I Got A Pair Of Tail Lights With The Three Bar Lines And I Ordered Some Smoked 1/8" Lexan. I Plan On Cutting Out The Coloured Parts Of The Tail Lights And Painting The Black Parts Silver/Chrome And Laying The Lexan Over Using A Heat Gun To Make The Bend. I Havent Decided On The Paint Colour For The Center Stripe, Cus These Are Going On An 83. My Z/28's Colour Scheme Is Black Silver And Blue. I Should Have This Done This Week Ill Post Pics With My Progress. I Wonder If Anyone Else Has Home Made New Lenses For Their Camaros? I Seen Some From Klearz But They Dont Make Them Anymore. When Its All Done I Plan On Using All Red, High Intensity LED Lights, Even For The Blinkers!

 

Sounds like a fun project. I'm sure I've seen posts on here before of people making these. I also so a "How To" on Musclecar on Spike TV where the guys showed how to make your own lenses and how to paint them to get the desired tint. I'm sure if you do a search on here, you'd find some results. Good Luck with the project!

 

Yea I Seen That One Two How They Stuck The Stock Lights Off A Chevy Colorado In The Oven To Loosen The Adhesive. But The Tail Lights On Camaros Are Built A Little Different, But That Makes It Easier!

 

Im Still Waiting For My Smoked Lexan To Ship :/ I Want To Try To Finish This Before The Weekend. Im Sure This Is An Original Idea Cus I Cant Find Anything Like What Im Gonna Do, The Whole Light, Even The Plastic Part Next To The License Plate Is Gonna Look Like Glass

 

Here's a post I made giving detailed instructions on how to disassemble the camaro tail lights without damaging them: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...our-amber.html

And these two threads give a lot of information about making your own tail lights. You don't have to be a member to read the stuff, but you might have to sign up to see the pics and you might have to sign up at some of the sites that have links posted. I'll post a few examples below, but here are the links:

http://www.pro-touring.com/showthrea...highlight=tail
http://www.pro-touring.com/showthrea...highlight=tail

Here are a few examples of custom tails from the thread above:




I think the majority of those were done just by heating up some tinted lexan and molding it to shape.

Mathius

 

That Was A Pretty Good Thread For Changing The Colour, But Im Gonna Replace The Entire Lense (: Ill Cut Right On The Line From Where It Goes From Black To Colour, And Follow The Line All The Way Down To To Plastic Next To The Plate, Ill Have A Nice Flat Surface To Bond The Lexan To After I Use My Heat Gun To Get The Shape And The Bend I Want. Im Putting Wide Angle LED Lighting In And No Amber. IDK If I Want To Use Clear Coat On The Inside To Haze It Or To Leave It Crystal Clear Tho, Ill Have To Test Some Extra Pieces Out When My Lexan Comes In.
Im Cutting Where the Black Part Of The Light Touches The Colour Part, And The Whole Section Will Come Out So I Have A Black Border To Bond To On The Top And Bottom, Nothing In The Middle. Ill Paint My Center Line In Cus I Want To Keep The '83 Original Look.

 

These Are What Im Working With

 

I understand that, but I was under the impression you were still going to use the "guts" of the original lenses and just replace the outer lense. That thread has detailed information on how you can disassemble them without breaking them.

Mathius

 

i've considered it and considered doing led boards inside but i figured i'd mess up the bend. you can get acrylic, lexan, reflective material, abs, urethane, poly whatever all on ebay by bulk sheets or large sheets pretty cheap and most those places have websites too, so where i got hung up was the price of a heat gun. i think i might do this with you though because i have some scrap tail housings. lets do it.

 

At Mathius: Oh Im Using The Original Housing, Put Im Completly Scrapping The Coloured Part Of The Lense And Keeping An Edge To Bond The Lexan To, I Dont Think Ill Have To Separate The Lense From The Housing, I Did See The Plasic Rivits And I Thought About It Before But Its Probably Too Much Work For My First Attempt.

At Matthufham: Sweet, I Should Be Getting My Lexan Soon, Im Gonna Take Pics Of All My Steps For Anyone Else Who Likes My Idea And Wants To Do That Too, And For Those Who Dont Want To Do It Themselves I Could Request Shipping And Supplies And Do It For A Small Price. Ive Always Been Modest About Charging PPL But Its Worth Something? So I Cant Wait To Get My Materials!

 

Even if you cut the colored part out of the tail lights, you're going to risk cutting into the housing if you don't separate them. But it's your lights if you want to risk it.

The rivets are used for alignment and as an extra precaution. Mostly it's glue that holds them together. But the area around the rivets is generally very fragile and brittle after all these years of wear and tear. The thread I linked explains how to safely remove them as much as possible.

Mathius

 

No Worries There I Plan On Using My Dremel And A Small Cutting Wheel, I Have Good Exp. Handling It For Metal And Plastic And Wood, I Thought Using A Sawsall Would Be Rediculous loL And Yea Thanks For The Warning, Breaking Any Brittle Parts Would Hinder My Progress.

Also I Just Got My Smoked Front Fender Lights ^^ They Look Pretty Damn Good! But Blue Lights Will Look Better (:

 

i've already done 3 sets of tails redding out the amber on the grid style and separated the housings. it's easier if you preheat in the oven and the silicone loosens, and then you can pry them apart. but as you said there's some corners that break around the rivits.

plan for me... i'm gutting the housing and putting bread boards with leds in the housings like has been done on this and many message boards, using correct resistors to differentiate brake vs running light vs turn. also i'm investigating the sequential turn signal mod after this post to make some sort of bad *** mustang style turn circuit. i tried to locate some smoked lexan last night. i need about 36" by 12" sheet per side and i'm going to wrap from the corner on the sides all the way to the 90 by the license plate. i found a company where i can get any thickness but wasn't sure if .125 (1/8) was too thin or if .25 (1/4) was too thick

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...nversions.html

 

Ive Seen The LED Board Kits, And That May Be Another Story For Me A Later Day, For Now Im Gonna Stick With Normal High Intensity 1157 Replacements (: My Goal Is To Make The Grid Style Tail Light Into A Perfectly Smooth Glass Surface. And My Lexan Shipped Today So Monday Or Tuesday Ill Receive It And Begin My Method Of Madness. They Should Still Be DOT Cus Im Gonna Leave The Corner Reflectors In But It Wont Be So Red Behind The Grey Lexan.

 

where did u buy your lexan and how much was it

 

subscribing to follow this build.

 

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=519&

think ill get this acrylic, it's 18 dollars plus shipping for 2 pieces 7" by 35"

 

I Got My Lexan From: http://www.estreetplastics.com/1_8_x...t801251236.htm The Lexan Itself Was Nicely Priced But The Shipping Was A Little Steep. Its Supposed To Be Here Monday Or Tuesday And I Should Have A Little Extra Material Left To Replace The Lenses On My Front Signal Lights, They Have Pits And A Little Wore Out, The Wetsand And Turtle Wax Helps The Haze Alot But I Still Have Pits. So Everything Will Match, I Got My Smoked Side Markers Put On Already And With Blue LED Lights They Look Smokin' (:

 

Well Not Lexan, Plexiglass, But I Dont See The Difference Yet, And Its Probably Not A Huge Difference ^^

 

Just a thought....(i'm asking 'cause I don't know)
What about glass? I saw tail light sized pieces at Home Depot today for cheap. Would it hold up to the vibration....?

 

I Think It Depends On The Thickness And Adhesive You Use, Glass Would Work Good Because It Wont Haze From Heat, But You Cant Bend The Glass Yourself To Wrap Around The Corner. But Plexiglass Will Be More Durable And Wont Break So Easy.

 

yea i went acrylic... plexiglass basically. acrylic has a 93% transparency rating, better than glass. it's strong, bendable, scratches easier than lexan but can be buffed out.

lexan, a type of polycarbonate, depending on coatings can or can't be scratched easier. its less transparent. its easier to bend without breaking, and can bend sharply no problems. they use lexan on a lot of stuff even riot shields, but the cheapest company on sheets didn't have any so i went with the plexiglass.

 

Yea eStreetplastics Didnt Have The Grey Smoked Lexan So I Went With Acrylic. Its Weird How I Always Had A Heat Gun Laying In The Garage Now I Can Put It To Professional Use. Last Time I Used It Was To Fix The Trunk Popper Cable On My Camaro A Few Weeks Ago.

 

Here Are My Side Markers With Blue LED Lights During The Day

The Whole Marker Glows Blue At Night And I Can Actually See Things On The Side Of My Car When Im Driving! My Old Stock Markers Didnt Light Up Anything But Themselves Haha

 

I Got Those Off Of Ebay For $25 With Shipping, The Stock Bulbs Look Like Crap So Get LED Ambers Or Blues, Maybe White? Might Be Too Bright With White? My Tail Lights Should Be A Bit Darker Due To The Lack Of A White Reflector Behind Them. Im Still Waiting On My Plexiglass To Ship In, Maybe Tuesday?

 

Hey what is the led bulb size on those 194 mini wedge? oh and I was wondering currently I have a set of acrylic smoked tail light covers over my stock taillights I was wondering could I buy a extra set of tail lights cut out the plastic lens and shape and fit the acrylic covers and seal them some how, this is just a thought I had what do you guys think, oh and matthufham thanks for that thread u did about installing a grant steering wheel it helped alot when I did mine

 

If The Lenses Are Made To Fit Over The Stock Lights I Think They Might Be Too Big, Im Not Sure Ive Never Seen Covers. I Think You Could If You Do The Same That Im Gonna Do, But Keep The Reflector On The Corner Inside Or The PoPo Could Mess With You. Man Im Itching To Get Started On This Project! USPS Where The Hell Is My Plexi??? loL

 

I have those same tinted side markers but with the appropriate amber leds. very sweet in fact!

 

I Would Of Went Amber If I Thought The PD Here Would Do Anything About It ^^ What Gets Me Is That I See So Many Trucks And Cars With The Intense Blue, Like A 20,000K HID Lights And They Are Perfectly Legal, But You Cant Have The Same Blue Front Turn Signals :/ Im Eventually Gonna Finish Touching Up The Silver On The Side Skirts And Bumpers And Raise The Silver Up An Inch Or Two, Then Go Over The Silver With A Transparent Metallic Blue, So That All My Colour Will Match, Blue Paint, Blue Lights When I Can, I Gotta Find Some Blue Z/28 Badges But They Are Rare And Expensive! I Dont Have The Funds ATM

 

thats basically what i'm planning on doing

 

what would you guys suggest to use as for an sealant that would be durable and water tight.

 

Weather Stripping Adhesive Would Work Really Good But Im Gonna Look At My Options, Maybe Use A Black Epoxy To Bond, And Weather Stripping Adhesive To Seal It From Weather. My Acrylic Is At The Post Office Ill Pick It Up Tomorrow But Im Also Working In The House Im Moving To At The End Of The Month So I Havent Had Much Time To Myself Lately :/

 

I Got My Acrylic In Today And My Dad Borrowed My Dremel, So I Wasnt Able To Get After It With My Little Cut Off Wheel :/ But This Acrylic Looks Better Than The Picture And Just Dark Enough To Hide Darker Light Housings And Transparent Enough For High Intensity LED Lights To Show Through

 

I Realized That My 12"x36" Was Only Enough For One Light At A Time, Which Is Fine As Long As I Get One Finished The Other Will Be Much Easier, And I Could Use Better Methods For Heating And Bending Around The Corner Next Time Too. Other Than That Its Almost Done, I Need More Masking Tape For Paining Inner Black Lines And Borders And Good Black 2 Stage Epoxy Adhesive And Ill Have A Finished Light. Ive Been Taking Pictures Of The Progress

Theyre Not Done Yet, I Am Being Held Back Thanks To Some Black Plastic Epoxy And A Bit More Masking Tape I Dont Have Yet, But They Are In The Works Of Being Some Sweet Grey Lens Tail Lights For My 83, Keeping The 82-84 Look Instead Of The Newer Checkered Lens Look, Here Are The Pics I Took As I Was Going Along To Get Where I Am Now:

Started With Stockers And Used A Hot Knife To Cut Out Just The Colour Parts Of The Lenses


Camaro Tail Light Without Colour Lenses And The Black Plastic Part Next To The License Plate

Side By Side Of Colour Lens Vs. Grey Acrylic

Used A Heat Gun On High Heat To Soften The Acrylic And Made The Bend For The Corner

A Little Black Paint To Darken Some High Contrast Areas On The Bottom

And Tape To Get My Guide For The Inside, To Know Where To Put My Black Paint For Borders And The Center Stripe


Ill Continue My Progress Hopefully Not Too Much Longer, Just Painting Lines And Some Adhesive, Coloured Light Bulbs Or LEDs And These Should Be Pretty Epic, No One In My Small Town Has Anything Like This, Just The Crappy Spray Paint loL

 

looking good, i'm ordering my plastic tuesday.

 

LEDS for sure!

 

I'm hoping they don't come out looking like the cheezy "Altezza" taillights everyone and their dog was rockin' 5-6-7 years ago.

If the chromed inner bezel is seen, I think it'd ruin the overall look.

 

I Agree, Thats The Last Thing I Want To Have Is A ***** Part On My Car, But These Are Hand Made, And There Will Be No Colour Inside From The Bulbs Until They Light. I Might End Up Hazing The Inside Of The Lens With Clear Coat Spray Paint So That They Arent Transparent? IDK Yet. I Was Thinking I Could Paint The Chrome Bezel Inside Super Gloss Black But I Dont Know How Well The Light Will Reflect. If Anyone Has An Answer To That Id Love To Know!

 

The reflection from the black paint would be too dark, you'd only get light from the bulb itself. I'd suggest a coat of nightshade on the bezels if you want them a little darker. That way you don't block too much light from reflecting.

BTW to do a similar set of lights for a TA/GTA, you just have pull them a part and remove the red inner lens and reinstall the clear outer lens (incase any firebird guys want to do this).

 

Oh Nice So Nightshade Is Reflective Black? That'll Work Fine, I Used A Bit Of Semi Gloss To See If I Liked It, And I Do, Black Looked Way Better Than Chrome. So, I Need Reflective Black, And Some Good Black Plastic Weld Epoxy And Ill Be Set... With One Light I Have Yet To Buy Another Sheet Of Acrylic For The Left Rear Light :/

 

Post some pictures please..i love it !!!!!

 

Ill Try To Get Some New Pics Tomorrow, The Black Looks Good And I Have My Inner Lines Painted On To Imitate The 82-84 Tail Light, All I Need Is That Reflective Clear Coat And To Bond It Together (: Right Now It Is Definitely Non *****, And Non Mexican Spray Paint! loL Im Sure It Will Look Like Something That Can Me Made By Order, Just Some Used Tail Lights, A Bit Of Plexi Glass And Ill Try To Make A Roller To Roll The Corner Edge Better, But So Far Im Very Impressed With My First Time, Small Ideas Do Go A Little Ways If You Put The Effort In It

 

(Non Rice - er) loL Some How It Got Bleeped?

 

Nightshade is a translucent black (basicaly tail light tint). It will allow the chrome underneith to reflect through providing you don't put too much on.

 

I Actually Found Another Rout With That, Since I Already Painted The Housing Inside Semi Gloss Black I Found That You Can Get Reflective Clear Coat By Rustoleum, Its A Flat Clear That Is Great For Reflecting Direct Light Over Any Colour Paint You Put It Over. And I Just Realized, Nightshade Is Exactly What All The Mexicans Do To Their Tail Lights Where I Live, Whether They Are Mustangs Or Camaros Or What Ever Else They Have At The Time loL I Dont Like The Blacked Out Tail Lights, But Smoked Gray Looks Good Every Time

 

I Got The Inner Lines Done The Way I Want And The Inner Bezel Looks Much Better Blacked Out Than Chrome. It Looks More Factory That Way (:

This Is Just A Normal Bulb Lit Inside, I Didnt Have An LED 1157 Handy But It Reflects Ok Without The Reflective Paint

I Still Want The Reflective Paint, And To Defuse A Small Square Inside With Clear Paint So When I Do Get LEDs In They Wont Blind The People Following Me, I Cant Stand Being Blinded By Ultra Bright Tail Lights Myself loL

 

..i want a set..lol

 

loL I Havent Even Finished Them Yet! Ive Honestly Thought About Making A Mold And Producing Orders If I Got Them, Cus Everyone I Show This To Are Pretty Impressed By How They Turned Out, Its Not Just Something Hacked Apart And Glued Together ^^
Hmm How Much Would You Charge Someone To Build A Set? The Plexi Glass I Use Is 12"x36" @ $25 Includes Shipping, So I Can Have Excess To Make Any Other Lights, IE Markers, Front Turn Signals, It Dont Show But Even My License Plate Lights Are Covered (: So Housings To Use, The Plexiglass, And Labor, Whats The Best Price? Not Too Expensive So I Can Get Good Business But Not Too Cheap Where I Have More Work Than Profit loL

 

Cool...let me know when and how much u need..also maybe for my suburban..LOL