up.
its an easy project.
but depending on the scratches, i would just get a new pair.
Sell the old ones on ebay for a few bucks

 

Thank you! Someone finally gives some advice!

But.... I don't know about putting them in the oven. Lol. Have you ever done this before? What temp? Not to much experience on painting anything other than a wall (lol) so what should I use to get the old paint off? What grit sandpaper should I use, and whats the best way to match my car color?

And say my scratches weren't that deep. How would I get them removed?

 

Try this. It gets the yellow out of the lens but can be used for scratches to.
3M Car Care US product products detail details protect protects clean cleans cleaner cleaners repair repairs fix fixes body glass windshield windshields bumper bumpers clear coat coats paint paints fuel fuels injector injectors injecter injecters inj

 

Sell the rice and see if you can't find a decent set of stock ones if all else fails.

 

That seems pretty legit, but a lot of extra work as well. I don't even have a drill, and say this doesn't work as well as shown, I wasted the money on it, which is what I am trying to stay away from. Do you think the VHT would cover up most of the scratches. Most of them are surface scratches I think.

 

Sadly you will have to do a lot of work to try and get the lenses looking new/good. Worst case you will have to buy new taillights. I'd say spend the $16 and try to fix them on your own. I'm sure you know someone that has a drill you could use.

 

when i do basic painting jobs, i use 160 grit and 300 or something like that.
basically a medium sandpaper and a light sandpaper to smooth out the thing.
if you dont wanna use an oven, then just get a heat gun it does the same thing. the goal is just to heat up the glue so it loses its application. thats it. if you wanna watch ur car, just get ur paint code and go to ford or something like that.

the scratches im not to sure of. wet sanding I would think but someone else would have to give you advice

 

Could I not just tape off my lenses? I mean, so what if a little paint on them, they are going to be tinted black anyway?

 

yea i suppose that would work. lol.
my OCD wont let me live with them like that, but if it saves u money and time do it to it! lol.

 

If it were just scratches, you could buff the lenses after you put them back on the car (its easier that way) but the peeling is what sucks. I'd just find a nice set of used stock lights on ebay or something, your car is already black, having the lenses tinted too dark would make them "disappear".

 

buy black pantyhose and wrap it around your stock lights or rice lights and then put them back on the car. may sound funny but looks okay.

 

LMAO

 

Um......No. Thanks anyway though.

 

just buy a new set...

 

OR obviously no one has taken 96-98 lights apart. there are 3 screws which hold the trim on to your tail lights. removing this you are able to sand the body colored part down smoth then repaint to ur liking. with the trim removed the whole tailight is red. use 400 grit then 800 then 1000. most will not but use it wet on all 3. results are better. after sanding use the wax you have for your car adn wax. lenses will be like new. if you dont believe me ill show you mine. i swapped to 94-95 lights which are all one and have to be taped off and painted. they were given to me when i asked junk yard how much. ive been asked to sell them to people thinking they were new.... so 15 bucks of sandpaper. primer,black and clear spray paint and you have new lights

 

is this the same on 94 tailights trying to keep the car orignle but one tail light is broken so i got another one but it is red and my car is silver

 

Firstly don't touch tinting unless you have painting experience or friends who can help. Secondly, do the whole remove the bezel thing, and take it to a paint shop and ask if they can spray em for you. Most shops will have the ford black since it's fairly common. Even a maaco shop can work for the time being. You'd be looking at like twenty bucks but oh well. Or if you want just sand em, primer em, and then rattle can em while touching it up with a couple coats of clear.

For the scratched, sand the **** out of them, then move on to wet sanding. I did that with my tails before I tinted them and they looked sexy. I sanded em down to remove the DOT stuff cuz I didn't want em, even though it's technically illegal. Cereal, though, sand em then wet sand em with 1500 then 2k grit, then maybe spray on some clear coat to keep em safe and BAM! new looking tail lights minus the rice.

 

Whats DOT? Sorry if that is a noob question but I will probably do the same....because its illegal, and illegal stuff if fun.

Ill give it a shot and thanks a lot, Ill post results when I get around to it.

 

DOT=Department of Transportation
and if something isnt DOT approved, its illegal.
for something to be legal, it needs to be DOT/SAE approved.

 

Well, I finished my project today. I ended up taking out rice lights, and installing my stock after they had been re-painted and tinted. I also hooked up my fog lights, and put some Angel Eyes back in.

Here are a few pictures of my taillights, as well as the install along the way.

And here is my front end as of now.

And my fog lights.

The fog light halos will also turn teal, purple, and strobe different colors.


My old headlight/taillights are for sale now (I will not split them up right now, PM me if you are interested).

 

Dude I told you the tinted stockers will look badass :rockon

 

You most certainly did, and I totally agree. Thanks for the input my friend.

My only problem now is, I am not sure if I should tint my 3rd brake light or leave it as it is. It is already black when it is off, and its really bright when I hit the brakes. I figure if I tint it, it would look a lot cleaner, but my brake lights are dim enough as it is now that my main lights are tinted. It will be a lot safer if I just leave it alone, but who doesn't like living on edge?

 

Tint the 3rd brake light too.