ok guys,

ive run into a bit of a snag with my altezza design..

seems that those stupid lines in the iroc tails take away from look..

so i was wondering..i need something to fab onto it to just be clear ..no lines..

i know they make the clear headlight covers....but does anyone know if they make clear tailight covers instead of the black out kind??

lemme know

iroc2nv

 

Make some.
Then set the sheet down on something with a rounded corner (like a toolbox), put a sheet of straightedged wood on top of it, take a heatgun and gently heat up the plastic and bend it over the toolbox corner to the correct bend angle. Don't overheat the plastic or it'll "boil" and get air bubbles in it, melt, discolor (burn), or just plain run.

I did this a few years ago to put clear lenses on the front and back. I didn't like it too much because you could see the mounting hardware. :/ Oh and it looked cheesy..hehe

For your purpose, you mask off the edges and paint them black, then epoxy the whole mess onto whatever you're creating. Use actual epoxy, not hot glue (don't ask).

Total cost: $35. $10 for the acrylic sheet, $25 for the heatgun.

 

I say go even a step further. Go buy some tails from the junkyard. Cut the front plastic piece off so there are no reflectors or anything, just the light enclosure. Then make that clear 'lense' but try to make it a direct replacement of the reflector pieces. Now here's where I would get crazy. Convert the taillight bulb backings to accept the JamStraight 3157 LED bulbs. Basically these are a bulb made of 15 LED's.

They are SUPER bright and people will be able to see them in the day. Then after the electircal backings have been converted (because they do have different plugs), I would find a local carbon fiber material specialist and pay him to mold carbon fiber backings for the light enclosure, fitted around where the bulbs would go. Once thats done, I would insert the bulbs and glue them in from behind the leds so the backings are fully enclosed (no moisture can get in) and the plug parts stick out (so you can connec tthem and disconnect them to remove the taillights in the furute). Then attach the custom clear lense you made over the top where there used to be reflectors. If local laws require you to have red reflection on your taillights, you can get around it by putting a 1/4 inch thick line of red reflector (from the pieces you originally cut off) in each corner, or along the bottom. The law wont state how much reflector you need, just that you need one. That will get you around the law. Then you have basically created your own legal Carbon Fiber Altezzas. If you decide not do go with the carbon fiber thing, I would strongly sudgest you find a clear reflector pieces to put behind the lense or else people will be able to see the ugly off white color of the inside of the lense enclosure.

 

heh i'll bet you wish you had a t/a now, iroc2nv. none of this corner-bended tailight crap good luck on ur project though, i hope it goes well

 

No, they dont make clear "black outs", I've been looking for about 3 years.

 

you could try vacuforming, make a vaccum box(pm me f you need help doing this), heat up some thick clear plastic in the barb-q or oven, and use a set of blackouts as template peices. Iplan to try this when I finish the body work and engine swap in my Z28.

As for the enclosure, i havn't played with them yet, but it looks like you could get away with using the stock plastic housing already there. i was going to see if painting it with chrome bumper paint would do the trick. But again, just a theory, i havn't tried yet.

 

thanks for the ideas guys...

i had my whole thing planned out on how to make them and now it seems i have only 50% completed it..damn bendable tailights..

oh well live and learn...just something else for me to do when im at home after a long day of taking import owners money

iroc2nv