Tore apart my 97 tail lights today.. modified them a bit- pics inside :)

Blk97SC300 · 03-11-06, 02:51 AM

As the title says, I had the urge to take apart my tail lights today. I've always loved the 1997+ tail lights, but a couple things really bothered me about them. First off, I couldn't stand the yellowish colored reverse light box- to me, that looked hideous. Second, I didn't like the orange piece- I always wanted to have it all red, and no orange.

In order to do this, I needed to separate all the pieces of the tail light. Notice the orange plastic piece in the tail light, and the yellowish colored reverse light plastic piece too- those were the main areas of concern. I also decided to leave out the reflector.. it ended up looking much better removed. Also, notice the pink colored tint on the tai light cover. I'm not a big fan of that.. but oh well- I guess I can live with that. Now for the pictures:

Here are some pics of the tail lights taken apart. This is before I modified them in any way.

Blk97SC300 · 03-11-06, 02:52 AM

Next, I got rid of the orange in the tail light. It’s now all red, and was literally a PERFECT match with the rest of the tail light. I also modified the reverse light box thing a bit too- I kinda smoked it and added a little silver. Again, I couldn’t stand the yellowish tint, so I thought the black/silver color would flow well with the lights and with the rest of the car. Pictures of the modded tail light, still unassembled:

Blk97SC300 · 03-11-06, 02:53 AM

Now, some final pics of the tail lights completely assembled and installed on the car. Notice how the lights are all red now, and the faded yellow tinted look in the reverse light box is… gone. Now it’s got a smoked/silver tinted look to it

I’m really pleased with how these tail lights turned out. It took a lot of time trying to persuade myself in taking apart these 97 tail lights, but it was well worth it in my opinion. I’ll try to take some better day shots, this way you guys could see how it looks in sunlight, at different angles, etc.

Let me know what you guys think. Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be great

.

-Allen

silversprucesc3 · 03-11-06, 03:06 AM

That has to be the sexiest looking set of tail mods I have seen on the SC's ...
Very nice mod..... So when can I send you a pair to modify for me....lol

STRONG SC · 03-11-06, 03:09 AM

that's it. I'm opening mines tommorow! what was your recipe for opening them up?

nysupraman · 03-11-06, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silversprucesc3

That has to be the sexiest looking set of tail mods I have seen on the SC's

couldn't have said it better myself along with "perfect"

thank god you actually had the ballz to mess around with 97 tails, this is definetly a

keep the mods goin....

Blk97SC300 · 03-11-06, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nysupraman

couldn't have said it better myself along with "perfect"

thank god you actually had the ballz to mess around with 97 tails, this is definetly a

keep the mods goin....

It took a LOT of to persuade myself into tearing apart my 97+ tail lights... but I'm glad I did it. Well worth it in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JspecSC3

gotta add this thread to the list of Best Threads 2006!

Very nice work. You are probably the first one to do this on the 97 Tailights. They look great. What did you do to make the orange part red? Did you paint it red? If so, is it really necessary to cut off the orange piece? I want 97 tails now.

The orange plastic piece clips off- this is shown in the first post. The orange piece and the reverse light piece both clip off, and simply detatch from the rest of the tail light. No cutting, damaging, or breaking is required to remove these pieces.

I used a special type of spray paint for both the red, and for the silver/black. If I had more info on exactly what I used, I would let you guys know... but the cans were pretty much blank. A friend of mine let me borrow a red spray which was meant for lights, along with a can of black spray that was intended for lights as well. I'm pretty sure the tail lights are still 100% legal... mainly because the lights light up perfectly, and the reverse light is still clear and very visible. I had a 95 3000GT VR-4, and the tail lights were all red from the factory (no orange at all)- so I'd assume these lights are still legal too

Quote:

Originally Posted by JspecSC3

You are probably the first one to do this on the 97 Tailights.

Could someone verify this? I tried searching for people that have taken apart the 97 tail lights, but found no results. So I think I may just be the very first person to attempt modding the 97+ tail lights

Thanks for all the compliments guys, I really appreciate it. Basically, my intentions were to make the tail light all red, and do something about the yellowish tint on the reverse light area.

Mission: Accomplished.

-Allen

xknowonex · 03-11-06, 03:12 AM

Looks good but its not a HUGE difference like upgrading from pre-97 tails to post-97 tails. How did u take it apart? Just use the oven?

silversprucesc3 · 03-11-06, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xknowonex

Looks good but its not a HUGE difference like upgrading from pre-97 tails to post-97 tails. How did u take it apart? Just use the oven?

Agreed... IMO mind you I think he just took a "NEAR" perfect tail and made it "PERFECT"..

convoy · 03-11-06, 03:17 AM

interesting. it's easy to tell that you put a lot of thought and effort into this project. i wonder how those lights would look on a pearl white SC....

ant1k · 03-11-06, 03:28 AM

piaaammppp!!!

rodvtan · 03-21-06, 08:40 PM

I need to replace the bulb for my left brake light. How do I remove the tail light ? Thanks.

IronCobra · 03-21-06, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodvtan

I need to replace the bulb for my left brake light. How do I remove the tail light ? Thanks.

There are several thread that go over this. you might wanna search as to avoid hijacking this thread.

BTW: just move the back panel and unscrew the light.

Blk97SC300 · 03-21-06, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodvtan

I need to replace the bulb for my left brake light. How do I remove the tail light ? Thanks.

Four 10mm bolts for each tail light.

Hey, at least he searched, right?

Update- there were a few strong rainy days here, and everything seems to be sealed fine. So far, so good- the lights look great.

By the way, 3 pairs of LED's arrived already, I'm just waiting on the 2 smaller pairs. Once those arrive, I'll install all 5 pairs of LED bulbs, and pics will come shortly.

-Allen

rodvtan · 03-27-06, 08:53 PM

I've already figured it out but thanks anyway. I did search and I didn't find any specific info. What I don't understand is the hesitation I sensed from Iron Cobra. A one-line info just like what you wrote would have been sufficient.