As Henry said, a couple of us worked on this for a while.

The consensus is that it is not impossible, but it is impractical from a business standpoint (i.e. trying to make money, knocking off JP ).

That certaintly doesn't mean that an individual with the right skills and resources couldn't do it themselves. I have no doub't that an individual can do it, but it certaintly is not going to become a simple DIY where anyone can just read about it and do it at home.

Here's some of the key challenges we identified:
- Cut out the amber cleanly. Emphasize the word "cleanly". You can dremel and file all day long and with some skills, do a decent job. A lazer is the way to go, but you have to take apart the rear assembly so it doesn't get cut by the lazer too. JP gets the factory tail assembly in their individual pieces, so they don't have to dis-assemble the tail lights to do their lazer cutting. After the amber is lazer cut and the clear piece installed, then the lens is glued and assembled with the back pieces for the very first time.

- Create a clear piece that replaces the amber and duplicate the cut out made in the previous step. Not only does the cut out and the replacement piece have to match up, you also have to follow the curve of the original lense. A plastics shop will heat bend the plastic for you (at a price).

- Gluing in the replacement piece (cleanly). If the cut out and the replacement pieces fit well, then you still need to glue the replacement part in place. A clear piece of plastic is not very forgiving when it comes to hiding excess glue marks. Aligning the two pieces, holding them in place and applying glue at the same time has it's challenges as well.

- There are several more challenges with the steps mentioned above, but you get the idea.

JP has to be commended in engineering and perfecting their lenses. They don't build these tails in high volume and they build them to order,so there is little chance to get the pricing to drop unless you can punch out 50 or so in a production run. It becomes readily apparent why they have to charge what they do.

There is a short cut to the clearing process that will "almost" duplicate the JP's look. It's not noticable at first glance, but it does make the clearing process a lot easier. How clean the finished job will look has yet to be determined.

Confidentiality prevent's me from talking more about it (seriously). About all I can say is there is a company working to make a knock off.

 

Around how much will it cost Glenn? APC Has some euros they just came out with. Im waiting for mine to come in now as a tester.












































J/K

 

off topic but for some reason i would love to see smoked tail lights, i think that would look really cool.

 

I have no idea, but I'm sure once the word gets out, "someone" will get their hands on them. Sounds like they'll look like JP's from a distance. I have a feeling it will be like having a fake Rolex. Looks real at first, until someone tells you what to look for, then you'll know it's fake.

So I wonder how many out there would be happy wearing the fake Rolex of taillights ??

 

So I wonder how many out there would be happy wearing the fake Rolex of taillights ??
[/B][/QUOTE]

Glen, I wonder too but then again look how many knock off bodykits and wheels there are. People will do anything to "have" the look....

 

i sure as heck wouldnt LOL i dont wear rollies anyways cartier owner

 

yes, just to attest to what glen (rmmgs4) said and what i have known so far, here are more facts (on top of what glen has already mentioned in details).

1) you can't take apart the taillight clean. yes you can heat it up and pry it open, but the side/edge would be damaged somewhat coz' you have to pry it open. can't avoid that and would be expensive to fix that.

2) you need to "waste" a set of taillight just to get the ambert out clean (byt badly damaging the red part) so that you can use that as a mold to produce the clear part

3) you need to make quite a few clear parts in order to justify the cost to make the clear part

4) then you need to get another taillight to damage the ambert part so you can fit the clear in

5) if the clear part is too small and doesn't fit perfect (ie, causing leak), go back to step 2.

glen and i and some other have already estimated the time and cost involved to do this project. it's so tremendous and with the money spent on top of labor time we put in it's definitely not funny. together with the fact that our taillights would have marks on the edge kinda blow the whole idea

also, i have already heard of companies making knock off of the jp taillights. of course cutting serious corners here and there that i won't go into. i have no idea about the price. but would i even touch them? you guys know me. unless it's something of high quality, otherwise..

 

NO. He can't.

 

Oh TLW and you guys, just got back from a lil trip, have't seen the boards........

Well I've got some ideas, one that might work, and the other that for sure will work.

It's just a matter of time, and the right products and tools, oh of course the most important one, patience.

 

after a little close inspection i found a little bug caught in the plastic..like in a plastic prison.. i wonder if i could get a new set of tails bc of this.

 

OK , sounds like you have a plan.

Good Luck

We'll be waiting patiently too !

 

we will all be waiting

 

Any update on this sweet project?

 

I want to be updated on the progess.

Good luck, Blue!

One of my concerns is that the "cleared out" tail light might not look as bright and shiny as the JP custom tail. When you see a 98-99 GS Tail with the amber taken out, it's a little "pinkish" in tone from the reflection of the red. JPs custom tail is crystal clear.

JP TAIL:



98 TAIL With Amber removed:

 

Actually, it would be completely clear since the whole lens would be cut out (or at least that's how JP does it). If someone actually cut out that section of the 98-00 tail light and replaced it with a fabricated clear lens, then it would be completely clear.